economiser

Probably, but it has me concerned about fitting the engine under the hood. Spacing the front down with washers between the framerails and the crossmember should help both that and anti-dive.

economiser

economiser

economiser

After removing the front springs, assembling the rest of the front suspension, assembling the "new" rear axle, and measuring, I find there's no space for wheel adapters, and no way to change the lug circle of the front hubs, except to replace the 4-lug with 5-lug, which is necessary for big brakes anyway. But I'm already over budget, so I'm thinking just order front wheels. Only I can't make that match without going 5-lug.
So I found a pair of '01 Mercedes S430 Brembo calipers for $ 110 / pr, delivered, including everything, even the used pads. Next was figuring out rotors, and after 2 hours on Napa's website, I found some 11.75" x 1.25", 5 on 4.5, with a large enough center bore, and less than 0.010" too much height.
Anyone wanting to copy this, the rotors are part number NB4885743. And only $ 54 each! Now I'll have to fab some caliper mounts to adapt them, but that's ok.

economiser

economiser

from 9" to 11.75"



bit of a problem, but parts have been ordered

economiser

getting my rewiring looking stock



that mockup looks great

economiser

there is clearance between the Brembos and the Racelines!

economiser

economiser

economiser

Yesterday I turned the car around to do some welding after all that butchery, but then I discovered what a hypocritical dumbarse I am. I set a fender in place, and realized I hadn't moved the crossmember back. The front wheels were way too far forward. Now I have to move everything back an inch, then mock it up. And even if that goes well, now I have this hassle of the steering linkage. Even at an inch I'll still have slightly more wheelbase, and positive caster, than stock. I seldom worry about looks, and I don't mind the idea of the wheels not being centered in the wells, but this needs corrected.

82transam

iTrader: (18)

Just read through this thread for the first time. Welcome to the forum, always nice to see fabricators join, people who aren't afraid to start chopping things up

You've got me thinking about pulling my FC subframe back out and chopping it up. Threads like this make me realize how much I still need to learn about suspension...

Carry on

economiser

Are you on thirdgen.org? This project has me starting on a three-link for my '86 Camaro.
Anyway, you want to start with the front lower control arms nearer the road at the balljoint end, at static ride height, and just using lowering springs defeats this. If you do it right, the camber curve is correct, increasing cornering grip. This isn't the place / thing to tune for having enough understeer to feel safe. That's why I did what I did. And I used the old bumpstops under the new ones for turning the car around last week, it sat a little lower than I expect the final ride height, maybe an inch, but even then the arms weren't really balljoint-end-up, so I was pleased to see that.
If you need any measurements, feel free to ask. I would suggest replacing my 4"-wide additions with 4.25", then trimming as may seem needed.
Now my hassle is shortening the steering linkage. I think I'll move the wheel 13 mm closer to the driver, then making up the other 13 mm in the upper male splined part of the short intermediate link that should be collapsible but doesn't seem so.
On another note, it took a lot of machining to end up with a usable input bearing retainer to carry the HTOB, but it now seems like a workable alternative to doing it GM's way, which is proving unobtainable.
Gotta go weld this mess, pics tonight.

economiser

82transam

iTrader: (18)

Looking good, thanks for some more info

I'm on thirdgen.org, but under username pandafb (which is my username basically everywhere except here, keep meaning to change it here, but haven't) I only have a handful of posts and my Trans Am is all but forgotten behind my shop. It's a shame, did a ton of rust repair and painted it in 2010, but kinda just lost interest. I've owned it since 99 and haven't even put 1000 miles on it in that time. The FB's came into my life in 2000 and sorta just took over

economiser

No luck with the proposed front springs, just ordered a new pair of Moog CC877

economiser

Not dead. In fact, just got the Moog CC877 springs assembled onto the struts, after a bit of modifying the springs. But these coils can be made to work, and at far less cost than the Racing Beat junk.

economiser

I did a little trimming on the struts, the spring seat, but then when I tried to put the wheels on, the tire rubbed the spring. So I had to undo alot, turn the spring a quarter turn, then I felt I had to spot weld the tip of the coil to the spring seat. Pics to follow. Anyway, now the car rolls.
I need to get the engine and trans in the car, to free up some garage space, before making some custom brackets to mount the Brembo calipers.

82transam

iTrader: (18)

Glad you're making progress on this. Looking forward to seeing the final result

economiser

Thanks!

economiser

stilettoman

iTrader: (1)

Like someone else said, I appreciate a guy who is not afraid to cut things that are in the way. We have had some excellent examples of that in my shop lately.

What kind of horsepower do you expect to get? Unless you are building a serious all-out race car, I am interested to know why you think the the 2nd gen turbo/convertible brakes are not adequate. I don't know if you are aware of it, but a number of people have been installing these RX-7 brakes on certain models of BMW sedans for racing purposes. I did a V8 swap into an 84FB and used the front and rear brakes from a 1990 convertible and they were certainly adequate for any kind of street driving. I also did a Skyline swap into another 84FB, which is my current driver and did the same brake swap. Both cars are street driven and have the convertible BBS alloys. The swaps are described in some detail on my website, address shown in my signature.

Looking at the fabrication you are doing, I think you might appreciate what we have been doing lately in my shop. We have an excellent JDM importer here in the Seattle area, and in addition to engines and transmissions, the shipping containers always show up with wheels, tires, brakes, complete suspensions and anything else the guys in Japan can't sell. We have installed some Skyline parts recently on a couple of cars. I seriously doubt the engineers at Nissan would have expected their parts to end up on a 68 Mustang, much less a 48 Studebaker.

68 Mustang Convertible - Some Unique Upgrades

1948 Studebaker Starlight coupe project

I will be following your project - those of us who build Frankenstein cars all have different ideas. That is what makes it so interesting.

economiser

Thanks! I'm sure there's a virgin example in a museum somewhere, so I'm not afraid to cut up such a compromised machine that has so much room for improvement.
This engine is supposed to be 200 HP, but after the new exhaust I expect a few more, except at this elevation it'll be 85%.
My only grief against the FC turbo brakes is that the same money can buy even better brakes, as I am doing here. People think the only path to big brakes is a kit, but I hope to evidence that brains can substitute for dollars. No such thing as too much brakes.
I've been messing with cars so long that I always expected to be one of the big names by now. Not for wealth or glory, but to enjoy earning my living. So if one of the famous shops would hire me, but give me free rein, I'd consider it. I know I'm worth at least $30K/yr.
Your Mustang looks cool, but it looks like a big-money build. I'm more impressed when I see others get those results without spending. Maybe because I've never had funds available.
Anyway, thank you for the links, I'll be reading this evening.
I sincerely appreciate knowing someone is watching, but I'd keep the thread going anyway. Not only for my ego, but also in case anyone else ever considers trying any of what I'm trying.
The install wasn't a slam dunk, and the biggest problem seems to be the alternator, but it looks possible that the TB also might not fit under the stock hood either.
There were interferences between the engine assembly and the steering linkage, also the steering rack. The mounts were nowhere near anything, but I'm fixing these. I had to remove the oilpan for a second round of undenting, and I welded on some reinforcement.
Looks like the engine needs a couple more test-fits, I'd hoped to get it done in one.

economiser

stilettoman

iTrader: (1)

Many people doing these swaps seem to worry a lot about fitting everything under the hood. Of all the many changes I made to my 84 RX-7 for the V8 swap, modifying the hood was one of the easiest. I just built everything, got it running and then installed the hood. It would not close, so I just started trimming until I had adequate clearance. I went to a local salvage yard and bought a damaged hood from a 280Z. I carefully trimmed out the hood bulge, shortened it and it fit the shape of the FB hood perfectly. I welded it on with lots of tiny tacks to minimize the heat warpage, ground the welds smooth and did my bondo magic. Most people who looked at the car did not even notice the hood was modified.

More recently I picked up a damaged hood from an early Eclipse, which had that teardrop shaped bulge as you may recall. I trimmed out the bulged area and tossed it on the shelf with my collection of miscellaneous sheet metal parts in case I ever have the same problem again.