Solid progress.
Drivers rail is in. Tooked some Jack's and ratchet straps. Sure would be easier if I had some concrete to work on.
Tossed on some other wheels to see
V6 mustang wheel. Offset not right
15in trailer wheel, offset really wrong
I'd like to see if I can find a 16in wheel that sucks in a bit more.
In reply to NOHOME :
Undecided.
Two plans right
Use donor rear setup.
Or just use an explorer 8.8, since it's a leaf spring axle already . Though I bet it will need different leaf springs
Need to get some body saw blades to cut the fenders for flares. Any recommendations on good body saw blades?
Also, I used to have a strut catalog that gave all the dimensions for them. I apparently don't have it on this phone and haven't been able to find it again. Anyone have it?
Well, backward progress. Some how it shifted on my. Was offset to the passenger side about a 1/4in.
So
Going try and get it in place tomorrow. That's what I get for rushing.
For the rear suspension you can make something in the way of a really crude stick axle that will work just fine with low unsprung weight. Do not use the Explorer live axle, it is very much heavier than you need. Even the Mazda axle is overkill. What you do need to do is match the rear track width to the front, or a few inches less, but much wider than what you have with the original live axle. Original springs should be close to adaquite.
The fact that you are doing this in the dirt amazes me.
I did not see the FWD plan until you actually stuck it in the hole and that has taken me a while to adjust to mentally.
Pete
In reply to NOHOME :
Me too. But trying to spend as little money and use what I got laying around. And I'm getting a divorce, so I have a bunch of free time and not alot of money. So far I'm only into the swap for $80 for the 24ft of 2x3 tubing. Well another $100 for a new c25 tank because mine was empty and out of date. Had about $500 into the Mazda 3 to go get it and get it running.
Found that strut catalog.
Looks like 92-95 civic have the same body and are almost 3in shorter.
And the 2008-2013 BMW 128i are about 2.5 inches shorter.
Just have to verify the body diameter is the same. The catalog only gives body styles and lengths, not diameters.
Got the rear mounts made up. Forgot to take a picture of that.
Cleaned it out and removed the gas tank.
Valve cover is about 4in away
Vise gripped on the front core support.
I had a 59 english ford, and I swapped in a toyota truck drivetrain. Was my daily driver for years.
I had to cut the firewall to make it fit, but other than that it worked and did it super cheap.
And I also have an mg midget that I swapped in a 3-cyl geo metro motor with a Suzuki Samuri 5-speed. The Tracker is bigger and not exactly a bolt-up to the
geo 3-cyl (the samura has the 1.3 4-cyl equivalent, the Tracker has the 1.6 "big block".
That mazda fwd swap looks like a bad idea...hope you don't mind my saying so, I don't hold back. ;)
The 3-cyl in my superlight mg is plenty of power.
In reply to nimblemotorsports :
My original plan was v8 gasser. Hence the 2x3 frame. Very likely to happen some day, that's why I'll prob put an 8.8 in the rear.
But it will cost me atleast couple grand to round up the parts I want for a gasser build. Mazda parts cost me nothing since I have them and the tube frame will work for the gasser swap. Mazda will donate its wiring and fuel system, which I would have had to buy otherwise.
Fusion 2.5 makes around 175hp and tq, car should be around 2k LBS. It should be pretty quick and rock 30mpg.
I really want a 331 hemi with velocity stacks but those are so far out of my price range it never happen.
While watching a recent Urchfab video I found out there's a company in the UK making fiberglass body parts for these cars that appear to be pretty high quality. I looked up the company that sells them, they make all kinds of cool stuff including entire bodies for some other English Fords. http://www.oldfordautos.co.uk/
In reply to bigfranks84 :
My Dad (rip) would love what you're doing here. i believe he'd say you've got more nerve than Dick Tracy, which would be a pretty high compliment coming from him. the only thing higher would be if he referred to you as "that wild-ass bigfranks84." i'm saving that for first drive. ;-)
Yeah, old ford is suppose to be the good quality parts, some of the others are real bad. Maybe down the road to get weight down, these stock fenders and doors weight a bunch.
Pricing was reasonable on the items, never checked what freight would be though. I just emailed them out of curiosity of freight cost.
In reply to AngryCorvair :
Thanks, I'm also looking forward to the first ride. I figure if its to slow I could always build a log exhaust manifold and toss about 10psi of boost at it.
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