95 GTS SLA/IRS

Still tackling the SLA, but I've just had a few bumps in the road.  My wife and I were finally married and we took some vacation as well.  The prototype had some drawings for 302 motor mounts that I was finally able to get my hands on.  Bottom line, the design eliminates the traditional motor mounts and bolts the block directly to the k member, which can be seen in the picture.  

Also, I sent the old Koni 8216 shocks off to have them rebuilt/revalved and I was very happy with TrueChoice Racing Services.  Good customer service and very fast turn-around.  

Before I sent them off, I went through the motions and ensure everything was going to fit.  For whatever reason, they designed an aluminum spacer to be put between the strut mount and the frame rail instead of just incorporating it as one unit.  That will be something to change down the road.  With it, everything fits the way its supposed to and i was pretty happy with the travel in the front.  Nothing hits with the spacer, however, in the directions i found, it states that the fox body doesn't require the spacer.  Not sure why it would matter since they are built on the same platform, but when i removed the spacer, the spring and UCA were making contact.  Anybody have any ideas why the different body style with the same frame rail and k-member dimensions would require different shock mount heights?

The bouncer on the cherry picker.  I would have tightened the bleeder three times and twice as hard as usual, then in the back of my mind would be the voice, did you break something by over-tightening it.   Those hurt when they hit the head.

When can I expect delivery of my prototype SLA for my 92.  I will give regular feedback.  Maybe send two so one can be tested in the 89 Lemons racer also.

Nice looking cars.  I sit real close to the steering wheel to get the shifter where I like it, can totally see if someone had long legs a remote shifter would be needed.

In reply to akylekoz :

Clearly you haven't set the motor back far enough. 

akylekoz said:

The bouncer on the cherry picker.  I would have tightened the bleeder three times and twice as hard as usual, then in the back of my mind would be the voice, did you break something by over-tightening it.   Those hurt when they hit the head.

When can I expect delivery of my prototype SLA for my 92.  I will give regular feedback.  Maybe send two so one can be tested in the 89 Lemons racer also.

Nice looking cars.  I sit real close to the steering wheel to get the shifter where I like it, can totally see if someone had long legs a remote shifter would be needed.

I'll definitely look you up when we are in the production phase, any feedback and people willing to provide it is helpful!  Also, thanks for the comments on the cars.  The remote shifter is a necessity for me with long legs.  Makes it a lot easier to shift.

What were you referencing aout the bouncer on the cherry picker and it hurts when they hit the head?  I was a little lost on that one.

For those of you who care to follow, the car is finally going under the knife here very shortly. Everything is assembled and ready to be simply thrown into place.  I'm waiting on my engine support bar to arrive and I can begin the process.  Since the goal is to ultimately mass produce these for consumers, its really helped me focus on what needs to change and what we can improve upon.  We've already modified the design to a partial tubular k-member and currently working on providing more adjustability to the upper control arm for caster and camber purposes.  All in all, its a very good platform to start with and extremely happy with how simple it has been.  Just takes time with a one-year-old running around everywhere!

In reply to horse_play_22 :

That is one sharp, well thought out SLA setup.  Good work!

I would think there is a large market for this.

In reply to mbruneaux :

There is a decent market for sure, but the problem is there are only two reputable suppliers right now but neither are cheap for the everyday consumer/track-goer.  Our goal is to provide a kit like this one, with some fine adjustments, as our top level kit and then our next project is to develop bolt-in style SLA suspension kits for mustangs with stock k-members (or similar to stock k-members) for an even cheaper price; obviously hoping to not compromise a significant amount of performance by doing so.  

In reply to JGRAHAM :

Thanks a lot!  Appreciate the compliments.

horse_play_22 said:

In reply to mbruneaux :

There is a decent market for sure, but the problem is there are only two reputable suppliers right now but neither are cheap for the everyday consumer/track-goer.  Our goal is to provide a kit like this one, with some fine adjustments, as our top level kit and then our next project is to develop bolt-in style SLA suspension kits for mustangs with stock k-members (or similar to stock k-members) for an even cheaper price; obviously hoping to not compromise a significant amount of performance by doing so.  

How would a Fox application differ if at all?

In reply to GCrites80s :

It does not differ greatly at all.  The only two concerns are spindles and wheel well clearance.  With the foxes having such smaller wheel wells, we have to make a spacing adjustment to the upper shock tower to prevent the wheel from destroying your well liner.  For our application to work, it will require 94-04 spindles.  We were originally considering making it for the 4-lug foxes, but typically anyone who is willing to purchase this type of setup would already have five lug spindles.  if not, we are looking at selling them.  Our kits will accommodate the difference in the steering arm height by providing offset steering rack bushings and bumpsteer kits.

Just read through it all - excellent project and enjoying the read. Any chance you can repost any of the old photos that have dead links?

In reply to Tillerman :

Well dang... they must've just went dead.  What are people using to post photos nowadays? Apparently what I had is no longer working.

Try looking again, i found some of the pictures and re-added them.  i'm just using facebook, so i don't know if they allow it to take place or not.

This past weekend i attempted the install of the SLA.  Not very successfull with the final install, but we learned a lot by doing so and it was worth it.

First thing i annotated was that the track width was about an inch shorter than the stock track width.  Come to find out, the control arms I personally had with me were an original design and the final ones were a half an inch longer, which i did not have.  Fortunately, my partner had a spare set of the correct length of the upper control arms that he is going to put in the mail for me.  In addition, we are re-designing the lower control arm for a few reasons, but the main one is to make it simple and provide a little adjustability to the consumer if needed.  Plus, the ones we had were not the correct length.  It'll support the stock style sway bar, with a few levels of adjustment, (hopefully saving the consumer some cash) and also decrease manufacturer's cost.  Instead of bushings like the old ones, we plan to keep it simple with rod ends.

The other item I found out was that the motor mounts I was using for the build were originally part of their "race" package, which meant it shoved the motor back almost two inches and dropped it down by about a half of an inch.  I wasn't expecting that, and since I didn't have a new driveshaft, exhaust, and transmission mount in the budget, I dropped the mounts off at a fabricator to help me relocate the holes forward.  However, we took measurements of the stock k member and ours and plan on providing something a little in-between for the customer if they want it.  Ideally, our kit is going to offer modular motor mounts.  So i should be able to utilize the same k member and the customer can order different mounts to support the old 5.0, 5.7, 4.6, and the new 5.0/5.2.  With the the old 5.0 mounts, we should be able to incorporate a setting to slide the motor back an inch without any problems, similar to that of Maximum Motorsports.

My prototype didn't have any place the mount the brake lines to once they were relocated.  It is as simply as mounting a tab to the k member and using a 5/16" bolt, so I quickly fabricated a couple of tabs and plan on welding them to the bottom of the main support.

The other issues was the upper shock mount.  The ones I have in my hands were designed to be used without the spacer between the upper shock mount and the frame rails, which means the top bolt hole was not in the correct place and the angles of fitment were a little off.  Fortunately, my partner had a pair of the correct ones in place as well and they will be getting shipped with the correct upper control arms.

once they arrive, i will only be waiting on the lower control arms to be manufactured.  After I get everything bolted up into place, and everything fits correctly, I plan on posting up some more photos for everyone to see.  The cool part however, is that I'm actually making progress for the first time in a long time and I'm hoping to keep it going.

I just did - looks great and a much better read with the photos. Thanks!

Not everything went as smooth as I hoped, but the k member is in and so is the rest of the setup.  I moved the front ARB forward by an inch, which will work out perfectly with our setup, as it drops the ARB link pretty much right next to lower control arm.

I had to drop the k member a few times and do some self-fabrication on a few of the components.  This was definitely a show model, as it didn't line up quite the way I hoped for.  After elongating a couple of the rear holes and modifying an upper control arm mount, it fits.  Everything was pretty smooth after that point.

As stated earlier, the lower control arm has been created but we are still waiting on manufacturing.  once that is in, it will move the ball joint another 1/2 inch outward for the correct track width and create a mounting location for the ARB.  The goal is to provide a couple of different mounting locations for the sway bar for a little bit of sway bar adjustment.