Boredom Can Make People Do Strange Things

You need Keith to come by and make that spoiler do the Groucho Marx wiggle.

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Wow, I was worried where this might go, based on the thread title, but this thing is winning on so many levels.

David S. Wallens wrote: Totally works. Someone should send me a few high-res photos of that one, too. You never know....

PM sent. That should cover most angles.

gearheadE30 wrote: Looks awesome! Since the panther and my chevy B-body have almost identical suspensions - I'm running 850 lb/in in the front and 410 in the rear. Fronts are straight-rate, rears are progressive. No rear anti roll bar, and something like 1 3/8" dia. solid front bar. This is on a wagon, and it feels very good, however I wouldn't want to go any stiffer on the rear, since steady state cornering is right on the edge of oversteer. YMMV on a sedan, but maybe useful info. Make sure you can get shocks that can handle the springs. I'm on my 3rd different set in 12k miles and finally found some that are stiff enough to control the springs and don't seem like they're going to blow out in a month. (Fox Racing, revalved by Hotchkis). If you want them, I have set of 700 lb/in front springs that may fit that - I think they are Moog 80090 or 5664. $40 will get them to your door.

Thanks! I have a set of 1000 lb/in front springs on a shelf in the garage that fit perfectly (G body racing front springs fit perfectly on a 92-02 Panther, b-body ones wouldn't quite be the right diameter), and since oversteer is the goal, I'm going with 830 lb/in or so rear springs designed for a late 60s Chevy half-ton (pigtail both ends, diameter and height should fit beautifully). I've been looking at shock options, I'm just deciding which one would be more ideal. In terms of valving, I'm thinking that the bump should be about 25% stiffer than the rebound, to keep the spring compression in check on a BOF boat, but not to upset mid-corner angle if I end up hitting an off-camber bump half way through the slide. Either way, it will be interesting.

With stiff springs, you'll need quite a bit of rebound to keep things from getting bouncy.

FWIW, I'm running Bilsteins with their 400/100 (rebound / compression) valving on the Jeep with 280 lb front springs and progressive rears (about 320 at ride height, close to 600 at full compression).

In reply to rslifkin:

I guess that's the difference with drifting a barge. I have to induce a ton of angle upon entry (mostly just by trail-braking a little and then power-over as I don't have a Hydro E-brake installed), so I want the rebound to be softer than the compression to allow the car to transition smoother (stiff compression for more controlled outside front camber changes during weight transfer) and handle mid-corner surface undulations and dirt-drops better (softer rebound for smoother recovery). At least, that's what an acquaintance of mine found when he dialed in his Mustang, YMMV as ever.

KyAllroad wrote: <img src="" />

Um? What? Why? Is this much downforce in the rear really needed or is it to help get the front in the air for takeoff?

In reply to D2W:

When your racing around cones in a parking lot, go big or go home...

(Also if you look at it from above, it does not protrude past the original bodywork, this it's legal in class and probably effective at low speeds)

Yup. That's it exactly. At only 40-70 mph you need a stupid amount of spoiler for effective downforce. My underprepped, wrong tire wearing CSP Miata saw over 1.4 G with this spoiler.

Nick (Bo) Comstock wrote: In reply to D2W: When your racing around cones in a parking lot, go big or go home... (Also if you look at it from above, it does not protrude past the original bodywork, this it's legal in class and probably effective at low speeds)

If those are CSP cars, isn't the rule that the spoiler can be 10" tall max? Some of those look way bigger.

I love it. More pictures.

Coldsnap wrote: I love it. More pictures.

This. So much this

KyAllroad wrote: Yup. That's it exactly. At only 40-70 mph you need a stupid amount of spoiler for effective downforce. My underprepped, wrong tire wearing CSP Miata saw over 1.4 G with this spoiler.

Did you guys do anything up front to even out the down force or just that rear spoiler?

Rufledt wrote:

Coldsnap wrote: I love it. More pictures.

This. So much this

Do these help? (Posting from a weird rooted android tablet branded as a polaroid because my laptop is in for warranty work, sorry if anything gets screwed up).

Stampie wrote:

KyAllroad wrote: Yup. That's it exactly. At only 40-70 mph you need a stupid amount of spoiler for effective downforce. My underprepped, wrong tire wearing CSP Miata saw over 1.4 G with this spoiler.

Did you guys do anything up front to even out the down force or just that rear spoiler?

The correctly prepped CSP cars have pretty aggressive splitters on the front. Mine has a GV chin spoiler right now, it's a process prepping the silly things. And good eye about spoiler height. Mine is more like 11.5" high but gives up 4" on either end. Again, first attempt/local use mostly/cost $25.

G_Body_Man wrote:

Rufledt wrote:

Coldsnap wrote: I love it. More pictures.

This. So much this

Do these help? (Posting from a weird rooted android tablet branded as a polaroid because my laptop is in for warranty work, sorry if anything gets screwed up).

Good stance, The Crown Vic has it

Not the same, but for some reason this reminds me of the vibe from this MK II Granada build on RetroRides,

The idea

As it turned out.

i am pretty sure bilstein makes shocks for the panther chassis and you should be able to get them revalved for your lowering and spring rates.

because at that height i have to assume you'd blow oem spec stuff pretty quickly.

In reply to failboat:

Knock on wood, the junkyard bilsteins I picked up are holding pretty good. No leaks, no blown shocks, no bind.

right on, didnt know you had already scored a set.

G_Body_Man wrote:

It's not my car, but if I can intrude with a suggestion, I think removing the dealer sticker would really help the overall look of the rear. Stuff like that has always bothered me though, so maybe it's just me.

In reply to STM317:

It's kinda awful, but there's no denying the hilarity of a sticker that says "good used cars" on an obscenely loud, pretty low, winged hooptie of a Crown Vic. Also, it doesn't want to come off with a plastic razor blaze.

put a carmax license plate on it *thumbs up

In reply to Coldsnap:

I'm thinking of doing the whole "Cosmo Kramer" for when I'm at meets or on course.