Project: Cheap thrills
08-27-2016, 05:17 PM
#51
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Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: NS
Posts: 51
Well, I don't know what the hell I was looking at the other day, but a re-inspection of the K member reveals no rust where I thought it was rusted through.
All I can figure was it was a shadow or dirt line or I was a victim of second hand crack smoke.
So, Monday morning the first stop is the yard to stop them before they start pulling the sn95 k member.
But, since my K member is good and it's the "narrow" version I'm going to pick up the SN95 A arms to go with the spindles. That will give me enough camber adjustment to deal with the positive camber the sn95 spindles give you on a fox.
I'll still pull the K member and do the Mathis modifications and engine setback this winter though.
I'll also be moving the battery to a sunken box in the RH rear hatch floor, among other things.
It's just a "Sunday drive" street car, but that don't mean I can't have it handle well too....
All I can figure was it was a shadow or dirt line or I was a victim of second hand crack smoke.
So, Monday morning the first stop is the yard to stop them before they start pulling the sn95 k member.
But, since my K member is good and it's the "narrow" version I'm going to pick up the SN95 A arms to go with the spindles. That will give me enough camber adjustment to deal with the positive camber the sn95 spindles give you on a fox.
I'll still pull the K member and do the Mathis modifications and engine setback this winter though.
I'll also be moving the battery to a sunken box in the RH rear hatch floor, among other things.
It's just a "Sunday drive" street car, but that don't mean I can't have it handle well too....
08-28-2016, 12:17 PM
#52
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Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: NS
Posts: 51
Current plans: 83 K-member slid forward with control arm mounts moved in/up, engine moved back 1" on mounts, 2000 SN95 control arms, 2000 steering rack.
The 2000 stuff will come from a V6. The control arms are dimensional-ly the same as all 94-04 arms, but allow more clearance for a tighter turning radius and larger rims. Supposedly, my planned configuration will fit under the fenders, my K-member modifications should tuck them in just nicely with perhaps a little rolling of the fender lips and a light trim of the front lower body work.
The Steering rack is nothing special to an SN95, but better than the fox rack currently in the 83 and it will have the right length tie rods for the 95 sn95 spindles.
The steering shaft will have to be modified. You can buy off the shelf solutions to mate the Sn95 rack to the fox column, but they're around 200 bucks USD. That won't do for my budget, so I'll make my own hybrid out of an SN95 shaft and my fox shaft. I've seen a couple ways of doing it through an internet search. I think I can just rotate my wheel since I have the pre-airbag column. If I can't, I'll just take the rack apart and rotate the gear.
I'll need caster/camber plates. I'm undecided on making them or buying them. I had a set once upon a time and all I needed to do was some welding to finish them, but a divorce meant they went in the trash with a lot of other mustang stuff and tools I wasn't quick enough to get out of the house. Now the aurora bearings cost almost as much as a cheap set of finished plates.....yeesh.
I'm not building a track car and it is a budget build, so mixing and matching factory parts (and building a few things) to get the best all around package is the path for me. Just looking to build a nice street car with a little something "extra".
Some home built subframe connectors, rocker rail reinforcements, an SN95 rear 8.8, a panhard bar and a torque arm will round out the chassis. Probably chuck a K-member brace and strut tower brace in and call it a day.
I have toyed with a roll bar/cage, but I'm thinking that might be going a little too far for this car and it's intended use...
The 2000 stuff will come from a V6. The control arms are dimensional-ly the same as all 94-04 arms, but allow more clearance for a tighter turning radius and larger rims. Supposedly, my planned configuration will fit under the fenders, my K-member modifications should tuck them in just nicely with perhaps a little rolling of the fender lips and a light trim of the front lower body work.
The Steering rack is nothing special to an SN95, but better than the fox rack currently in the 83 and it will have the right length tie rods for the 95 sn95 spindles.
The steering shaft will have to be modified. You can buy off the shelf solutions to mate the Sn95 rack to the fox column, but they're around 200 bucks USD. That won't do for my budget, so I'll make my own hybrid out of an SN95 shaft and my fox shaft. I've seen a couple ways of doing it through an internet search. I think I can just rotate my wheel since I have the pre-airbag column. If I can't, I'll just take the rack apart and rotate the gear.
I'll need caster/camber plates. I'm undecided on making them or buying them. I had a set once upon a time and all I needed to do was some welding to finish them, but a divorce meant they went in the trash with a lot of other mustang stuff and tools I wasn't quick enough to get out of the house. Now the aurora bearings cost almost as much as a cheap set of finished plates.....yeesh.
I'm not building a track car and it is a budget build, so mixing and matching factory parts (and building a few things) to get the best all around package is the path for me. Just looking to build a nice street car with a little something "extra".
Some home built subframe connectors, rocker rail reinforcements, an SN95 rear 8.8, a panhard bar and a torque arm will round out the chassis. Probably chuck a K-member brace and strut tower brace in and call it a day.
I have toyed with a roll bar/cage, but I'm thinking that might be going a little too far for this car and it's intended use...
Last edited by Great white; 08-28-2016 at 12:31 PM.
09-11-2016, 08:06 AM
#54
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Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: NS
Posts: 51
So I picked up a master cylinder and another spindle.
Spindle will make a good spare in case I fire it off into the weeds on a CAM-T run and bend a steering arm or something:
It's even the right 94-95 spindle for my SN95/Fox mix. You can tell by the "jog" in the steering arm. 96-04 have straight arms and don't work well with the stock K-member on a Fox. They induce un-correctable bump steer.
Actually, I think this one is in a little better shape then the ones I already have (IE: rusties). I may just use this one instead.
But the real score is the booster/master cylinder:
Complete and ready to bolt in. Has the added bonus of having the proportioning valve still attached. So all I have left to source for the complete SN95 brake conversion is the 8.8 SN95 rear axle. Hard lines I'll just run and flare myself.
All this for 40 bucks.
So, once I pop for some fresh pads and rotors (and build my hard lines) I've got a complete front SN95 brake system with the PBR twin pot calipers for 110 bucks.
If I add it all up:
100 bucks for SN95 A arms
40 bucks for master cylinder
70 bucks for calipers
80 bucks for Sn95 spindles
estimate 100 bucks for new rotors
estimate 80 bucks for good pads
toss in 100 bucks for the new rims
Figure 70 bucks for hard lines and fluid
total - 640 bucks.
Not bad for modern brakes, sn95 front end suspension and a 5 lug conversion!
Now it's 200 bucks for an SN95 axle and it's done all around for brakes and 5 lug. Then i can get on to fabricating the panhard bar and torque arm rear suspension.
I didn't account for buying tires, but I'd have to buy a new set anyways. No getting away from that cost....
Spindle will make a good spare in case I fire it off into the weeds on a CAM-T run and bend a steering arm or something:
It's even the right 94-95 spindle for my SN95/Fox mix. You can tell by the "jog" in the steering arm. 96-04 have straight arms and don't work well with the stock K-member on a Fox. They induce un-correctable bump steer.
Actually, I think this one is in a little better shape then the ones I already have (IE: rusties). I may just use this one instead.
But the real score is the booster/master cylinder:
Complete and ready to bolt in. Has the added bonus of having the proportioning valve still attached. So all I have left to source for the complete SN95 brake conversion is the 8.8 SN95 rear axle. Hard lines I'll just run and flare myself.
All this for 40 bucks.
So, once I pop for some fresh pads and rotors (and build my hard lines) I've got a complete front SN95 brake system with the PBR twin pot calipers for 110 bucks.
If I add it all up:
100 bucks for SN95 A arms
40 bucks for master cylinder
70 bucks for calipers
80 bucks for Sn95 spindles
estimate 100 bucks for new rotors
estimate 80 bucks for good pads
toss in 100 bucks for the new rims
Figure 70 bucks for hard lines and fluid
total - 640 bucks.
Not bad for modern brakes, sn95 front end suspension and a 5 lug conversion!
Now it's 200 bucks for an SN95 axle and it's done all around for brakes and 5 lug. Then i can get on to fabricating the panhard bar and torque arm rear suspension.
I didn't account for buying tires, but I'd have to buy a new set anyways. No getting away from that cost....
09-11-2016, 08:07 AM
#55
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Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: NS
Posts: 51
it's been a long 2 days, but the 16" rims and 96 rear diff are sitting in my driveway in the bed of my truck....
Took me just under and hour to pull the rear axle out of a rusty old 96. So crusty the jack stands pushed the OEM jack point up (and most of the rear suspension mount point) into the rockers when the car's weight came down on it. Crusty crusty crusty.......
It's only a 7.5, but good thing is the rest of it was complete. Except for some clean up and maybe some new seals, I could bolt it in and go if I wanted too.
I'll run it 'till it pops or I find an 8.8 housing. All the 7.5 stuff that matters (brakes, five lug shafts, etc) will transfer right over to any mustang 8.8 up to a 99.
Not bad for 100 bucks. Would cost me more than that for just calipers and pads...
Took me just under and hour to pull the rear axle out of a rusty old 96. So crusty the jack stands pushed the OEM jack point up (and most of the rear suspension mount point) into the rockers when the car's weight came down on it. Crusty crusty crusty.......
It's only a 7.5, but good thing is the rest of it was complete. Except for some clean up and maybe some new seals, I could bolt it in and go if I wanted too.
I'll run it 'till it pops or I find an 8.8 housing. All the 7.5 stuff that matters (brakes, five lug shafts, etc) will transfer right over to any mustang 8.8 up to a 99.
Not bad for 100 bucks. Would cost me more than that for just calipers and pads...
09-11-2016, 08:09 AM
#56
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Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: NS
Posts: 51
pics:
I just swung the axle out of the bed with the engine crane and on to a car dolley. Easy peasy.
Like I said, it's a 7.5 and I would have preferred an 8.8, but I also only spent 100 bucks on it and I'd have to spend more than that on just a set of aftermarket brake caliper brackets. I'm good with it.
I just wish NS weather wasn't so hard on car parts. Lots of clean up to do. I got really spoiled buying used parts when I was out west....
Couldn't resist plopping one of the rims in front of the tires to get a quick visual:
Looks pretty good. They're 16's, but that's large enough for me. Gives me a little more sidewall than 17's or 18's (bloody important on crappy NS roads!) and a little less sidewall for autocross days. It's a good compromise between big and small IMHO. I never got on the "big wheels little tire" thing, so I don't feel the need to go bigger just for appearances sake..
These will also clear the 12" brakes I'll be running. Had I found 13" cobra brakes at a reasonable cost, I might have gone looking for 17's, but we all know the "rarer" stuff is near impossible to find in NS.....
I just swung the axle out of the bed with the engine crane and on to a car dolley. Easy peasy.
Like I said, it's a 7.5 and I would have preferred an 8.8, but I also only spent 100 bucks on it and I'd have to spend more than that on just a set of aftermarket brake caliper brackets. I'm good with it.
I just wish NS weather wasn't so hard on car parts. Lots of clean up to do. I got really spoiled buying used parts when I was out west....
Couldn't resist plopping one of the rims in front of the tires to get a quick visual:
Looks pretty good. They're 16's, but that's large enough for me. Gives me a little more sidewall than 17's or 18's (bloody important on crappy NS roads!) and a little less sidewall for autocross days. It's a good compromise between big and small IMHO. I never got on the "big wheels little tire" thing, so I don't feel the need to go bigger just for appearances sake..
These will also clear the 12" brakes I'll be running. Had I found 13" cobra brakes at a reasonable cost, I might have gone looking for 17's, but we all know the "rarer" stuff is near impossible to find in NS.....
