I've never used the Eastwood cutter, but the one from Blair works excellent: http://www.blairequipment.com/Spotweld_Cut...ld_Cutters.html

#13224 is what I have. You just have to be careful when you flip the cutter over after you break a tooth off. If you squeeze too hard you'll break the cutter. Mildly expensive, but worth their weight in gold over drilling through then having to fill.

Kevin,
I'm sure your going to trailer the car to distant events, but are you going to use little trailer behind the car for local events? I have an old third gen hitch you can have for free if you want it.

Nah, I'll probably just drive it to local stuff. But I've got a draw bar that might fit your hitch that I'm trying to get rid of. Maybe we can make it a set for someone.

Patch panels are on the firewall. Autometer shift light is installed where the vent used to be. Autometer oil pressure warning light is installed under the dash. I pulled the heater bypass valve and all of the associated plumbing that was lumped in there with it.

I've still got a lot of work to do.

<parts-hound hat = ON>

So...uh...Kevin, it looks GREAT! But I mean really, that ugly old airbag steering wheel, WOW that is ug-LEE...I'm sure you are going to get a nice wheel for it and when you do, just remember, I'm here for you. I'll take that old stock wheel so you don't have to worry about it ANYmore...

that is, as long as the foam inside it hasnt broken down and made it feel like the outside of the wheel isnt attached to the inside.

Lookin good!


Costas
cars and such...

Costas,

That wheel was listed in several for sale threads. It's "leaving", I'm just not sure when. The leather sucks (worn through) and the air bag cover is a bit warped, but it's a real airbag wheel and if it's useful to you, send me a pm and let me know what it's worth and I'll see if a new wheel is in the budget yet.

Paul,

Will a wheel out of a '96 work for you? Mine is coming out sometime this winter and it is still real decent.

I'm noticing that the kid who originally owned/built this car was a real rocket scientist. The neutral safety switch was jumpered with one of those "golf keys". The little key with two prongs on it (I'm not a golfer, so I don't remember what it's for) and wrapped in electrical tape. The IAT wires have been extended, the ends were tinned with solder and plugged into the connector (just laying on the intake manifold.....you didn't do that did you Mike?). The cruise cut off switch (or clutch switch, not sure which one it was supposed to be) is just tied up under the dash and not installed into anything. The hole he cut for the clutch master cylinder in the firewall is about 50% larger than it should have been and I'm going to have to patch the firewall and make a new hole. It all works ok, but it is a less than ideal job. Other than that, and the random and misc. wires that seem to be everywhere, all is about normal. So, I'm doing a build up and clean up all in one shot.

I'm sure I'll find other stuff as I go along.

Sounds like a 3rd gen to me

Thanks, but a 96 won't work.

It's a 92, so for FStawk it has to have a 92 wheel in it. B4C2 has a wheel with the middle top all squishy and not really attached to the metal very good and it bugs me.

Kevin, if your wheel is in decent shape (besides wear) and you are replacing it, then let me know. I don't need the airbag, just the wheel.


Costas
cars and such...

Now that you mention it, most of them that I've worked on had similar issues in one way or another. Maybe they were factory options to keep the techs guessing???




It's in decent shape and I will be pulling it (sooner or later) and it's "yours". It's solid, just ugly.

More progress:

The oil temp and oil pressure gauges are mounted. The oil pressure warning light is installed and hooked up (except it's not hooked to the sending unit because it's not easily reached behind a stealth ram (I'm still working on that part). The gauges even have lights that work and dim with the knob. The shift light is installed and fully functional. I removed the wiring harness that ran from the climate controls to the blower motor and AC compressor, etc. It's all gone and in a pile to sell for scrap. The car still starts, so it doesn't seem to miss any of it. I soldered the IAT wires properly. I moved the wideband O2 sensor display to the air vent above it's previous location and put the two new gauges under the air vents next to the pro lite oil pressure warning light. Oh, and the airbag sensors have been removed (crap, I just realized that I left the SIR warning light in the dash and put the dash panel back on and installed the headlight switch, guess I'll have to pull that apart and remove the bulb.... ).

And, I forgot the digital camera today, so I have no updated pics for tonight.

Even I could not help getting that connector on. Well, at least your project is still running!

UPS brought me more toys and Jegs supplied the rest (I had to give them money, but either way, the stuff came from there).

The ground control stuff is here.

The sponsor stickers are making their way onto the car.

The power steering cooler has arrived (and I have hose for it too now).

The steering wheel has been swapped out (Do you hear that Costas?).

McMaster has the same thing for $16 - spare 3/8" cutters are 4093A35 $9.06ea Use a cutting oil, and first put a divot in the middle of the spot weld with a center punch - it will keep the bit from walking around.

On the front weight jack, is there a thrust bearing between the upper mount and the bolt, or are those just big washers? I assume that it is not bolted tight, since the bolt needs to rotate relative to the mount.

I should have bought the GC kit. I’m having trouble with my rears.

It's not bolted tight. But I don't see any signs of a bearing. There might be a nylon piece or something in there. I'd have to look more closely.

Thanks Alan, I'll check them out.

My set don't have a bearing and were bolted tight when I got them. I assumed that the idea is that the whole hat rotates in the spring pocket. But over time the bolt will lossen up and just the threaded shaft will turn.

I tried having the bolt tight on my rear jacks and it got kinda hung up when adjusting. I'm going to try keeping the bolt a little loose but use loctite on the threads.

Check goes out today!


thanks!
Costas
cars and such...

I'm glad to help out.

If looking more closely entails disassembly..take more pictures. And if you could double check the size estimates posted in the other thread that would be awesome. Thanks for the pictures.

http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/index.php?showtopic=9929

I'm not sure what they did for locktite and such, so I'm not planning to disassemble them. Actually, they are cheap enough that I can't justify making a set, but that's just me.

Please take pictures once you get the front weight jackers installed.

Last night we installed the driveshaft (thanks Pimpmaro for the help) and started on the rear suspension. We hit a few snags and found that the rear LCA bolts were not too cooperative. Bubba353Z (who I bought the car from) is on vacation this week and I must thank him for taking time to run out and locate some proper replacement LCA bolts today while I was at work. Thanks Mike! We did get the rear springs and weight jacks installed. The rear jacks had to be modified to clear the reinforcing "plate" on the PHB end of the axle, Pimpmaro started on this with a bench grinder and then I attacked it with a chop saw. Once the rough cut was done, Garrett (pimpmaro) cleaned it up on the bench grinder. No problem.... We spent the rest of the night staring at the car and finally we worked out the location for the remote oil filter and power steering cooler.

Today, I'm expecting a box full of goodies from hotpart.com. I've got Camber plates coming, I've got their rear LCA's (heim/heim) to go on the car. I've got some shocks coming and I'm picking up one of their new (just released) swedged chromoly heim/heim PHB's. It's not welded and that removes the issues/concerns of welding and heat treating, etc. They simply swedge the end of the tubing down enough to tap it for the rod ends. I've seen photos of it and it looks very well done. I'm waiting on mine to arrive, when it does, I'll take photos and post some pics. I'll post pics of the other goodies after they arrive as well.

Once all of that arrives, we'll have shocks to go with the springs and we can tear the front and rear down and get all of the stuff installed (brake kit, springs, rear sway bar, LCA's, etc). The car is currently on jackstands in my garage and it's prepped for me/us to get to work and see what we can accomplish tonight.

You work pretty fast.

Is that swaged PHB steel or Alum? I've been thinking about this. I went with the Aluminum Coleman design but am concerned about the bending/compression stiffness. I can grab a hold of it and it wiggles pretty good. I larger OD would fix that.

I'm planning to work on my PS cooler tonight as well. Where did you decide to place it?

8 days to Nashville (give or take), we have to work fast.



It is a Chromoly PHB.

This has been an express "build" to make Nashville and almost everything has arrived here now. I'm still waiting on a radiator from Afco racing and some -10 hose, etc.

Power steering cooler is probably going on the radiator support that runs up the center of the radiator (but out in front of it). That shouldn't impact the radiator function much and should get good airflow. I might move it later, who knows.

In compression and tension the aluminum Coleman bar is more than stiff enough. It's on the order of only a few thousandths more deflection than a steel bar.

I can't wait to check out your car in NVille Kevin.

I just hope it's not all still in boxes......

If it's in running shape (even if not done), I'm hoping to shake it down at an autocross this weekend. Just for testing purposes (on hard street tires).

Better get there by 7am or you will not get a spot!

I'm guessing it's too late to register....

Oh well, if I'm going to make it (and I'm not still up and working on the car at 7am), I'll be there early.

No. It's still open until 6:00 pm CST tomorrow.

Sweet.

Struts and front "stuff" is apart.

Back to the garage, more later.

Ok, the Hotpart camber plates are artwork, true artwork. This is a new design that allows for extra clearance around the master cylinder. I ran it against the stops and couldn't make it hit the master cylinder. Did I mention that these things are artwork?

The shocks arrived (also from Hotpart).

The remote oil filter is mounted (unless I change it, but I think I'm going to try it here first).

The EB Miller brake kit parts came out of the box. We should have them installed tomorrow night.

The rear Koni's and Ground Control springs are in place.

The Hotpart LCA's are ready (with new hardware since the stuff on the car seems stuck) to be installed tomorrow. Pretty, aren't they?

The front suspension is all apart, the stock brakes are off and the new Koni's are actually hanging in the camber plates so we can mate them with the new brake kit/spindle tomorrow evening.

The inside of the car is a mess, it's full of tools and "stuff". I'll clean it up after we get the suspension on.

The KYB's are out (I told you that these parts weren't on the car long, they look about new).

And, I think I'm going to give up racing now that I've read the warning on this box for racing harnesses. Maybe I should change brands (to one that doesn't tell me that I will be injured or killed????). Now that's faith in your product.....

Photos of the swedged chromoly PHB from Hotpart. I don't have mine yet, but here's what it looks like. I should have mine in a couple days (it's on the way). I'm anxious to lay my hands on it and get it under the car.

Which EB Miller brake kit did ya go with?

It was still in a box, my friend had bought it for the car and I got it with the car. It's the C4HD rotor/1LE caliper (basically Ford Cobra brakes) kit. It will work for now, I'll probably upgrade to Skulte Performance's wilwood kit in the future.

humm I might have to get some of the Hotparts camber plates for when I tear into the front end for the brake swap.. they do look SWEET !!!!

Dave,

I've been around several camber plates (often on Mustangs, but some on 3rd gens) and these are the absolute nicest camber plates I've ever laid my hands on. I haven't seen them all, but the fit and finish on these are as good as any and better than most. I was very impressed when I pulled them out of the box. It's a brand new product from Hotpart (I was expecting the previous design when I ordered them) and so far, I really like them.

Skulte has a Wilwood kit? I've never noticed it on his website.

Whew... I'm not an idiot since I couldn't find it!

Andris, we'd love to hear the details, please start another thread!

There's a thread around here where Andris just put 4 piston Wilwoods on his 3rd gen. I'm not sure it's a kit, but he did one for him and I was trying to talk him into making me some brackets to do mine. Maybe I should put it that way......

Geez Jules, you're getting slow.....

Here's the thread:

http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/index.php?showtopic=9467

At least I am in good company!

The good news is that most of the rear end is back together. I'm just waiting on the PHB which should arrive very shortly. I have to thank Garrett (Pimpmaro) for handling that job while we worked on the front end.

Garrett with his two favorite tools, a hammer and a screwdriver. Neither of which fit the rear suspension as I remember.....

When you install the weight jacks, the flat side goes up and the pigtail goes into the slot in the control arm.

Then, make sure you line up the notch (weld "bump") with the gap in the spring.

Stack it like so...

Slide it up into the spring perch.

And, lift the control arm into place with a small jack.

We had some trouble with the EB Miller brake kit and we're waiting to hear back from Ed. The PAB was hard into the rotor on both sides. It seemed that some washers were missing from the kit. We made some spacers for now, but I'm not real thrilled with it, so we'll see what Ed says. Either way, the front is all back together (including the sway bar).

And, in a moment of brilliance, I decided to screw the oil temp sender into the remote filter housing before anything fell into the filter. I'm glad it only took me two days to figure that out.....


Tomorrow evening we bleed brakes and I see if I can get it aligned on Saturday. If so, I think it's going autocrossing Sunday as a shakedown.

Afco shipped my radiator with a built in oil cooler today. I hope to have it soon so I can get the oil lines made up. I also received my 3 quart accusump and mounting hardware. However, I ordered a regular manual valve and then ordered the remote valve kit that Alan Blaine showed us, so I've got a spare manual valve is anyone needs one. I'll get pics of those parts and post them in a later update.

And, does anyone know where to get extra C (or E) clips for the calipers used in this kit? I'm sure I'll lose more than one and I'd like some spares.

Off to bed!

Schweet! I'm really enjoying your project here Kevin! Thanks for sharing it with us....makes me pine away for the '91 Formula.