cenok is family
15 Year Member
pretty sweet build man! I'm digging the bumper mash up. It's a shame 8.8's are hard to come by up there. I took 2 to the dump a few years back because i couldn't give them away!
83 Gl
- Thread starter great white
- Start date
I'm sure if I was out west or down south there wouldn't be an issue finding one. On the east coast, cars pretty much crumble to dust in regular use at around the 10-15 year mark.
The 96 I got the 7.5 out of was so rotted the jack stands pushed the jack points at the pinch welds up into the rockers...well, what part of the pinch that didn't crumble to the floor in rust flakes that is.
I had 6 jack stands under it before I felt comfortable enough to get under it and work...
The 96 I got the 7.5 out of was so rotted the jack stands pushed the jack points at the pinch welds up into the rockers...well, what part of the pinch that didn't crumble to the floor in rust flakes that is.
I had 6 jack stands under it before I felt comfortable enough to get under it and work...
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skyline247
Advanced Member
Picked up 4 used tires today . 75 bucks. 245 50/16's. With the 5 lug and 16" conversion this winter, I needed something to throw on the rims to hold it up off the floor while I work on the body. I couldn't justify spending the big bucks on 4 new tires when i don't know if it's even going to be on the road next year or if the current plan will be the way it will roll out of the garage when I'm done.
Got home, bolted my cheapo Princess Auto (same as HF in USA) tire changer to the floor and plopped them on the rims.
They're nothing special, just some old Avon zz1's. There's just enough tread left on them to maybe squeak by an MVI. If I get that (to get my antique plates) and maybe a day or two at the track out of them, they'll have given me my money's worth....
Got home, bolted my cheapo Princess Auto (same as HF in USA) tire changer to the floor and plopped them on the rims.
They're nothing special, just some old Avon zz1's. There's just enough tread left on them to maybe squeak by an MVI. If I get that (to get my antique plates) and maybe a day or two at the track out of them, they'll have given me my money's worth....
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"Princess Auto"? Really? What an, uhmmm, interesting......name for a tool store.
Anyhow, can't blame you for the tires, with a chance that you could hurt these tires during the rest of your repairs, it just make sense.
"Princess Auto"? Really? What an, uhmmm, interesting......name for a tool store.
Anyhow, can't blame you for the tires, with a chance that you could hurt these tires during the rest of your repairs, it just make sense.
Here's their story:
Just the way it evolved. Once it had brand name recognition, they were kind of stuck with it....
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SN95 axles in the 83 7.5 and rear disc brakes:
Currently cleaning and painting calipers.
8.8 axles are hard to find around here and when you do, stupid expensive. One guy I found wanted 700 bucks for a rusty (and I mean RUSTY) 1996 one with seized brakes. No thanks. Yards don't have any and when you do find them they're rusted junk. And they still want 250-350 for them.
My car is only going to be street driven and around the 300 hp mark so a 7.5 will do until a reasonably priced, decent shape 8.8 shows up.
Crappy thing is both 7.5's are 2.73's. I'll keep my eyes open for a ranger/Bronco II 7.5. They could be had with 3.73 and T lok. Still not great, but better than an open 2.73. At least Ranger 7.5's are a dime a dozen around here. Should be able to find something that will work.
I was just going to swap in the 96 SN95 axle, but tearing it down revealed the seal area on the tubes was rusted so thin I could squeeze it with my hand and distort it. The axle in the 83 hasn't seen winter roads in a couple decades so it was in much better shape, making swapping the SN95 stuff into it a "no brainer"....
There's ample fender clearance even with the SN95 axle length:
(Mudflaps will hit the bin soon enough)
No rotors in that shot, but even with the rotors on it's going to clear the lip fine.
Currently cleaning and painting calipers.
8.8 axles are hard to find around here and when you do, stupid expensive. One guy I found wanted 700 bucks for a rusty (and I mean RUSTY) 1996 one with seized brakes. No thanks. Yards don't have any and when you do find them they're rusted junk. And they still want 250-350 for them.
My car is only going to be street driven and around the 300 hp mark so a 7.5 will do until a reasonably priced, decent shape 8.8 shows up.
Crappy thing is both 7.5's are 2.73's. I'll keep my eyes open for a ranger/Bronco II 7.5. They could be had with 3.73 and T lok. Still not great, but better than an open 2.73. At least Ranger 7.5's are a dime a dozen around here. Should be able to find something that will work.
I was just going to swap in the 96 SN95 axle, but tearing it down revealed the seal area on the tubes was rusted so thin I could squeeze it with my hand and distort it. The axle in the 83 hasn't seen winter roads in a couple decades so it was in much better shape, making swapping the SN95 stuff into it a "no brainer"....
There's ample fender clearance even with the SN95 axle length:
(Mudflaps will hit the bin soon enough)
No rotors in that shot, but even with the rotors on it's going to clear the lip fine.
Attachments
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Nice car man. I like your style. I am much like you in regards to doing everything as inexpensive as possible. So I will definitely be following your thread for ideas for my own Fox. I love the idea of getting the most bang for the buck and looking great. My latest bit was making my own tailpipes. Ten years ago when I first bought my Fox, I bought a Mac exhaust with the turndowns before the rear bumper cover, and a couple years ago I purchased a Cobra rear bumper cover which allows for tailpipes. It looked odd with the turn downs and I didn't want to purchase a new exhaust system since I like the sound of Mac. So when I put longtubes on this year, I had old exhaust pipes leftover that were stainless. So I whacked off the turndowns, cut pieces of the stainless tubes off, polished them and welded them on. Looks great!
so the quest for the 8.8 continues.
I caught a lucky break and there's a guy about 1.5 hr drive from here that has a fox 8.8 and he'll let me have for free. I just have to pick it up. Only thing is it's just a housing. No differential, brakes or axle shafts.
No big deal as I've got the SN95 disc brake setup.
The axle shafts are a different story.
The sn95 shafts I currently have are 28 spline. That will be important after the next few lines.
I ran across a guy with an explorer 8.8 axle for sale for 150 bucks. 3.73 gears and Trac-lok. I grab it for 100 bucks, but the thing is it's a 31 spine carrier.
Great for strength, not so great for finding stock axles that will work in a fox chassis. Other than being just a tad too long, the shafts are too big for fox axle bearings.
So I'm going to have to order some aftermarket axles. Not a big deal if you live in the States, but shipping and exchange on the dollar is going to make it a 400-500 dollar purchase.
Still, 500-600 out the door for a fox 8.8, 31 spline, 3.73 track lok rear axle with disc brakes that will be pretty much "set it and forget it" in my car for autocross and infrequent drag strip runs is pretty good.
Overkill?
Yup, but overkill is a good thing.
I caught a lucky break and there's a guy about 1.5 hr drive from here that has a fox 8.8 and he'll let me have for free. I just have to pick it up. Only thing is it's just a housing. No differential, brakes or axle shafts.
No big deal as I've got the SN95 disc brake setup.
The axle shafts are a different story.
The sn95 shafts I currently have are 28 spline. That will be important after the next few lines.
I ran across a guy with an explorer 8.8 axle for sale for 150 bucks. 3.73 gears and Trac-lok. I grab it for 100 bucks, but the thing is it's a 31 spine carrier.
Great for strength, not so great for finding stock axles that will work in a fox chassis. Other than being just a tad too long, the shafts are too big for fox axle bearings.
So I'm going to have to order some aftermarket axles. Not a big deal if you live in the States, but shipping and exchange on the dollar is going to make it a 400-500 dollar purchase.
Still, 500-600 out the door for a fox 8.8, 31 spline, 3.73 track lok rear axle with disc brakes that will be pretty much "set it and forget it" in my car for autocross and infrequent drag strip runs is pretty good.
Overkill?
Yup, but overkill is a good thing.
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Picked up the diff housing. Bad thing was there was no bearing caps. good thing is it is in great shape and just surface rusting. That's huge for around here.
Missing caps isn't a show stopper. Just means I'll have to order some strange or MW caps and fit them to the axle. My lathe has a milling attachment that will handle shaving the caps down easily.
As I was getting ready to go, Dan asks me if I could use a drive shaft. The one I currently have has the big balance weight on it and I was planning to ditch is ASAP for an aluminum one. The one Dan gives me is just a regular fox shaft with yoke and also only lightly surface rusted. It will hold me over for a while and allow me to push purchasing the aluminum shaft off until finances settle down a bit more.
So not bad for the cost of a 1 hr drive!
Missing caps isn't a show stopper. Just means I'll have to order some strange or MW caps and fit them to the axle. My lathe has a milling attachment that will handle shaving the caps down easily.
As I was getting ready to go, Dan asks me if I could use a drive shaft. The one I currently have has the big balance weight on it and I was planning to ditch is ASAP for an aluminum one. The one Dan gives me is just a regular fox shaft with yoke and also only lightly surface rusted. It will hold me over for a while and allow me to push purchasing the aluminum shaft off until finances settle down a bit more.
So not bad for the cost of a 1 hr drive!
