Anybody have a Sean Hyland front end?

[kttrucks]

has anybody sprung for Sean Hylands aluminum K-member style front suspension? It looks fantastic..... but it's pricey. Utilizes C5 lower arms, willwood brakes, top shelf stuff.....

http://www.seanhylandmotorsport.com/sema2007.shtml

I like the idea of it mounted under t he rails instead of sacrificing them like a regular Mustang II, but the extra coin is overwhelming. I was just wondering if anybody had driven one, or had any opinions...


Thanks! KT.

 

[NasaGT]

That sure looks nice, but its waaaaaaay too much $$$

 

[brianj5600]

Wow, $7500!

 

[68EFIvert]

KT,

What is the intended use of your car? Are you looking for a show stopper or a great cruizer? Are you trying to get rid of the shock towers?

I generally don't have a problem writing checks when it comes to the Mustang but I am having a hard time with the price of this kit. I don't see where the 2-3X higher price can make that much of a difference. Especially when you are putting GM parts on your Ford.

I can't answer your question about driving impression on this kit. In fact I haven't even seen it before. The quality looks to notch. Maybe you could talk to the guys over at Muscle car about putting it in the next Mustang Project.

 

[fvike]

My brother has just gotten the XV Motorsports rear end for his '70 Cuda, he's planning to buy the front end too, which is the same stuff as the Sean Hyland suspension. Actually, the parts were developed by XV for the Mopar E-body and B-body, with expertise from Multimatic. Sean Hyland Motorsport has converted this suspension to a Mustang platform.
Anyway, the parts are high quality, but the packaging isn't. For the kind of money this costs we was hoping for something like TCP or Wilwood parts, which is all packaged very well, all parts present and good instructions. Not so with the XV/Sean Hyland parts. (The shipping documents show they came from Sean Hyland Motorsport.) They were just wrapped up in canadian newspapers and bubblewrap. Also, parts were missing, my brother's still waiting for the shock absorbers and some misc. weld-in parts. Not very cool when you're paying top dollar for it. The instructions was ok at best, but also just tossed in the box, not in a envelope or anything like that. It's a real shame, because when dealing with XV Motorsports, they seem very very professional. But when you get a bunch of parts in a box, and it's packeaged like it is, and parts missing, it's dissapointing.
However, that said (rant off), the quality of the parts are great.

 

[10secgoal]

Seems like alotta coin to adapt a stock style suspension. For that much, figure you could come up some thing completely custom, and tubular. Which by the looks of it, weigh allot less also.

 

[wildstang]

What is the ground clearance like under it? Looks like it hangs done lower or maybe it is a dry sump oil system so oil pan does not hang down as low as a normal one. Looks nice though. Any one have any more picts of the car with it sitting on the ground looking under it from the front?

 

[brianj5600]

It looks like a dry sump tank up by the radiator on the passenger side.

 

[bnickel]

Seems like alotta coin to adapt a stock style suspension. For that much, figure you could come up some thing completely custom, and tubular. Which by the looks of it, weigh allot less also.

the only thing "stock" about that front end is the rack and the corvette uprights and control arms, the rest of the system is completely custom. i wouldn't mind putting that system on my car if i had the cash, but if they can adapt it there's no saying that someone else couldn't do it too. this system is almost idenical to the XV version for Mopars. Sean Hyland played a big part in the development of that system too. the rear suspension system seems to be about inline with other bolt in rear systems and the price isn't all that bad for a nice three link, could be a great option for some of you guys, that don't want to pay the price for the EVM, or TCP pushrod system and it's only a little more than the TCP G-Bar system, actually about the same as the top dog billet G-Link system, so that's not too bad actually. unfortunatley for me it's the same old story with this system for the cougar as it is with most other rear systems for the cougar......not available, except for the TCP G-Bar systems

 

[kttrucks]

Plans for my car ('66 Coupe) include an '04 Cobra drivetrane ( BLown 4.6 & 6 spd.) some kind of four link or three link rear susp, and alot of chassis stiffening. My car started out as a rusted 6 cyl POS, so I have no issues with "saving" a valuable piece of history, I'm gonna cut the towers, it's just a matter of how and where. My goal is to have a classic looking Mustang with about 6oo HP on tap, which is quite acheiveable with the 4.6 but it's gotta stop as fast as it goes, and handle like a slot car. I wont build a powerful musclecar thats not fun and safe to drive. I've had my share of vintage cars that handle like vintage cars, and it's fun to a certain extent, but I want to be different with this one.

Budget is a bit of a conscern, I't gotta make sense.

Thanks for the feedback.

KT.

 

[68EFIvert]

If you are considering laying down that much cash you may want to consider this system from Griggs Racing.

http://www.griggsracing.com/product_info.php?cPath=4332_4306_4313_1080&products_id=504

 

[kttrucks]

The GRiggs system looks really trick, how would I find out more about it? I may give them a call. They have a silver '66 on the site with some nice pics, but I'm not sure it's the same system that's on the link you gave me. For that kind of cake I want ot to be very well engineered and without surprises. The think I like about the Sean Hyland stuff is it's like a K-member or subframe and is more self contained... although the Griggs rear three link looks awesome.... Customer service is a must so that may be a factor in the end.... at any rate I've still got to get rear frame rails into my coupe, and then do something about the front end. The rails and aprons are rusted pretty bad, but I have a new (vintage) clip that's rust free ready to put in whenever I can get a weekend. This whole dillemma started when I saw the add for the Fatman tube front that's made for the 4.6 install into a vintage car.... then I saw that Martz Chassis has one as well. Each is about 5 K for the front, Each of them uses modern struts & brakes and appears to be well engineered. I've used Mustang II systems before and have been happy with the handling, but if you're gonna cut up a car, you may as well go all out and sub-frame it.... just like the Nova's, right? I've got my '04 Cobra clip sitting in the shop waiting patiently, it's just up to me to make some decisions.


KT.

 

[68EFIvert]

I don't have any experience with the Griggs stuff. I have heard some wonderful things about it though. You may want to post a questions like that over on Vintage Mustang Forums. There are some pretty knowledgeable guys over there.

If I were building a all out performance classic Mustang and had more fabrication skills than I do Griggs would be on my short list. I like that you get a suspension system that is designed to work well as a package. It is pretty expensive but it looks like it also give you a much stronger chassis. I don't know if this is much help or just muddies the water but good luck and keep us posted on what you find out.

 

[bnickel]

if the Sean Hyland front end is built the way i think it is, just like the XV motorsports one, then you have the OPTION of removing the shock towers BUT you don't have to. in your case with the 4.6 you don't have much choice, the towers gotta go, but for other people who'd like to keep the towers this looks like a very viable option, though it does look like you have to remove the LCA mounts with this kit, but i can't get a good enough look to be absolutely certain on that.