Build Thread Bird_dog0347's Frankenstang, holy crap it's a car again (for a minute)

A while back when Kevin was working on the fender gaps and stuff, I told him how excited I will be to finally see the car back together in all one color. While it still has some guide coat in places and the bumper is not mine (I think as mine has already been primed), he surprised me by putting my wheels on there and sending these pics today.

LWHkLO6.jpg

KP4jyUM.jpg
 
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A while back when Kevin was working on the fender gaps and stuff, I told him how excited I will be to finally see the car back together in all one color. While it still has some guide coat in places and the bumper is not mine (I think as mine has already been primed), he surprised me by putting my wheels on there and sending these pics today.
IMG_5095.jpeg

IMG_4536.jpeg

Its come a long way. From no panels and roofing cement stuffed in it to measuing each gap down to 3/16th of an inch. Glad Nick has a car again
 
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What is the difference between a solid rear and an IRS rear on a fox body?
If you have rough roads you'll certainly notice a ride quality enhancement. They are also quite a bit wider than the normal SRA, which really limits your wheel choices. For me, I did the IRS for a few reasons, but mainly I needed a full rebuild and better suspension components on the SRA as everything I had was crap, so when I found the IRS for $500 I jumped on it. I still had to replace all the rubber bushings with poly so the wheel hop problem would be addressed, and eventually went full coil overs as well but I wanted my car to handle really well and be able to take on some Auto-X events and possibly track days.
 
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Is the stock IRS system a bolt in affair?
Kinda... it's not super simple but it's not that hard either. If you go back to the beginning of this thread you'll see more detail on how I did it.

That said, you'll need a new cat back exhaust (Cobra specific, and I had to modify mine on one side to shorten it), new brake lines (part numbers at the beginning of this thread), you'll have to remove the factory bump stop braces on the chassis, and you'll have to drill a couple of holes in your frame rail for the mount points on the rear. Also the pinion flange on the IRS won't work with your stock driveshaft so you'll have to swap one or the other to mate them up (I did the pinion flange and SCREWED up my gears not knowing what I was doing, if you don't know how to do the gears have this done), and the fuel filter is HARD to replace with the IRS in so do it while it's out. The whole unit is much wider and you'll have a hard time finding wheels/tires that fit without rubbing, and pretty much the max you can fit is a 9" wide rim with a 6.75" backspace with a 275 tire. Also I think the front bolts for where the cradle mounts to the lower control arm spots you'll need to use the larger bolts and might have to drill it (the TQ box bolt holes) out to fit them. Obviously all the IRS's are 5 lug so you'll need the fronts to match it and the easiest way is to use the Cobra front brakes and appropriate master cylinder/booster. You will also want your front end struts and springs to be aligned with what you use in the rear, spring rates are much different for the IRS and your SRA springs will not work. I don't recall if there's much else I'm forgetting, but it's also WAY easier to install new bushings in the IRS while it's out and I highly recommend you do that first, at least get rid of the rubber bushings so you minimize wheel hop.
 
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Kinda... it's not super simple but it's not that hard either. If you go back to the beginning of this thread you'll see more detail on how I did it.

That said, you'll need a new cat back exhaust (Cobra specific, and I had to modify mine on one side to shorten it), new brake lines (part numbers at the beginning of this thread), you'll have to remove the factory bump stop braces on the chassis, and you'll have to drill a couple of holes in your frame rail for the mount points on the rear. Also the pinion flange on the IRS won't work with your stock driveshaft so you'll have to swap one or the other to mate them up (I did the pinion flange and SCREWED up my gears not knowing what I was doing, if you don't know how to do the gears have this done), and the fuel filter is HARD to replace with the IRS in so do it while it's out. The whole unit is much wider and you'll have a hard time finding wheels/tires that fit without rubbing, and pretty much the max you can fit is a 9" wide rim with a 6.75" backspace with a 275 tire. Also I think the front bolts for where the cradle mounts to the lower control arm spots you'll need to use the larger bolts and might have to drill it (the TQ box bolt holes) out to fit them. Obviously all the IRS's are 5 lug so you'll need the fronts to match it and the easiest way is to use the Cobra front brakes and appropriate master cylinder/booster. You will also want your front end struts and springs to be aligned with what you use in the rear, spring rates are much different for the IRS and your SRA springs will not work. I don't recall if there's much else I'm forgetting, but it's also WAY easier to install new bushings in the IRS while it's out and I highly recommend you do that first, at least get rid of the rubber bushings so you minimize wheel hop.
Thanks for the response... What years did the IRS come in??
Back when I was thinking of a Cobra kit car ( Don't all gear heads ponder one of these at some time?) you could order one built for a solid or IRS rear end... Seems like the Turbo T-birds were an IRS source?? Been a few minutes for me so I don't remember all of the nuances....
 
Thanks for the response... What years did the IRS come in??
Back when I was thinking of a Cobra kit car ( Don't all gear heads ponder one of these at some time?) you could order one built for a solid or IRS rear end... Seems like the Turbo T-birds were an IRS source?? Been a few minutes for me so I don't remember all of the nuances....
I think it might be possible for the T-Bird IRS to work but I'm not really sure... everyone I know has used the 99-04 Cobra IRS. The 99-01 versions are ok, but had 28 spline axles and less of the bracing. The 03/04 are the most sought after as they have 31 spline axles and the bracing (mine came from an 04).

If you're talking about the Factory Five Cobra's with the IRS option they use the S550 (2015+ Mustang) factory rear pumpkin and they supply everything else for the IRS I think.
 
I think it might be possible for the T-Bird IRS to work but I'm not really sure... everyone I know has used the 99-04 Cobra IRS. The 99-01 versions are ok, but had 28 spline axles and less of the bracing. The 03/04 are the most sought after as they have 31 spline axles and the bracing (mine came from an 04).

If you're talking about the Factory Five Cobra's with the IRS option they use the S550 (2015+ Mustang) factory rear pumpkin and they supply everything else for the IRS I think.
When I was looking at the Factory Five Cobra's they weren't even making the 2015 Mustangs yet, so it must of been something different..
Thanks for the info... IRS rears are just too cool.....