Progress Thread HeHateMe gets bent

CarMichael Angelo said:

There you go...lean forward, head down, and and when you put one foot in front of the other...viola! Progress.

Personally, I don’t see how you are gonna make a ride height determination w/o front end weight to compress the suspension.. At the same time, I’d imagine there is either a set of included instructions, or a downloadable version before you just get all Willy Nilly with the welder.

Lastly,...for the love of Christ, get rid of the rest of the sht that’s hanging out of the firewall...it bugs me bad enough to have to look at all of the rust, but for whatever reason in the world you still need that transmission kick down rod bracket/throttle linkage or the speedo cable, or whatever vacuum tube that is, or the 15 tabbed steering column hanging out of it is beyond me.

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I'll get to all of that when I get into the inside and replacing the floor pans. BTW, let's discuss what they ACTUALLY are. I figured you were OLD enough to know. Choke Cable, Clutch z-bar, brake lines, throttle z bar, vacuum wiper hose, neutral safety switch wire, and 3 On the Mudda Flocking tree column. Can't you just celebrate the fact I got the steering box out of the way with whatever the hell was pouring out of it once I sawzall'd the shaft to get that bitch out. I'll be buying a universal wiring kit to rewire this, even though the factory wiring harness is in decent shape. They only cut off the generator lead for some reason. Everything else under the hood is intact.

You obviously haven't bought AJE parts, especially parts for something they aren't really supposed to go in. Their instructions are crude at best. Best part is they printed them with the hidden MS Word comments showing, so there's stuff like center k member in frame rails (should we put a picture of this).

Best help is FB groups. Installing the K member is fairly straight forward. There are two locating holes on the inside of the frame rails. Put the centerline of the K-member on that centerline. Unless it's a Falcon, then you might need to move it 3/8-who knows back. I have adjustable control arms with rod ends, so supposedly, it doesn't really matter where I put the K member because I can use spacers and the control arm adjustment to get the wheel centered.

As far as ride height, well, if it sits like a gasser with the strut adjustment all the way down, it's too high. I'd rather buy or move the shock tower than buy the stupid expensive dropped spindles....but I haven't looked for any on the used market yet.

I think I have the K Member in where it needs to go. It looks like everything will work. I am still not quite sure about about the ride height, but I feel pretty good that adding the weight of engine/transmission/roll cage/interior etc, I can jack the coilovers up. Right now they are all the way down and I think the ride height is spot on, although these aren't the exact size I will run on the front. I think these are about 25.5" tall and I think I will run a 27" tire on the front.

Of course, it's never easy. I put it all together once and the wheels were way far forward. I was trying to figure it out why, then realized it didn't have any turn radius because the wheel was hitting the arm on the back side. I got to looking and I had put the arms on backwards. Why? NO INSTRUCTIONS. I saw some pics online but they must have put them on backwards too. Everything is very loose and there's no spacers on the A-arms at the K member, so when I first flipped the controls arms side to side, the tire was way too far back. I pushed the control arm forward and voila. Pretty much centered.

That'll do Donkey.

I'll have to take most of it back apart and double check the squareness of the K member and get it drilled in.

I need to swap the CC plate top plates side to side and see if I have clearance at the shock mount top for more camber. Right now the ps tire is sitting with 2 degrees positive camber. The top plates are offset and I have them with the offset towards the fender. Hopefully that gets me some camber in the negative 1 or so.

And BTW, @CarMichael Angelo I didn't take anything off the firewall today! Maybe next time.

Here's some pictures of this ordeal.

Well, hell. I went out and climbed all over it. I am pretty sure, something's going to have to change. I just have to figure out what. At this ride height, which is pretty sweet, the control arms are parallel to the ground. But there's only about 2.75" inches of bump or compression travel. No says the finger. So, do I move the shock mount up or spring for dropped spindles. Dropped mastercraft spindles are $799! EIGHT HUNDRED friggin dollars. For 2 spindles.

If I raise the front up 1.5" it kills the look...take in account the rear is up on roll around plates, I am just looking at it filling the wheel well up. Granted it is a shorter tire, but I still think the front needs to be raised about 2-2.5 inches to get the strut travel more in the middle. Maybe a taller tire will help and I won't
have to do anything. I need to start googling and figure out how much strut travel is recommended. Hell, I need to first figure out did I buy Fox or SN95 struts...been so long, I don't remember.

And I think when I jacked it up, the whole thing moved forward..it doesn't look centered anymore, but that's the least of my concerns.

CarMichael Angelo said:

OK,....I’ve got it...just watched the movie that I got the name from..


The Peanut Butter Falcon.

Its about a Down’s syndrome Young man that escapes from his care facility, and goes on a journey trying to get to his iconic TV wrestlers’ ( saltwater redneck) ” wrestling school” in No. Fla..

Your car reminds me of wrestling...It kinda looks like it might have Downs...

Peanut Butter Falcon!

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It's almost like you read my mind.

CarMichael Angelo said:

And to address your problem...With as much room above to raise the top strut mount, there’s no way in hell I’d buy spindles when you can cut and add a section back to raise the strut into the engine bay more.
Gives me a chance to critique your welding skills......on a project that’s gonna need a ton of welding.

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You can critique my brother's skills.

EDIT:Who are we kidding....what are you NOT going to critique? I'm surprised you haven't said something about the lighting or the color of my clamps.EDIT

I'm not welding something that when it breaks, my life could be on the line. I'll tack in place and say hey bro, drive your ass 3hrs over here and get in the tanning booth. I'll provide tacos and beer.

I want to keep the outer support structure that's bolted in place, because I think it adds a lot of strength...and that should be no problem. I saw a replacement shock tower for a 65 Mustang on Ebay for $40 shipped, so I ordered it last night to play around with before I hack up the car MORE.

But my thought...and if I can work up my Photoshop skillz, will be to slice the top mount off. Move it up to the top row of bolt holes...while at the same time, adding material to the fender side to push it out towards the engine more. It needs more camber adjustment AND the fender is slanted away from the engine. I am already losing an inch just by moving it up. Then box it all in, add a fill in panel below and voila! It sure sounds easy. I know by doing this, I will end up cutting out almost ALL of the shock tower...won't need it.

My thought is it ends up something like this...but if I get my photoshop skills on, I'll do it with my picture. Althought this looks hood interference high. I'm thinking the top is about there that hole is to the right. If I moved mine that high, I think I could get the ride height/shock stroke close enough...even if I have to sell the SN95 struts and get Fox struts.