Mustang5l5's Progress Thread - Archived Progress thread '08-'20.

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A little more work and much tighter. I figure i can put a small slice in the two corners and bent the metal in and then weld it up there.
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However, ran into an issue. Decided to bolt to the k member to check fit. Pass side was perfect.

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well that’s not good. Seems the donor rail is about 1/2” ahead of where it needs to be. Not sure I can draw that back due to how it locates against the existing strut tower. Hmmm...not good.
 
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Is it a 1/2 inch on both sides ?

No. Pass side bolts up fine. No issues there.

It's the driver's side, where the donor rail is. I need to push the rail back 1/2" into the firewall. However there's no way to do that given the contour of the strut tower. I don't see how I can get it back 1/2". It's also butt up against the firewall, so it's as far back as the original one was.
 
Now, the stock K-member doesn’t have room to slot the mounting holes, but the MM k-member does. This is one solution that I slot the holes here 1/2” forward. It will get the job done, but it seems.....hack

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Edit. Maybe not. That would put the bolt close to this upright
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Dammit, looks like there is a difference. The bolt holes on the fox are centered in the tower. The bolts holes on the donor piece appear to be offset forward about 1/2”.

what to do....

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I personally would just modify that rail to move the mounting holes to where you want it. It will take a little work, but you have everything else fitted already.

I thought about that, but that would involve completely disassembling it, redilling the holes, and welding it all back up.

Vs slotting the holes in the K-member.

I realize one way is the correct way to do it, and one is taking a shortcut.....
 
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Doesn't seem hard to move those holes. Top bracket from the old rail looks usable. Remove the top piece, take out the support, remove bolt sleeves, make plugs from scrap metal, weld them in, drill new holes, reinstall stuff, weld top piece on, and grind away. Easy peasy...lemon squeezy.
 
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Doesn't seem hard to move those holes. Top bracket from the old rail looks usable. Remove the top piece, take out the support, remove bolt sleeves, make plugs from scrap metal, weld them in, drill new holes, reinstall stuff, weld top piece on, and grind away. Easy peasy...lemon squeezy.

the more I stare at it, the more this seems like the way.
 
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Well this is gonna be easier than I thought. A few spot welds later and out comes the plate and the inner ring holding the two bolt supports. I know I touched upon this in the SN95 vs fox rust thread, but the inside of the SN95 rail is much simpler and more open in construction vs the fox rail.

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I’m going to weld up the original holes, drill the new holes where I need them and fabricate the plate and bolt tubes from new stock.

as for the top plate? I may cheat and laser cut a new one...because I can
 
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Here’s the difference in hole locations.

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I’ll weld up the originsl holes, and then drill where the new ones need to be. Then I’ll Fab up the plate that holds the bolt supports.
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