Nick's "lvndpst" Restoration (and Slight Modification) Thread

[95BlueStallion]

How far back does the underside of the bumper go?
maybe just brace it with some thin metal strips on the back side to hold it up.

I actually bought some strips of all thread and thin flat steel strips to do exactly that. Make some turn buckles of sorts, and let the strips hold the saggy parts up. Even so, I still feel like it needs something. Maybe if the stock front lip was silver body color instead of black?

 

[95BlueStallion]

I am really hoping the rear end settles more. Its 4X4 stance at the moment. Not sure if its because I lack the spare tire and jack or what. I may end up cutting a coil off Eibachs...

Front is just right.

Rear gives me room for 500 lbs of cargo in the hatch...

I set my toe, but my camber is wonky. I have all the room in the world for negative camber on my passenger side, but my driver's side is on full negative and is still sitting right about 0°. I may have to add a camber bolt in the strut to get it right. Not sure whats up with it. Why did Ford make the three bolt CC design go two different directions on the strut towers? Seems weird.

This one is for you @90sickfox . I went out for a spin after setting my toe, and of course rain started coming. Thankfully I kept my fender liners and air box so Im not screwed like @CarMichael Angelo may have been. But I backed her back in and watched the rain come down. Isnt that a beautiful minivan???

Then sht got serious and started coming in too far, prompting me to shut the door. It was nice while it lasted.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Try loosening the top strut bolt and pushing in on the strut/spindle joint. Might add some neg camber range.

Give the rear some miles to settle. Those bushings do tend to bind and hold it up a tad

 

[95BlueStallion]

Preciate the suggestion. I bought those Eibach camber bolts and I'll swap one in on the drivers side to allow it to be equal with the passenger. I just find the difference odd, but oh well. 27 year old car, who knows whats up. My K member may be tweaked.

 

[RaggedGT]

For better or worse, the car is back on the ground. The garage has been picked up since this picture was taken, btw. I am not a hoarder!

It now has Eibach Pro Kit springs (hoping the rear settles some), with their front and rear sway bars, Koni shocks/struts, poopy BMR front tubular control arms (still hate them), MM rear lowers, BMR adjustable rear uppers (I like to dial in pinion angle). I replaced the rubber upper control arm bushings in the axle with OEM Ford units, and POR-15'd the axle, and added a braided brake line from body to axle.

Here is a pic of the wonky angle BMR puts the spring perch at on the front control arms. With full weight on the wheels the spring perch still has a lot of positive camber vs the ground making the spring continue to back bend. Why they wouldnt make it parallel to the ground at ride height (still giving it positive camber from the K member perch) is beyond me. Made for very difficult install.

I have not gotten around to installing the MM full length SFCs. I have to finish applying POR-15 to the floor pans first, and am out of it at the moment. I want to drive the car, get my custom tail pipes made, and get it aligned. The power steering needs more burping, and the clutch needs more break in miles as well.

I bought one of those cup holder center consoles and some plain floor mats to finish off the interior for now. I have so much more I want to do with the car, but want to enjoy driving it this fall. So for now, finishing the exterior gray paint and installing those interior items is all I have left for this year's mods.

So I was looking at the pic of your coil spring bending backwards

Stole this pic from @All Stock93 - doesn’t look like your new setup is bending anymore than a stock coil spring/arm ?

 

[95BlueStallion]

So I was looking at the pic of your coil spring bending backwards

Stole this pic from @All Stock93 - doesn’t look like your new setup is bending anymore than a stock coil spring/arm ?

True to an extent. His appears at more droop, as in no weight on the arm. The other thing about stock arms is they hold the spring from the inside. The have a "mound" that the spring rests on. You dont have to try to bend the end of the spring into a cup. They are way easier to work with, in my opinion.

 

[All Stock93]

In that pic, the car is on jackstands

 

[95BlueStallion]

@RaggedGT , here is what I mean. Exibit A is stock arms.

You can get the back side of the spring behind that center "mound," and it holds it in place as you jack the ball joint end up. Doesnt matter if the outside of the coil is in the cup area or not, it follows suit when you get the arm jacked up enough.

Exibit b, the BMR arms.

No center mound to hold the spring in place. You have to bend the spring so that the outer most portion of the spring is seated in that cup, or the whole thing is coming out at you. Then you deal with the fact you have to keep the spring bent further than you should really have to, and it just adds to the frustration. This is just my opinion of course. Im yet to see how the car feels at speed. Maybe the handling will win me over.

 

[Mustang5L5]

That does seem like an odd angle for the cup to be at. It's bent away from the car

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Why doesn't "somebody" call BMR, and ask them why they do that with the spring perch?
I'd be curious if I had them on my car.
But since I don't, .....If you don't care, I don't care.

(Naaah,...that's not true,..I care about a lot of stuff that shouldn't concern me)

And in that spirit, after looking up a couple of earlier replies where there is a picture of the stock setup, I'm gonna guess.

The spring angle is set that way, ( creating the small arch) to ensure that the spring is about as evenly compressed as it can be through its range of travel. It also serves to capture, and hold the spring in place. If the angle was opposite of how it is now, the inner coil side of the spring would be compressed tighter, and the spring would have more of a potential to "squirt" out under circumstances when the spring is unloaded.

See what they say about that.

 

[General karthief]

I say there is no such thing as a beautiful mini van

 

[95BlueStallion]

Why doesn't "somebody" call BMR, and ask them why they do that with the spring perch?
I'd be curious if I had them on my car.
But since I don't, .....If you don't care, I don't care.

(Naaah,...that's not true,..I care about a lot of stuff that shouldn't concern me)

And in that spirit, after looking up a couple of earlier replies where there is a picture of the stock setup, I'm gonna guess.

The spring angle is set that way, ( creating the small arch) to ensure that the spring is about as evenly compressed as it can be through its range of travel. It also serves to capture, and hold the spring in place. If the angle was opposite of how it is now, the inner coil side of the spring would be compressed tighter, and the spring would have more of a potential to "squirt" out under circumstances when the spring is unloaded.

See what they say about that.

Even at full compression, the spring is arched. I dont think it ever hits a point where its straight. And due to the bend, its always trying to force the spring out of the cup toward the wheel. Hence why when I let the arm down just a bit too far to install the strut, the spring popped out of the cup... They must be anticipating air bag folks that plan on putting the car on the ground.

Im not calling them because it is what it is. They are already installed, and Im not concerned with trying to get them to change the design. They are just super frustrating to install, and I figured it wouldnt hurt to share my experience.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Even at full compression, the spring is arched. I dont think it ever hits a point where its straight. And due to the bend, its always trying to force the spring out of the cup toward the wheel. Hence why when I let the arm down just a bit too far to install the strut, the spring popped out of the cup... They must be anticipating air bag folks that plan on putting the car on the ground.

Im not calling them because it is what it is. They are already installed, and Im not concerned with trying to get them to change the design. They are just super frustrating to install, and I figured it wouldnt hurt to share my experience.

I don't know what not. I shouldn't be the only guy that has everything I do go like a dream either.

 

[95BlueStallion]

Drove the car to work today.

See the junk hangin down under the front bumper? Thats why I am going to trim some off, and add a flat splitter under the whole front end. Also note the different silver colors, lol. Havent finished the paint yet, and its on the back burner.

It drives pretty good. It likes to buck between 1500 and 1700 rpm no matter what gear. But once it reached 1800+, its cruises nicely. Im 75 miles into my clutch break in, and so far so good. Sat in traffic today in 86 degrees of sunshine, and the temp was steady right where it should be.

Exhaust and front end alignment are the next priorities, then the silver paint. I dont like the bright silver I used on the front bumper. Want to go closer to the original titanium. That gets me to a point where it looks decent, and isnt shaking each house I drive by on my street going to work in the morning.

Probably wont worry about tuning this year. I think I may go with Dirty Dirty Racing in the spring. Already spoke with Willy and I like him. Made plenty of time to talk to me before I spent a single $1. He sounds like a Steve that can work with with my factory PCM via Quarterhorse and a wideband. Pretty stoked for tuning, but I just need to get the car more "complete" first.

 

[General karthief]

Check the sweep on your tps. Mine had a bucking thing in that same area, tps had irradic readings in that area.

 

[RaggedGT]

So ole’ buddy. How are things?

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

So ole’ buddy. How are things?

leave it to you raggedy...You could've been a town crier..

" Drag out your dead!...Out with your dead!"

 

[Mustang5L5]

Hopefully the car has taken a spin before ole winter sets in?

 

[95BlueStallion]

Howdy boys. Been taking a break from the car for a bit. It needs a tune before I can really enjoy driving it, and I just dont have the time and expendable income for it right now.

As I mentioned breifly in Mike's thread, I flew out to Denver last Friday and drove back in a 1990 F250. See these trucks cannot be had in Iowa without rust all over them. I have been looking at them for a while, and finally picked one very similar to what my Dad had when I was a wee lad. Anyone on here more than a couple years knows I like 80' and 90's Fords. I loved that little Ranger, but it turned out to be a bondo'd up hunk of junk (aside from the drivetrain). Now I have a full size 4x4 version with fuel injection. Everything works. Power windows, power locks, cruise control, all gauges, both fuel tanks, yada yada. I had big plans for it, but after driving it home 815 miles, I kinda like it for what it is. I bought some good tires to put on it for winter, and will be undercoating it well. It has very well laid factory undercoating that doesnt want to come off, so I will just be coating over it to cover any small areas that have come off over the years. The plan is just to preserve it and depending on how well/not well it pulls the camper, possibly a top end kit for the engine come Spring/Summer. Its pretty under powered versus the Durango, but the long wheel base and heavy duty suspension is what I was after. So far the family likes it.

 

[RaggedGT]

leave it to you raggedy...You could've been a town crier..

" Drag out your dead!...Out with your dead!"

Oh sure... Now you pay attention to me