Guys, I bit the bullet & have the Fat Man strut kit. The rack is rear steer Escort/Tempo with fabbed steering arms that attach to the caliper mounts. It's an end take-off which I wanted because of the simplicity & because I made a similar set-up on a street rod with a Ford EXP manual rack that works well with VERY little steering effort. I want to try a manual rack first, but I'm not sure how it will handle 8" wheels/tires. Anyone have a '81-86 Escort/Tempo manual rack in the back yard? Don't want to buy a new one till I decide manual or power steering. Also want to adapt '79-'93 aftermarket caster/camber plates to the bottom part of the FMF upper strut/coilover mounts. I haven't found a c/c plate to measure yet. It would also be possible to make the top plate. The kit comes w a basic adj. plate. I'm also looking for a good price on Global West strut rods although the stockers will work fine. If anyone else plans to buy this kit, I have done some research that will help with spindle/brake selection, etc. I'm looking for a digital camera to show the work.
I picked up 99 spindles for $60, new take-off 2003 GT PBR calipers and rotors for $150 and a new power rack for $40. The next step is the kit itself
In case anyone wants to see the article, I scanned it in
http://pages.prodigy.net/al.martin/FatMan R&P/
How much did FatMan finally set the price at?
Thanks,
Al
In case anyone wants to see the article, I scanned it in
http://pages.prodigy.net/al.martin/FatMan R&P/
How much did FatMan finally set the price at?
Thanks,
Al
thanks for the info, but if you read up through this thread he is mentioned many, many times. he's the one working to get his marketed from a company in san antonio. i,ve done my research, i talked to him, nice guy. i ever made a set of his brackets only to discover that there simply don't have athe room he has under my car. i guess he has a 302 and the clearance is greater under his car. another thing is the loss of travel. as this rack only moves 6 inches or so, my stang needs 8. this will make my turning radius larger. not sure how much though. these are the things i'm going to fix. the rack i have in mind will have the required travel and will also retine the origional mounting position of the inner tie rods,so the only mods are to the steering column. this is like tcp, almost as it will mount in the same location. and use the j-car rack that will be modified so the tierods mount to the back instead of the front. i have used the help from all the people that i work with and a-1 alloy in san diego and the tech guy at woodward for info. also rush rears.this is going to be well engeneered and thought thought thuough.
worth.....i think i'm going to use hardened carbon. this is what the origional is inconel is a major over kill in price and everything else.. it is going to be completely custom. teeth diametrics wiil come tomorrow. i will also get a set of blueprints going to. i was quoted 4-500 out in town for this kind of work . i have friends here that can hook it up here in sd. thanks
worth.....i think i'm going to use hardened carbon. this is what the origional is inconel is a major over kill in price and everything else.. it is going to be completely custom. teeth diametrics wiil come tomorrow. i will also get a set of blueprints going to. i was quoted 4-500 out in town for this kind of work . i have friends here that can hook it up here in sd. thanks
The price is $1995, which includes a tilt steering column & coilover springs/adjusters, Borgeson universals & the special kit pieces. A bit pricey but they admit to charging for 'engineering' on the web site. The tilt column will not mount a Ford steering wheel, only GM! I have a Lecarra & just need an adapter. The spindles will reduce the track even though FMF says it won't. I thought I would have fender clearance problems so I got '94-'95 spindles which are the only years that reduce track by 8mm per side. (of SN95 up) I actually gained about 1-1/2" of clearance, so it is best to buy wheels after this install. I wish now that I had '96 up spindles. Also the '96 up spindles will take any caliper/rotor, except Cobra, where the '94-'95's need minor grinding for clearance to the '99 up 2-piston PBR calipers. I also got '03 calipers/rotors. Where did you find the spindles & rack so cheap? Ed
Evilbay, where else?
$2000?? That's more than $1000 more than they told me 2 months ago. I knew they still had steering column issues to work out, but that's a pretty big increase. I know that the steering universals are expensive on their own, and a tilt column can be $400 - $600. On top of that, I think they probably added $500 more to the package after seeing all the interest they were getting. I may resurrect my original R&P swap ideas, take the parts I have collected and make the rest up myself. (I've already modeled the front end of the car in SolidWorks)
Realistically though, bolt in disk brake/coil-over/power R&P/tilt column swap for under $2500? In perspective, it's not a bad deal. You'd figure $2000 for a decent MII swap kit, plus the cost of the tilt steering column and you'd still be out more money. If it wasn't for the 1/2 gallon of Gloss Pitch Black paint I sprayed under the hood though, I'd consider taking the sawzall to the shock towers
Al
guys, talked to my buddy today he is ready to start selling some kits. he is asking $1550.00 for power kit with pump and hoses and $1350.00 for manual. these are complete kits with everything needed for installation included. if anyone is interested or has any questions you can PM me, shoot me an email or just post it here. thanks guys and let me know what you think or ask me any questions and i will get you an answer asap
R & P thread
BNickel,
I'm also waiting for some pics. This thread has been a great source of info for anybody thinking about upgrading thier steering! I know I've enjoyed participating in this thread!
BTW, I recently bought BAER's Bump steer kit to help my car's bump steer issues. Getting it aligned Tues, then I'll try it out and let you know how it works!
BNickel,
I'm also waiting for some pics. This thread has been a great source of info for anybody thinking about upgrading thier steering! I know I've enjoyed participating in this thread!
BTW, I recently bought BAER's Bump steer kit to help my car's bump steer issues. Getting it aligned Tues, then I'll try it out and let you know how it works!
SpeedDirect Meeting
Monday, March 4, 2003
Is there anyone in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area that could let SpeedDirect borrow their early Mustang for a couple of weeks ??
Short Version:
Flew out to Texas to meet with SpeedDirect.
We spent four hours discussing Mustang and Ford kits
They kept my parts to re-engineer them properly for production.
They will build a business plan to get their management’s green light.
I will help with testing prototypes on real cars and generate more online interest.
Long Version:
It’s 2:30 in the afternoon and I just finished having lunch here in DFW, Texas with Eric and Randy from SpeedDirect.
Our meeting began this morning at 10:30 here at the hotel I’m staying. I flew in to DFW and picked a hotel near the airport. Eric and Randy insisted on driving here instead of my going out to their location. SpeedDirect is in Santo, TX, about an hour’s drive from DFW. So they saved me a long and expensive cab ride. I paid my own way, I only let them buy me lunch.
We took over a small conference room and set up our collection of parts to show and tell. I brought my entire collection of parts. I had made a shipping crate for my rack and parts that could double as a demonstration platform. The lid is drilled with mounting holes to bolt wooden 2x4’s to simulate the frame of my car. This enabled me to hang my brackets off the 2x4’s, and then install the rack and tie-rods as I would on the actual car.
In addition I had marked off and drilled several other sets of mounting holes for the 'passenger side’ 2x4 to simulate the various frame spacings from other Ford cars. In this way I was able to demonstrate the range of vehicles that an r&p kit would have to cover.
I explained to them the genesis of the whole idea as I was busy assembling the demonstration. I had also brought along a bunch of pictures, the same ones that are on the website. For the next three hours we dissected my installation and played with the demo model.
We compared my demo to their production version for the Corvette. We discussed the value of using Heim joints instead of 80’s vintage Ford tie rods, adjustable center links, and tie-rod taper. We spend a lot of time talking about geometry and the variations across the Ford line in the 60’s. I gave them my ideas on producing two kits, a bolt on for the Early Mustang, and a cut-to-fit for the rest of the Ford cars.
They had lots of good questions about how I had made the design decisions I did. I made a point of giving credit to all those that worked on this idea before me. I also told them that there are a huge number of people in the online Mustang and Ford communities that are very anxious for a reasonably priced kit to be available.
The conclusion of our meeting came when we were all too hungry to continue. They asked to borrow my crate and all the parts. The design work that I have already done will enable them to build their own prototypes. In addition, their next step is to build a business case for the ‘Early Mustang’ and ‘Other Ford’ kits. If they get the green light from their business people, we will hopefully see kits for Christmas ’03.
We are going to stay in touch, as there will be issues to come up as they re-engineer the whole thing. I’m hoping to act as their bridge to the online community and act as test-installer for their prototypes. I feel good about the process; they want to do this right.
It seems like this project has been going on forever, but it is nearing the end. While it does seem that Christmas is a long way off, SpeedDirect wants to make sure that they put out a quality product that’ll hold up to all the fun driving we want to do
Monday, March 4, 2003
Is there anyone in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area that could let SpeedDirect borrow their early Mustang for a couple of weeks ??
Short Version:
Flew out to Texas to meet with SpeedDirect.
We spent four hours discussing Mustang and Ford kits
They kept my parts to re-engineer them properly for production.
They will build a business plan to get their management’s green light.
I will help with testing prototypes on real cars and generate more online interest.
Long Version:
It’s 2:30 in the afternoon and I just finished having lunch here in DFW, Texas with Eric and Randy from SpeedDirect.
Our meeting began this morning at 10:30 here at the hotel I’m staying. I flew in to DFW and picked a hotel near the airport. Eric and Randy insisted on driving here instead of my going out to their location. SpeedDirect is in Santo, TX, about an hour’s drive from DFW. So they saved me a long and expensive cab ride. I paid my own way, I only let them buy me lunch.
We took over a small conference room and set up our collection of parts to show and tell. I brought my entire collection of parts. I had made a shipping crate for my rack and parts that could double as a demonstration platform. The lid is drilled with mounting holes to bolt wooden 2x4’s to simulate the frame of my car. This enabled me to hang my brackets off the 2x4’s, and then install the rack and tie-rods as I would on the actual car.
In addition I had marked off and drilled several other sets of mounting holes for the 'passenger side’ 2x4 to simulate the various frame spacings from other Ford cars. In this way I was able to demonstrate the range of vehicles that an r&p kit would have to cover.
I explained to them the genesis of the whole idea as I was busy assembling the demonstration. I had also brought along a bunch of pictures, the same ones that are on the website. For the next three hours we dissected my installation and played with the demo model.
We compared my demo to their production version for the Corvette. We discussed the value of using Heim joints instead of 80’s vintage Ford tie rods, adjustable center links, and tie-rod taper. We spend a lot of time talking about geometry and the variations across the Ford line in the 60’s. I gave them my ideas on producing two kits, a bolt on for the Early Mustang, and a cut-to-fit for the rest of the Ford cars.
They had lots of good questions about how I had made the design decisions I did. I made a point of giving credit to all those that worked on this idea before me. I also told them that there are a huge number of people in the online Mustang and Ford communities that are very anxious for a reasonably priced kit to be available.
The conclusion of our meeting came when we were all too hungry to continue. They asked to borrow my crate and all the parts. The design work that I have already done will enable them to build their own prototypes. In addition, their next step is to build a business case for the ‘Early Mustang’ and ‘Other Ford’ kits. If they get the green light from their business people, we will hopefully see kits for Christmas ’03.
We are going to stay in touch, as there will be issues to come up as they re-engineer the whole thing. I’m hoping to act as their bridge to the online community and act as test-installer for their prototypes. I feel good about the process; they want to do this right.
It seems like this project has been going on forever, but it is nearing the end. While it does seem that Christmas is a long way off, SpeedDirect wants to make sure that they put out a quality product that’ll hold up to all the fun driving we want to do
everyone naturally wonders, "HOW MUCH" - and naturally you can't say, but at least tell us, what are the "significant" parts of the setup. I'd assume this won't involve a specially designed rack <grin> - What rack setup did you use for your prototype? (I'm sure I could find it by going thru old posts, but I don't remember offhand) Any other parts of the setup that could contribute to high cost - other than 9 months of R&D?
bullitt - i'd prefer to use solidworks, i think its easier to use and its what i've been taught. i agree that this whole idea cant be all that hard to fab up with a little skill. i've got some ideas floating around in my head as i will have to replace most of my steering components sometime in the future anyways.