Progress Thread What To Do With My Frankenstein

Been pretty busy all week, but here's my 2 cents.

I'd buy the heads first and make sure they'll support a 347 when you want to get into it down the road. The reason being that you don't necessarily have to tear the car completely apart and can enjoy it after winter this year. Building a stroker and installing stock heads just to tear it down and install heads later seems like a waste of time to me compared to installing heads then tearing down for a complete rebuild and re-installing your "new" heads. Besides, I'm sure if you stroke it and use the stock heads, you'll be fairly disappointed in all the work you've done because you expected more. The stock heads are going to choke the extra cubes as they do with the 351's. Again, just my opinion and what I would do, take it for what it's worth.....

As for the Pro Comp heads and intake: I know nothing about the heads, but have read a few different forums about their quality being crap. I suppose if you're a machinist and don't mind setting up and re-working new heads you probably wouldn't have a problem. But for the "novice" I would recommend something a little more "name brand" if you will. AFR's are a good head from what I understand if you choose to go with them. The things to look at are spring specs (so you know if you'll have to replace them for your application), cracking (especially in the combustion area), and if the owner doesn't mind you trying this, you can fill the ports with a liquid of some sort and check the valve seal to the seat. Take some feeler gage with you and check the valve seat with it before getting water or something. A flat edge like a steel ruler to check the mating surface for flatness is a good idea. Those are the highlights of what I can think of right now and should give you a good idea if it's a good buy or not. The Pro Comp intake isn't a bad piece from what I can tell. I have the Eddy RPM Air-gap knock-off and started a thread here to give everyone an idea of what it's like. I did a little work to it and I like it a lot compared to what I had. It's currently on the second page of threads, but here is a link to it: http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/pro-comp-24026-intake-manifold.883603/

And again, my personal opinion that I'm going to voice: sidepipes only belong on Shelby Cobras or mid-60s Vettes. Pretty much everything else they just look like crap. I'd keep the exhaust under the car and exit the back if you can manage it. I think you would probably be happier both with the aesthetics and not having the sound right at your left ear all the time. Again, just my opinion, take it for what it's worth as well.....

As for your shopping list, I think that includes everything except lube. Be sure you have a dial indicator, a depth micrometer would be a great idea, and if memory serves you will probably need something to measure your depth from that spans the overall distance of the housing for the depth mic. This is for setting your pinion depth. You will need either a crush sleeve or a spacer as was mentioned earlier to tighten the yoke to spec. Again, if memory serves, either the 9" or 8.8 crush sleeves work for the 8". I may be totally wrong, it's been a few years and a head injury since I've tackled mine. But if you go by the article that I linked to before, you shouldn't have any problems getting it done.

Here is a link to Alcino's car in action. He built his car for autocross (if memory serves) and runs great! His car has been featured in Popular Hot Rodding because of how well it handles. You can do a search for Alcino on this site and find a general idea of what he has done to the car - I don't remember what the PHR article has to say.....

http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/track-day-video.740128/#post-7383669

There is also a link on the .net site concerning front springs. The short story is if you want to handle, the front springs need to be a little beefier. The original units are pretty soft to give it a "luxurious" feel which is what they were going for back in the day.

http://mustangii.net/stifferfrontsprings_faq.asp

As far as the physics of the 2 different suspension set-ups, I'm not sure I can verbalize it. I think I am going to relate it to how the driveshaft engages the diff. In the control arm set up when the axle travels up and down, like when you hit a bump, the axle *should* remain horizontal to the ground throughout it's travel. The leaf spring setup can basically travel in an arc. Also, the control arms, if done correctly, can help keep the axle located longitudely(sp?). The leaf spring set up, it can move unless you were to install a panhard bar. This is what Ford did with the 05 and up Mustang's to prolong the life of the solid axle before finally moving on to the IRS, although it was using a control arm set up. Regardless, you will want to keep your axle planted firmly under the car for handling purposes and panhard bars help do that.

Handling characteristics depend on a lot of different factors: center of gravity, spring rates, tire sizes and compounds, vehicle weight, weight distribution, etc etc etc. Look to balance the weight front to back the best you can, i.e. relocate the battery to the trunk. Remove weight from the front by installing aluminum heads and intake. Lower your car - there's a reason race cars sit so low. Widen the tires on all four corners to increase the contact patch. Raise your spring rates so the car doesn't produce as much body roll. Locate the axle, again to control the body. There is so much you can do without having to try and engineer a rear suspension in your car. Alcino's car is a great example!! If you haven't gone through his PHR article, you should!

No problem!

Sorry, been busy all week - but I'd go for it! Seems that is the exact kit I was eyeballing for mine. IIRC, there is a post about superchargers and the pros and cons for the different models in the Fox Body forums if you're interested in looking it up....