Updating the Super Street Mopar

[Superfreak]

Man you got a heap of work going on there. Looking good

 

[ckessel]

Thank you for that. It's deffinetly like the how do you eat an elephant. I like this kind of stuff as it's like doing a puzzle some and maybe chess in another way. How does this go and what's ahead of the current area that I need to allow for.

 

[Kern Dog]

Carl...I can't make out what you are doing to each "side"....Are you making recesses in the frame rails to mount something?

 

[ckessel]

The area you see with the recesses are where the shackles go. USCT supplies you with a new unit which puts the shackle tube just under the frame rail which raises the car 2" or so. I don't want the height raised up. The recesses are like that so the shackle will have its travel from loaded to droop. There is a short rail to the side of the main one that the shackle originally mounted in. It's about 2" deep, so thats what gave me the dimension for the main rail to cut down to. In the picture, its to the left of the cutout area. I drew it out a template of the area before I cut using the new pilot hole for the shackle tube to figure out what was needed for shackle clearance swinging both ways. I added a little to each end then did a 45* down to the lower portion of the rail. I made a dowel with a pilot hole in it that I then inserted into the original sleeve that I put a long drill bit in and punched holes in the rail through both sides. This gave me an established point to mount the sleeve with that would be on the same plane as the original, second photo and third. Where the pilot hole is I can't get to it with the drill and hole saw so I need to cut some of the trunk floor to give me room to do that. I was going to cut out the big recess in the floor anyway as I want to use an early Stang fuel tank, EFI ready, that will fit between the rails and have a little more tailpipe clearance. I have the floor marked with a punch so I know where to cut to clear the tools. When its trunk floor time, I'll make up a new section to replace the big cut out area that will allow the tank to mount to it.

 

[ckessel]

Here are some shots of the trunk floor from the topside. As you can see, there is a decent sized dip in the floor. I'll eventually cut a good portion of the floor out between the rails and fill in with a flat piece. That will get a hole cut out of it that the early Stang tank will mount to. I'll have plenty of clearance all around the tank on the perimeter. Over the top where the sender/fuel pump will be, I'll make a door over that. The fill I may just make it so the trunk has to be open to get at. Cut down on gas theft. In the second shot you can see a small dent at about the 2 o'clock position by the plastic plug. Thats the area I need to cut out for now so I can fit the drill and hole saw in to put the holes through the rails for the shackle sleeves. After the sleeves are in, I'll put the new springs in then figure out where the new perches need to be due to the spring movement. I had originally planned on moving the springs in 3/4" per side and the current perches are in that spot. Later on when I saw the USCT package, I decided to do the mini-tub. With the 3/4" change, it would have given me the room for a 315 profile tire. The new deal gives me 4" or so per side now which will open up more profile choices.

Universal Fuel Tank and 1964-68 Mustang Replacement Fuel Tank - MU Series
Mustang Universal Large Capacity Fuel Tank

 

[ckessel]

I wrapped up the recesses today then did some clean up with the shop vac and put some tools away since it was getting crowded under the car. On the recess, you can see the 3/16" pilot hole to the right of the square hole[ first photo]. It lines up, center wise, with the original sleeve on the outer rail[ second photo]. I'll open that up with the hole cutter for the new sleeve. For those wondering why the tank change: the Stang tank is narrower than the original. I need this to clear the new location for the springs. My tank was 15gal, the regular Stang is 16gal and there is a 22gal available which I'm hoping to use.

 

[ckessel]

Just a little bit ago I put the sleeves into the rails. First I marked out where the floor would need cutting to clear the drill and hole cutter. Got out the little air saw and made chips. After peeling the cut areas back, got the tools into the area and punched the holes. On the rh side, I need to egg the hole a little as the shackle is not quite horizontal but thats easy[ fourth photo]. After I get them in and welded, will remove the screw jacks to hang the springs and get the diff in the area.

 

[ckessel]

I got the shackle sleeves welded in after I took a carbide bit to the rh one so it could get horizontal. Went to put the bushings in and I couldn't get both in, one hung out. WTF! Checked stuff out to see what was the problem, put the shackle in then laid two bushings end to end to see how they stacked up on the shackle. Operator error once again! I had cut the sleeves to 2" as thats what I measured out. Somewhere. Cannot figure out how I came up with that after going back and forth checking things. 1/2" short on each sleeve. IDIOT! So I cut 4, 1/4" rings, to weld on the side of the sleeves so they would be the proper size. Then as I'm walking past my welder I didn't lift up one foot high enough and tripped over the power cord. I caught myself before doing a face plant/body plant/twist into/onto my lift, bolt bin, tool box and concrete floor. My rh upper bicep area is complaining. Makes it fun to do tasks. Oh well, enough for one day. Yesterday after making the rings and welding them on I chamfered the new spring perches and prepare the general area on the diff where they will need to be. I'll get the springs hung under the car then check the dimension between the spring center bolts so I can set the new perches where they need to be. Will just tack them for now. From there I'll get the sway bar in the area to see where it need to go and make attachments for it.

 

[ckessel]

Greg, here is a photo of the shackle repositioning unit that USCT supplied. As can be seen, it moves the shackle down thereby raising the car. Not what I want.

 

[ckessel]

Yesterday I was able to get the springs hung. That made me happy. Measured the distance between the center bolts then made marks on the diff so I can get the perches tacked on. The next day or two I'll put the diff back in place and get the rear sway bar in the area. Many of these items I've had since 13 so it's nice to see them actually going in. I'm not going to mess with all of the labels on the springs, lubing the shackles and springs[ re-using the urethane bushings], painting, rust proofing etc till I'm totally done with any weld/fab stuff. One thing I need to investigate, after seeing the angle of the shackles as installed with no weight on the springs, is where the front spring eye is in relation to the rest. There is a difference in the spring lengths between 62-5 and 66 on b's. You can compensate for using the newer 66 on units with a different front hanger. This dawned on me when I was awake at 4am to pee and let the dogs out for a pee break. It was an "oh yeah" moment. When I got the suspension parts from FF, the springs are the later XHD units that came with new front hangers. I need to find them and look at the difference. May end up having to put a new series of mount holes in the USCT boxes. News as it happens. Like many other areas in the state, it's been wet here. We had power outages for three days starting on Sunday. I was going to work below on Sunday as I had been batching it since Saturday. Sunday I was pooped so I elected not to work and guessed the power may go out at an inopportune time, like when I was using the lift. That would not be good as it need power for the hydraulics for up and air for the release mechanisms for down. If it got stuck on say two/three locks and not four, I would have no way to move it to get it on all four locks. So no power Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. Did not do any car stuff. On Monday I got a text from a neighbor for emergency help as some of the residents on our street were getting flooded. Massive amount of water came through, street drains partially plugged etc, so it overflowed to the low areas. There is a large property just east of us that the runoff comes to from the main road through town and streets south of it. From the mass flow since at least 18 when we got here, the elevation in areas of that property have come up close to 2' in areas from erosion, especially elevating at the end of the street above us. I'm so glad when we were looking to buy up here in 18, that we had lived here before in the early 90's when the area got nailed with heavy rain, so we knew not to buy in low elevation areas that would be prone to flooding or have a driveway that sloped down to the house/garage. One area nearby got beat pretty bad. See the article.

Los Osos retention basin bursts, 20 homes damaged

 

[ckessel]

So I found the FFI/AR Engineering hangers. There is about a half hole difference between them. Time to put the thinking cap on.

 

[ckessel]

I stood under the car for a bit thinking about the difference in the hole placement. Imagined where it's currently at then with the rear eye forward, say 1/2-5/8" as thats about the difference. I'm just going to leave it alone for now as I don't think it's going to make much difference. Later on if it looks to be a potential issue, I may just lengthen the shackles a little. A freind is going to check at his work about getting me 12 of the knock out slugs from an Iron Worker. That may be a more extensive fix putting those in the current holes, welding them in then re-punching the holes further forward. I'll keep those around as a just in case. After I reloaded the welder with .035 wire, had .030 in it, I tacked the new perches on. Tomorrow I'll get the diff on the trans lift, need to set the cherry picker up to do the grunting and get it on the springs. I dug out the rear sway bar parts so they can be in the mix.

 

[ckessel]

I got the diff off of the dolly, courtesy of the cherry picker, and onto the trans jack. Slipped it onto the springs but was fighting some to make it sit down on the perches. I ended up taking out the bushings I got for the perches to drop it on. I prefer the no slack mounting to the pins but it just didn't want to cooperate. I figured having the minor amount of slack there will give me some thrust angle adjustment availability later on when it's all together and ready for an alignment. Thrust angle is very important to the mix. It's the measurement between the axle and spindle. Basically wheelbase measurement but helps determine the true alignment to keep both sides equal. After the diff was set I figured out where the sway bar would be going and cleaned off the undercoating in the area. I'll need to add the bar width into the mix when its wheel/tire time so there is no interference. The bar will be in the area I gain from the mini tubbing. Since I already have this unit from FF, I want to use it. Otherwise if it's going to be a clearance issue I'll need to go with a custom splined circle track/drag unit to get close to the frame rails. We'll see.

 

[ckessel]

After looking at options for the bar, it looks like I'll need to get one from Hellwig or similar for things to work for me. Addco bar won't fly. Anyone have one to trade? Have all the pieces for the install and its NIB 3/4".

 

[ckessel]

Nothing major going on lately. I was able to get the trunk lid off with help from a neighbor. That thing is portly. Got started this afternoon on scrapping/digging out/off paint/sealer/undercoating in the trunk around the rh wheel house. I want to get as much of that stuff off as possible before I start doing any cutting. Also will back off the torsion springs for the lid. I put the FF bar package in the sale sections here, plus moparts and Creeps List. Have inquiries out to various contacts about trade/buy/sell etc. So for now that portion is on the back burner. Need to come up with the funds to purchase the new one. No biggie as I have plenty of other stuff to address and keep me busy.

 

[ckessel]

Today I removed some of the interior items to enable access to the wheelhouses on the front side. Some of the pieces were easy but others required other items to be removed to allow their removal. I'm going to take out the rear seat brackets while I'm in there as it's not going back in. More room for the dogs.

 

[ckessel]

Today was more scraping/digging fun. I just about have the majority of it off on the topside. I'll get that finished maybe tomorrow, give the area some suck o lux action to remove the dug up debris then hit the roadside of it. Looking at the instructions from USCT for the tub pack looks like they missed at least one step. The triangle shaped piece on the front side thats hooked to the vee bracing has no mention of its modification other than drilling spot welds. Will see how that goes. Once I get the soon to be cut areas marked as per instructions I'll get that part tackled. On the sway bar dilemma, a gent came over from Fresno today and relieved me of the FFI unit. Now I've got $400 towards getting the Hellwig one. Going to contact them first though and make sure it's what they show in the picture plus find out the width. Thank you Kirk Hagopian for taking that off my hands. Always good to have a new Mopar bro. While I'm thinking of it, anyone want the spot welded seat brackets I'm removing?

 

[ckessel]

Gotta love it. My "tomorrow" turned out to be yesterday. I've been busy planting bushes, fruit trees, putting a veggie box together and other stuff. At least with some of the slack time my right arm feels better after getting time off. Gotta love the instances when you are wearing clown shoes and trip over stuff because your foot got hung up.
Yesterday after getting a Lilac planted I spent some time scraping off factory and spray on undercoating on the right wheel house. I'm getting a bunch of that out of the way in preparation for spot weld cutting, wheel house cutting, floor cutting etc. That factory stuff is really tenacious. Slow going but getting there.

 

[ckessel]

My new Hellwig bar showed up on Monday. Yesterday got it somewhat in place to find the best fitting arrangement. Some may wonder why it's an issue. It's an issue because I moved the springs in with the USCT package. I'll continue on it today to find the best solution with what I have going on. In the photos you can see some of the fun I will be dealing with. I determined last night that the rear shocks need to be in the area too to see if there will be any issues near the lower mount and sway bar mounting.

 

[ckessel]

Put a shock on to check for issues. There is a small gap there but I'll increase it with some grinding action. I think I came up with a solution for the link mounting. Possibly I can use 4 of these shock mount studs. One to the bar and the other to the spring box. Once I have a pair to check, I'll know for sure. Thought I had some from previous jobs but no, just sleeves. The links will need to be cut and lengthened but thats easy.