Nice arms, Craig--they should avoid possible buckling issues. How far did the lower coilover mount wind up being below the actual arm? When I was mounting my RideTechs, it wound up being kind of a ridiculous challenge trying to figure out how to get optimum travel (on a relatively short-stroke shock), a 30% or so sag quantity, and a mount for the t-bar lower that wouldn't break. I think the lower mount wound up being about 1.5 inches or so below the arm. They took the beating at Thunderhill pretty well, I think...

One of us definitely needs some good paint--it's good that you'll be the one to take responsibility for cosmetics...

I got the rest of the parts last night, so I should be in good shape to have it together for autoX action this weekend.

63 Falcon
 

Craig,
good to hear you are going to be ready
Save me a spot by the Trees

Bob

I bring my own shade..... LOL






http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/file-113.jpg

Awning
 

Does yours get tied down as well, Greg? We had a trailer with similar setup, only it had verticals into buckets of concrete...the winds at Road Atlanta ripped it off, with myself and another guy holding onto it, and it landed on an M5...ouch

Nothing holding it -- it's purely hanging out there. It is self retracting in a wind. Has a mercury type "windy O'gauge" set up on it end of it. When it moves too much she rolls herself back up.

Awesome
 

That would save a lot of apologies. Luckily the guy with the M5 was someone we were doing track prep for, and saw us get lifted off the ground before the awning tore...a pdr and a buff and he was good

Helped that we works for Firefly Vodka, and we all "forgot about it' later on

The car worked excellent at Goodguys this weekend. It took me 4 runs to figure out it was better to leave it in first and bounce off the rev limiter than bog in second, and I never found the limit of grip. It was nice having a car that I felt like I could have won with. I finally started feeling the tire again on Sunday. If I can get more seat time this season I will be right there, cranked out a 62.377 on my last run which is 3 seconds faster than I was at the last show. I couldn't believe how much better the car was. Mike's quote for the day was "its amazing what good shocks and a little geometry can do"

I can't share the exact numbers, but the shock mounts a little over 1" below the center line of the UCA (just enough room for a craftsman deep socket) and as far out as possible. We are using custom JRi shocks with 4.75" of stroke. The motion ratio is 74%. The old Maier racing arms were closer to 65%, and a stock 65 mustang is about 54%. We did a lot of work with JRi on the shocks to optimize packaging and performance.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psh0it8viz.jpg
Engine bay view. Double adjustable require a remote canister to keep the nitrogen volume happy at full compression.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...pslxw21zhh.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps4mbsvpae.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...pso9tpehgk.jpg
I did a couple of special things to the reinforcement plates because I know I will be playing with the shocks a lot. I welded the nuts to the bottom side so I don't need 2 wrenches, and I added two 10-32 tapped holes so I could screw the plates to the body.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...pszdnlfo9z.jpg
I countersunk some existing holes so the hardware is hidden by the mounts when installed.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...psw6mzla0m.jpg
All done and ready for autocross action. I will remove the lower bump stops when I install the new lower arms. Right now, the strut rod would bottom out on the frame before the shock shaft bump stop hits.

this is awesome!

Busts me up Craig! It's SHOCKING to know what good geometry and some JRi's do for handling. We're all learning a fairly steep curve now that Pro Touring is evolving into pro racing. Just buying brand name parts and bolting them together isn't nearly the same as getting people involved that actually know suspension.

Good for you!!! Love this build... and love the way you're continuing to go about your business.