|
Been a while since I have posted.. project is moving right along..
Too late to turn back now. Firewall is now gone and there is now a large hole in the car . Surprisingly, with only some slight removal of material from the Mustang firewall, the piece started to fit up quite nicely. It will obviously need material added in certain places since the Mustang is a diffrerent size vehicle altogether. Started to install parts to see how they fit into the package and everything is finally falling into place. Pedals, hydroboost, steering shaft and heater box were all installed. Next the trans will be installed so we can see what is going to have the happen to the trans hump if anything. With the engine in, everything also fits nicely. The throttle and clutch cables also worked out quite nicely. The pedal spacing is much better compared to stock as well. Not sure what the pedal pads will look like in the end, but for now they will retain the 2004 SVT Cobra look. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...l_mods_004.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...l_mods_006.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...l_mods_008.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...l_mods_010.jpg |
Finally making some progress on stiffening up the chassis. Since the floors are cut out, we decided to run a full connector from the front torque box / frame rail to the rear one. The goal here is to make it look like the frames connect to one another and make it appear factory installed. First problem with that idea is the front subframe is offset 4" from the rear. We decided to add a 4" jog into the part as shown below. This involves calculating the angle to bend the material, measuring the width of the bandsaw blade, and then making the necessary cuts to get there. Then lots of miles on the TIG to attached everything together again. It is a rather long process in comparison to just notching it out, but looks much cleaner (even though noone will likely notice once installed).
http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...nstall_002.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...nstall_004.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...nstall_006.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...nstall_012.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...nstall_013.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...nstall_014.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...nstall_015.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...nstall_018.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...nstall_019.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...nstall_020.jpg |
Well.. I typically run on a tight budget and hate to buy anything new.. but I had to make an exception. I found this set (technically 2 sets I guess) of Roush Alcon brakes at a great price on clearance. I just had to have them. The calipers and rotors and made by Alcon, and the misc hardware and mounting brackets are made by Roush. This kit is made for the Roush Stage 3 Mustangs from 1999-2004 (SN95). The front rotors are 14" (compared to the 13" Cobras) and the rears are 13" (compared to the 11.65" Cobras). The calipers are 4 piston with race/track pads. Can't wait to see how these work. The barely fit within the 18" FR500 wheels. I have had issues in the past with melting the dust boots on the Cobra brakes, so hopefully that problem will go away.
How big are 14" rotors? They are the same size as the rims on a 1969 Camaro.. http://www.twintorino.com/images/torino_alcons_001.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/torino_alcons_002.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/torino_alcons_003.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/torino_alcons_004.jpg |
Managed to get the powertrain in it's actual position finally. Really starting to feel like a car now. Put the hood on to find that we actually have hood clearance which we were not really sure about it. Have around 15-20mm from the throttle body to the hood. Won't need to modify the hood thankfully. Still detaing on whether to run a shaker. Kinda leaning towards not using it and keeping the stock hood. The engine ended up 4" rearward of the front suspension in comparison to an SN95 Mustang.
Also got the 6-speed in. After struggling with getting it to work with the stock trans tunnel - it was clear that it was not going to fit. The plasma cutter made that go away quickly - A new custom tunnel will be made up. Otherwise, the shifter is in the perfect location and feels great going through the gears. The handle shown is just for mockup - I will likely modify a hurst shifter or something like that and then use a custom boot. Want to make it look somewhat period looking. The headers are in and they fit surprising well. They are full length headers made by SLP Engineering and came with an engine we bought. The pass side clears everything, but the drivers side could get interesting with the steering shaft. Nothing major.. just will need some tweaking. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...sition_001.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...sition_002.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...sition_003.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...sition_004.jpg |
We had custom 2.5" x 1/8 wall tubes CNC mandrel bent for this application to tie the independant rear into the car. They came out great as you can see. They tie into the existing leaf spring mount. We cut a section of 2" OD steel and notched out the 2.5" main tube - worked perfect. Getting closer to getting the car down on the ground. We decided to rigid mount these instead of using rubber bushings like the factory ones.
http://www.twintorino.com/images/Texas_IRS_009.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/Texas_IRS_010.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/Texas_IRS_012.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/Texas_IRS_013.jpg |
I have been trying to figure out what the heck to do with my ignition switch on the dash.. as the electrical portion of the projects is quickly approaching. Since the entire car revolves around a 2004 Mustang's electrical system, I needed to use something that would allow me to use a Mustang key in the dash. Only problem is new Mustangs have their keys on the column, which means the mechanisms are totally different as is the electrical. After looking all over the place.. I found several Lincolns have a key in the dash. I found this 1998 Lincoln Mark VIII lately which fits quite nicely. Once the original ring is in place, should look close to stock. It fits and looks quite nicely. The goal here is to make it look close to stock.
These pics show how the part fits without any mods whatsoever. Just need to modify the part slightly so the stock ring will fit. http://www.twintorino.com/images/torino_wiring_002.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/torino_wiring_003.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/torino_wiring_004.jpg |
Finally time to start working on the fun part of this project - the powertrain. We have 2 kits to completely rebuild and upgrade the 6-speed transmissions, and the engines will just get a refreshing/upgrade and make sure everything is OK inside. After all, they are only 5 years old.
One of the engines we bought came from a car that was a write-off and have some issues with the front cover being cracked as you can see. We took a risk on this (since we only have pics to go by) and hoped that there was no internal damage from the timing chain coming off. Sure enough when we pulled the head off, all was well inside. Gotta love the 4 valve heads http://www.torinocobra.com/forum/ima...icon_smile.gif. http://www.twintorino.com/images/geo...engine_004.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/geo...engine_005.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/geo...engine_006.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/geo...engine_007.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/geo...engine_008.jpg |
We bought 2 Tremec T56 6-speeds knowing there was some internal damage, and saved a lot of money by doing so. Symptoms were hard to shift into 3/4 gears, and also the transmission was popping out of 3rd and 4th while driving. This is a classic symptom in these transmission of failed stamped steel keys in the trans. This is a faily easy job as long as you have gear pullers available and heavy duty snap ring pliers.
As you can see below - the fragments found in the trans of the stamped steel keys, what the stamped steel keys originally looked like, and the upgraded billet keys. Also the difference between the bronze shift fork pads and the plastic originals (the other ones were in pieces all through the trans). Transmissions will also receive carbon kevlar synchronizer rings and an upgraded steel shift fork (from aluminum). Otherwise all the gears in the trans were in great shape with no noticeable wear. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tor...ebuild_004.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tor...ebuild_005.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tor...ebuild_008.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tor...ebuild_006.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tor...ebuild_007.jpg |
That pretty much brings me up to date on progress.
I finished up close to a final rendering of the car as you may have seen in the Artwork section of this site. Figured it belonged here in the thread as well. I like the stock looking C stripe the more I look at it.. glad I pryed myself away from the 2-tone. The background is in Arizona and was taken by a friend of mine. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...no_dot_com.jpg |
Subscribed!
LOVE the whole concept and the rendering looks GREAT!! :thumbsup:
|
That is one awesome looking project....Congratulations on a fantastic job so far and the rendering looks great.
|
Cool build, look forward to seeing more. Judging by the rendering and build so far, that is going to be one sweet Torino.
|
Time for another update.. been a while.
Finished the rebuild of both T56 transmissions. Much easier than I had expected. They both had the same 3/4 stamped key issue, and one had a sheared up input shaft (Ford input shafts only use 10 spline instead of the GM 26 spline.. damn OEM cost reductions!). Car was not going anywhere with this shaft. Ebay $13 replacement will do the trick. I will not be running enough power to replicate this failure (not yet at least). http://www.twintorino.com/images/tor...ebuild_009.jpg Ebay used press coming in handy.. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tor...ebuild_012.jpg New sycro billet keys and blocker rings installed and ready to go: http://www.twintorino.com/images/tor...ebuild_010.jpg Measuring shaft preloads (since they use tapered roller bearings) and added shims to get 0.000 end play. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tor...ebuild_011.jpg All done, cleaned up and ready to install: http://www.twintorino.com/images/tor...ebuild_013.jpg Trans #2.. We bought this one from a guy in Ohio for very cheap.. he was fed up with the way it shifted and had brought it into the dealer to take a look. The dealer pulled it apart and found the stamped keys destroyed and pieces were all over the magnets (just like the other one we have). The blocker rings (shown below) were warn out and then some. Thankfully they did not wear down more or my gears would have been chewed up. At this point - I am guessing the dealer found it would be cheaper to just replace it, so they did. They quickly pieced it back together (leaving several key pieces out) and that is how we bought it. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tor...ebuild_014.jpg Here is a pic of everything disassembled and in the parts washer. Still amazed they can actually make these thing work. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tor...ebuild_015.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tor...ebuild_016.jpg |
Now back to the interior once again. The top portions of the subframe connectors are now completely welded in, so it is time to finish up the firewall and the floors. The firewall was trimmed to fit around the torque box and was adjusted to the final position both side to side and up and down. The floor needed to be slotted to clear the subframe connectors both front and back. We ended up lowering the floor 3/4" to get everything where we wanted it. Just need to add an inch or two to the front pan so it will mate up with the firewall. This works out great and will no longer require toe pans. I had to pull out the hammer and dolly set to get the profile of the front of the floor pan to match the firewall - worked out quite well in the end.
Just need to make up extensions for both sides of the firewall and make up a tranmission hump, then everything can be welded in for good. Finally starting to feel like we are getting somewhere. http://www.twintorino.com/images/Tex...eplace_018.jpg http://twintorino.com/images/Texas_f...eplace_013.jpg http://twintorino.com/images/Texas_f...eplace_014.jpg http://twintorino.com/images/Texas_f...eplace_015.jpg http://twintorino.com/images/Texas_f...eplace_016.jpg http://twintorino.com/images/Texas_f...eplace_017.jpg |
Been watching your progress with utter amazement!Since I dont have any fabrication skills such as you my friend,I cant believe how you have just attacked this project with a take no prisoners approach.Things that just refused to work or parts that refused to co-operate with your vision were simply made to WORK!.This kind of enthusiasm and your engenuity in making all melt and fit together is truly unbelievable in my eyes.Im new here and cant believe the amount of work and time you have invested and must say your Torino or should I say Torino's X 2 will truly be a sight to behold when finished.
This post is written to egg you on and I watch in amazement at your incredible workmanship.Well done sir..well done!:thumbsup: I paint cars for a living and this as labour intensive as it is--but your project is mind blowing to see..the evolution of your Torino is incredible..Keep up your excellent work. Nick:bow: |
Wow - thanks!
Before we bought these cars.. we really did not know how to weld very well, nor did we have any of the tools or equipment to do so. This project gave us an excuse to hunt down all the used tools we needed and also gave us some seat time behind them. Just trying to document these things and hoping to inspire others to try something similar :D . |
Quote:
|
Time for a couple more updates..
We started to lay out all of the wiring in the car as that stage is quickly appreaching. There is a lot more room to put everything in here compared to the original Mustang that it came off of. The big challenge here is going to be making room for everything once the HVAC is installed and in position. The computer processor, fuse panels, and lots of other items that wer never on the original Torino need to find home too. The Mach 1 cluster and all the wiring connectors will stay until the car is started for the first time.. and then everything will go on a diet. Al the wiring and connectors that are not needed will be cut out. The parts that remain as original Torino parts (very few pieces like the steering column and various lights) will be spliced in also. http://www.twintorino.com/images/texas_wiring_002.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/texas_wiring_003.jpg Got started on some of the smaller details of the project. In this case, the door locks. Every once and a while you are really surprised that something works for a change. In this case it was with the door locks. Believe it or not, a lock cylinder from a 2003 Mustang actually fits exactly into the stamped hole in the body of a 1968 Torino. It fits exactly with no mofifications - retainer clip and all. A custom rod is needed to connect it to the door latch - but that is to be expected. I ended up making a quick one with a welding rod, and the key now locks and unlocks the door.. kinda neat. Note that the lock is actually black - for some reason 2004 Mustangs are polished as we found out. Black will eventually be removed. Only one issue here - Mustangs do not have a lock cylinder on the pass side, and Torinos do. As luck would have it - a local Ford dealer was selling off excess stock this week on Ebay, and one of the parts they had was replacement Mustang lock sets. These come with 5 bags of key tumblers, and you simply select the tumblers to match the key you have, and then you assemble and install. This adds a cylinder to the pass side with ease. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex..._locks_001.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex..._locks_002.jpg |
Finally got the last of the firewall out.. had to remove the upper lip that ties into the cowl (gets rid of the 1" or so overhang too which is good). Kinda doing the opposite to what most people do when they remove the cowl panel :). Actually got a chance to put the stretcher shrinker to work since the upper lip of the firewall is curved. Have the drivers side almost ready to weld to the firewall.. just have to work on the pass side.
http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...l_mods_011.jpg There is and end in sight with the firewall mods. Almost getting ready to weld everything together and then weld it into the car. Once it is done it will be great as everything will bolt right in. Not sure what it would have looked like if we kept the original on there. Once everything is painted black should blend much better. Just need to extend the pass side floorpan and the fab work will be done for here. Rather than double up the material near the torque box like the stock setup, we figured we would just use them as is. Save a bit of material and make the process easier. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...l_mods_014.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...l_mods_015.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...l_mods_016.jpg |
In the meantime - it was time to get going on the steering since this was somewhat of an unknown. The steering will be a cross between a 1968 column and 2004 Mustang. The column needs to be shortened to clear the pedels like on a Mustang, and also to line up with the rest of the system correctly and clear the headers. Beleive it or the column shaft on both are exactly the same. They use a 3/4 double d spec. This way it will require very little mods to get the universal joint to work with it. We will also use the steady bearing at the end like a Mustang. Just need to fab up a collar. I sacraficed the stock column shoft for now.. as I will eventually be using a floor shift column.
http://www.twintorino.com/images/texas_steering_002.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/texas_steering_003.jpg Found a home for the cruise control module behind the front wheel and inside the fender. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...ontrol_001.jpg Getting ready to get the shock towers in too. Have all the suspension and tools needed now, so this will start shortly. Too bad 315's won't fit on the front of the car :). Need to find the exact position of the upper mount. To do this we will be building a jig off the front clip we have. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_021.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_022.jpg |
Next onto the driveshaft. Believe it or not, a Crown Vic aluminum driveshaft is the perfect length for our setup. Just had to swap out the slip yoke as the T56 uses the only 27 spline shaft in Ford's trans lineup (since it is a GM based trans). Has just enough clearance to the tunnel as well. Now that it is in.. time to get the tunnel made up. We have the rough shape made up.. just need to get it made out of sheetmetal. Note the difference in length from the Mustang one.
http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...eshaft_001.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...eshaft_002.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/Tex...eplace_022.jpg |
Slight change in powertrain plans here.. have had one of these engines for a while now, and recently found a second one (both used of course). Could not pass up the deal on them. They are 4.6L 2V engines that use an Eaton M90 supercharger and were designed for use in a 2001-2004 Roush Stage 3 Mustang. Both setups are missing some parts and will require some custom fab to make fit.. but nothing too major. Should be good for over 400hp/400ftlb of torque and will still get great gas mileage (when not under boost at least). The rest of the powertrain is good for 500ish hp so we should be OK there. Two main concerns with this were hood clearance and alternator clearance to framerail. After mocking things up both seem within reason, so I think we are going ahead with it. They will add a bit of weight to the car which is not overly desirable.. but what can you do. The Mach motors will go on the shelf until the next project or sold to offset the cost of these engines. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story...
http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...nstall_001.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...nstall_002.jpg |
Is that one of those new high tec wooden modular blocks I've been hearing about?
Project looks fab by the way. |
Couple more updates. Almost have the firewall ready to go in. Worked on getting the wiring pass throughs sorted out and the drivers side piece is now ready to weld to the center portion. Made up some simple carbboard templates to cut out the holes for the Mustang wiring harnesses. Worked great and was very fast. Note sure what I would have done otherwise. Rolled a couple of beads on the part and also step flanged the ends so everything will look flush from underhood after it is welded.
http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...l_mods_017.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...l_mods_018.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...l_mods_019.jpg |
A month or two ago we kinda ran into an interesting once in a lifetime situation and had to act fast. Been talking to a Torino guy on and off for several years now trying to find some parts. Just looking for a couple of odds and ends, nothing major though. The other day I got a call and the same guy asked if I was still interested in parts. I said sure and listed off the parts I was looking to get to finish up our projects.
Long story made short, he was moving out of the country with very little notice (moving within the week) and had to get rid of everything he had fast. I thought OK.. here is a good way to get some good parts to finish the car with and go from there. He said he had a lot of parts and could not list everything. I thought sure.. you have some parts.. but everyone says they have a lot of parts. I struck a deal on everything sight unseen. Little did we know what was to come... Couple of conditions - we only had a couple days to pick up everything (required several long road trips), we had to take everything (and I mean everything), and we had to take a spare car with the deal (which just happens to be in the form of a 1969 Torino GT FB 351 4-speed car). We have more parts now than we know what to do with. Came with enough parts to almost complete the '69 and likely finish several other cars. Not sure what to do with the '69 yet, but it may become the next car to follow the TwinTorino project as I have plans for future cars. I'll let the pictures tell the rest.. and they only show a portion of what was there. Tons of sheetmetal, tons of NOS parts, etc, etc, etc. I am still sitting here pinching myself on this one. http://www.twintorino.com/images/london_stash_004.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/london_stash_003.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/london_stash_002.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/london_stash_001.jpg |
Back to the suspension once again. We cut the front strut towers out of the wrecked '04 Mustang we had (definitely not up there with the most fun activities to date). After they were out, we needed to drill out spot welds and cut off what we don't need to fit in the Torino. We also cut out the remaining pieces of the stock shock tower in the Torino. The last picture shows a quick mockup. Still need to trim off some material and determine where they have to go exactly. Very pleased with initial fitting - they actually look like they are supposed to be there. Believe it or not, the Torino and Mustang engine compartments are the exact same width (to an 1/8"), and the angle of the sheetmetal in the Torino in front of the strut tower exactly matches the Mustang so they should blend in nicely. The goal it to make it look like they were supposed to be there.
http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_023.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_024.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_025.jpg |
Wanted to change things up and decided to do something other than suspension and floors. Time to add some lazy man options to the car, in this case power door locks. Since the rest of the car is based of a 2004 Mustang, it only makes sense to use parts we already had from our wrecked cars.
We removed the solenoid that comes on the door latch of a Mustang as you can see below, and bent up some steel brackets to attach them in a way similar to the Mustang (with retention tabs and everything). Also had to make up a tab to weld onto the door lock lever that the solenoid actuates and modified it to move with the geometry of the stock Torino door latch. Was even able to work one of the factory Torino plastic bushings into the mix to keep the steel from cutting the plastic solenoid lever. Plugged it into the Mustang door harness, flicked the switch and it works perfect. Everything fits nicely into the door. Just need to final weld everything, paint it up, grease it up and put it back in the car for good. Could just have easily bought an aftermarket solenoid kit.. but we got the parts basically free with the parts car Mustang. With this you just push the button on a stock Ford remote and the doors will open. They even sound "tinny" like they should. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex..._locks_003.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex..._locks_005.jpg Got the cruise control module bracket fabbed up and temporarily stuck on the car. Module mounts up great and also started to get the wiring organized and in place. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...l_mods_020.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...l_mods_021.jpg Also found a set of rear tires for the car with only 10 miles on them. You can still see the stickers and glue on the treads. Lucked out on this one. Size is 315/30ZR18. They should give us some added traction :). http://www.twintorino.com/images/tor..._tires_001.jpg |
Moved back to the suspension side of things. Making some good progress up front. The main thing with the suspension was making sure the upper strut mount point on the Torino is the same relative to the lower control arms points as the Mustang. This way the geometry is retained, and the strut travel is maintained for both jounce and rebound. We went back and forth on this one and figured since we have a Mustang front clip, we may as well put it to good use. We made up a jig using some extra material we had, and also used the stock strut retainer braces from the Mustang for positioning the towers. We used sockets as dowel pins to line the jig up with the motor mount plates. Worked like a charm. Once we got this in.. we realized we had some issues with front tire clearance as we new we would. The suspension needs to be adjusted down about 1/2 an inch relative to the body and things should work out great. The tires touch the fender when under full lock and on their way up to full jounce. A combination of moving the suspension a bit, rolling the fenders and getting the correct offset should make things work out perfect. This will also buy us some much needed hood clearance for the supercharger. Shock towers will look nice and clean by the time we are done with everything.
http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_026.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_027.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_028.jpg |
Been way too long since I posted an update on this site. Make lots of progress in the past months.. here goes:
Had my first issue with Ebay.. thankfully it turned out OK in the end. I bought a set of Fox body tubular front control arms which I thought were made by Maximumum Motorsports (one of the highest quality Mustang tubular control arms you can buy). Got them in and they did not look right or fit right. Sitting 5 feet away they looked like the real deal. Turns out in the end they were knock-offs from another company. Once I convinced the seller they were not legit (he was not aware either), I got my money back and send them back. In the meantime I was able to convince someone to trade me straight up for the ones I had already. As you can see, they are much shorter which works out perfect. I now have lots of tire clearance and should be able to fit 275's up front which was the original goal (2004 Cobra used this size). http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_029.jpg First problem after installing new arms - tire rods are too long. Solution - 1993 Taurus outer rod ends. Works great now. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_030.jpg Also aborted mission for now on the tubular k-member. Too much time and money for the time being. The stock k-member is likely stronger regardless. In that case - started to work on getting the motor mount brackets modified to get the engine shifted back as far as possible. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_031.jpg Unfortunately with the Fox control arms being used, this also means the upper strut mount needs to move inboard to be able to get the alignment settings right. This meant we needed to cut up the jig and make it adjustable using threaded rods and nuts. The goal here is to be able to set the front wheels to 2-3° of neg camber for the track, and then adjust them back to 0.5° neg camber for the street. The caster is also being increased relative to stock. Looks like 275's will fit up front when using the 0.5° setting which is great news. All that is needed to set things into position is to flip the camber plates upside down and swap side to side. This way they can be bolted to the jig. Next max the camber setting inboard and then take suspension measurements. Keep adjusting the fixture outboard until the max neg camber is achieved. After this, unbolt and put on shock towers. Lots more sheetmetal work ahead, but it should hopefully work out in the end. Turns out the inner surface of the shock towers is almost flush with the origional fram rail which make things easier fab wise. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_032.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_033.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_034.jpg |
Got the point where we finalized the front strut mounts and achieved the desired caster and camber targets (took a lot more time than planned to manipulate everything to get it perfect). Now it is time to bridge the gap between the Mustang strut towers and the Torino. Went out and bought half a sheet of 16 gauge steel (same as the Mustang towers) and made up templates using cardboard. Just need to bend these up in steel, cut and weld into position.
http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_035.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_036.jpg Also landed a couple of good deals in the past week or two. Bought a set of tires for the track for $100 - Michelin Pilot Sport Cups. These come new on the Porsche GT3 and the Viper ACR. These ones are 265/35 18's and have lots of life left on them. Will use these as fronts and track down a wider set of rears (or just use them all the way around around so they can be rotated). Also picked up a set of Rebco corner weight scales for setting up and weighing the cars. I bought them as non-functional for only $25. After and hour of troubleshooting and fixing as issue with the circuit board, I had them up and running. I always wanted a set, but could never justify the $1500 cost. Now I can weigh anything and everything on the car, and the car itself. Will be interesting to see the weight difference between the motors etc. http://www.twintorino.com/images/mic...rt_cup_001.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/rebco_scales_001.jpg We made up the filler pieces for the strut towers this week. 16 gauge sheetmetal is definitely not as easy to work with as 20 gauge. Hope to get everything in and fit up this week and ready to weld in next week. Actually feels like I am getting somewhere now. The only pain with making these up was that none of the angles were 90 deg and each face of the strut tower has a slight crown - looks the like the stretcher/shrinker is going to get a good workout. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_037.jpg Finally found another set of Konis for the front of the car. They almost never come up used as they are not very common since they are double adjustables (likely because they retail for close to $1k for a pair). Since we can't afford that.. or even close we just have to wait to get them for 20% of that. Easy way to pick out a double adjustable Koni is to look for the screw for adjustment on the bottom which both sets have. Single adjustables (rebound only) only have have sdjustments on the top of the strut rod. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_038.jpg Dusted off the stretcher/shrinker and formed the sides and top of the strut towers. Also cut the bottom piece to fit and trimmed the shock tower to mate with the bottom piece. They should look factory stamped by the time we are done with them. Also made the filler panel for the section that was cut of from the original shock towers. Just need to trim things to fit and we will be ready to weld. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_039.jpg |
Found a set of nearly new rear adjustable Konis specifically made for the IRS suspension. Just need to make some custom upper mounts.
http://www.twintorino.com/images/Texas_IRS_016.jpg Also got the pass side upper shock tower piece bent up. Stretcher shrinker combo works miracles with ease. Also got the drivers side upper piece tacked in, and worked on the front filler panel. Most things are almost ready to weld in.. but I ran out of Argon so I have to wait another couple of days to get the bottle filled. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_040.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_041.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_042.jpg Managed to work on the car a bit over Christmas. Hoping to maybe even get the car back down on the ground soon enough. I got a Longacre caster/camber gauge for Christmas this year so it was time to put it to the test. It is a nice billet piece with lots of bubble levels on it. The only unknown parameter in the mix was the caster that needed to be set for the vehicle (as camber is relatively easy to measure with a digital level). Ford recommends 3.6-4.3 deg caster on the Mustang. We are setting it to approx a min of 4.5 and max of whatever the caster/camber plates allow. The larger number will mainly be used on the track. These numbers are generally agreed upon in the Mustang world, and lower recommended numbers are based on the fact that the Mustang was designed with the "average" vehicle owner in mind. The shock towers were simply slid forward until we saw the measurements we wanted. They are now fixed in place. Also managed to find a barely used pair of 275/35R18 Michelin Pilot PS2 tires to try out on the car (same size/model as a newer Viper so they are not that hard to find). They were mounted up on the car and we ran through a clearance check and they fit perfectly. The hardest part about getting a tire to fit is while turning the tire when the front suspension is compressed, and they also need to clear the coil-over suspension. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_043.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_044.jpg Also moving right along on the front strut towers. Have all of the pieces tacked together on the driver's side and everything fits great. Should be able to weld these in soon. Just need to add a piece in the top corners and they should look factory stamped. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_045.jpg |
I managed to find a set of barely used Schroth 4-point harnesses. They are the Rallye 4 models. They tie into the stock mounting points on the front, and use the rear lap belt anchors in the rear. They also have a buckle to detatch the shoulder harness so someone can sit in the back which is nice since they are designed to be installed with the rear lap belts still in place. These are actually DOT approved unlike many other racing harnesses out there. Since the cars will be driven regularly on the street and on the track - these seemed to make the most sense.
http://www.twintorino.com/images/sparco_torino_003.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/sparco_torino_004.jpg Finished tacking in the rear side of the drivers side strut tower. Just need to make some small pieces to clean up the top of the strut tower and it will be time for final welding. Everything fit together and matched the contours much better than expected. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_046.jpg Made a close-out panel at the rear of the pass side strut tower. In order to clear the air dryer for the A/C and to to mate up with the new firewall, it was just easier to make this from scratch. Once this piece is done, the strut tower can be finished as well. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_047.jpg Decided to put everything together once again and check all the clearances one more time before we start welding parts to the car. The hydoboost unit and the hood hinges clear the new strut towers, so we can now proceed with them as in that location. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_048.jpg |
Finally have the drivers side tower completely welded and finished up and ready to tack in.. it's about time! Pass side is welded and should be finished up tomorrow night. Just need to blast everything and paint it to get rid of all the contrasting colors. I quickly splashed some black primer on one of them to keep me insired :). Also have all of the close-outs done and ready to weld in too. Just need to make a jig to be able to plasma cut a k-member to fit and make it very easy to do more than one. Can't wait to actually get a real motor in there.
http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_049.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_050.jpg Finally found a steering wheel for the cars.. been looking for a while on this one. Two reasons for this choice: the style is "somewhat" similar to the original with the single horizonal bar, and secondly Sparco has been clearing out some wheels on Ebay cheap so this made them affordable too. We'll see what it looks like in the car I guess. The model is called "Veloce" and is leather with the perforated leather strip at the top. http://www.twintorino.com/images/spa..._wheel_001.jpg Moving right along on the front suspension. Pass side strut tower is done and ready to tack in. Next step was to make a perfectly centered and tight fitting k-member. The one we have been using to date is hacked up and really only for setting things up. Time to make another jig for this. As you can see, nothing too elaborate, but it serves it's purpose. We used reference holes on the part used at the assembly plant to locate the jig. Then we made up 2x4's that are the exact width between the frame rails. Finally two pieces of plywood are used to conform to the curves of the part. To use, the jig is placed on a Mustang K-member, sockets are placed in the 4 holes to located jig and then a utility knife blade is used to scribe lines on the parts. After that, we break out the plasma cutter and trim/grind to suit. Works like a charm! Making one for car #2 is now a breeze. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_051.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_052.jpg We used it to cut the k-member shown and it fits perfectly. That will make it very easy to weld in. Started on making up pieces to run under the frame rails to clean up the package and add a bit more stiffness. Kinda looks like the k-member was meant to be in there. Just need to make up the rear ones and the k-member will be ready to go in. Only thing left now is to weld in the filler panels and modify the motor mounts. After that, the front suspension is done!! http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_053.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_054.jpg |
When we removed the shock towers the steel was flaking away a bit, but I thought it was nothing out of the oridinary. The more I picked away at it.. the larger the hole got. Have to attack this before the towers go back in. Should last a couple more years now. This also brings up the question - how the heck do you get at this area if the stock towers are still in the car? Most people do not have the novelty we do by not having them in the way. Still have to fix the underside where the rest of the water went and rotted things away. Once this is done, front suspension is ready to be welded in for good (finally).
http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_055.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_056.jpg Since the front suspension is finishing up, time to move back to the rear once again. Had a lot of time to think about this one now, so time to put it in action. Biggest issue with designing anything in the rear is the tire clearance. Fitting the 315's back there requires lots of room. Couple of constraints here - the outer fender lip since the tire will sit within it, the springs and the shocks. We went back and forth on coil over shocks, but in the end they are expensive and take up precious tire clearance. The Koni 3012 dual adjutables we wanted were $500 each alone + springs and they are impossible to find used. As you may have noticed, we likely to track things down at discount prices. They also do not provide the most desirable load path as the shock mounting holes are outboard of the frame rail. Many of the aftermarket kits out there use single shear mounts on the outside of the frame rail which we are not big fans of. The shocks even without the coil-overs will require notching the frame, although very minimally. The result here.. the springs and shocks will mount in separate locations like the stock Mustang. In the end, this is how we decided to mount the spring. We are using the stock spring pocket on the lower control arm, but using a much smaller spring. We started with 2 u-bends as you can see, and turned them into a doughnut. This way we maximize surface area to distribute the load. Just need to add a flat plate in the middle and a small wedge to angle the spring as required. In this configuratins, the springs sit directly under the frame rails. Then we simply add a mount to the frame rail. Notice we are also adding an adjustable sleeve for fine tuning the ride height. Since we are running fairly stiff springs all around, we will be using helper springs (very low stiffness) to keep the springs in place when the suspension goes into full rebound. http://www.twintorino.com/images/Texas_IRS_017.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/Texas_IRS_018.jpg |
Moving right along - have the Mustang K-member mounting tabs completed. Only thing left to do it shift the engine mounts back 3" to get the engine as far back as possible. Since the steel on the stock mounts is 3/16" thick, this means the std brake won't cut it. Have to move the the hydraulic press for these bends. Got them ready to weld in over the weekend. Will get them welded in this week and then it is finally time to weld the front suspension permanently into the car.
http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_057.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_058.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_059.jpg Also found a complete vehicle wiring harness set from a Mustang GT and heater box / ducting parts. http://www.twintorino.com/images/torino_wiring_005.jpg You never know what you will find on Craiglist.. that is for sure. Responded to an ad for a Mustang rear suspension and a couple of hours later.. ended up with another Cobra IRS in the driveway. This one is out of a '99 Cobra (28 spline inner/outer axles). Could not pass up the deal at $175. Not sure where it will go or what to do with it.. but it will find it's way into another project - no worries there. http://www.twintorino.com/images/IRS_99_stash_001.jpg Got the motor mount extensions tacked in and ready to go. Likely won't go much further with these or drill motor mount holes until the actual engine goes in and we can check clearances. That way it can go back as far as possible. To do that we will just cut the studs off an old set of motor mounts which will allow the motor to easily slide back. K member is now ready to weld in. Just need to finish up the strut towers are front suspension will be almost done.. finally! http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_060.jpg Started working on the strut tower stiffening braces. These will directly tie the strut towers to the upper "shotgun" pieces on the body. These tie into the reinforcements plates on the Mustang strut towers. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_061.jpg |
Started pulling everything apart before the re-welding begins. This one definitely screamed Kodak moment. This is a close to a skeleton as it will go - will be a nice picture to look back on. The car sure looks awful like this :). Everything from now on will be an uphill battle and the car will start to look better by the day.
http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_064.jpg Finally have the drivers side strut tower completed and ready to weld in. Got the stiffener plate welded on and have all the close-out panels welded in and ready to go. Hope to finish the pass side one this week and get them welded in for good. Only a year behind schedule on these :). http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_062.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_063.jpg |
And that bring me up to progress made this afternoon..
Finally stuff on the front suspension is going in for good. Final prepped everything on the drivers side strut tower, drilled all kinds of holes for plug welds and welded everything in. We will wait until we get the car on a rotisserie to well all the way from top to bottom. With the plug welds ground down, it looks like the pieces were supposed to be there. Just need to weld in the pass side and it will be time to put the k-member in for good. Almost done with the front - hard to believe. http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_065.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/tex...t_susp_066.jpg On that note - time to catch up on the rear suspension. Finally decided how to do the rear mounts on the IRS. We used one of the 2.5"x1/8" tubes we have made up for the front mounts, cut one in half and will use the 2 pieces to make up both rear mounts. We lucked out and it looks as though the rear tubes use the same 5" radius as our bends do. Big thing is the rear mount will still clear the 315's with stock wheel lips. Just need to go grab some more steel to make up the actual brackets that bolt to the frame as we used a scrap piece for now that was a bit too small. Next we need to make up pockets in the frame for the shocks and clearance for the upper control arms. We'll be on the ground in no time. http://www.twintorino.com/images/Texas_IRS_019.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/Texas_IRS_020.jpg http://www.twintorino.com/images/Texas_IRS_021.jpg |
Cool stuff
I'm definitely taking the easy way out on my Torino build.
|
Very nice! sure looks bullit proof.
|
I just read this from start to finish. I like what you are doing with this. You should have two of the most unique Torinos out there when done. The Cobra IRS and modular motors are a great way to go.:thumbsup:
|
| All times are GMT -7. The time now is 12:34 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright Lateral-g.net