My 85 TBird Reply #120 – February 02, 2015, 04:09:13 PM I was going to measure the Maximum Motorsports strut tower brace I have on my 93 Coupe but it does not pass over the top of the intake. Rather it pushed forward from the strut towers a couple of inches and then goes in front of the intake and across the top of the distributor but towards the back of the cap.Could you rework it to be more like what they install on the Cameros? By running the bar to the back of the motor it may give you more clearance and be easier to work on things but I am just guessing here.Darren Quote Selected
My 85 TBird Reply #121 – February 02, 2015, 09:33:42 PM QuoteCould you rework it to be more like what they install on the Cameros? By running the bar to the back of the motor it may give you more clearance and be easier to work on things but I am just guessing here.Attachment 35711 Darren That's not a bad idea. I held one of my conduit test runs in place and it has potential. If in the end what I am doing doesn't work I will have to give this route a try. I am not ready to give up on what I have just yet though. I found a few posts of guys with newer mustangs running about 3/8" clearance between their intake cover and the strut tower brace. Couple of them say that it does touch under hard acceleration, they can just see where it rubs. That being said, there is a difference between a intake cover hitting and the case of the blower. It also seems that most that have installed polyurethane motor mounts claim that it will raise the motor at least 1/2", so that's not going to work either. I went ahead and marked the tube 7/8" above the blower, cut it out and welded it up. This looks like plenty of clearance, tempted to weld in another 1/8" strip. I have no idea how much this weakens the tube, but it still seems plenty stout. When it's all said and done I will have to use some clay and check the clearance after a good launch or two. Filler metal is same thickness as the tube Quote Selected
My 85 TBird Reply #122 – February 02, 2015, 10:06:37 PM If the shock towers ever push in towards each other it may kink it but I say in your case it's worth a shot. If it was me and my no welding ass then I would persue the other option just because it would take me a week to get my buddy to weld up another one plus he doesn't work for free. He doesn't charge me full boat but it just sucks I cannot weld. Anyhow, give it a shot and see what happens. Maybe don't paint it until it proves out?Darren Quote Selected
My 85 TBird Reply #123 – February 04, 2015, 12:09:39 AM QuoteAerocoupe If the shock towers ever push in towards each other it may kink it but I say in your case it's worth a shot. If it was me and my no welding ass then I would persue the other option just because it would take me a week to get my buddy to weld up another one plus he doesn't work for free. He doesn't charge me full boat but it just sucks I cannot weld. Anyhow, give it a shot and see what happens. Maybe don't paint it until it proves out? Darren I am fairly confident that it won't kink. Have been over at the corner carvers site reading up on some of their opinions on how much force, or lack of force, is actually put on the strut tower brace. There is also some good info on the fox body rear suspension over there that is a good read. Here is what Jack Hidley had posted about the strut tower brace.QuoteI can't give out numbers, but I can tell you what the general deflections are like. The most extreme strut tower deflection occurs under hard braking. The strut towers move towards the firewall. There is some deflection outwards, but not much. Most people seem to get overly concerned about STBs keeping the camber from changing dynamically. We've seen no evidence that they have any positive effect on this. From a handling standpoint, I think the main benefits are this: When the strut towers move rearwards or outwards, the toe changes quite a bit. This is going to occur primarily under braking or trail braking, times when you want a stable front end. Is the difference going to drop your lap times 0.5 seconds? I seriously doubt it, but good handling has as much to do with predictability as it does with grip. From an NVH standpoint, there is definitely an improvement as the center of the firewall is triangulated to the strut towers, which reduces cowl shake. In my opinion, the car also becomes more response during high rates of steering yaw.Obviously, all of these comments only apply to an STB design that is good enough to actually brace the nodes that it is attached to. I've used STBs that had no effect because they weren't well designed. I know there are plenty of people on this board that are skeptical. For them, I have one piece of evidence that I think is too difficult to refute. Why would Ford add a $20 part (STB) to the SN95 Mustang if it had no positive benefit to the car? If it didn't have some significant positive benefit, Ford would view this as throwing away $20 of profit in each Mustang made. Why did they stop putting them on? I don't know, but my guess is someone did a cost/benefit buttstuffysis where the increased build and warranty cost of having to work around the STB was weighed against the increased sales volume of Mustangs due to the improved driving experience, and the STB lost. I'm intentionally making this comparison as simple as possible. __________________Jack HidleyMaximum Motorsports Tech Support Almost finished fabricating, just a few more welds and some more clean up. Quote Selected
My 85 TBird Reply #124 – February 04, 2015, 12:28:25 AM With Jack's 0.02 I would say your design is good to go. After reading what he said and thinking of how the towers would want to move under hard cornering and braking it makes sense. Always learning something new is a great thing!I like the gussets for the firewall to shock tower struts. How do the struts attach to the firewall? The Maximum brace on my Coupe uses a piece of pipe welded perpendicularly to the struts and a large diameter bolt passes through them and bolts it to the factory tabs on the firewall.Anyhow, good looking brace man!Darren Quote Selected
My 85 TBird Reply #125 – February 04, 2015, 12:57:14 AM Thanks DarrenIf MM offered a STB for this application I would have certainly purchased it. I probably have 12 hours in this and it's still not quite done.It is attached to the firewall at the pinch weld with a 1/2" bolt at that factory tab location. I used a 1/2" bolt because that's what fit nicely thru the hole in that tab. I used a press and just flattened the tube. I looked at many photos of the MM bar while building mine and did notice the perpendicular pipe at that location, but took the easy way out. Quote Selected
My 85 TBird Reply #126 – February 08, 2015, 02:04:32 AM Spent the last couple of evenings and most of Sat making a air intake box. The front and the side are both open. After painting I will put on some sort of rubber edging and maybe a heat barrier on the inside. Had to rework the rear lower corner to clear the ac tube Quote Selected
My 85 TBird Reply #127 – February 15, 2015, 08:49:22 PM Got around to pulling the motor back out this weekend. At the top of the list was the steering shaft and header issues. So I cut into the header tube some more and bent it in thinking that it would be more than enough. Reinstalled the motor and it still touched. Motor came back out and decided that the tube was already restricted too much to go any further. Ended up rerouting the tube to the other side of the steering shaft. This better work. Crushed tube moved in more than 1/4", still needed at least that much more. Would have ended up less than half the original diameter. Tacked into place, going to reinstall and check for issues before fully welding Quote Selected
My 85 TBird Reply #128 – February 15, 2015, 08:53:00 PM Nice work on the air box and headers. May I suggest some Lizard skin thermal barrier on the inside of the box, that way you can paint the outside to match. Quote Selected
My 85 TBird Reply #129 – February 15, 2015, 09:04:49 PM Quote1BadBird Nice work on the air box and headers. May I suggest some Lizard skin thermal barrier on the inside of the box, that way you can paint the outside to match. Thanks. Was thinking about a heat barrier on the inside, will have to check into the Lizard skin, never heard of it.Did you get back up north yet for that Bird? I am gaining on ya. lol. Quote Selected
My 85 TBird Reply #130 – February 22, 2015, 08:42:01 PM 1 step forward, 3 steps back, or something like that. Reinstalled the motor/trans to find that the steering shaft now hit the tube on the other side. It was the right idea but needed a tighter bend. Ordered a u bend on a tighter radius and it worked out. The steering shaft finally has all kinds of clearance. Now the 3 steps back. Installed some new ford motor mounts before the last install. Not only did it raise the motor around 1/4" they also moved it rearward. The r mount was slightly bent, and both mounts had the rubber slightly torn, I assume from the accident the donor car was in. You would think a guy that fixes wrecks for a living would know better. As tight as things are this relocation caused some issues. 1) r header is smashed up against the firewall. 2) The strut tower brace no longer clears the intake tube. 3) The air intake tube no longer reaches the air box. So dropped the motor back out and reamed out the motor mount holes in the k member forward 1/4", should have went 1/8" further. This helped the header to firewall issue some. To help with the difference in height I am going to increase the spacer between the k member and body from 3/8" to 1/2" or 5/8" if needed. Then will see what else is needed from there.A two post lift sure would be nice for this but here is how I am getting the motor/trans in and out. I am getting pretty good at it. Quote Selected
My 85 TBird Reply #131 – February 22, 2015, 09:54:47 PM Post lift. Fork lift. What ever works . Quote Selected
My 85 TBird Reply #132 – February 22, 2015, 11:55:46 PM Quote from: bodyman;444700Thanks. Was thinking about a heat barrier on the inside, will have to check into the Lizard skin, never heard of it.Did you get back up north yet for that Bird? I am gaining on ya. lol.Hey Joe, That Lizzard skin is some great stuff. Check out this demo on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f9z_XlP4dY Here's a link http://www.eastwood.com/lizard-skin-ceramic-insulation-2-gallon-pail.html you might find it cheaper somewhere else thoughHaven't made it up there yet but I'm working on it. You'll probably pass me up at this rate. lol Quote Selected
My 85 TBird Reply #133 – February 24, 2015, 12:21:14 AM Quotethunderjet302 Post lift. Fork lift. What ever works . Yeah, it's a little spoogebersome but it gets the job done. Quote1BadBird Hey Joe, That Lizzard skin is some great stuff. Check out this demo on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f9z_XlP4dY Here's a link http://www.eastwood.com/lizard-skin-...llon-pail.html you might find it cheaper somewhere else though Haven't made it up there yet but I'm working on it. You'll probably pass me up at this rate. lol Thanks for the links, watched the vid and a few others. May have to give it a try. Spent some time tonight and shimmed the k member to 5/8", and after shifting the motor in the k member (rotated up on the l side) was able to get the intake tube back under the strut tower brace. I will need to make a 3/8" spacer to get the mass air flow bolted back up to the air intake box. Once I get the dash out I will tackle the header to firewall issue. Quote Selected
My 85 TBird Reply #134 – March 11, 2015, 10:23:20 PM Have been working on the exhaust now that the motor is setting in it's final resting place. Finished up the mid pipe tonight. My prochamber doesn't look much better than the MAC, but is a little smoother on the inside. Inside the MACInside my version before the end was welded on Quote Selected
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