Fab work looks great. I enjoy watching the build sometimes more than seeing the final product, simply because it is more interesting. Keep up the good work and progress pics.

 

Absolutely fine work! What are you using to cut out your parts?

I'd have to look at the forces involved and the direction, but I might be incline to box the bottom of the curved parts. That part reminds me of when I autocrossed a 99 Miata, the hot setup was to use a large stiff front swaybar. The forces generated in street driving and racing on the factory mounts tore them completely apart. It was such a common occurrence that SCCA allowed the removal and replacement of the bolted and welded in place mounts with bolt on much beefier fully boxed factory aftermarket ones in stock class as a special safety allowance.

Consider not only the forces from the suspension moving in it's normal operation, but especially look at shock loads applied when the tire hits a pothole or similar at speed. The back and rotational force applied due to leverage by the length of the control arm and wheel/tire on the rear control arm pivot will be substantial and only absorbed by the rubber in the control arm pivot bushing.

A more graphic way to understand this: If you removed the wheel and hit the end of the control arm straight back parallel to the ground full force with a sledge hammer would the mount survive 20 - 100 blows without any failure?

 

Thanks guys for the positive comments, and hopefully i am inspiring others to to have a go at building stuff.
Yes i am planning on partially boxing the lower outer sections of the crossmember, after some more welding on the inside overlap section......
and when i fit this crossmember to the rails i will also add some substantial gussets too.

I am doing the cutting with my plasma cutter and finishing with a belt linisher.

More progrees hopefully soon to come.... John

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=97588

AX, is the above along the lines you were thinking?
As i mentioned i will also add a substantial gusset at the rear to the frame.....i am thinking most of the loading will be during heavy braking and /or cornering and the occasional pothole. Plenty of them out here in the country LOL John

 

Hi John i love your work , but i must ask if you have an engineer you are working with on your build ?
As you know in Australia we must get anything like this engineer aproved for registration purposes .
It would be a shame for you to go to all this effort only to be told it's not acceptable .

 

HI Scott,

I have spoken to an engineer only a few weeks ago and at this stage i am OK, but i will be keeping a close eye on the seemingly ever changing rules....?

Nice collection of vehicles you have there, 3 windows are pretty scarce in this country.

John

 

To post pics Lex, type the following. (without the spaces) [img ] your picture link here [ /img]



Nice work btw.. /back to lurk mode

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=98831

Just a quick pic of how the crossmember will sit in relation to the frame, just a little fine tuning to do before i can tack weld it in.
The old crossmember directly behind will be removed in due course.
The boxing plates will continue further rearward and i plan to build a Xmember style structure for the centre of the frame to stiffen everything up.
So the front suspension is almost finished now apart from air bags which will come after i have done engine mounts etc.
I am fairly pleased with this so far and i am looking forward to starting on the rear suspension soon. John

 

Little help with the pic!

 

I just found your thread tonight and have thoroughly enjoyed going through it. You are doing some great stuff there.
I have limited experience with air springs but thought I would throw this out to you. After driving my '56 for 9 years at a very low stance (below scrubline) I finally decided to try bags. In my research I talked to a local fab guy who has done alot of bag suspensions and he suggested to me using 4 ply bags and NO shocks! I have a '76 Camaro subframe in mine; he said that I would get a better(gentler) ride than with 2 ply's and shocks. So I tried it a year ago and have not been sorry, although on big dips it will 'float' and extra time before settling. I've heard that airbags can give a rather stiff ride if not setup right.
Keep up the great work & keep on posting.

Steve

 

This thread has certainly got my attention!

One question, What's the minimal sized wheel you think you could get over the brakes on this setup? I like the 15" wheel world and want to stay there.

 

I would think a 15 inch wheel will PROBABLY fit but i dont have one on hand to check.
I certainly havent come across any major difficulties with this swap, just wish i could get back to it. But a customers 56 comes first so it will have to wait just a little longer.

John

 

Well if you ever do come across a ford 15" wheel, give 'er a try and let me know. I'd really appreciate that. Otherwise if I happen to see one of those cars in the yard, I'll hunt down a 15" wheel and try myself.

Now you said that it was 5 on 4.5 bolt circle but with metric studs? Think those could be changed out to standard? Just would want to keep the front and rear both the same.
Also (sorry for buggin you with so many questions) If you were to drop a straightedge across the top of the frame to use as a guide, how far down is the top of the crossmember? Then, forward/aft position... About where does it sit in the frame? (use any common hole or bracket on the frame as a reference point) Just probing to see if i could get that big, fat-*ss 390 FE to fit into or around that crossmember, oil pan clearances and what not.

I really, really like the clean look of this swap and so far the simplicity of it.

 

I will try and get some measurements later this afternoon. Yeah, i cant see why the lug nut studs couldnt be changed. John

 

OK, some measurements.......

from the top of the frame to the top of the alloy crossmember 9.5 inches
from the flange of the front crossmember back to the front face of the crossmember 16 inches

let me know if you need any more dimensions John