How many people out there have installed the Gibbons (Cordoba) IFS cross-member kit in their trucks? What is your impression of this IFS system? What kind of problems did you encounter? Any input would be appreciated! I have read the IFS Tech Article that covers most of the systems out there and this looks like a system I may want to go with.
Thanks
Scott

 

I just got the system. I havn't welding the torsion bars in place yet with the rear cross member. I'm on a stand-still because the instructions said to have the engine in place to give it weight, and I'm stripped down to the frame. So until I mount my engine and front tires, then I i will finished the rear cross-member and torsion bars.

So far I'm happy with how easy the front cross member and the donor parts went on. I had to cut out rivots from the cross member that held the radiator in order to squeeze in the frame and mount the front cross member. I was a little frustrated with that. The cross-member was exactly 32 inches wide and my frame was exactly 32 inches wide.

But after I mounted the cross-member, I use my car jack with some 2x4's to spread the frame apart again and the holes aligned perfectly, so I installed grade 8 bolts in place of the rivots.

My rear cross member does not go over the holes as I thought they would so when I mount it, I have to cut new wholes to bolt it in place. Minor detail.

 

Sancochojoe
Does it look like the torsion bars will get in the way of your headers? That is one of my main concerns. How much did you have to pay for the donor parts?

 

I would have to say, no. To give you a good reference...the torsion bars will go straight under the frame cross-member that your stock Master Cylinder mounts, clearing about an inch or so. I thought i would have to cut that cross member out through visual inspection, but when I mounted the torsion bars to see, it barely clears it.

I bought the Gibbons on Ebay which came with the Donor parts, so I didn't have to go the junk yard route. My parts were from the Plymouth Fury and everything fit like a charm. I just had to replace the Rotors with new ones. Since new rotors were pretty cheap, in my opinion, I went and bought new ones instead of dealing with the rusted ones that came with the donor car.

So far no complaints, but I still have the rear cross member issue to deal with when it comes to the welding part.

Oh, I did have to cut the frame on the top and lower part on the drivers side to make room for the stearing gear box which bolts perfectly on the cross-member once the frame was cut. I used my Oxy/Acet to do the cutting with no problem. Just mark it and cut. The instructions comes with a template, but visually you will see what you need to cut and thats what I did, because I tried to cut less than what the instructions suggested.

The one thing out of the whole process was I did not want to cut the driver side motor mount that was welding to my frame that supported my 302. Now I have to mock up a new one, and I never welded to a frame before, so I have some concerns when I cross that bridge.

I actually called the guy in Gibbons Nebraska and he sent me a new version of the instructions because mine was dated. His new version detailed more of what you need in terms of donor parts(not that I didnt know) and better illustrations of the installation.

 

I did one of these for someone else and I was impressed with how well it worked, that's typical of Gibbon stuff but nonetheless it was nice, used a 351w with c4 and had not a single clearance problem. as **** as I am about fit I would do another one in a heartbeat, bought a complete donor for $200.00, junked what I didn't use

 

I was planning on keeping the brake pedal in the stock location and adding one of the aftermarket power break units. Do you guys think that will interfere with the torsion bars?
Thanks
Scott

 

check with Master Power, they just released a new 7 inch dual diaphram booster that may just the ticket for that

 

Fatfenders
Do you have a link for Master Power?
Thanks
Scott

 

Try mpbrakes.com

 

Thanks to all of you for your responses. It will be a while before I make a decision on front ends, so if anyone else has input, it would be appreciated.
Scott

 

I have about 80k miles on one. I put it together in th early 90's using the original Gibbons kit. It has been revised a bunch since then. I like the kit and the suspension.

I had the entire driveline set prior to this and set it in the same place. The engine is centered and hugging the firewall. This resulted in the oil filter (302) sitting real close to the steering box. Solution was a right angle adapter.

I have had problems burning up p/s pumps and boxes. There was much discussion here in the past about this issue. I wound up cutting the spring in the pump to reduce pressure and running an auxiliary cooler to solve the problem. I like having more resistance on the wheel running down the road. Before, it felt like almost nothing.

I have yet to find a set of headers that will work with my setup. If that had been taken into account before, something might have been found.

I am running the stock m/c and pedals with a midland hydroboost mounted on the tranny crossmember on the passenger side. I cannot see running the MII booster or anything else with the x-member where it is now. With the addition of the Tremec 5spd, I could probably move it back and make the m/c fit.

 

Scot
Thanks for the info. The pictures in your gallery helped also. Would you use this front end again if you built another truck? It appears that this IFS conversion is not a real popular one.
Scott

 

I like the setup. It doesn't hack up the frame to bad to change to something else in the future if I decide to do so. 15 years ago, this was the only gig if you did not want to cut the frame in half. I did that the first time.

That said, I would not say it is perfect for what I do with the truck. i have hauled feed, hay, parts, >1K lbs of blasting sand, 14ft car trailer with car etc. with the truck. We are considering buying an old 12-16' travel trailer to pull with the '55.

The suspension is softer than I would like on the front. I am running stock spring pack in back with the top leaf flipped and re-arched. The hard rear and soft front causes the truck to plow a bit when you push it into a corner. Maybe I am just wanting Mustang handling from a 50 year old truck.

FWIW, brake size and torsion bar size vary with what engine the donor had. The 400 cid cars had better parts.

Would I do it over? It would be a toss up between twin I beam and the Cordoba.

If you need more info or photos, feel free to ask.

 

Scot, I assumed your front sump oil pan cleared the cross member???
How much clearance did you have??

 

I used a 6qt van pan. It is front sump but the drain is at the back and as a result clears the crossmember. I tried several pans before using this one. The stock pan drain was covered. I also tried the duel sump pan and abandoned it for reasons I forget.

There is probably no more than 3/4" from the pan to the crossmember.