Return of quad shocks

If you recall, in the beginning there were quad shocks. I selected to use 4 link rear suspension for its toughness. However, there are a lot of flaws with that design. These flaws were patched. One of these patches was the extra set of shocks mounted horizontally to prevent the wheel hop. So why did I remove those shocks if there were there to begin with? Well the coil overs did not clear. Something had to be removed. Horizontal shocks had to give way to vertical ones. But I had an idea. 

Yes. I cut the nut off of the mounts and put the shock on the outside of the mount on a long bolt with spacers. It actually gave me enough clearance around the coil over. However the body mount was not mating.

It looks perfect but with about an inch gap. I was thinking of creative ways to put a spacer there but soon realized that the shock would not clear the wheel. The body mount must be closer to the frame.The problem was that as soon as I bring the mount closer the angle of the mount and the shock mount plate were way different. The only option left was to rotate the mount to be parallel with the shock.

Once the mount was gone and after a lot of grinding and prepping, it was time to weld it back in.

The challenge was to weld all around. That includes the inside the mount too. There's not much space there with all the parts on the frame already.

That's after I smothered it with POR15 rust paint. The colour is noticeably off but it is a superb rust paint.

There rest was easy. Once, everything was bolted up, the horizontal shocks had about a finger width clearance from vertical counterparts. The wheel also had enough clearance but less than a finger. It's close but still comfortable. All in all project was success. I'll see how it drives later but it looks good already.

Rear suspension upgrade

One day I was reading up about the designs used in various Mustang generations. Turns out the four link design is not really a good one. The fact that the bushings in the suspension links must be soft to permit the movement of the suspension is just wrong. The way I understand is that the left to right movement is basically expected. If that's not enough, front to rear movement is happening too. Ford added quad shocks as the patch to solve the so called "problem". It's a set of horizontal shocks to dampen the horizontal movement of the axle. In the end, in 2005, Ford gave up on that design and went with 3 link design that is much more controlled and thus predictable for the drivers.

However, I still have the old 4 link design with the old 4 links. What can I do about it? Enter the aftermarket. Since this old design was around for a while and enough people complained about it, we have an unlimited supply of enhancement parts that patch the problem further.

I came across this post from steeda and got myself a set of lower control arms. These should keep the play to minimum yet be soft enough. At the very least they are aluminum and look much cooler then stock.

The upper control arms are tricky. Due to the design some softness is required. In fact the body roll that occurs during cornering would require the soft bushings in upper control arms. Yeah, I can't understand who thought that would be a good idea neither. Nonetheless, steeda created these heavy duty arms. They are basically stock except for the boxed off bottom part. Rumor has it, Ford Racing used to sell these as performance hop up. Rumor has it, that it was a performance hop up for drag guys. Well, the bushings are still rubber and should be soft enough.

These parts went on the car. Oh, remember that factory sway bar. It looked so good and black. Well, it's on the shelf now. Apparently, there's no traction at the back. We need all the body roll we can get. The sway bar would only make the rear end slide and come out more. I firmly believe that this car has enough oversteer tendency as is.

Next up is the quad shocks. The coil overs are too wide and the horizontal shocks just don't fit. Then, one day reciprocating saw went on sale. :)

No check engine light

As it stands, there's no check engine light on the car. I did not even think about the mounting spot for that light. However, if I had one and it was connected it would be off. It's a significant milestone in my wiring job!

After getting the engine to run my next big step in my wiring job was to connect all the components and ensure that all systems are operational. On my todo list I had: oxygen sensors, emissions control solenoids and transmission wiring. The trick was to trace all the wires that were too sort and extend them to reach the new location of the component. Some wires had to be pulled of the original wiring loom and rerouted differently. For example, my oxygen sensors are now on the sides of the car instead of the transmission tunnel. Each sensor has 4 wires that needed to be extended to reach the sensor. Luckily, two wires could be shared amongst two sensors, pre and post catalytic converter.  

To ensure the good quality connections I used only weatherproofed but connectors. If the join is close or above exhaust I would choose crimp connectors with heat-shrink sleeve. Elsewhere, I would reach for solder filled heat shrinks. Both types of connectors provide good quality join, however, the solder filled ones are easier to do since the crimping step is skipped.

Next up is the dash board.

Turn signal adapter

I am using the stock Ford wiring harness. It means that I have to replace the modern looking switches with the ones that look vintage. The turn signal had to be replaced. The switch that was provided by Factory Five as part of the kit was a simple toggle. It's supposed to be mounted on the dash. It looks a bit too DIY for me. So I ordered Russ Thompson turn signal. However, Ford's switch is rather complex and the VW part from Ross is very simple. I did not realize how complex it was until I found this ffcars forum link. So I ordered some parts from DigiKey and got to work.

I found a mounting spot just behind the steering wheel. It's perfect size and is accessible from the bottom if I have to replace relays.

Now that replaces the stock turn signal. I can see how Ford is saving money by using their simple switch design.