2014 Projects Thread!

Well, our tax guy says we'll get enough of a refund to pay off our debts and have some left over. I should know for sure by the end of the week what it will be. So, it looks like my suspension revamp is a go!   

Argh! Getting sick of waiting! May have to charge some things to get the ball rolling! Some early season car shows I want to make! Really excited to get a decent ride out of this car!

ordered some parts! Put the battery in, and rolled the car out on its new tires! Drove it down to the gas station, and it took 5 gallons without a complaint, so whatever I did with the gas tank at the end of last season must've helped. I chickened out after 5 gallons though.

My Tokico HP series shocks and struts are on backorder indefinitely, so it'll probably be a while before I get to experience the whole transformation. I'm going to order springs next week. I still can't decide between H&R Sports and Ford Racing "B" Springs. I'm a little uneasy about still having rubbing with the H&Rs despite the narrower wheels. They will lower the car more. but I'm worried the B springs will be a lot of trouble to put in.

I hope the springs are easier then your old ones, too! Wow!

I had to dump over $900.00 between all my vehicles except the Fairmont. Plus another $850.00 for tires on the truck, and soon a set of tires for the Mustang.
I spent a major chunk of the tax return on tires, cat back exhaust, wiper blades, rear axle seals and bearings for the truck. For the Mustang...a full set of 4 rotors and pads, ball joints, and soon an alignment and 4 tires. The Taurus is getting a new fuel injector(hoping thats all it needs) and an oil pan gasket.
So hoping this will ease the stress down the road!
I have major projects at home to do besides, fix some sewer plumbing issues, land scape, fix ice damning leak, and we are having our wedding this summer!
I hope I can squeeze in time for the Fairmont and hit some shows!

Haha, I ordered the H&Rs, along with the Maximum Motorsports spring installation tool. I think I would have heard from MM by now if the tool wasn't going to work with them. They're pretty good about that sort of thing. Watch the video on MM's site about using the tool. It made it super easy in the video, so I have high hopes. And I found a home for my old front springs and sway bar! Bonus!

I drove the car to a show on Saturday, and around a little more. I could hear... are you ready for this? ... a rubbing sound. I was like you have got to be kidding me!! Turns out it's just the parking brake cable. So, easy fix. And it does prove these wheels sit farther in. That makes me feel better about lowering it.

Sounds like some fun stuff to fix. I had to sink some money into the Aviator's brakes. I'm not looking forward to taking the rear rotors off again. With those inside-the-hat drum-type parking brakes, it really makes it a b!tch. I hope you and I can find some time to do some cruising this year! Did you update your membership to the Ford club?

I have not updated my membership.....keep forgetting to do it!

I hope I find time to work on my car......really shouldnt take long to get the bugs worked out. I definitely would love to do some cruising.

I think it's cheaper to renew, like $10 or something, haha. Can't beat it. I went to their bowling event last weekend. Hopefully no one saw my bowling, haha.

Well, I got a socket stuck in my SVO wheel, so now I can't get the socket out or the wheel off without major surgery. I spent a few hours today trying to slide-hammer the socket out at the expense of the lug stud threads, with no luck. So, now my strategy is to take the spindle/brake/wheel assembly off from the back to give me access to the back of the lug stud so I can grind it off and hammer it through the back. (SIGH)   

Defeated the stuck socket today! It put up a good fight, but my BFH won the day.

I put some rust converter on my front control arms as long as I have things apart today, ready for paint. I found an odd thing. It looks like someone put a weld in each of the drain holes for the spring pocket on the driver's side arm. Why the hell would anyone do that? I'm going to punch the welds out.

Anyway, looking forward to trying out the Maximum Motorsports spring installation tool on the new springs. That should be fun. Unlike the previous several times I've installed front springs on this stupid car.

Pulled the old set of ball joints out and found something awesome. Stupid store sold me 2 different ball joints. One SN95 (right) and one Fox (WRONG!). I'm sure that contributed negatively to my car's ride and handling characteristics. Too bad I never noticed before installing them. Just one more thing that should be WAY better when I'm done with this year's stuff. Re-assembly starts tomorrow!

Ball joint woes continue. I installed the new ones in my newly cleaned up and painted control arms, only to find the ball joint bores are too stretched out for OEM sized ball joints. So I bought some new/used control arms. Just waiting for them to come. Springs are all in, and the car sits a LOT lower.

Before:


After:


I think the rear looks a little saggy. I measured and it's about 1/2" lower than the front. I'll let it settle, but at this point I'm thinking of putting some spring spacers on the rear to raise it back up at least to the same height as the front. I know the rear fender arch is lower, so it's going to always look a little lower, but I would still be happier if I didn't KNOW it was physically lower.

I scrapped the idea of the Maximum Motorsports k-member brace. It doesn't look like it's going to fit with my QA1 K-member. Still waiting on my struts/shocks to come. I have an email in to Tokico's distributor, but haven't heard back yet.

I think I finally found some stuff that will work for cleaning up the corrosion on my Explorer intake. Loctite Aluminum Jelly. Had to order it online, no one had it locally. Really looking forward to putting that intake on. Really want to get out to the junkyard to find myself a "Ford 5.0 EFI" intake plaque from a Crown Vic or T-bird or something. I think that will be a cool, subtle change that will look nice.

Looks great,but I agree the rear is sitting bit low. But not too bad.
Glad it went well.

Stymees'mont wrote:

Looks great,but I agree the rear is sitting bit low. But not too bad.
Glad it went well.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves.   I get to do the front surgery all over again because my ball joint bores are stretched out too much. Gotta swap in new control arms... so pretty much start over.   I'm sure it will be fine though.

I get to do ball joints in my 05 Stang tomorrow!

I bet your going to be a pro at this spring swap!

Do you have a ball joint repair tool set ? I just bought one.

Note to self ! If they offer a complete A arm with the ball joint installed...buy it !

I learned why Not to replace just the ball joint in my '05 Stang. I pressed out the old one, man it was a fight, then installed the new one, another fight, and when I checked my work.....I ripped the boot. I had some other New Ball Joints and thought if they are a match I would swap boots. Wrong, no match. So thought would replace the new with the other new one for the other side and order another......came out nice, but I could push the replacement in by hand......not good! These new cars are truly built to just throw away.
So I was done for the day, ordered a pair of A arms from Rockauto......

I do have a ball joint press. But the last set of ball joints I put in this car, I didn't have the right size cup, so they ended up going in crooked. Probably why the bores are stretched out.

Sounds like fun on your Mustang. I looked at buying new A-arms, but they're pretty pricey. The only place I can find them is Late Model Restoration. Parts stores don't have them... Rock Auto doesn't have them. If these used arms don't work out, I may still have to go that route. I get to try to replace the bushings with the ones in my existing A-arms. I'm going to try to press them with some sort of long bolt contraption, haha.

Got to work on this today! I think I have a good system going for pressing the control arm bushings in and out. Although, I was bending the flanges a little bit. I pounded them back out. I think it will be okay, since the rubber will still allow the metal sleeves to sit straight, if they are crooked. The new arms I got DO hold the ball joints nicely, so I'm set there. Just have to find some time between now and Sunday to get it all back together in time for the Apple Valley show. The wife works tomorrow and the next day, so I may end up having to do it after the kids go to bed or something.

Well, didn't make the show and changed my mind and ordered new control arms. Dammit, I just get so little time to work on the thing! Being a stay-at-home dad, the car stares me in the face day after day and I just don't have the time to touch it. That's part of the reason I got new control arms. I don't want to have to do this project twice. I want to put the front suspension together and be done with it. On the upside, it sounds like my new struts should ship this coming week. I've only been waiting since the beginning of April for those. No ETA on the rear shock I still need. Starting next weekend, i'll finally have some time to work on the car though. That'll really be nice. I'm sick of spinning my wheels with this damn control arm problem.

Wow!!! things have been busy for you fellas. You guys seem to have the ball joint blues! Shame about the newer mustangs, golden rule, it ford don’t sell the ball joints, don’t get the cheap Chinese replica’s; get the complete LCA .Generally speaking, if you are uncertain the ball joint is totally tight on a FOX, just give it a couple of hits from a MIG welder, they can’t come out anyway less they are totally loose because they are loaded from the top. when doing the LCA bushings they always ask dumb questions like does it have “sport suspension” “heavy duty” etc. in reality; all you have to do is measure the diameter of the bushing sleeves, wang the old bushings out and wang in a new pair, a little shiny black paint, and donzo.
I’ve been driving my Fairmont a lot recently, as it’s been pretty hot over here, so the A/C comes in handy, had to put it down for a couple of days as the shift lock, brake lights and t/signal circuit blew a fuse. Turned out something in the trunk flew around and sliced my loom, gotta get rid of some stuff in the trunk also, anyone looking for a set of very low mileage MAC 5.0 Performance headers???
Gotta girl interested in most of the other parts I’ve got, she has a straight bodied 92 coupe with a 4 banger, it will be good to see the intakes, valve covers etc gone, she’s real little gear head, somebody gave her a F150 with 5.8 or maybe 5.0 that has a lot of mouse damage, unfortunately the trucks are bank fire not SEFI, but that came be easily overcome when the engine & transmission are free. now that I’ve cleaned out most of my parts, it’s amazing what you find squirreled away in boxes marked kitchen, even found a pair of mirrors for a convertible!
Hadn’t heard from FOX81, lately, tried to call, perhaps he’s pissed or busy, offered a shit load of parts, from the green mustang, all he had to do was come get them. I think I may have the rear loom from out of my red car that fits his car. So now I don’t have any more junk cars except the one I’m driving!!
I had to put off getting the school to paint the car, don’t know what’s around the corner……so every penny counts.
You guys enjoy the summer & keep having fun with your projects…..later…

Hey, good to hear from you! Nice that you're clearing out your junk! Are your headers shorties? I already have an off-road h-pipe, and it's for stock manifolds/shorties.

Really awesome that you've been driving your car. Mine's been sitting for a good month, driving me crazy, haha. I want to finish up this suspension crap so I can get to the fun stuff I want to do later like getting my Explorer intake painted and installed, doing some little upgrades on the wiring like losing the inner fender solenoid and fusible links, and putting a maxi-fuse box in their place, putting relays on the headlight circuits, and so on.

Sorry to hear Brad, mine is sitting too......no time to work on it either. I did get the new A arms in the 05 stang. feels good and tight. Need alignment and tires now.
My days are busy with winter home repairs, helping a friend finish his basement, work, and lawn care....oh and our wedding is lurking just a few weeks away!!!

Yeah, a wedding can be a bit of work, haha. Cool you got your Mustang back together.

Got the front suspension put back together today. Found out that whether the bushing sleeves on the control arms line up exactly is not crucial. They're quite a bit closer than my old ones, but still not perfect.

What IS crucial though, is whether the bushings are pressed into the right spot. One of them in not supposed to be pressed all the way in. with the new control arms, the geometry of my suspension has shifted considerably! My driver's side arm no longer catches on the k-member, and I now have a couple of degrees more negative camber! I'm pretty happy about the negative camber. I had my caster/camber plates bottomed out already, and what if more was needed? Should be able to move them out now, and make some more room for my strut tower brace. With the c/c plates bottomed out, they interfere with the strut tower brace.

Still have to take it for a test ride, but I'm pretty confident in good results! My stupid battery died, presumably because my positive cable connector broke, and couldn't get a good connection. I just hope the battery isn't toast.

Glad to hear you are close to resolving the frt suspension issues. It’s absolutely amazing what a set of bushings can do...personally I like a bit of negative camber, it’s great for cornering! Hey I was looking at the QA1 k-members in the JEGS catalog for the 92 mustangs, they claim that the MU1TK & MU2TK k-member is not for street use, why is this?? Even on the QA1 site states not for street use, however they do offer k-member braces. Which one is yours? Any info? Are they safe? or should I just stick with AJE.

Maybe they're not for street use because they don't have the same crash-worthiness or something. I don't know for sure though. In talking to the guy from Maximum Motorsports, tubular is not always stronger. I've jacked my car up by mine and didn't have a problem. I don't think I would swap if I were you. Remember, I have my c/c plates bottomed out right now (before getting an alignment), so I don't think I'll end up any better off than you in the negative camber department.

Took the car for a ride yesterday, and it really seems to drive nice! I didn't go far, but so far things are looking really good!

By the way, hell has frozen over, and my struts shipped this morning! I can't wait!