I was wondering if anyone has done a complete tubular K-frame swap with coil overs. I know you can shed some weight and gain adjustability. I know there is some differences in the t bird and Fox mustangs, but wasn't sure how much. If it boils down to it my dad's 86 mustang is all tubular, I could take measurements from it one day and compare. I figured I'd ask and see if anyone had done it first.
I will be doing just that over the winter.
There is a guy local to me that has done the full tubular swap on his 88TC. I have seen it and it looks good. He said he used ALL fox Mustang components. The K, the tubular a-arms, coilover kit and struts are all fox stuff. He even used fox stang caster camber plates (I think he said he had to drill an extra hole to make them work). It also has a manual rack from a fox stang complete with fox outer tie rod ends. He said it moved the wheels inboard a little but only 1/2" or so. Not a big deal if you are going to run skinnies up front like he and I both have.
I thought that the mustang front end was slightly narrower. I've seen a few guys that could use the tires pulled in alittle to keep from rubbing the fenders.
Scott Mabe Wrote:I thought that the mustang front end was slightly narrower. I've seen a few guys that could use the tires pulled in alittle to keep from rubbing the fenders.
Yep...makes the front track a bit narrower. I will be getting all of the parts ordered after Christmas and will report the good/bad parts of the install when I get it done. Hopefully by the end of January or early February.
I installed the QA1 K member on mine. You need to shim down the front attachment plate about 1/4 - 3/16 and the rear bolts are, if I remember correctly about 1/4 further apart on the Tbird than the Mustang. There is a plate behind that attachment point with the threaded bolt receivers, and I just took that plate, cut it in two, took about 1/4 in. in width out of the middle and welded it back together.
Could you tell much difference in your car after the swap?
You want SN95 control arms. They are the same width has ours. I have the whole MM set-up on the front of my car. Check out my "My Track Toy Build" in this section. I don't have the car done yet so I can't tell you how it feels.
50RACER Wrote:I installed the QA1 K member on mine. You need to shim down the front attachment plate about 1/4 - 3/16 and the rear bolts are, if I remember correctly about 1/4 further apart on the Tbird than the Mustang. There is a plate behind that attachment point with the threaded bolt receivers, and I just took that plate, cut it in two, took about 1/4 in. in width out of the middle and welded it back together.
Did your setup move the wheels forward in the wheel wells? I've heard that about the QA1 setup, unless you get the rod end control arms so you can move the wheels back to stock position.
50RACER Wrote:I installed the QA1 K member on mine. You need to shim down the front attachment plate about 1/4 - 3/16 and the rear bolts are, if I remember correctly about 1/4 further apart on the Tbird than the Mustang. There is a plate behind that attachment point with the threaded bolt receivers, and I just took that plate, cut it in two, took about 1/4 in. in width out of the middle and welded it back together.
Is this the Fox Mustang K-Member ?
I can't believe no one has a complete write up on this topic yet.
WTF ?
The only difference I've seen with a mustang and Thunderbird is the motor mounts. If course the ones I dealt with was 5.0 cars, but the way the motor mounts attached to the k frame was different.