Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

Hello everyone! 

As im digging deeper into my car, and planning my moves for upgrades so i can do it all in one big push, I am thinking that subrame connectors need to be put on the car.  My 87 T will mostly serve as a fun, not quite daily driver, and not going to make tons of horsepower, but there are two reasons i am thinking subframe connectors are gonna have to be needed.

1) I've always owned full frame cars until the last year and a half.  I'm used to having the beef under there.

2) i like autocross racing, and i plan to occasionally run the T around the track. 

so, i'm up for suggestions , for pictures, for smart remarks, what's the best route to go?  do i buy them somewhere?  do i fire up the plasma and the wire welder and build them? if i'm building, does anyone have pics of what they have built, so i can copy their designs?

Thanks everyone for the input.  i promise, I'll be tearing into the car soon, just a few more projects to go beforehand...

http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?33763-My-85-TBird/page4

Link to mine, based off of global West design.

If you don’t mind cutting floor pans  thru the floor sub frame connectors are most likely stronger, there are some here that have done them, jcassity and Daminc come to mind.

I basically have what ammount to a under car design that looks like the Maximum Motorsports pieces. They have worked fine for me. Car feels solid and more planted with the subframe connectors.

I'm liking these designs, what size and wall thickness did you use, if you remember?

i'll check on MM site, see what they look like

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/gls-918/recommendedparts/year/1988/model/thunderbird?prefilter=1

Are these the ones?  Anyone used them?

They are 1.75 inch tube .120 wall thickness.



Yes, those are it. Pretty sure Aerocoupe has them or at least something very similar. I never did ask what he thought about them, but looking at his car on here is how I found them.

I was sent plans for these by another member here.



I used 2X2 .120, 1X2 .120 & 3/16" plate and some assorted 1/8" plate pieces underneath. I'll get some pics tomorrow of what I did. It's basically a triangulated connector setup with rear seat bulkhead plates. On the Griggs website it says that this setup increases the torsional strength extremely.

Thanks for all the input guys!

Lot's of options.
It's a good idea to also reinforce the seat mounts. The floorpans on these cars are getting old, and have seen a fair amount of flex and stress. Even from just daily street driving.

I posted up CAD files for my old seat braces HERE (http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?40049-CWE-TBird-SFC-Seat-Brace-Files). They were originally for a "typical" set of under the subframe rail SFC's, but they could be adapted to just about anything.
Another benefit of adding them is they reduce the free-span of the SFC tubes, thus reducing flex.

Another thing to think about adding is a set of "jacking rails". They are effectively just 1" square tubes welded along the inside of the rocker pinch welds. They ad stiffness, as well as giving you a solid point to jack up the car and a good place to put jack stands. You'll have to relocated parking brake cable brackets, but the little bit of extra work is worth it.

If you want to go the extra bit, you can weld braces/supports between the SFCs and the jacking rails.

I have the Global West units on both of my cars as well as the Griggs upper sub frames on both of the cars which are shown in Post #8.  The uppers require some cutting of the floor but stiffen the car up dramatically versus just the lowers.  I can jack the car up on any corner until it is on one wheel and my doors will open and close and maintain their gaps.

I'm a bit confused, where do the upper plates go?

i have a plasma cutter, if tpuppies is what it takes, thats what it takes.

I'll admit, up until recently, I've always had full frame cars, and you can definitely tell the lack of a full frame when driving my red T and my torino.  The torino is going pretty extreme, getting a cage, I really don't feel like pushing the Red T that far, I just want it to feel solid, and have a solid jacking point for when i put the 2 post under it.

PM me your email address and I will send you some info on the uppers.

So check out the installation instructions for a Fox Mustang here:

http://www.griggsracing.com/pdfFiles/MFK1000_pics_compressed.pdf

Only thing different with our cars is the tube is three inches longer (see step 12).  I did not install the ties between the uppers and lowers which you do for a torque arm setup and it also helps tie them together.  My exhaust is completely in the way for a torque arm (3" tailpipes) and the Bird is not a track car just a street creeper.

PM's replied to and info sent.

mine are here

starts on page 9, post 86,, lots of pics.

i did this in a rather more simple manner to avoid ground clearance problems other subframes have.
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?38234-87-quot-coug-quot-resto-winter-project/page9

Global West units have zero ground clearance issues.  They install on the outboard side of the existing front subframes.

http://www.globalwest.net/1980-88thunderbird.html

Select the subframe connectors (third down on right side) and the link to the installation instructions is a red rectangular box on the bottom right.  I chose to use these based on the fact I cannot weld and so the guy that welds all of this stuff for me does not have to spend a bunch of time fabricating some which costs money.  I prepped the car for the installation (cleaned up the locations where they were to be welded on) and took the car to him.  Hour on the lift and $50 later I was headed back to the house to coat the welds.

If you can weld and have fabricating skills then making your own based off a couple of designs floating around this site is a great choice.  Used to be a couple of threads with great pictures but it looks like they now have Photobucket disease.