Perhaps I do have brain damage (rear suspension idea) Reply #15 – January 09, 2007, 08:43:36 PM so,, leme get this right,, you are or are not going to keep the axle setup on the rear?the axles appear to be to type on the scorpio. Are you thinking of keeping it cv axle? orare you just planning on placing the piece parts excluding the rear diff and axles? Quote Selected
Perhaps I do have brain damage (rear suspension idea) Reply #16 – January 09, 2007, 08:45:27 PM Quote from: jcassity;122841so,, leme get this right,, you are or are not going to keep the axle setup on the rear?the axles appear to be to type on the scorpio. Are you thinking of keeping it cv axle? orare you just planning on placing the piece parts excluding the rear diff and axles?I'm not sure I'm following you.The proposed plan is to remove the 4-link live axle set-up and swap in the semi-trailing arm IRS set-up(with required mods of course) Quote Selected
Perhaps I do have brain damage (rear suspension idea) Reply #17 – January 09, 2007, 11:19:28 PM Quote from: Chuck W;122706Well it's hard to say just yet. The location looks to be close. It may require cutting the mount of the beam and fabbing/welding a new mount to attach into the factory RLCA mount points.Sounds fun. If I did it I'd screw up the suspension geometry really bad. You know your way around this stuff so it shouldn't be so bad. Quote Selected
Perhaps I do have brain damage (rear suspension idea) Reply #18 – January 09, 2007, 11:36:52 PM sounds bad ass and how far along is that sho project? Quote Selected
Perhaps I do have brain damage (rear suspension idea) Reply #19 – January 10, 2007, 12:52:14 PM Quote from: daboss351;122887sounds bad ass and how far along is that sho project?Waiting to find time to testfit the engine/trans in a car to build mounts. Quote Selected
Perhaps I do have brain damage (rear suspension idea) Reply #20 – January 11, 2007, 11:13:51 AM Ok. I did some more digging and the 7.5 diff route looks VERY doable. Once I get the parts out of the donor car I'm going to look around for an MN-12 Tbird/Cougar 7.5 diff and axles to mess with. Worse comes to worse, I can always swap it into my Scorpio.The geometry issues will be solved again once I get the new car, check ride heights, etc and see what needs to be tweaked to get wheels pointing the right way when lowered. The first iteration would just be to use the set-up as it stands with only minor mods to facilitate installation and geometry correction and see what I think.If I like it....jigs will be built and an 8.8 option persued as well as other things.....trust me, if this works I have plans. Quote Selected
Perhaps I do have brain damage (rear suspension idea) Reply #21 – January 11, 2007, 04:30:01 PM Cobra this, Cobra that. :DHey you knew somebody would say it. :pSeems like a lot of labor, time, and cash to accomplish something that could be done with a bolt-in swap. Mounting points may be close, but being off by 1/4" is the same as being off by a foot - it has to be re-engineered either way.Assuming a Thunderbird is 500lbs heavier than a Merkur (a WAG by the way) that rear end is going to ride much differently, and ride height will probably be significantly different as well. Just increasing spring rate/height to get the desired ride height may throw off all the advantages of IRS.Plus I always thought Merkurs were notorious for having fragile rear ends. Seems like a big swap was to re-engineer them for live axles, which was a ton of work. But the flimsy rear end was a problem well short of 300hp. Again, this is all by my shakey turbo-4 message board memory, and that was close to ten years ago.Cobra axles are fairly easy to come by, if a little pricey, but it bolts right in. But hey, if a Scorpio rear tickles yer pickle, go for it. :D I'd like to see it... and if anyone can make it work, it would be you.my .20 Quote Selected
Perhaps I do have brain damage (rear suspension idea) Reply #22 – January 11, 2007, 05:43:21 PM Quote from: 46Tbird;123206Seems like a lot of labor, time, and cash to accomplish something that could be done with a bolt-in swap. Mounting points may be close, but being off by 1/4" is the same as being off by a foot - it has to be re-engineered either way.Assuming a Thunderbird is 500lbs heavier than a Merkur (a WAG by the way) that rear end is going to ride much differently, and ride height will probably be significantly different as well. Just increasing spring rate/height to get the desired ride height may throw off all the advantages of IRS.Plus I always thought Merkurs were notorious for having fragile rear ends. Seems like a big swap was to re-engineer them for live axles, which was a ton of work. But the flimsy rear end was a problem well short of 300hp. Again, this is all by my shakey turbo-4 message board memory, and that was close to ten years ago.Cobra axles are fairly easy to come by, if a little pricey, but it bolts right in. But hey, if a Scorpio rear tickles yer pickle, go for it. :D I'd like to see it... and if anyone can make it work, it would be you.my .20You are correct in your memory being shakey I've owned Merks...While I haven't verified all the dimensions yet...the only real gotcha would be the spring perches on the frame. Everything else would be moot.The curb weight of a stock Scorpio is 3000# (53%/47%) and they are VERY softly sprung. Like I mentioned, I have tripled the spring rates (most likely quadrupled in the rear) on my Scorpio and the ride is BETTER than my live axle cars. Ride height again is a non-issue. Tweaking the geometry a touch to correct the camber/toe is minor. Regardless, the Scorpio is lighter, but the minimal extra weight of the heavier Fox cars (my 83 is only 3250#) is not an issue. I have spent the past couple months with my Scorpio setup the way it is, and geometry tweaking aside, I like it. I didn't up the spring rate to get the desired ride height, I upped the rate to up the rate as stock they are way too soft. The rear springs on the Scorp are probably in the range of 900#....stock is 250#..... It's still nicer than any of my live axle cars.As far as the live axle swap in a Merk goes...if your primary concern is drag racing....then yeah an IRS car is most likely not for you. Thus all the Cobra guys g and moaning and swapping in live axles. Folks weren't swapping live axle into Merks just because. Most Merk owners chose it over the Mustang because it had the IRS. The shame was that Ford US went with the py diff.I already mentioned not wanting to use the Merk/Euro diff. This is why my first change will be to the 7.5. This can be done pretty cheaply. No it's not an 8.8, but that can be done laterThere is not going to be alot of cash outlay mainly because, well the rear susp isn't costing me anything. I can get raw materials easy. The diff swap should run no more than $300....I might have another $100 into springs.The Cobra swap is a "bolt-in" once you correct all the issues with it. I dealt with them, had my hands on them, designed parts for them....I wasn't impressed. It took ALOT of work and tweaking to get them to actually perform. If they could have put more rubber into them they probably would have. Where's the cost savings there by the time you buy good bushings and solid mount the carrier? Also take into consideration it probably weighs 50% more than the Merk IRS.....at least. Quote Selected
Perhaps I do have brain damage (rear suspension idea) Reply #23 – January 11, 2007, 05:50:16 PM Yeah but it sure is easy. :DBe sure to give us a report back!Also, is this more for performance, ride, or just to say you did it? Quote Selected
Perhaps I do have brain damage (rear suspension idea) Reply #24 – January 11, 2007, 06:04:49 PM Quote from: 46Tbird;123219Also, is this more for performance, ride, or just to say you did it?Yes :hick:I think set up correctly it will offer all of the above.The first stage is just to see how it works. The more intense stuff will come later. Quote Selected
Perhaps I do have brain damage (rear suspension idea) Reply #25 – January 15, 2007, 12:01:08 AM Well I must have grabbed the wrong info. The curb weight of the Scorpio is 3250# (52%/48%). So it's pretty much the same as the 83-86 cars.Also, I have my other car here now, so once the weather starts to behave (ie...stop raining) I'll be able to get some better measurements and go from there. Quote Selected
Perhaps I do have brain damage (rear suspension idea) Reply #26 – January 15, 2007, 10:17:17 AM Chuck, what kind of stuff have designed for the Cobra IRS?? I might be interested. Please post some pics of your work with this project. Also, where (how) do you manage to stretch your days??? So many projects......So little timeJohnP.S. Let me know when you get those mounts I sent :) Quote Selected
Perhaps I do have brain damage (rear suspension idea) Reply #27 – January 15, 2007, 10:50:00 AM All my work on the Cobra stuff was when I was back at KB. I don't have any drawings with me. I was working on another IRS project for a while (SLA), but that has since been axed due to other issues.I haven't seen the mounts yet, but should any day. Quote Selected
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Topic: Perhaps I do have brain damage (rear suspension idea) (Read 3106 times)
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