Project: 2nd Chance...

Little update... Some new parts and measurements have been taken.


The pro link 4-link axle brackets and the rod ends are ready to go...




Ford 9" late style big bearing axle housing ends. Much better than crappy c-clip eliminators, true semi-floating Ford 8.8"...






And here's the measurements / scale drawings of the back-half, 4-link, and coilover setup...






With ride height (bottom of pinch weld to ground) at 4", the 26" rear tires will be tucking up in to the wheel wells 3.5"... Gonna set 4" as the absolute lowest since the coils will have 2.5" of compression travel at any given ride height and scraping is bad unless it's bagged. Probably run somewhere around 6" out back and 4" up front to give it a little rake. Another 1.5 weeks and the work can begin! The anticipation is killing me but I still have to do a bit of planning and I want everything set perfect before I start.

good lookin' drafts, always important

Thanks.

More parts getting sent back... The 4-link axle brackets needed too much modification so I just traced them out, made the adjustments on paper, and will fabricate new ones myself. Already have to make 4-link frame brackets and tons of different brackets for the coilovers so I might as well do it all custom. Just time consuming... Hopefully I can sucker someone in to making a bunch of them while I fab up the frame rails and narrow the axle.

Grabbed the 8.8" axle from Pick N Pull last weekend. They had a 20% off sale so the final price was $130, was stoked... The 3.73 Traction-Lok one I had my eye on over the past few weeks was raped of it's guts so I ended up having to go with the 4.10 Traction-Lok. No big deal, just 200rpm higher on the highway...

Anyway, hoping to get out in the shop on Thursday to pull the old drivetrain, cut out the floor, and get going on the axle narrowing. I have a feeling the shorter axle shafts are going to take a long time to get made (outsourced) so I'll be hittin that hard off the bat.

Useless without pics, I know... When I get in there tomorrow I'll at least snap a few off of the new axle and the car being lonely in the shop. Not that this thread is blowing up or anything.

aka-turbo wrote:Grabbed the 8.8" axle from Pick N Pull last weekend. They had a 20% off sale so the final price was $130, was stoked... The 3.73 Traction-Lok one I had my eye on over the past few weeks was raped of it's guts so I ended up having to go with the 4.10 Traction-Lok. No big deal, just 200rpm higher on the highway...

A little quicker off the line, too.

Anyway, hoping to get out in the shop on Thursday to pull the old drivetrain, cut out the floor, and get going on the axle narrowing. I have a feeling the shorter axle shafts are going to take a long time to get made (outsourced) so I'll be hittin that hard off the bat.

Where are you getting the axles done?

Useless without pics, I know... When I get in there tomorrow I'll at least snap a few off of the new axle and the car being lonely in the shop. Not that this thread is blowing up or anything.

You got me droolin' over here! Makes me feel bad about neglecting my 122, and it really makes me wish I had fab skills. Can't wait to see more!

Come to find out the axle I grabbed was recently rebuilt too. New bearings throughout, new clutches in the LSD, etc.

Getting the axle shafts made at Jaws Gear & Axle probably...

I'll try to get pictures up sooner or later, lost the charger for my digital.

Oh yeah, guess I forgot about this... Here's an update.


Axle narrowing from beginning to end:












Frame rails going in:


















And that's pretty much how it sits right now... I welded the old axle to the rails so I could roll it around until I get to making the coilover simulators (tubing with same mounting dimensions basically) and have the new axle shafts for the 8.8" made up. Still have to make the link bars and the frame mounted link brackets before I can actually set the 8.8" in there as well. No real way to work on it anymore though so we'll see where it goes from here sometime in the future. For now it's in storage...