New Slider...

kOOpA · Post by **kOOpA** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:50 pm

he doesn't have a mustang, this is all part of his elaborate plan to lure drag racing fans into his home so he can drain their blood to use as lubrication for his GT-R.

Gru · Post by **Gru** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:58 pm

shawn shawn wrote:needs pics on the real car.

Yea, but I gotta get it ON the car FOERST.

I actually decided to get some of those quick-release studs for it, for getting it on and off trailers and such...otherwise it'd be too low and get torn up.

All the welding should hopefully get done this Thurs and Friday, but not sure about the K-member. In theory that's an easy install, but I need an engine hoist and that "in theory" doesn't account for knowing how to measure it all and get it lined up right.

Gru · Post by **Gru** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:59 pm

kOOpA wrote:he doesn't have a mustang, this is all part of his elaborate plan to lure drag racing fans into his home so he can drain their blood to use as lubrication for his GT-R.

Nothing but the best for my Precious.........

Gru · Post by **Gru** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 8:49 pm

Didn't get pictures taken before I dropped it off at Izzy's Custom Cages, but in the last week or so:

Frame rail connectors welded in.
Torquearm brace welded in
Watts Link welded in
Rear lower control arms installed
Rear upper control arms PITCHED.

The rear underside of the car looks down-right viscious now.

And we painted the gas tank purple....because we could.

Gru · Post by **Gru** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:05 am

Hey Atlanta! Wassup!?!

Man, life got busy and crazy for me over the late spring, early summer!
So, here's the 3 month batch of updates....

I got my cage installed in April/May by the magnificent Izzy's Custom Cages
http://www.izzyscustomcages.com/FoxBody.html

Hmmmm, sexy.

Door bar:

More door bar, angled view

What used to be the back seat:

Front seats, from passenger side:

yet another door view:

And the infamous flag holder:

Gru · Post by **Gru** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:06 am

Sadly, lots of traveling for work and family kept me from doing ANYTHING throughout May and June. *GRUMBLE*

But the last three day, I busted my butt to do the last parts: The front end suspension.
Yanked out and swapped EVERY single bit, aside from the rack & pinion and steering column, thus:
K-member
Control Arms
SN-95 spindles/hubs/brakes
Adjustable tied rod "bump steer adjusters"
And solid motor mounts.

Out with the crappy old, in with the compact, lightweight new:

.
And the shiny new solid motor mounts:

The Griggs Racing K-Member and custom-designed "drift spec" control arm:

And with the SN95 spindle/hub installed (yes, I'll be getting new rotors soon)

Will take a "final product" picture tomorrow.

Can't wait for a chance to get it down there now that it's FINALLY done!
Sadly, doubt that'll happen this year.

But I will be down there in September...working at Dragon-Con, to help pay for all this crap I just finished installing.

VRT nenders · Post by **VRT nenders** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:18 am

I love it when people actually care about there suspension set-up.....BRAVO!

Gru · Post by **Gru** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:56 am

I actually paid twice as much for the suspension as I did the car itself.

But then, I've replaced every single piece of OEM suspension on the whole car, all with Griggs Racing parts that have all been designed and configured to work with eachother.

I could have saved well over a $1000 getting stuff from different companies, but I think it's worth it to have a properly set up kit.
By sticking all with parts from one place, I know that everything will work with everything else the right way.

Course, now any/all failures to "Drive Awesome" can only be hit up to one thing: the driver.....

Post by **andysapp** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 1:07 pm

This build is coming along awesome! Good stuff.
That flag holder is CRAZY!
Hahaha.

charlie · Post by **charlie** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 1:10 pm

Take notes people. This guy is fucking pro.

Gru · Post by **Gru** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 5:25 pm

andysapp wrote:This build is coming along awesome! Good stuff.
That flag holder is CRAZY!
Hahaha.

Thanks, man. Compliments from all you "hardcore" guys that I've been looking at/up to for the last year or so while getting into drifting means a lot.

I've tried to do as absolutely as much of the work myself as I could....the overall project idea was as much to learn about cars and how they work and function as it was the build itself. I really didn't know squat about cars and especially suspension when I started. Hell, a year ago, I didn't even know what a k-member was!
Lots of research and trying not to be in a hurry with it, I've learned a LOT. Course, there's still a ton I need to learn, but it's fun.

charlie wrote:Take notes people. This guy is fucking pro.

Pheh, I wish!
I just figured, if I'm gonna do it, do it all the way. "go big or go home" as my boss says....course, it's easy for her to say that, they own the company!

But for real, I figured that if I'm going to get serious about learning to drive, makes sense to be serious about the car. Now I know I have a good platform to work on and learn with, and no "well, the car isn't set right" excuses...once I dial in the coilovers and bump-steer adjusters, it's all on me.

As Scott Rose (our fearless DriftSTL leader) says: Time to grow some brass and get awesome.

Gru · Post by **Gru** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 11:28 pm

And now for something completely different...I finally got the time to fix the stupid rear subframe in the R32 that decided to crack, right where the right control arm bolts on to it:
.

.
And after pulling it all the way out, I noticed that the top part of that very same bracket looks like it'd cracked before and been weld-repaired:
.

.
(makes me wonder what the hell the previous owner was doing with it...)

So then I spent 4+ days in 90+ degree heat yanking everything out:
.

And got an S14 subframe to replace it with...slightly different geometery on the control arm brackets, but that works to my advantage since the car is lowered already.
Plus, since I have the HICAS delete done anyway, now I'll have a good solid toe-arm link instead of little tie-rods.

And while I had the rear end out anyway, decided junk the 18 year old parts and put in these:
.

Hmmm...NISMO...

And of course, what's the point of all that new stuff with old worn out bushings, so got Energy Suspension polyurethane:

So, off to NTB for an alignment tomorrow (Our local NTB rocks..the guys are always doing extra stuff for me, like pressing out the old bearings..I had to INSIST that they take $5 for it.).

Yay, no more broken subframe! Poor car has been idle too damned long.

Post by **andysapp** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:01 am

I got totally confused for a second... Nismo parts on a Mustang?!
Then I read.

Reading is good.
Reading REPS.

Midtenn · Post by **Midtenn** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 5:48 pm

Hrm, I know what I'm getting for my next drift car!

Post by **andysapp** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:14 pm

AIDS!