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Well, I haven't made alot of progress, but I did figure out why people drive their cars out into the bush and light them on fire. I called the local auto wrecker and he originally told me $150 for a disposal fee and $93.00 for hauling (I don't have a trailer). I then called the dump as that seemed kinda steep, they told me $100.00 disposal and it couldn't include the battary, any fluids, tires, rims, or shocks. This was definetly cheaper but I still didn't have any means of getting it there and a trailer rental would be $55.00 for the day. I couldn't believe it, my cheapest option for disposal was $155.00. Aren't they giving cash for these wrecks in the States? In the end, it turned out not to bad, gotta love small towns, and I ended up getting rid of it for $100.00. Okay, rants over.

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Trochu Motor League

Wow, around here I just look on craigslist or Kijiji for free car hauling. There's a bunch of guys who make a living out of picking up junk cars and taking them to the scrapyard for ~$100 each. If you can do several a day it's not a bad way to make money.

Wow sorry to hear that. I had a wrecked volvo hulk in my garage with no wheels that had to go. I called the nearest scrapyard and asked if they knew anyone who would come and get it. He said yeah, gimme your address so I did and there was literally a guy at my house in less than 30 minutes with a flatbed. Around here they love that sort of thing. For them it's almost like getting something for nothing. He probably made $100 or so for that so everyone was happy, especially my wife.

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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

We went from +6C on Saturday to -25C (-34C with wind chill) on Thursday which has thankfully, slowed work down. I'm only working 8 hours a day now for which I am very thankful! I was planning on using a rear axle from a Mustang so that's what I originally designed and built for. Upon buying the Cougar I thought, "What the heck, I've got the IRS now, I'll give it a whirl". So I ripped the backend off and set to work building a new back end gaining inspiration from the Rorty and McSorley plans and what others have done. I was originally against using the stock mounting bracket but decided to see what it looked like and think I'll be using it.

Factory mount, right now it's just sitting there, I still have to weld it in and reinforce the actual support tube and bolt locations:




Diff from the front. I think I'll need a support bar on the top of the mounting location but I'm going to avaoid it if possible. Right now it's really easy to get in and out and I like the simplicity of it. I'm probably going to have to do something to reinforce it though.

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Trochu Motor League

Yo, Trochu-
Nice looking work on the front differential mounts. Like you, I went from solid axle to IRS in mid-build, and had to re-do several items in the rear of the frame. It delays and -to some extent- complicates the build, doesn't it? Oh well...

My front diff mounts are similar to yours, and like you, I debated the need for an upper cross-brace for the mounts. There's torguing forces on those front mounts L-to-R, but the big rotational forces from acceleration would tend to push the nose of the diff downward, wouldn't they? I haven't yet built an upper brace for the front, not sure if one is actually needed.

Your thoughts?

JDK

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JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

You don't do any racing in reverse? As near as I can figure, yes, that's partly right. To get the forces in a vertical distribution pattern however, there will be significant forces going L-to-R due to the rotation of the driveshaft. I guess what I'm trying to say is, to get the vertical force, the diff will have to resist the rotational forces. I'm still leaning towards not building an upper brace however, as the lower brace, once reinforced, should be able to handle the rotational forces.

Trochu Motor League

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Trochu Motor League

I'm partly right? That's pretty good for me...

I think we're in agreement, most of the forces are vertical. I'll debate that cross-brace with myself right up to the last moment, I'm sure... If I don't put one in, and break the diff mount the first week, you can quickly add one to yours and say "I told ya so!"...

Take Care-
JDK

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JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

hi seeing as your building a 7 , noise an vibration are not high on the list. so i would make the mounts strong, use very stiff rubber mounts, remember when you pop the the clutch, the rear end will move to the end of its rubber travel. as always stiffer is better.

I think I'm missing something here, any insight would be appreciated. I installed my diff., a 8.8 Ford, and located it in the center of the frame using the driveshaft as the centering point. As I was doing some secondary measurements however, I noticed that from the outside of the frame (drivers side) to the diff was 307 mm and from the outside of the frame (passengers side) to the diff was 345 mm. I don't have access to my driveshafts at the moment but is one longer than the other. Is it offset for engineering (torque, balance etc.) reasons or did I just screw up the install? I think/thought I was doing everything right but these differing measurements are causing some serious doubt.

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Trochu Motor League

Like many differentials, the input is offset to the right. Re-locate the diff so the outputs are even in the frame and the 1/2 shafts are equal length.

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Jonathan
Building a ZX14 powered Locost.

"Go out hard, when it hurts, speed up." Matt Carpenter

I guess I might as well get all my newb questions out right now, is the engine offset as well or is it centered?

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Trochu Motor League

Most people offset to the passenger side to help with weight distribution and to give the driver a little more foot room.

That alignment isn't as important as long as the axis of the transmission output shaft is parallel with the axis of the differential input shaft. If they aren't parallel, you could end up with some vibration. It also doesn't hurt if the two axes are slightly offset since it will force the bearings in the u-joints to spin and wear evenly.

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-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

Yo Trochu-
The axles on a T-Bird rear end are equal length, so as OddSaabs said, your simplest solution is to have the diff in the center of the chassis. If you choose to offset the diff for balance or to make the driver's compartment a bit wider, you'll have to have one axle shortened accordingly. Not a big deal, just something you'd need to know up front and budget for. (And find a shop to do it!) Oh, and don't put it so far offset that the "long" axle (one you didn't have shortened) won't reach from hub to diff!!!

As Andrew said, the u-joints need to have about a 3 to 5 degree working angle in order to last as long as possible. That angle can be vertical or horizontal. If you offset the engine slightly, you can give yourself a bit more room and give the u-joints that angle they like.

HTH-
JDK

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JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

Well, what can I say, my family loves me. My wife gave me a free standing drill press, my brothers gave me a welding helmet and a circular saw, and my parents gave me a Stanley socket set. All will help with the build, thanks guys! Talking to a friend of a friend who just happens to be a welder, I also found out I was welding wrong, opps! Mainly I'm just tacking still, so it wasn't a big issue, but I was pushing the weld. He said, because I'm using flux-core, I should be pulling it, much easier to weld. Anyways, moving onto the car. I decided upon the set up for the diff., it is similar to what I had shown above with some small additions. I just added a tube to triangulate the corners at the front of the diff., reinforced it with a piece of flat steet and done. I still need to add the tubes for the suspensions mounts but I'm happy with the actual mounting design.



I also got the rest of the powertrain installed. Input and output shafts are parrallel with a driveshaft angle of 6.5 degrees, I might have to lower that angle but I'm hope not!




I modified the stock motor mounts and fabricated some new legs so the engine sits at the correct height.


The Mustang II spindle package I ordered also arrived:


Next step(s) include welding in the rest of the frame, I'm missing quite a few triangulation tubes on the sides and rear, ordering some seats and rims, and starting on the rear suspension.

I was going to try these for seats, Button, but now I'm not so sure. They aren't actually Bride seats, they are a copy and are made in Taiwan, hence the 80% reduction in price from actual Bride seats.

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Trochu Motor League

If the angle is greater than 3 degrees from output shaft/pinion offset in the overhead or side view, the angle should be reduced.

With the engine and the pinion centered for zero offset in the overhead view, support the chassis at ride height and install the rear wheels with tires. Decide what track width you want based on either the left or the right unmodified axle. Then have one axle shaft made that is shorter/longer. It costs about $150 from Moser Engineering. Just send in your old axle and tell them how long it needs to be.

The diff is too low. Set it vertically based on the T5 output shaft height in the side view. Consider making the tunnel higher than normal for handbrake to driveshaft clearance. A higher tunnel will also stiffen the car.

Originally, the diff front top mounts and the rear mount are loaded in compression under acceleration, with the diff hanging by the bolts. You can flip the front mounts from top to bottom but the load is reversed on the inverted rear mount.

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Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
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