Thread: IFS alignment, best way to...

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Thats a great idea Streets, I could get the wife to hang off the side like in side hack racing and help me corner!

Stuck maybe the wrong word, I am glad to have one at all. I am building this car on a limited budget do to a bet I made with my wife so I am stuck budget wize only. I haven't found any other pintos, all 6 I had had manual steering. I suppose I may be able to trade it off or something later on, mostly just concerned about getting the IFS in the car right now.

Does anyone know if there are any other ford racks that are the same size that would work besides pinto and MII that I may recover a power unit off of?

Originally posted by brickman
Stuck maybe the wrong word, I am glad to have one at all. I am building this car on a limited budget do to a bet I made with my wife so I am stuck budget wize only. I haven't found any other pintos, all 6 I had had manual steering. I suppose I may be able to trade it off or something later on, mostly just concerned about getting the IFS in the car right now.

Does anyone know if there are any other ford racks that are the same size that would work besides pinto and MII that I may recover a power unit off of?

Brickman,
I have some copies from a Federal Mogul catalog called: "Steering & Suspension Parts from TRW" Catalog no X4000 from year 1998.
It has a lot of measurements of the rack and pinions including the distance between inner tie Rod ends.
From Ball to Ball the distance in Mustang II & Pintos are 24,50 inch.
Find that catalog and you know more on what to look for!


- Jani -

Originally posted by techinspector1
Good post Jani. Brickman, if, as Jani says, the MII rack is the same from ball to ball, you should be able to substitute an MII power rack in place of the Pinto.

Hold it, I didn't double check between the Pinto and MII the measure 24.50" is for 74-78 Mustang II. I read somewhere that 74-80 Pinto has the same front clip. I could be wrong and I don't have copies from the Pinto pages of that Catalog.
- Jani -

Originally posted by janiluo
Brickman,
I have some copies from a Federal Mogul catalog called: "Steering & Suspension Parts from TRW" Catalog no X4000 from year 1998.
It has a lot of measurements of the rack and pinions including the distance between inner tie Rod ends.
From Ball to Ball the distance in Mustang II & Pintos are 24,50 inch.
Find that catalog and you know more on what to look for!


- Jani -

Mine is power rack from a 84 t-bird that came with my mustangII Ed ke6bnl

Thanks Jani, I will see if I can find that book somewhere. That sounds like a good one to have.

Ed, thats an 84 bird rack? So did you use the ford pump too?

Originally posted by brickman
Thanks Jani, I will see if I can find that book somewhere. That sounds like a good one to have.

Ed, thats an 84 bird rack? So did you use the ford pump too?

I have a shevy engine 327 and power steering pump does put out a little too much pressure there are a couple of way to reduce the pressure if you need to. I have been driving it the way it is and it handle and turns like a little sports car. If you have a ford motor the ford pump is better. Ed ke6bnl

Since at this point tech I have neather, I am a little more inclined to make a ford pump work. I have talked to a couple of my bud's here and they have blown hoses off using a chevy pump.

It won't be hard to fabricate a bracket, heck there is probly one at one of our many local wrecking yards that will work.

Thank you all for your comments, this has turned out to be a very interesting and educational topic.

I have the basic set up cut in enough now to measure. I have the 5% angle on the top A-arm and the spindles line up real well in the fenders.

Now, is there anyway to know how far it's going to sink when the wieght gets on it and will it still work as it is set right now? Oh, the lower A-arm and the strut will line up nice too it looks like. Am I missing anything?

You've got the lower control arms absolutely horizontal, that's where they need to be. Make sure you have the car at the ride heigth you want with it set that way. There's been lots of discussion about which springs to use, some favoring the v8/AC springs theorizing that they hold the most weight. The problem with that theory is that the engine weight is further back in your car than in the Mustang, so the proportionate weight on the springs is less. Regardless, you'll be putting together, and disassembling the suspension several times to get the spring setup correct. It usually takes cutting some of the spring off to get it right. In other words, set it up as it must be, worry about how much it will settle under weight later.

I figured that I would be messing with springs, and I also know that when the ball joints are in the upper A-arm will be at a lot higher angle that it is in this pic.

I don't have it tacked yet even, I was going to drop the car down to the ride height I am after and then make sure I still have my 5% and make sure it's center of the fender. I really don't think I will take it any lower than it is now, I can always get a little more with my wheels and tires.

Doesn't it make a spring stiffer if you cut a couple rounds out of it? If so, then it will be stiffer and that probably won't hurt as low as I plan to have it (w/out air bags).

Originally posted by brickman

Doesn't it make a spring stiffer if you cut a couple rounds out of it?

Usually. But you wouldn't want to take more than one coil off anyway. All the more reason NOT to start with the heaviest coil. The other alternative would be to contact someone like Eaton Spring and have custom ones made for both heigth and compliance.

Originally posted by Ed ke6bnl
I have a shevy engine 327 and power steering pump does put out a little too much pressure there are a couple of way to reduce the pressure if you need to. I have been driving it the way it is and it handle and turns like a little sports car. If you have a ford motor the ford pump is better. Ed ke6bnl

I set mine up with the wheels that I was going to use and tires and I put in adustable threaded rod to set the lower a arm hoizontal to the ground, when I was ready for springs with the engine in and cab on the a-arms to my delight where still horizontal to the ground and the truck perform great handle like a sports car, only thing I am not satisfied with is the vacuum assist brakes. Ed ke6bnl

Very good Bob, iy sounds like that isn't going to be a real hassle. I'm going with the stock spring and we'll see.

Sounds like your truck turned out great Ed, this just gives me all kinds of confidence that mine is going to work.

I'll post a pic a soon as I get it in place. Thanks guys.

My new IFS is in and everything works great, I had to cut out the inner fender for it but other than that it went just as you all laid it out for me. Thank you all for your help and I hope that I can return the favor someday.