BBR's 83GT - 552 BBF version 3.0 (at least)

[CDMBill]

Not the t-brake. I have a vb in the trans that I am very happy with. I would like for the DR's to work and they sort of do, but not nearly as well as the slicks do so far. They seem to stick at the initial hit, then as the car gets moving, they spin. Just like they did in Dallas on DW2012 when it went toward the wall.

j

The dreaded bounce effect, néed to slow down the rear end. Usually your issue means the suspension hits the tire really hard, e.g. Separation and then tire rebounds after the compression unloading the car enough to lose traction. You seem to have plenty of rotation and you may need to slow the front end down too. If it tops out too quick you can have the same issue.

All of that is why the DR cars often need double adjustable shocks to manage the suspension reaction more effectively. Is it worth chasing a bit of ET for the cost is another question. If you shorten the IC by lowering the front mounting point of the upper control arms the effect may be exacerbated.

[BBR]

Bill, lengthening the IC is something that has been circling my brain for the last few days. The S-box has 3 upper control arm mounting points. Top lengthens the IC, center is stock, and the lower shortens the IC. I was thinking of switching to the 3.90 rear gear (from 3.55) and then putting the UCA in the upper hole. Make it a little easier for the motor to get this pile moving w/o killing the tires. Below is a pic from Memphis and as you can see, it puts the hurt on those 28x10.5S's (12 psi) when the track prep is good.

The only deal with the 3.90's is, I may run out of rpm before the traps. Then again, converter slippage will probably be less, so it may be a moot point. Online gear ratio calculators have pinned the proper ratio at 3.85, so maybe that really is the way to go. I sure do like my 3.55's on the highway though.

[squirrel]

get a little bit shorter radial, and tune the car to use it...

[BBR]

ARB is ordered and I start drilling spot welds this weekend! Weather looks to be nice so maybe I can make some serious headway. Wife is already complaining about the car being on jack stands in the driveway. I think that might work to my advantage. lol

I went with a UPR arb. I am running their lower control arms and they have been trouble free. I looked the various brands up and down and searched the web extensively about each. In the end, they all seem to work about the same. You have cheerleaders for every brand, so it really just came down to price and UPR has them all beat. Free shipping was an added bonus.

[BBR]

So yeah. Removing the upper torque boxes.... Probably the hardest thing I have ever done. Spot welds are dang near impossible to see and it's tough to get a drill in position. Resorted to grinder and sawzall. Not pretty so far.

Round 2 tomorrow.

[BBR]

Round 2 was much more successful, but I feel like a bus ran over me this morning. A little sore here and there. lol This is a very difficult project to tackle while lying on your back in the driveway. I've never had so many hot pieces of metal fall on my face, ears, etc.

Here's where it started. I hosed it down with brake clean, but the spot welds were dang near impossible to find. It was very hard to get the drill into position to drill them, so I resorted to using every power tool that I could think of that could cut metal.


I had it to a point Saturday evening where I thought I had it loose enough to come out, but it would not budge. I cut it in half and cut around the seat belt mount area to try to manage it in smaller pieces, but it still would not come out. You can't pry against the floorpan because it just flexes. Frustrating. Sunday afternoon I attacked it fresh and started by driving my favorite prybar between the upper corner of the torque box and the frame rail. I discovered there were 3 gnarly spot welds there holding it all in that were never mentioned in any of the articles I read. Not really sure how Ford even welded those. haha

Old pic of favorite prybar:


The hidden spot welds are on the little flanges on the left side.


Once those were busted loose with the favorite prybar, the rest was cake.


Factory mounts and used S-box.


We tapped the s-box in and put the seat belt bolts in. A few taps here and there and it was all squared up. At least that part was easy. Then, I drilled a lot more holes in it to secure it to the car.



Judd scraping sound deadener. He was a HUGE help because he can crawl around inside the car so much easier than I can!


I was surprised at really how few spot welds there are holding this stuff in the car. Kind of crazy. In the end, if someone was wanting to put an S-box in their car, I would HIGHLY recommend putting the car on a lift. That lying on your back stuff sucks.

Hopefully the arb will be here this week and I can continue this project next weekend.

[DanStokes]

Where do I get one of those agile helpers? I have a hack of a time crawling around the cage in the S-10. Is he for rent?

Dan

[BBR]

He is strictly volunteer, but shipping him might be an issue... or possibly a federal offense.

[STINEY]

Is that a crack welded up on the S-box? Upper right part in the picture?

Neat upgrade. Even neater seeing that smile on Judd. Perfect.

[BBR]

Yes. It was in a car that was hit. The previous owner pulled the s-box, repaired it and used it. It is a little ugly but is dimensionally correct. Besides, we're talking about Fox body here. Not exactly the most dimensionally accurate cars ever built. lol

[STINEY]

No kidding.

My mind conjures up images of zombies staggering around on the assembly line using levels and such to attack each other instead of building the cars.

I was just curious on the crack. Surprised to see it, couldn't imagine the replacement box section being cracked from normal abuse?


And "Hey look!" Finally a picture of the seam-welded factory upper mounts! Cool as well, doesn't look like any cracking or distortion there?

At least any distortion BEFORE the removal process, hehe.

[BBR]

The uppers were in really good condition. No separation anywhere that I could tell.

Halfway through the removal process, I was seriously wishing I could click UNDO and go back to a point before I started cutting stuff. haha

[STINEY]

Need a Tardis in the toolbox.

[BBR]

Haha no doubt! I would have used it frequently over the years!

ARB will be here Thursday!

Now.... 3.90's or stay with the 3.55's?!?!? Decisions decisions!!!

[Beagle]

Haha no doubt! I would have used it frequently over the years!

ARB will be here Thursday!

Now.... 3.90's or stay with the 3.55's?!?!? Decisions decisions!!!

27" tire radial with the 3.55's?