In a message dated 98-11-29 23:13:28 EST, jantoms@vbe.com writes:
"The plan right now calls for:
(1) Mustang 5.0 front suspension allowing me the steering, suspension, & brake
upgrades that I will need."
Tom,
Did you really mean to say "Mustang 5.0" or Mustang II? The M5.0 is not a
good choice for what you are doing. It's a McPhearson strut type, which is not
a good handling set up, and it would be very hard to adapt to the Spit. There
are plenty of brake upgrades available, but most of the available suspension
and steering mods would only be usable in the M5.0 body (there is a kit
available to convert the McP set-up to an un-equal A-arm type, but suitable
only for the M5.0 chassis).
The MII set-up, OTOH, is ideal for this application. It is more or less an un-
equal A-arm type, and the complete suspension fastens to a removable
crossmember, similar to the MGBs. You can unbolt the cross member, and the
whole set-up comes out. There are at least 2 dozen companies marketing MII
set-ups, ranging from kits to convert a stock set-up, to complete, hub-to-hub,
full A-arm assemblies, either in paintable form, or polished stainless steel
suitable for display in your living room. They are available in widths to suit
a skinny model A on up to a fat '49 Ford. The lengths of the A-arms vary from
application to application, so by shopping from vendor to vendor, you could
come very close to the suspension set-up you need for your Spit. Most of the
kits are true A-arm types, the perfect set-up for a well handling car.
You can get set-ups that have the R&P in front of the crossmember or in back.
Brakes are available from the stock 9" single pot caliper, all the way to 11"
vented rotors with 4 pot calipers (if you have enough money, you can even get
13" rotors with 8 pot calipers! Yes, if you have to ask, you can't afford
it). Spindles are available in stock ride heights or lowered 1, 2 or 3 inches.
Spring rates are available for a light weight model A to a heavy '49 Buick -
painted or chromed. Kits are available with a complete bolt-in crossmember, or
in pieces that allow you to weld to your own chassis set-up.
Check out Street Rodder magazine for vendor ads. You have subscribed, haven't
you? I can't emphasis enough how valuable that magazine will be as you get
into your project.
(2) After talking to a couple engineers with the T-5 builders, the tranny may
be
changing to the Tremac 5-speed.
Good choice for what you are building and the use you plan for it. For mine,
it was borderline. I don't plan any competition usage, so I can get by with
the World Class T5. The Tremec will cost about $100 more, and it requires a
special bell housing, which runs about $150 more than the standard BH. The
Tremec is a little bit larger, so this may give you some problems. BTW, Borg-
Warner no longer makes the T5 - they sold the rights and tooling to Tremec.
When I got my T5, I was quite surprised to see "Tremec" cast into the housing.
That was before the announcement of the change had been made public.
(3) Either a ford 9" with Jag axles, a similar setup with the Mopar 8 3/4",
or ,
I will be looking into a couple good suggestions made Ted Schumacher.
Good choice, and these are also readily available. At least three or four
companies offer them. They can be had to handle 1000 HP or more, so you should
never ever break one! There is a mind-boggling choice of ratios for the Ford
9 inch - from 2.something to 6.something. You wanta go to Bonneville or to the
dragstrip? Your choice, and you can change your mind with about an hours worth
of work (30 minutes with practice).
(4) Everything will be layed out as best I can on autocad before starting
anything. By doing this I hope to determine exactly what parts will work &
what
must be planned for.
Obviously, these plans will have to be modified / improved / developed, as the
car
is built.
For sure! Yesterday, I made my 4th bracket for the gas pedal (believe it or
not, this has given me about as much trouble as anything else). I'm confident
that the 5th will be the one I use!
(5) Using a fiberglass bonnet (& deck lid) will avoid trashing one someone
could
use to restore a "real" spitfire. (Does anyone remember who on the list is
able
to build these????? I have lost that piece of E-mail. .... therefor the
dedicated
zip disk)
(6) This brings the body tub in as the only "real" restorable piece of
spitfire I
will be using, and will also be one of the last to be "built".
"Hopefully, this will be accepted by the triumph masses, as something I wanted
to
build. I want it to look like a spitfire. I want it to "blow away" a lot of
the
competition that thought a Triumph would never pass them. I want to stay
within
the British Leyland / Ford marriage that has existed for years. I want to go
fast."
In spite of all the discussion this topic generates on the list, I have found
LBCers to be a very open minded lot. Most people I talk to, even the most
purist of the bunch, fully accept what I am doing, and have an interest in it.
To be honest, the Street Rod crowd is MUCH more narrow minded the the LBCers.
Just show up some time at a strret rod event with a 1950 car (the cut-off date
for street rods is 1949). It can literally cause fist fights to break out! ( I
don't want to leave the wrong impression, though - most street rod folks are
OK)
"I acknowledge that financing will be
one of the major hurdles, but even if delay is necessary, I refuse to cut
corners
to make it cheaper. Its my neck on the line when I drive it & I also plan to
build another later."
I agree with you on all acounts. If anything is done wrong on my car, it will
be out of ignorance, rather than from a rush to get it done. In my mind,
"doing it" is more fun than "having done it," so there is no reason not to do
it to the best of my ability.
Please keep us posted as you progress, I will be following your build up with
the greatest of interest.
Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN
'71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored
'71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8 insertion - see:
http://www.sky.net/~boballen/mg/Masters/index.html
'74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition - slated for a V8 soon
'68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74
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