What have we done to add more angle to the notoriously shallow steering Fox?

Why we need more steering angle:
/geoffrey-chandler/importance-steering-angle

Control Arms to add angle:
/geoffrey-chandler/oops-all-angles
/forums/tech/modified-arms-more-steering-angle

Using Wheels and Spacers to add angle:
/forums/tech/wheel-spacers
/geoffrey-chandler/18x9-5-fronts-have-more-steering-clearance

I get quite a few emails asking for advice on how to start a Mustang Drift Project Buildup. I figured that I would make a post so that I could make a single response and update it as our project moves forward.

If you are anything like me, you are working with a limited budget. I have put these items in order of most to least critical. Overall stability and steering angle are the first two things that the car will need. Don't get distracted with horsepower items early on unless you have a big budget. As of Episode 13 we are still running stock power.

Also, remember that nobody ever goes out the first time with a new build and looks like a hero, this includes guys like Forsberg, Gittin, and MIllen. They spend countless hours at the track and in the garage refining their setups and learning what works for their driving style.

So far there is probably a bit over $10k in the car, including the money sent on purchasing the car. At the time we first hit the track, the money spent on the car was probably about 1/2 that. I recommend building the car in pieces and enjoying it while you do. Don't try to do it all at once before you ever get out on track.

1. A set of front coilovers (450lbs)
2. Panhard Bar
3. Rear coilovers (250lbs)
4. MM SN95 Stock Geometry Front Control Arms (requires SN95 inner, Taurus outer tierods)
5. A smaller front sway bar if you have a GT
6. A working LSD, rebuilt factory Trac-Loc should be fine.
7. Chassis Stiffening
8. Handbrake
9. Horsepower

Click here to see how our car is setup

This is that has been done to make the car lighter:

Stereo (~40 lbs)
No impact on comfort or drivability. The car came to me with an aftermarket stereo that had 2 subs in the rear hatch, 3 amplifiers, and EQ and a CD changer. The first action that I took was to remove all of this. When I placed everything, including all the RCAs, power wires, etc it weighted in at just over 40lbs. This was the most painful and involved process that I have yet to undertake on the Mustang project. The reason for the difficulty was the method by which the old stereo had been installed. The installed had paid little attention to the function of the factory wiring loom and simply tapped into power at the fuse box and added their own loom for the stereo. I had to spend about 2 hour removing the aftermarket stuff, but then spent another 3 hour repairing the factory loom that had been cut in numerous places.

Alarm (~5 lbs)
Depends on how you feel about car alarms and their effectiveness. My next action was to remove the aftermarket car alarm that had been installed in the car. I have been driving cars from the 60’s my entire life and I don’t care much for car alarms, and have learned to operate a manual door lock, so for me this was a no-brainer. The noise maker part of the alarm was probably the heaviest part and in my opinion the least useful, so you could probably just remove that and get most of the weight saving while retaining all of the “useful” alarm functions. All that I need to remove the alarm system was a pair of snips, a screw driver and a crimp connection to repair the ignition kill and door lock circuits that the alarm system tapped into. If you are not comfortable around electronics, I would recommend picking up a wiring diagram for your specific car to make sure you know what each wire does.

Rear Seats (~40lbs)

Get the car supported up on jack stands so that you have some space to work.

Unbolt the Strut from the Spindle. I recommend removing the brake caliper and rotor to get a bit more working space. It also does not hurt to inspect your brakes while you are in here.

Unbolt the retaining nut on top of the strut.

You should now be able to drop the strut out of the car. Notice the spacer stack on the top of the strut.

We will be replacing the 600lbs/in silver springs with the red ones from Eibach. It is difficult to tell in the picture, but the silver springs had a bit of a bow to them which caused some rubbing and interference. The Eibachs are a much nicer unit.

Because the 500lbs/in springs are a bit softer I took the small spacer from the top of the Caster/Camber plate and put it on the bottom because we want to retain our current ride height.

Here is a shot of the full assembly back in place. In this shot you can also see out Racecraft spindles.

Re-install the the caliper and rotor, torque everything down and you are done with this side of the car.

In total the install of the two new Eibach springs took me around 60 minutes.

Drifting places a lot of demand on the steering system of a car. In order to hopefully squeeze a bit more life and reliability out of our steering system, I upgraded the cooling unit from the stock loop of tubing to a finned and cooled unit out of a newer car. As this was a stock part it simply bolted into the stock location. I flushed an replaced the fluid in the system when I installed the beefier unit. I picked off an SN95 Mustang at the local pick-a-part wrecking yard.

Future upgrades for the steering system will be coming in the form of a slightly larger pulley on the power steering pump that should reduce the load it experiences at high RPM.