[Hiro]

Originally Posted by RallyBob Here's the crossmember and some of the mods done to it. Most notable is the addition of the steering quickener to the mix. I mocked it up while the front suspension was still in the car. It was actually very straightforward. It's a Howe 1.5:1 quickener, so the steering goes from 3.9 turns lock-to-lock down to 2.6 turns lock-to-lock. Plus the factory sloppy u-joints and rag joint are eliminated, making for far more precise inputs at the steering wheel. While doing all this, I tore down the steering quickener to re-pack it with synthetic grease (Redline CV-2). So I took the opportunity to polish the housing halves at my friend's chrome shop. I also extended the upper spring perch sleeves in order too allow for shims to be used above the coil springs and spring seats, without the coils falling off the seats. I used 3.25" exhaust tubing, it aligns nearly perfectly with the OEM spring guide. The upper bump stops on the a-arms were essentially cut in half to alow for more travel before they strike the crossmember, but given that this is a real car that will see real roads (not just a race track), I opted to create even more travel by moving the upper a-arm stops on the crossmember upwards. I just sliced a 5/8" pie-shaped wedge out and bent it upwards, then re-welded it. You'll note that as the a-arm travels upward it also arcs inward, so I tried to match this arc. I came up with a far simpler bracing method for the upper a-arm pivot tubes in the crossmember. This stabilizes the tube for less deflection, and hopefully prevents them from being bent in case of a small impact. It's easier to replace an a-arm than it is the entire crossmember. Lastly here are the solid upper crossmember mounts I fabricated. I used 6061-T65 aluminum bar stock, and cut and sanded it to fit into the upper crossmember 'holes'. Then I drilled and tapped the aluminum for some new hardened 10mm studs, and added a piece of 90 durometer 1/4" silicone sheet material for some sound deadening qualities. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3223/...fa5c635d_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3287/...f4228a69_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/...17187813_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3172/...de2fed15_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3012/...6f7c67bf_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3043/...4b1acb23_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3237/...07911424_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3030/...a1b0360e_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/...8309ee47_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3222/...07278fd6_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3273/...a9e61d6d_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3128/...1294dc8d_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3095/...d737737a_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/...8b25e52e_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3065/...b0cd017f_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3153/...7e945d2c_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3232/...0f9717f7_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3086/...4590ec4d_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3140/...91c2cb6c_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3208/...5ec6449b_o.jpg

tremendous work Bob!
the mods you make are so clean they would look "stock" for a race marshall here,
very important when passing the tech visit before each vintage race...
superb!
Hiro