'78 Mustang Extreme Make over part Deux (Nov. 24 2022 UPDATE )

[Brian Conn]

  Things are beginning to slow down work wise, so I am getting some time spent in the hobby room...not complaining, but its kind of nice to get reacquainted with everything on the work table.

 


  Scratch built masters for resin cast..... tubular upper control arms and strut type lower control arms.....would like to use these on future dirt Late Model builds. 
  The shorter lower control arm is for the Left side and the longer lower control arm is for the Right side for what would have been the offset weight distribution on the chassis.  Pictured is the bottom side detail.

[Gary Davis]

Those master are sure looking good Brian.

[Brian Conn]

    Thanks guys, much appreciated!!

    To kind of quote Mark Twain ....taken way out of context of course  “The reports of my being blown away to Oz by a Tornado are greatly exaggerated.”
   
  Either we are going to be swept away by flood waters or blown away by a Tornado here in N.E Kansas it seems of late.
 I do appreciate very much the checking in to see if things are still standing....the severe storms have been a distraction from building some.......
 
   I would like to get to the point ,sometime, of being able to mix up some resin and pour all of the parts and pieces needed for a build that cant be purchased aftermarket or are not already in the kit...if I am building from a kit.  This will save a lot of time from scratch building the same parts over and over every time.     

[Brian Conn]

 Since I have them out for the time being I decided to make a mold of the floor mount brake and hydraulic clutch master cylinders for future builds.....two less things to scratch build.

[Greg Birky]

That’s some great scratch building, Brian!  Fun seeing the progress you’re making!

[Brian Conn]

...ordered what I need to set up the front end ......any thing worth doing is worth doing right....in the mean time , I scratch built a set of leaf springs.


  I just don't have any leaf springs in the spare parts box that have the length that I need ...either too long or too short.  The rear frame section on this build is set up to accept the Chrysler style leaf springs and their particular length.  The Chrysler style leaf springs have been used on dirt late models for decades.

 
  Hot set up back in the day was the mono leaf on the Right and the multi leaf on the Left.  Going to start using Brass on my scratch built leaf springs to give them additional strength....the all plastic ones in the past tended to break too easy. 



















 

[Brian Conn]

  Rear end assembly is ready to attach to the rear frame section.....


  Basically the same set up with different parts this time around....aftermarket resin cast quick change and axle tube from somewhere , after market drive shaft yoke....everything else scratch built (Chrysler style leaf springs,shock and coil over shock,axle damper and mount) 

[Brian Conn]

....Starting to get the front end together...

 
  I used the penny's in the 4 corners of the center frame section to set the ride height that I wanted...4 penny's high across the front (aprox. 4mm) and 7 penny's high across the rear (Aprox. 7 mm.)


When I went to check the fit up between the lower control arm and the spindle I noticed that there was a gap....

   ....So like we do with getting the right fit on the roll cages , I drilled a hole thru the area where the ball joint would be located.  Once I got everything fit up/set up I noticed that the lower control arm was too close to the wheel/brake rotor.

  To remedy this, I ovaled the hole towards the outer end.....

 ....and then reset the Evergreen round stock at an outward angle,.....

...and then figured out where to make the cut.


 Attached the spindle, thus offsetting the spindle outward enough to clear the lower control arm properly.

 

    I offset the spindle outward so as to get additional clearance for the lower control arms.  I try to get the outer end of the lower control arm to match up to the area between the brake rotor and wheel as pictured before gluing.   

 

  With these views you can see the top piece I added to the spindle for the offset.  Also visible is the angled piece that I added to the spindle for the rack and pinion steering to attach to.

[BobD]

All this work makes my head hurt.....keep it goin'!

[Brian Conn]

  Thanks guys...much appreciated

Actually its easy with these after market parts....the spindles really lend them selves to be modified from their original configuration.  Using these parts and setting the ride height with the penny's has made this the easiest scratch built front end that I have done so far.....get the rack mounted and the front coil over shocks installed and this part of the build will be behind me 

[Bob P.]

Really coming along nice Brian, I can't wait to see the finished product.

Bob

[Brian Conn]

  The front end is DONE....


  The only pieces that are not scratch built are the after market spindles,rotors w/disk brakes and wheel backs.
  Resin cast Rack and Pinion, Brass fly (fishing) tying beads for the heim joints on the rack steering linages, Elastic bead cord (bracelets, etc.) for the braided steel brake line and soft-round fly fishing lead wire for the steel brake lines.  Used hand wound floral wire for the coil springs.

EDIT:  Removed the elastic bead cord and replaced both sides with some braided wire (common ground) from an USB cord....the braided wire from the USB cord is more true to scale for brake line than the elastic bead cord.

[Greg Birky]

Brian, Ive been following this build for a looong time and I am impressed...You have come light years in your experience and the car is looking fantastic!!!  Just WOW!!!  I'm looking forward to the next installation of this awesome build!!!

[Brian Conn]

  Thank you very much! Stick with me on this and I promise you wont be disappointed.
  I am pretty sure that this build will end up being the turning point in my model building career....I still have a ways to go before I am completely and totally satisfied with my building skills and habits , but I feel that I am starting to finally be heading in that right direction.
  I am treating each section of the car as its own separate build... i.e the front end, the rear end, engine, etc etc. which helps me to concentrate on what I'm doing rather than jumping around from section to section like I had done in the past.
  Right now I am doing the rear section...I have to do the battery, fuel cell and oil sump tank before I can set the rear end assembly in place...so far the battery is in place and wired,still have to place the fuel cell and oil sump tank and plumb them both.  Had to go back and completely redo the rear shocks as they both where too tall for this configuration....hopefully I'll be able to get around a shoot some pics soon. 
 

[Brian Conn]

Picking up where I left off prior to the Oktoberfest C.B.P    .....


  Got the rear portion done.....had to do this before mounting the rear axle assembly and suspension.

  Forgot who I got the fuel cell from....scratch built A/N fittings, used elastic bead cord (bracelets, etc.) for the braided steel fuel line and vent line, scratch built fuel cell breather (between fuel cell and rear cross member)

  Resin cast battery w/ bracket. Used computer mouse wire for the positive and negative battery cables.

  Resin cast oil sump tank w/ scratch built attached breather... scratch built A/N fittings.