psteav wrote: T-bird's kind of a neat idea...hadn't really thought about that. Good solution for the back, think the front is still MacStrut, right?
I'd run from that! The TBird's were mostly peg-leg 7.5" carriers, so the LSD 8.8"s are getting to be $$$. The suspension itself is also very heavy, but worst of all it uses a totally odd bolt pattern, so you'll have to re-drill, do custom CV's, are other such gobbily-gook. The Supra stuff is a much, much better idea!
dculberson wrote: I think the project sounds awesome and I would love to read the build thread. But you said "My project/barn ornament '73 Duster will, come hell or high water, be back on the road soon." That, to me, is incompatible with an undocumented Supra suspension install with diety knows how much custom fab and guesswork. If you want to drive it, do simple swaps not fab work. If you want to work on it for the next year or two, do the Supra suspension.
It will be back on the road in its current form within a couple of weeks. As of right now, it needs a carb, a torque converter, and the cobwebs blown out to get back on the road. Whether or not it handles, it's still a fun cruiser right now. The suspension swap would probably be a winter project.
However, you make a valid point. If I'm upgrading the stock stuff, it will involve much less downtime than the suspension swap. The way my projects go, it always takes at least twice as long as I think it will when I start them...so you may very well be right that if it's something I want to actually drive, I should just upgrade the stock stuff and be done.
Javelin wrote:psteav wrote: T-bird's kind of a neat idea...hadn't really thought about that. Good solution for the back, think the front is still MacStrut, right?I'd *run* from that! The TBird's were mostly peg-leg 7.5" carriers, so the LSD 8.8"s are getting to be $$$. The suspension itself is also very heavy, but worst of all it uses a totally odd bolt pattern, so you'll have to re-drill, do custom CV's, are other such gobbily-gook. The Supra stuff is a much, much better idea!
Didn't know about the funky bolt pattern, and I had assumed they were mostly 8.8" carriers. One of the big advantages (as I see it) to the supra is the bolt pattern is the same as the Duster, and the track is close enough I think custom axles would be unnecessary. Also, if I I only wanted to put the IRS under the back and stick with the torsion bars up front, the identical bolt pattern would be nice.
I appreciate the feedback, everyone. Like I said, I'm more looking for a "can it be done, and how difficult can it be" approach, I'm still not sold on the "should I do this instead of the 'easy' way out". Now that I know it can be done, and the subframes are under there, the next step is to get a supra parts car (that I can dump if I decide not to do it) and start measuring to see how difficult the actual surgery will be.
psteav wrote: ...so you may very well be right that if it's something I want to actually drive, I should just upgrade the stock stuff and be done.
FYI - I'm 13 months into replacing the stock suspension on my Javelin with the stock suspension. 
Javelin wrote:psteav wrote: T-bird's kind of a neat idea...hadn't really thought about that. Good solution for the back, think the front is still MacStrut, right?I'd *run* from that! The TBird's were mostly peg-leg 7.5" carriers, so the LSD 8.8"s are getting to be $$$. The suspension itself is also very heavy, but worst of all it uses a totally odd bolt pattern, so you'll have to re-drill, do custom CV's, are other such gobbily-gook. The Supra stuff is a much, much better idea!
Not entirely accurate. All V8 and supercharged V6 Tbirds/Cougars had the 8.8, and Ford made a ton of V8 cars from 94-97. Many have Trac-Lok from the factory. I have a spare T-lok diff carrier I'd sell cheap if anyone actually wanted to buy it. I haven't been able to give it away.
The bolt pattern swap only requires pressing Cobra hubs into the T-Bird wheel bearings. Not sure why you'd need custom axles unless you widened or narrowed the track.
It is heavy, but the Cobra replica guys seem to like it.
You'll need to log in to post.
