First thing to do: Get the car on the lift so we could get a better look.
Wondering how our videos look so fancy? J.G. built his own camera crane.
The car's fuel cell was too small, so we removed it.
Dinner: Pizza Hut.
The car originally had an airbag suspension, but it was long gone. Traditional coil springs had been fit at each corner—and by “fit” we mean more or less jammed in place.
The demolition continues. We yanked the stock fuel cell and removed the rest of the roll cage. The original cell was too small for any kind of enduro racing and the cage was, well, crap. Soon we’ll be installing a new ATL fuel cell.
We also took a look at our brakes. Since the fluid appeared old and the rest of the car has been junk, we figured we should at least pull the calipers and inspect everything.
The evening’s big work centered around our rear suspension. The car originally had an airbag suspension, but it was long gone. Traditional coil springs had been fit at each corner—and by “fit” we mean more or less jammed in place. The rear setup looked extra dangerous.
Our solution: First, figure out the right way to convert things. We hopped online and ordered a coil spring conversion kit from Strutmasters. Even if we couldn’t make it fit in our budget, we’d at least know what we had to fake/duplicate from scraps.
Turns out the car already had suitable lower mounts. The upper ones don’t appear to be much more than large washers fitted with rubber centers.
We also installed fresh OE shocks at all four corners. Sorry, but there’s no budget for trick stuff this time around.
Tonight’s dinner: Pizza Hut.
It seems that any perceived "advantage" gained by starting with a former stock car has been erased by the original builder's lack of skill and experience. What we have here is a complete lack of respect for the laws of physics and engineering:
Roll cage?: Crap
Suspension? Crap
The car does have a good running engine and the distinctive Lincoln trunk hump adds an unfair aero advantage.
JG Should look into making a Steadicam Jr. With most video cameras equipped with an LCD these days, you can make one pretty easily with a gimball and a counterweight. Really fun toy that makes great shots.
Bigger ford product needs bigger HAMMER. Really like springs you should keep them. Steve
Pinch:
Actually I just got a Flycam Nano. I like it a lot, although I now regret not having gone bigger. Took forever to "tune" it just right, but it set pretty well now. Still learning to fly it a bit, but you should see some nice glides in upcoming shoots.
Holy cow! Good thing you got it after the springs collapsed..if they'd been compressed, they woulda killed somebody when you put the car on the lift! BTW: Good to have met you at Petit Le Mans, Steve.
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