Big Block Fox 101: what are the right steps

All my limited experience is with early leaf spring Mustangs so the Fox is a new world. The goal is to transplant as much of my existing driveline as possible and run Drag Week 14 and some NMCA True Street events. I expect I'll need a new K-member and mounts? The goal is make it as light as I can but I'll have to add a cage kit (who's). It has some kind of weld in sub-frame connectors.

The big question is what does the rear suspension need? The '97 notch I just got has an 8.8 with a traction lock, 3.55's and 31 spline axles and very old no name replacement lower control arms with poly bushings and what appear to be Koni colored shocks.

The engine is a 598" A460 head pump gas motor, which before it sucked a valve at 588" made just over 1000 hp at 7500 and 800 ft lbs at 5700. The AOD has a converter that foot brake launched to around 5800 rpm in the 4120# '71 Mustang I've been running before. That car ran 9.60's best at 140 and change. I've been running 325/50/15 drag radials on 15x10' wheels with 6.5 back space. I understand they'll fit the Fox with a lot of fender well massaging?

Am I kidding myself with the 8.8?

What is the right way to go with upper and lower control arms, ARB and frame reinforcements when the cage goes in the car?

Sorry, so many questions, but I figure you guys have this ground well covered. Thanks in advance for any advice.

I'd like to see what all Curt Johnson (2013 SR BB/NA winner) has done to his notch. I have not been able to find any info on the web about it though.

The sponsor of the forum Team Z, has some real bad ass suspension stuff.

http://www.teamzmotorsports.net/category_s/1.htm

Jess

BigBlockRanger wrote:I'd like to see what all Curt Johnson (2013 SR BB/NA winner) has done to his notch.  I have not been able to find any info on the web about it though.

yeah, me too, but I didn't get there this year to find out. The car obviously works really well, nice no drama leave and damn quick. I couldn't tell form the picture what tire he was running. I didn't see much wrinkle so I suspect DR's. That is what I'm looking for.

Mustang-junky wrote:The sponsor of the forum Team Z, has some real bad ass suspension stuff.  

http://www.teamzmotorsports.net/category_s/1.htm

Jess

Agreed, after looking at the link, the question is which parts? And, at this point, what uni-body prep makes sense? BBR's new replacement UCA mount makes me think I need more than stock mounts on a 150,000 mile former pursuit CHP car.

After removing the stock Uca mounts I am surprised at how few spot welds actually hold that thing in the car.  If I were going to hit it with your kind of hp, I would at a minimum weld up the seams or would certainly consider an S-box or one of the battle box reinforcement kits on the market.   It's probably overkill for mine but hey it was free so I decided to use it.

As for the rest, tubular k, control arms, front coil overs, good rear shocks, thru floor subframe connectors and something like a Wolfe roll cage.  The wolfe's look like they fit really well and are available in chro-mo if you prefer.

The 8.8 will live if built properly, but you are already invested in 9" stuff in the other car, so I'd stick with what you know and have spares for.  Team z offers bolt in 9" housings for these cars.   I would pick one company for the entire rear suspension, rather than mixing and matching stuff.   Most offer package deals with double adjustable upper and lower control arms along with an antiroll bar.  Every brand has their cheerleaders, so take your pick.

Dang, it's a lot easier spending your money than my own.  I can't wait to live vicariously through your fox body build. Haha

Curt's car appears to be running a full slick but I don't know if it's a radial or bias.

Are you doing all the work yourself or are you taking it to someone? If you're taking it somewhere then I recommend finding out what they are familiar with.

At your horsepower level it doesn't take a bunch of exotic stuff. This is a fairly common build as far as the suspension and cage stuff.

Cage: if you're looking for a kit I would go with a Wolfe 8.5 or 25.5

Weld the torque boxes up.

Coil over front and rear

Da shocks front and rear

Tube k member and control arms front with a good caster camber plate

Da lower and upper control arms for rear

Anti roll bar

8.8 or 9" rear. Either will work fine when built.

That's about as far as I can go without getting specific and I get paid for that. 

whatbumper wrote:Are you doing all the work yourself or are you taking it to someone?  If you're taking it somewhere then I recommend finding out what they are familiar with.

At your horsepower level it doesn't take a bunch of exotic stuff.  This is a fairly common build as far as the suspension and cage stuff.

Cage: if you're looking for a kit I would go with a Wolfe 8.5 or 25.5

Weld the torque boxes up.

Coil over front and rear

Da shocks front and rear

Tube k member and control arms front with a good caster camber plate

Da lower and upper control arms for rear

Anti roll bar

8.8 or 9" rear.  Either will work fine when built.

That's about as far as I can go without getting specific and I get paid for that. 

Sums it up...


**Thinking maybe I should too, lol

yellowhorse7 wrote:

whatbumper wrote:Are you doing all the work yourself or are you taking it to someone?  If you're taking it somewhere then I recommend finding out what they are familiar with.

At your horsepower level it doesn't take a bunch of exotic stuff.  This is a fairly common build as far as the suspension and cage stuff.

Cage: if you're looking for a kit I would go with a Wolfe 8.5 or 25.5

Weld the torque boxes up.

Coil over front and rear

Da shocks front and rear

Tube k member and control arms front with a good caster camber plate

Da lower and upper control arms for rear

Anti roll bar

8.8 or 9" rear.  Either will work fine when built.

That's about as far as I can go without getting specific and I get paid for that. 

Sums it up...


**Thinking maybe I should too, lol

Tony you need to take a vacation up this way come mid April!  

bigblok2000ranger wrote:

yellowhorse7 wrote:

whatbumper wrote:Are you doing all the work yourself or are you taking it to someone?  If you're taking it somewhere then I recommend finding out what they are familiar with.

At your horsepower level it doesn't take a bunch of exotic stuff.  This is a fairly common build as far as the suspension and cage stuff.

Cage: if you're looking for a kit I would go with a Wolfe 8.5 or 25.5

Weld the torque boxes up.

Coil over front and rear

Da shocks front and rear

Tube k member and control arms front with a good caster camber plate

Da lower and upper control arms for rear

Anti roll bar

8.8 or 9" rear.  Either will work fine when built.

That's about as far as I can go without getting specific and I get paid for that. 

Sums it up...


**Thinking maybe I should too, lol

Tony you need to take a vacation up this way come mid April!  

Too cold in April there. Hell, last pass I made up there in April it was 47 degrees out. Still went 1.19 60 with a best 330. And no, I won't tell you what the 330 was, lol. IRON HEADED JUNK!

I was gonna go to the track that day but had something else come up, can't remember what. I heard a bit about your "fun".

Hoping it gets warmer next year by that time, hell maybe I will just have to drag my car down that way.

What bumper, Yellowhorse7, thank you for the answers and x2. What exactly do you get paid to do Whatbumper? I have done business with Lem Eveans for years and I had pretty much build everything else on the 71 myself other than the Cal-tracs and hard parts.. Are there advantages to the 25.5 cage over the 8.5 in terms of chassis stiffness? I can't use the funny car portion in either of the Drag Week classes I want to run with the car. The DW rules say no coil over conversions on the rear either, how big a deal,is that at my current power or a bit more with 200-300 spray for the power adder class?

I will do most of the work myself, I like the cutting, welding and fabricating part, but I firmly believe in buying good components from people who what they are doing. Any advice on headers and particular k-members? I had to build my own on the 71 but I figure there must be a bunch out there for BBC's in Fox bodies. Ya'll know of course TFS A460 heads have the round port BBC pattern and, I'd cut off a limb before I put I Chevy motor in any thing I own. But I'm happy to take advantage of other people's bad taste. Is the general advice that locating the engine as far back as possible and low in the car right? The far back part makes sense though I'm less sure about low, I did that in the 71, and so far so good.

Thanks for any additional,information in advance. I've read the the ten million pages on the Bullet, but that didn't completely make clear some the basic chassis fab questions, just a lot of debate about AS%. My goal is sufficient adjustability to be able to get the car working right in either power setup. The one thing I am sure of is I'll run AFCO D/A shocks, they have been great on the 71.

The rules I'm following require conventional springs in the rear, no coil overs, as well as minitubs. This seems to require a relocated spring pocket and Wolfe among others offers that. Are there any issues with running the coil over style springs on the LCA's? This seems to allow the most room for the larger drag radials I'd like to run.

There is also a consensus around having the crankshaft centerline at even height with the pinion. With motor plates, and an external oil pump rear sump pan this seems do-able, am I on the right track?

CDMBill wrote:The rules I'm following require conventional springs in the rear, no coil overs, as well as minitubs. This seems to require a relocated spring pocket and Wolfe among others offers that. Are there any issues with running the coil over style springs on the LCA's? This seems to allow the most room for the larger drag radials I'd like to run.

There is also a consensus around having the crankshaft centerline at even height with the pinion. With motor plates, and an external oil pump rear sump pan this seems do-able, am I on the right track?

If you're looking at the Wolfe spring relocation kit, I have one and a set of offset lower control arms. If you're interested shoot me a PM, I'll make you a good deal

The Wolfe kit is very good. Wolfe's car that went to Kinzer has that setup and his been deep in the 6's with that twin turbo setup. As far as engine centerline, your ride height and front end setup will determine what you need and don't need in terms of crank centerline. A far as tubs are concerned and you are already with some Wolfe stuff I would look into his full tub kit. He designed that to work with the taller tires like the 315's.

CDMBill wrote:I will do most of the work myself, I like the cutting, welding and fabricating part, but I firmly believe in buying good components from people who what they are doing. Any advice on headers and particular k-members? I had to build my own on the 71 but I figure there must be a bunch out there for BBC's in Fox bodies. Ya'll know of course  TFS A460 heads have the round port BBC pattern and, I'd cut off a limb before I put I Chevy motor in any thing I own. But I'm happy to take advantage of other people's bad taste. Is the general advice that locating the engine as far back as possible and low in the car right? The far back part makes sense though I'm less sure about low, I did that in the 71, and  so far so good.

Interested to see how the BBC headers work, I have the Kooks A460 swap headers and not impressed with the fit. They hang really low (3" off the ground with mock up engine and trans) and I had to modify the trans pan as the collector runs into the bottom edge on the driverside. I have my engine set very close to the firewall and had to modify (big hammer) the toeboard support braces on mine ( I have an SN-95 though the Fox may not have them) to clear the rear tubes that come outside the frame.

Don't ever let anyone tell you that bolt-on headers fit without a hammer in a Foxbody or an SN95 car. They don't....

yellowhorse7 wrote:Don't ever let anyone tell you that bolt-on headers fit without a hammer in a Foxbody or an SN95 car. They don't....

X1,000,000!

So the good news is there are a ton of choices for stuff for these cars, that's also the bad news. Based on the last posts I'm going build my own headers, again. Thanks for hlep guys.

But, I won't be building a K-member. The issue is which ones will work well save weight and live through the kind of street/road driving we get at Drag Week and the True Street events not to mention normal street driving all with a very heavy IDT Premier block motor.

I found the Racecraft Stilleto today and I like the concept especially with the Peterson external oil pump I've been running that can get the fornt of the pan off the K-member.

Who has put real mile on some of these light weight k-members? We've had some really nasty roads some years.