"Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines." -Enzo Ferrari

I've been meaning to get on here to update my progress for a couple days now and everyday I've kept making more progress. So I'm gonna get you caught up cause I'm very excited about where I'm at now. As in my last post we were getting the upper and lower control arms on. We had some issues getting the springs in, compressing them with ready rod wasn't working. We finally bought a spring compressor, that worked using it in the same way we were doing with the ready rod. just dropping the rod through the spring hat and using only the bottom spring hook, pulling the spring up until we could get the ball joints bolted in.

With the spindles in we moved on to looking for space to install the rack and pinion steering. We eventually just cut out the whole stock cross member. I've boxed in the rest of the frame up to the front, and I'm going to weld in a inch and half or two inch metal tubing under the radiator support. The rack isn't installed yet as we have to notch out the frame for the rack to have space to reach the spindles. We also installed the brake rotors, but no calipers yet as I'm going to get them painted before installing them. 

I was really excited today as we we're starting mocking up the engine and trans for their cross members. Which means I finally got to see the Rat between the frame rails. The truck makes the 454 look small. But I think it will be a lot of fun and still can't wait to drive. We didn't get final markings for position of the cross members, but hopefully tomorrow I will. So here it is, I will leave you today with the engine and trans between the rails.

Batteries not Included, Some Assembly Required.

My suspension has finally arrived... well everything but the shocks. We had everything suspension wise as far as we could go without the components so we called speedway motors and told them to ship what they had. Got home from work and had seven boxes waiting. It was like Christmas all over. So what I have accomplished since the last blog, I boxed in the frame, and notched it for the cross-member to slid into place. I tacked it and the spring hats to the frame. That was when we had to wait.
When the components arrived we drilled out the cross-member to fit the larger lower control arm bolts. We actually ended up cutting the tacks and removing it from the frame to use a drill press to drill the holes. With the cross-member rejoined with the frame we positioned the lower control arm, the upper control arm, and the spindle. We checked the camber and removed the control arms for welding. It is not yet welded in but should be one of the nights this week.

I'm very excited with how everything is coming together. These are the two inch drop spindles, and as we have read in reviews of the mustang II suspension, apparently even without the dropped spindles it gives the truck an "in the weeds" look. I'm curious to see how low she sits. As you can see the spindle, which would be the center of the wheel, is next to the frame rail. The stock ride put the center of the wheel below the rail. Or the other way I think about it, with the frame on the jack stands it sits lower than it did on the wheels. It will be interesting to see how low she goes.