Creation of the Red Baron - Phase 2: Modifications

[BLK BRD 88]

Mike,
What a beautiful job of upgrading an SVO from front to rear.

If anything this thread has reminded me that at 70 years old, I am still a noobie at a lot more than just this forum!

You lost me a few times with abbreviations, but I find it to be very interesting and informative reading.

Hopefully someday, since you are only a hundred miles south, I will get to meet you and the car in person.
Ron

[MikeFleming]

Let me know which abbrevs you're having difficulty with and I'll fill you in.

And it's South-East.

[BLK BRD 88]

Let me know which abbrevs you're having difficulty with and I'll fill you in.

And it's South-East.

Thanks for the offer Mike, I found most of the definitions in wikipedia & other online dictionaries.

"Shoot" if I keep reading them thar online dictionaries I may learn to talk like a 21st century auto mechanic someday. LOL
Ron

[Rlessary]

Awesome build

[MikeFleming]

Thanks to Jack Hadley, who is now banned until his next post, I now know that I did not post any data on how I addressed the stock SVO rear parking brake cable bracket and made it get along with the reinforced MM lower Coil-Over shock bracket kits. I will now do that here.

First off are some pics of how the stock lower rear shock and parking brake cable brackets attach to the rear axle housing. Note the stock cable bracket is above the shock mount and centered on the upper MM bracket bolt hole. Makes it easy enough to align the parts on the bench. Left side:
Left.jpg

Right side:
Right.jpg

Stock brackets off-car.
ShockBkt.jpg
CableBkt.jpg

Holes in differential housing. The lower hole is ~12mm iirc and the MM lower bracket bolt fits straight away. The upper hole is a slot and needs to be drilled out to accept the MM mount - 3/8". iirc.
AxleHoles.jpg

Once the upper holes are resized, the MM brackets can be test fitted. But first, the MM kit parts.
MMPartNumber.jpg
KitHardwarePcs.jpg
InstalledLeft.jpg
InstalleRight.jpg

Where the washers and locknuts go. As usual beware of sharp edges
.BackCrudInstall.jpg

[MikeFleming]

MM lower CO shock mount and SVO parking cable brackets cut and joined together using the hot glue gun. Fresh out of blast cabinet and cleaning.
CutWelded1.jpg
CutWelded2.jpg

Fresh gloss black applied.
Painted.jpg

Some installed pics.
BktLeft.jpg
BltLeft1.jpg
BktRight.jpg

[bluemax]

As always, very professional looking installation.

I almost cried when I saw how you welded the parking brake cable bracket to the lower shock mount. Those are the brackets that I am looking for. Pulled from the Lincoln parts bin back in the day, they are long obsolete and so far, proving difficult to find.

[Jack Hidley]

Bluemax,

Are you looking for stock 8.8" lower shock mounts?

[bluemax]

Bluemax,

Are you looking for stock 8.8" lower shock mounts?

No I am needing a nice pair of parking brake cable brackets. Do you have any???

[Jack Hidley]

Nope. I think I threw out a pair about 15 years ago.

[Laredo]

Close-up of cooler cooling fins. They're serrated and bent like that to provide LOTS of cooling surface area for the outside, cooling airflow.

Mike, I really like the super-clean look of the side mount charge cooler you did here, and especially the short intake pipes to/from the turbo and TB!
Most likely your "fun" driving is w/o the AC running - so this would be non-issue, but did you ever happen to get charge air temps with the AC running?
I am contemplating the same setup you have here, and weighing the pros/cons of going FMIC with longer pipes (and getting cooler "pre-condenser" air - I like my AC!) vs the side mount that will be pulling some warmer air through the condenser.