Update on 72 Grabber Build

I had a chance to spend a little quality time with the Grabber today. I got the steering column modified and the rack hooked up so now I can at least turn the wheels with the steering wheel. Got all the rear suspension measured out, mocked up and tacked in place. here are a few pics of the progress.

And yes, I do know that all the bolts are now loose. Was in the middle of removing the rear end housing so I can finish welding and gusseting it. Then the work starts, grinding all the welds down, prepping the rear end and painting it. FUN FUN FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

That's starting to look pretty serious.

 

Very nice!

What rack and pinion is that?

 

Its a RRS unit with the stage 2 strut and brake setup.

 

Why didn't you mount the Watts center link to the differential housing and mount the link arms to the frame? Did you want all that extra weight hanging on the rear end?

 

i like that alot!!

 

I didn't want a fixed roll center. I wanted the ability to move it so I could tune the suspension a little more in case I wanted to do a little ricer chasing on the weekend. Low roll center for cornering, and a little higher for drag racing.
And with the 351 in the front with a C6 the little bit of weight will help a bit also.

 

Very Nice!

 

Love the photos of the Watts linkage

Looks like one of the store bought Watts set ups - what application did you order it for and how much did you have to change to get it to fit your chassis?

 

It is a Fay's 2 kit for a 66 Mustang................. BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!! I talked with the guy there and got it without the upper mounting hardware welded together. Kinda a universal kit thing. It was very easy to adapt to a Mav. The hardest part was making sure that the rear end was centered in the car. The car had never been wrecked so I leveled the body (Not an easy thing to do, Not many flat places on a Mav), then I did the string drop over the fender thing centered on the axel tubes and adjusted the distance so it was the same side to side. Then installed the system. There was a little more to it than that but that is the short version. It came with the axel mounts for the link ends but I could not use them because of the Ladder bars and Coil overs.

 

how much was that? if u dont mind telling?

 

Very nice indeed

What brand are your coil over shocks and what spring rating did you wind up choosing? I find answers to spring rates all over the place when talking to chassis builders.

 

Don't fall over when I tell you the prices. I was working a Very good job overseas when I was buying all my parts and cost was not a factor.

RRS stage 2 strut and brake kit = $3,295.00
RRS power rack unit = $1,895.00
RRS tie rod adjusting sleeves = $115.00
RRS shock tower notching kit = $195.00
RRS reinforced lower control arms = $200
Total for the front end = $5,700.00

But I can say that it was as easy a swap over as I have ever done with anything. Everything bolted right in with no problems and everything fit perfect. I have to give the ol to those guys in Australia.

 

The entire rear suspension system is Competition Engineering.
I weighed my 69.5 (rear of the car with 50% of the car on the scales to get a working figure for the springs. It was a dead on 1250 pounds. I figured with all the mods I was doing to the car the 72 would be quite a bit heavier in the back than that so I went with the 150 lbs/inch springs for the time being. I will see how that goes and if it is a little rough I will switch to the 125 lbs/inch. I talked to Alston and S&W and both tech guys said that the springs will be about right for the application.

 

150 pound spring rating seemed to be the answer that came up the most with my conversations with builders too. I'll start there myself and see what happens

It looks like I bought the same rear coil spring brackets from Competetion Engineering that you bought. They're the ones that allow you to use a short regular type shock but also use the 2.5 inch coil over springs.

What length springs were you able to use?