Yellow Bullet Forums banner

88 Mustang Notch Now Nitrous Build

11K views 39 replies 8 participants last post by  OEF14vette 
#1 ·
As the title says the car is a 1988 Ford Mustang LX notch my brother and I are building this year. We had an 82 GT hatch we were going to build but didn't feel like doing body work and paint along with building an engine, trans, rear end, cage and so on.. So we picked this roller up locally for a really good price. Intentions are to do a 370 inch twin turbo engine and either a TH400 or 4L80E we want to drag week the car. I will be updating this as often and detailed as possible. Goals are to make 1300-1450 RWHP on E85 and water meth. We picked 10 stick of Chromoly up for the cage and tubular front end I know we wont need all ten sticks but it was discounted for the quantity. We have full team Z Chromoly tubular k member and front suspension along with Strange Struts. If anyone has question ask away.
 
#3 ·
We purchased a Rogue Fab Model M600HD bender, Notcher, Thin Wall Attachment, BendTech Pro Software and 2 Cage Gages (Bend Protractors for my dies CLR) so we can design and fabricate all of our own tube work on the car instead of buying pre bent and notched stuff. So far the bender is working great zero complaints and the manufacturing instructions Bendtech generates after you draw/design a part make its very user friendly once the bender is calibrated to the software. Here are a few progress pictures from last Friday we had a chance to put a little time in and get the upper radiator support bar bent just needs trimming and notching once we get the forward bars done and we also pulled the front clip off and cut the factor front end of just in front of the strut towers. Planning to have it all tacked up this weekend and then start mocking the engine trans up with the Team Z front suspension stuff. The last picture is kind of what we are planning to do with ours it is a picture I found and am using for reference.





 
#4 ·
if you look at my build thread you can make a whole front end and not have to worry about a upper radiator support and will be even easier to work on it if need be. 4l80e will be pricey to hold that power reliably but it can be done.
 
#5 ·
I looked through your thread quick and didn't see any pictures of the tubular front end with the bumper off by chance you have any? Just curious to how you did yours open to ideas. And yeah i go back and forth on the trans thing i build my own and usually get the parts from Jake's Performance in Sanger Texas i've had good luck with TH400 stuff from him for my Nitrous Corvette. I was thinking if we went 4L80E use a D3 trans brake and Billet triple disc converter but idk yet. Thanks for the info by the way, also what radiator and intercooler are you using?
 
#7 ·
intercooler is some cx racing i got cheap..so far has worked for 14psi with no problems but i suspect issues down the line at which point ill upgrade to a better one
 
#8 ·
Ahh I see how you did it, I do like that a guy can pull the engine and trans straight out the front if needed. And I was thinking about trying a 9" core treadstone seems like bang for the buck their not bad and rated to 1300 hp efficient. My car will be on E85 and meth so should be okay I hope, at least right away I'm sure it will. I do have to say having the bender now makes me want to bend everything I can lol... I do plan on adding 25.5 bars that make sense to add right away and a pain later minus the funny car cage since it is a street car and that I can add anytime once the car is going fast enough to need it. Thanks for the picture.
 
#10 ·
Scored these Kirkey Pro street seats from a guy that sold his unfinished 4 eyed notch to a friend for $100 we couldn't pass them up! The guy had them powder coated gloss black and they look pretty sharp mainly wanted them for the weight savings. They will get the Kirkey Grey Tweed seat covers so it matches the rest of the interior since its a street car.
 
#11 ·
Last night we decided to weigh everything cut off so far, weigh the new parts and document it all for refference. The stock inner aprons and front frame with bumper as pictured weighs 62lbs, Stock cloth seats with tracks weigh 70 lbs for the pair, the Kirkeys are 28lbs 10oz. for the set. For the tubular front end i weighed the parts already bent and the un-bent parts i took their weight from the component weight my Bendtech software provides. It does this by weighing a 1" piece of tube and enter weight per inch and as you build it update the part weight. So it comes out to 30lbs 11oz with the plates, 4 pieces of 1/16" Tig filler rod to be conservative. So weight saved so far about 73lbs 5oz. I will continue adding weights for parts used vs parts removed. I am weighing everything on a calibrated 120lb capacity refrigerant scale used for A/C servicing.
 
#13 ·
I just wanted to show what I am using to aid in measuring my cage and chassis parts. Now mind you i am not an expert in tube work thats why i picked two of these cage gages up to keep waste to a minimum we all know 4130 isn't cheap. I am impressed with the accuracy and quality of these tools and the fact you can connect them together with 1-1/4" PVC to make pieces with multiple bends before ever bending to ensure accuracy is a great feature in my opinion their extremely versatile. I stumbled across these and have never seen them advertised so i figured id throw my opinion of them so far up with a few pictures so you guys can see what their about if you too havent heard of or seen them. Their for 5",5.5",6",& 6.5" CLR as well. I am using 6" CLR so i just had to flip the blocks to the right position not hard at all.


 
#15 ·
Small update, I stripped and weighed the sound deadener that stuck to the floor pan along with the stock front seat belt retractors, buckles, and parking brake handle.... Came in at just over 28 lbs! I was guessing 16-20 tops well i was wrong. It all adds up eventually.
 
#18 ·
Well its been slow going over the past week been extremely busy with work and fixing on a Duramax for one friend and a Kenworth rollback for another after work... I have been waiting anxiously for my 25.5 Spec book to arrive before cutting floor pans and bending cage pieces. That showed up Monday so I am hoping this weekend to make some progress and get some pictures up and start making some strides on it. Also if anyone has some good pictures of their 25.5 mustangs they would like to share please pm me or throw the link up I like to see other peoples ideas.
 
#20 ·
Small update haven't been able to make much progress with this summer being so busy.. I was able to get the k member mocked up so I can drop the engine in with the headers, so I can start bending the bars for the front end and get a roll on the cage. More updates to come soon. Plans also changed as far as the engine size ended up coming across a screaming deal on a 58X 4.00" crank so 403 it is vs the 370 I planned on building. Hard to pass up a brand new Eagle crank for $400.00 shipped to your door even if it isn't the "best" crank to use. So now I've been looking at the Borg SXE S369 or S371's to use in a twin setup.


 
#21 ·
Nothing too crazy been busy as hell with work and side stuff but I did get a set of mini tubs from Furo Racecraft. He is local to me and makes his own they look nice so in the next week or so I'll be cutting the trunk floor and stock tubs out. Just wanted them in before I got too crazy with tube work. I'll post some pics once I put the knife to the trunk area. Surprised no one noticed the corvette ZO6 calipers on my mustang spindles lol.
 
#22 ·
Sub'd for updates.

How do you like the Rogue bender so far? Ive been looking at bender lately as im kicking the idea around of doing my own cage vs using a pre bent deal. What notcher are you using?

Looking good so far!
 
#26 ·
I like the rogue fab M600HD a lot for the money and its capabilities especially now that they released a mandrel attachment for header tubing stuff like that. And the notcher is the rogue versa notcher. I feel it's the nicest one yet that uses hole saws next thing better is a Bridgeport mill. I've
Made a lot of notches thru moly no issues at all very solid unit.
 
#24 ·
I finally picked some 3" .250" wall DOM up for my axle tubes in the 8.8 housing. I chucked them in the lathe and machined them down to fit the housing and deep enough to bottom out where the stock tubes didn't go much past the plug welds. Should add a decent amount of strength once braced up. The up close picture showing the tube puled out is just showing the amount of material i had to remove the 3" OD sits tight against the cast center section. Once my housing ends get here i will determine overall width and cut the excess on the tubes down on the lathe so their dead on. Here are a few pictures.




 
#27 ·
Well I ordered a set of upper and lower JCR Chassisworks torque boxes and should have them Monday. Paul was incredible to deal with and their customer service is always top notch. I will post some un-boxing pics as well as install pics once I get to cutting the stock ones out. Have to say I am excited to tie the torque boxes into the chassis and tube work.
 
#28 ·
JCR Torque boxes came today, i am impressed with the quality and design have to say they are a very nice piece. Also the owner of JCR Paul was very helpful and the customer service and instructions I received with the boxes are top notch. I am stoked to start cutting the car up more and get these tied into the 25.3 cage. I will post more pics when I get the trunk floor and stock tubs cut out. For a teaser here are a few quick pictures of the upper and lower torque boxes. I have to say I am feeling more confident that i will get this thing to hook on the ice as well as on some no prep tracks. Also ordering some 1.375 .095" 4130 to make my own lower control arms with 3/4"X3/4" rod ends.





 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top