8.8 swap done. 5-bolt conversion complete. - **56K warning**

Here's the diary of the day..... in point form anyway. Maybe one of the Mods wants to add a 56K warning to the thread title?

Huge thanks to 4 of my friends who lent a hand all day: Kent, Whitey, Kraft and Parslow. Kent was a workhorse on this project for me from idea to reality since he's done this twice before. We did the work at his place since he had all of the tools already and had it in the air and ripped out the ass end Friday night after I dropped the car off. When we showed up at 9 this morning he was already working on the front end.

Unfortunately the front A-arms and bushings fought us for a good long while and I ended up having to open the wallet for a new set of FRPP A-arms because they got destroyed (I'll let Whitey cover that topic :P). It's just money, right? Yeesh.

There's still a couple hours of work left however before she's on the road:
- Brakes not functional right now - I never even thought of new drum hardware (this is why Kent hates me now), so I need to replace the brake cylinders and get some new bleeders.
- Clearance the rear passenger side exhaust EVEN MORE... Parslow beat the *** out of the pipe already but it was just enough to get a rolling chassis for now.
- Steering alignment


Here's the before pic


Shot of the wheels after I had the tires mounted last week


The long list of stuff in the back of my truck:
   * Completely rebuilt 8.8 rear end with new seals, bearings, diff clutches and upper control arm bushings
   * FRPP 3.73 gears
   * 5-bolt axles and drums (budget not allowing the disc upgrade for now)
   * Speedo gear
   * Steeda 4500-series aluminum LCAs
   * FRPP HD upper control arms
   * 1995 Mustang spindles and calipers
   * Steeda X2 Ball joints
   * Powerslot slotted front rotors
   * Max Motorsports Caster Camber plates
   * Koni Special Series gas struts and shocks
   * Energy Suspension steering rack bushings
   * Energy Suspension front control arm bushings
   * 2003 OEM Bullitt wheels
   * Nitto NT555R 275/40/17 drag radials for the rears
   * Continental ContiProContact 245/45/17s in front (nothing special, but I got them for $50 for the pair so they'll do for now)
   * All new front and rear control arm nuts and bolts

God *** that's a lot of crap!


Kent was working when we showed up


Ummmm..... I think something is missing!


Out with the old and in with the new


Whitey working on the other side (take note of his safety shoes)


Kraft and Parslow showed up not long after we did


Whitey then give us his opinion of the situation


A-arms are out, but the bushings are a royal ***


Obligatory project ass shot


Shot of me getting the steering rack bushing out


This is what one of the bushings on one of the A-arms looked like..... *** WTF?!?! It exploded!


Putting the 8.8 in


Kent working on the rear drums (BTW, I think Kent hates me and my drums now)


A-arms out. Steering rack down for the count.


Stupid drums


Close-up of Whitey's "safety shoes"


I think Whitey's bolting up the strut here


Parslow hard at work


Front end together


Back end together (gonna repaint the drums black so they don't stand out like a sore thumb)


Not sure what's happening here.... work continues anyway


NO MORE TURBINES!  


Good shot by Parslow


Pushing it back to get some running room at the trailer before going home


One last shot
 
Steve - 1983 Mustang GT

Wolf Pack Car Club
http://www.wolfpackcc.com
Edmonton, AB, Canada

Nice project guys! Yep, the five-spokes look a ton better than the old turbines!

It's great to see a project like this, a group of guys getting together for some automotive fun. Yes, drum brakes may be a botch sometimes, but they're lighter than discs!

And I'm sure there was no beer consumed at all throguh this project, right guys?