The Chronicles of 95riosnake's OCD Machine

[SublimeRT]

Good stuff. I like the trunk piece a lot. I never much cared for that thing either in stock trim. I don't have an aftermarket K, but just thinking about it I'd probably add a jacking pad on it somewhere or make an adapter for the jack to spread the load. Something about jacking it up in the middle of a tube makes me uneasy.

[Yeahloh95]

dan i use the k member too i will sketvch something up and text it to you that would work on the bottom , it cant be too big or it will hang to low

[Tabres]

I also use the main tube on the k-member for jacking

[Lanter]

Same here, main tube on the k member for my jacking point.  But I would be lying if I didn't say it makes me a little nervous every time.  

[95riosnake]

Thanks guys, I may end up just making a new saddle for my jack that will cradle the tube and spread the load across it rather than welding something to it.

[Blu95stang]

I really love the carbon fiber piece. What did you make it out of before you got it wrapped (carbon fibered). And guess im kinda confused, does it go here:

Sorry it is upside down, still learning.

[95riosnake]

I really love the carbon fiber piece. What did you make it out of before you got it wrapped (carbon fibered). And guess im kinda confused, does it go here:image.jpg

Sorry it is upside down, still learning.

 

Thanks! It's just the stock piece, but the top grooves were filled smooth before wrapping with the CF.

 

Here's where it goes (not my pic or car)

 

[Sleeperstang1994]

the trunk part looks awesome. That should tie the whole theme of the car together front to rear   looking good. Im sure @WildWillyWalker would powder coat some things for you... in exchange for some fancy laser cut pieces

[Blu95stang]

Cool, couldnt figure out if it was that piece or something to cover the underside of the trunk lid. Ive been trying to come up with something to cover up the piece i showed you, what you see is a first attempt done by a friend of mine. Not bad but need to make something to cover all of the holes. Cant figure out the best material to use. Wish I had your mad metal skills.

[95riosnake]

Got a little bit done yesterday, it would be a lot further along today if I didn't have to head to my inlaws shortly. Anyway, the HF engine support bar finally got called off the bench and had it's moment to shine. After coaxing the bolts out of the stock K member with four letter words and general loathing and disgust, I dropped that boat anchor out of the car. Now I have to figure out what to do with it. Do people actually want these things?

 

 

 

And it's replacement...

 

 

See any similarities? lol

 

 

 

The sad looking factory starter was next on the chopping block. When I bought the CSR starter, one of the features was it had "increased header clearance" which it definitely does because it has an offset toward the block, but they didn't mention it's also longer...   I ended up having to regretfully massage a small area on the back of one primary to clear. It broke my heart having to do it but it is what it is. A little VHT over the spot and I'm moving on with life.

 

 

 

 

Then I spent the next couple hours wrestling the headers on without scratching them up... just a little bit stressful lol.

 

 

 

 

I had to re-order the heat blanket for the starter because I somehow lost it over the past few months. I was considering just rolling without it, which is why the passenger side header is installed, but that's not how I do things so it'll be coming off to install the wrap when I get it. Luckily the passenger side is the easier one lol. Once I get that done, the Team Z K member will get mocked up and squared so I can weld on the tabs for the Stifflers k member brace and subsequent Spider Brace. Then it'll come back out for powder coat to match the IRS.

 

On another note, I finally got some time at work this week to weld up the parking brake brackets. Now I need to have them heat treated. There's a place near my work that does it, so I'll have to drop by sometime this week and see if they'll even bother with a small order like mine.

 

Here are a few beauty shots in the meantime lol.

 

 

 

 

 

[Zach]

I realy need to upgrade to a stater like that, mines starting to struggle lol. What are the specs on it and where did it come from? @95riosnake

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[SublimeRT]

That sucks about having to ding that pretty header, but whatcha gonna do. Really nice welds on those brackets.

[Yeahloh95]

looking great Dan can you do a hardness check on the alum brackets?

[Tabres]

Fwiw, after having my stock k-member for sale for a while I woud up giving it away.  A longtime member over on the Corral was trying to put a car together for I believe his brother as a surprise when he came home from the sandbox so I just let him have it.  Really no idea if they're even worth anything.  Maybe a few bucks to a scrapper?  Who knows.

 

The brackets look fantastic.

[95riosnake]

It all looks horrible, you might as well start over from scratch. And since we can't have you being wasteful I guess I'll be a good friend and take all of that hideous stuff so that you don't have to bother trashing it yourself.................lol.

Looking awesome as always!! Is that team z's regular k or the autox?!?

 

Haha yea you're probably right

 

It's the autocross K member

 

I realy need to upgrade to a stater like that, mines starting to struggle lol. What are the specs on it and where did it come from? @95riosnake

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It's a CSR Platinum Pro Series 107P, pretty spendy but not as spendy as some (Meziere wants over $500 for theirs... ). I got it from Race-Mart because it was like $30 cheaper through them, but I would advise against buying from them. I've bought stuff from Race-Mart twice now, and both times I regretted it. It took seriously like 2 months for it to ship... they just drop ship everything. I had the same thing happen a couple years ago and vowed to never order from them again, I should have known it would happen again.

 

Spec-wise, it's rated at 2.4hp which is pretty impressive. It's recommended for supercharged motors, motors over 450ci, or compression over 12.5:1 so it should have absolutely no problem turning my car over. The stocker always sounded like it was struggling to make it happen.

 

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/csi-107p

 

^ I see that Summit's description states that it's 1" longer... wish I had read that description before I sent my headers off for coating lol.

 

That sucks about having to ding that pretty header, but whatcha gonna do. Really nice welds on those brackets.

 

Yea I wasn't happy but there wasn't really much choice in the matter. I didn't want to take the hit and abandon the CSR starter to sell it "used" and the headers definitely weren't going to fit without a little clearancing... so I sucked it up and grabbed the torch and hammer lol.

 

And thanks for the compliment on the welds!

 

looking great Dan can you do a hardness check on the alum brackets?

 

Not really sure how to do that, but every source I've found recommended heat treating 5052 aluminum after welding. I'm hoping this place local to me is willing to help me out.

 

Fwiw, after having my stock k-member for sale for a while I woud up giving it away.  A longtime member over on the Corral was trying to put a car together for I believe his brother as a surprise when he came home from the sandbox so I just let him have it.  Really no idea if they're even worth anything.  Maybe a few bucks to a scrapper?  Who knows.

 

The brackets look fantastic.

 

Yea I'll probably put it on CL and say free to pick up. I don't want this huge thing in my way forever. If nobody bites it'll hit the scrap yard.

 

And thank you sir!

[RedTwilight]

Looks awesome!  Can't wait to see it with the matching powdercoat.  And those welds!!!

[Yeahloh95]

ok i didnt know you used 5052 i thought you might have used 6061

[Steve-Oh]

Bracket looks excellent. Your TIG skills are impressive, most impressive! I can hear the high freq start noise in my head just looking at the pics, forever imbedded. Nice to see you finally got the boat anchor out, I remember mine being a whore. Makes putting those headers in "a breeze" though! I don't think it's a mystery that I'm a stock parts hoarder so mine is still sitting in my shed. Like Tabres said, might be easier to just scrap it.... or turn it into a table lol!

[Yeahloh95]

i wish we could find a use for them i jsut moved the one from my notch outside this weekend

[95riosnake]

ok i didnt know you used 5052 i thought you might have used 6061

 

I researched it a bit before I had the brackets cut and found a bunch of people saying 5052 was a good alloy for welding. 6061 supposedly gets brittle and is prone to cracking at the weld seam, which is something I wanted to avoid in a parking brake bracket. This 5052 lost some of its temper at the weld, but that's supposed to be fixed with post-weld heat treating. So once I jump through this last hoop maybe I can finally button up the last bit of this brake setup lol.

 

Bracket looks excellent. Your TIG skills are impressive, most impressive! I can hear the high freq start noise in my head just looking at the pics, forever imbedded. Nice to see you finally got the boat anchor out, I remember mine being a whore. Makes putting those headers in "a breeze" though! I don't think it's a mystery that I'm a stock parts hoarder so mine is still sitting in my shed. Like Tabres said, might be easier to just scrap it.... or turn it into a table lol!

 

Thank you Steve, it's definitely soooo much nicer working with nice, clean new metal. And FYI I do have a little of the same frame rail rust you have been fixing on yours, albeit not nearly as severe. That will get addressed when the bay gets the full treatment in the future.

[Zach]

Haha yea you're probably right

It's the autocross K member

It's a CSR Platinum Pro Series 107P, pretty spendy but not as spendy as some (Meziere wants over $500 for theirs... ). I got it from Race-Mart because it was like $30 cheaper through them, but I would advise against buying from them. I've bought stuff from Race-Mart twice now, and both times I regretted it. It took seriously like 2 months for it to ship... they just drop ship everything. I had the same thing happen a couple years ago and vowed to never order from them again, I should have known it would happen again.

Spec-wise, it's rated at 2.4hp which is pretty impressive. It's recommended for supercharged motors, motors over 450ci, or compression over 12.5:1 so it should have absolutely no problem turning my car over. The stocker always sounded like it was struggling to make it happen.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/csi-107p

^ I see that Summit's description states that it's 1" longer... wish I had read that description before I sent my headers off for coating lol.

Yea I wasn't happy but there wasn't really much choice in the matter. I didn't want to take the hit and abandon the CSR starter to sell it "used" and the headers definitely weren't going to fit without a little clearancing... so I sucked it up and grabbed the torch and hammer lol.

And thanks for the compliment on the welds!

Not really sure how to do that, but every source I've found recommended heat treating 5052 aluminum after welding. I'm hoping this place local to me is willing to help me out.

Yea I'll probably put it on CL and say free to pick up. I don't want this huge thing in my way forever. If nobody bites it'll hit the scrap yard.

And thank you sir!

thanks man! I'll get summit to price match it fire me so I'll get that 30$ off, and there just in Georgia for me so everthjng I get from there comes next day with regular shipping.

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[Tony]

k member and stuff is cool but that trunk panel thing 

 

maybe i missed where you got it from or did you somehow make it? 

[Det_Riot]

@95riosnake always use summit to price match racemart

[Prokiller]

k member and stuff is cool but that trunk panel thing 

 

maybe i missed where you got it from or did you somehow make it? 

 

it's the stock one that he ground off the grooves and then sent it to carbon fiber element to be covered in really carbon fiber.

[95riosnake]

k member and stuff is cool but that trunk panel thing 

 

maybe i missed where you got it from or did you somehow make it? 

 

Thanks man, I know it's not even than visible when installed but I think it'll really put the finishing tough in the trunk. And @Prokiller is right, smoothed the top grooves off the stock piece and it was wrapped in CF. I proposed the idea of a full CF piece to Carbon Driven a while back but he has his plate pretty full these days and I'm not sure that many guys would buy one to justify him making a run of them. Most people don't even open their trunk at a show so I doubt many would fork over the cash for a carbon trunk striker trim lol.

 

@95riosnake always use summit to price match racemart

 

Yup, I won't ever bother with Race Mart again. Maybe I've just had bad luck, but being told something will ship in 1-2 weeks and having to wait 2 months isn't ok. Of course I'm pretty numb to waiting on parts these days lol.

[Yeahloh95]

it's the stock one that he ground off the grooves and then sent it to carbon fiber element to be covered in really carbon fiber.

 

where do i get REALLY  carbon fiber  ? is it lighter and stronger ? or just prettier ?

[Tabres]

I just wish my factory trunk panels fit currently and this guy is over here with carbon fiber in his trunk...

 

[Prokiller]

where do i get REALLY  carbon fiber  ? is it lighter and stronger ? or just prettier ?

yes to all of the above, and you can only get it from the farts of greek goddess.

[Steve-Oh]

Thank you Steve, it's definitely soooo much nicer working with nice, clean new metal. And FYI I do have a little of the same frame rail rust you have been fixing on yours, albeit not nearly as severe. That will get addressed when the bay gets the full treatment in the future.

Absolutely! With aluminum it's a requirement to have a nice clean base to work with as it reacts easily with dirty metal, next thing you know you have "gum" and have to grind it out and start again. ; I'm actually sad to hear that. That part of the bay project was not fun in the least but an absolute must or that k-memeber isn't doing you any good... Because it'll fall off lol (obviously that's a stretch)

[95riosnake]

Absolutely! With aluminum it's a requirement to have a nice clean base to work with as it reacts easily with dirty metal, next thing you know you have "gum" and have to grind it out and start again. ; I'm actually sad to hear that. That part of the bay project was not fun in the least but an absolute must or that k-memeber isn't doing you any good... Because it'll fall off lol (obviously that's a stretch)

 

Well like I said it's not severe like yours was, it's just a bit of surface rust at this point. There's still solid metal but I'd imagine someday it would end up like yours was. I'll make sure it never does when I do the bay, for now it'll just get a quick wire wheel and a little primer and paint to keep it in good shape. It's definitely a problem area on these cars for sure though.

[SublimeRT]

Out of curiosity, what kind of TIG do you guys have at work?

[95riosnake]

Out of curiosity, what kind of TIG do you guys have at work?

I'm definitely a big fan of Miller but at work we have a Lincoln Square Wave TIG 175 Pro

[SublimeRT]

Oh okay, cool. I think I've seen you mention it somewhere, but I couldn't recall. I actually saw a clip of Mercedes F1 team using a Lincoln a while ago, so they definitely aren't bad machines. I think Miller is the way to go though.

[95riosnake]

Oh there's most definitely nothing wrong with Lincoln, they're great machines. My dad has been using Lincoln for over 30 years with great results. I just prefer the Millers a bit more. I can't afford a big boy TIG anyway, so I'm all about that 175 Lincoln being at my disposal lol.

[Blackmage]

sell that kmember on CL.  Fox guys use them when they are swapping in modulars on the cheap.  

[Det_Riot]

sell that kmember on CL. Fox guys use them when they are swapping in modulars on the cheap.

[Blackmage]

holy shit. i  just realized what i said.

 

[95riosnake]

Got back on it this weekend, started by pulling the passenger header and installing the heat wrap on the starter. The wire you see is going to obviously need a little protection also, lol. That wire loom is a little crispy.

 

 

Then the header made its way back in... again.

 

 

The K member finally got to join the party. Went in pretty easily after a little brake line tweaking, and a few four letter words getting the control arms in (ok, more like a couple hundred lol).

 

 

Then a trip to Harbor Freight and $12 later, I was ready to get to work squaring the K member

 

 

 

 

Not much to show of that process, it was annoying and tedious but I got it within spec. Put tape on the floor, mark plumb bob points on tape, measure front to back on both sides as well as diagonally, compare measurements, beat liberally with hammer and 2x4, pry with pry bar, etc. until the measurements are within spec... tighten hardware.

 

And this is just a cool shot of the headers and all the new roomy space to work, lol.

 

 

The steering rack was a different story... There was a pretty big clearance issue with the driver's side of the rack hitting the gusseting under the motor mount supports of the K member. I had to notch about 1/4" to 3/8" deep on the front and back gussets to clear, and had to rotate the offset rack bushings to locate the rack as far down as possible. I really don't know how they missed this when they designed this K member. I can't figure out for the life of me what else other than an engineering mistake caused this. I hit up Bryan via text during this process since I know he has a Team Z, but since he has the drag version, he doesn't have the gusseting or this issue. The only thing that comes to mind is maybe since I'm running the 03 cobra rack instead of the original 94-95 rack, there might be a fitment/clearance difference?

 

Here's the offending gusset

 

 

I marked these pictures in red showing the notches I had to make to clear the hard line of the rack (I did get a chance to use my new Milwaukee Band File though, so it wasn't all bad http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200192924_200192924)

 

 

And here's the area that needed notched in the back

 

 

After finally getting the rack in place, I was pretty disgusted with how real the struggle was getting so I decided it was time to walk away for a week (this is how I keep my sanity lol) and go drink a few beers.

 

 

 

The only other person on here that I know is running the autocross K is @95opal, but I'm not sure if his manual rack makes any difference fitment-wise. Rich, did you have any of these issues with yours? I mean mine is bolted in fine, and it's not hitting anything, but I don't exactly love having the rack sitting lower than factory. I'm worried that even with the spacers on the bump steer kit stacked to place the tie rod ends as low as possible, the resulting tie rod angle might be a little steeper than I'd like. I may end up pulling the rack and notching the gussets more to get the rack up further, but I don't think I can notch enough to get the offset rack bushings to the 12 o'clock position. I may have to go back to a 94-95 rack if there's a difference that is causing this.

 

Anyway, moving on... here's what's riding the bench for next weekend. @Tom@Stifflers was able to talk @brian@Stifflers into selling me a bare steel K member brace (since it will be getting powder coated) and a prototype Spider Brace with lightweight aluminum braces. Yes that's a bit of surface rust around the welds on the brace, I'm ashamed that it takes me so long to get around to these projects that the parts start rusting lol.

 

 

 

I just hope it all will fit with my long tubes and the cut outs. I'm fully prepared to do a little modding to make it work (par for the course) but I'm hoping things aren't in the way too much.

[Det_Riot]

Ugh and I've been dreading having to resquare mine though now should likely be the time to do it since nothing's in the car lol

[95riosnake]

So I looked back through my pictures and found two that compare my stock rack to the 03, the lines with the arrows pointing to them are definitely routed differently. That would cause the issue where I had to notch the front gusset, but the rear notch is still a mystery.

 

(03 rack on top)