Getting car ready for Auto-X; looking for suggestions.

[40BelowSummer]

So, Ive been interested in Auto-X and what not lately and there are some local races coming up next month I signed up for, so I want my car ready.

I have a 92' MTX with stock suspension, and minor motor mods listed in signature.

I have a wrecked 91 Plus that has some good suspension upgrades on it. Thats where I will get some of my parts.

Heres what I have collected so far:

• Front Tokico/Eibach off parts car in good condition.
• Rear Eibach springs from parts car (it had Sensatrac struts?)
• Rear used Tokico struts off eBay; $65 shipped off eBay
• Subframe connectors (need to remove and reinstall in 92')
• 94/95 Knuckles, Spindles, Hubs? (whats the difference between these terms) $35 from junkyard
• Gen I sway bars; including a 28mm rear sway bar
• Double-core radiator from my parts car

So here are some components I am thinking about adding to this installation (want to do it all at once).
- GM rear control arms; gmpartsdirect.com
- reducing sleeves for control arms; shonut
- rear brake bias plugs (dont know much about these, but here good things)
- 96 brake upgrade kit or equiv. to fit under slicers

SFC's: Is it fairly simple to have an exhaust shop install SFC's? I called every one in the yellow pages and everyone ignorantly told me they didnt know what they were with a strong No!. I assume no one but me in my area knows what they are. One shop, who sounded nice on the phone said if I show them what to do they can do it. So are there any guides (I know Ive seen some, and the one on Shotimes isnt that good) on the net with pictures (on the forum I thought)?

Brakes: So I found 94/95 spindles at a junkyard for $35; from any 94-95 Taurus, Sable, or SHO w/ ABS correct?

All I need are: loaded calipers (calipers, brackets, pads) from a 95' Lincoln Continental, correct? Any brands/vendors recommended or not recommended for these? Do I need rotors from a 95' continental or 96-99 SHO? Is that it as far as front brakes go?

Just new pads for the rear since I have the vented rotors?

Thanks for any input!

Rhett

 

[nc89sho]

you sound to be on the right track for the most part. the SFC's are a pretty straight forward install. they only pretty much fit one way. and the rotors need to be 96-99 SHO i just asked for 97 SHO rotors when i bought mine.

 

[yamahaSHO]

I'd go with a sway bar smaller than the 24mm in the front. The '92 already has a 24mm bar in front. I prefer 22/26 and possibly 22/28, but that may be pushing it.

 

[Redline]

I think there are some decent writeups with pics for doing the SFC's. I know I found some or links to some when I did a search one time.

 

[40BelowSummer]

What do you think the difference would be in 22/28 vs the 22/26?

I could have sworn there was a SFC guide hosted on shoforum.com but I cant find the llink.

It seems as if the search feature is not working well at all. I can remember threads I even participated in that should be coming up but are not. Ive noticed this several times.

 

[yamahaSHO]

What do you think the difference would be in 22/28 vs the 22/26?

Putting a larger rear bar on the car with the same size front will induce oversteer (in reference to just changing out the rear bar and keeping the same bar up front, what ever that may be). Using a smaller front bar such as a 22mm will allow your front wheels to stay in contact with the roard easier. The smaller the bar, the more contact you'll have on a hard turn. For racing, you want some oversteer, but you have to decide how much you want. The combonation of a really small bar in front and a really large bar in the rear will make the are tail happy.

http://www.panix.com/~awinbow/sho/suspension.html

PanamaPat runs a 20.6/29 combo on his car, but he also has stiff coilovers too. I am currently running 22/26 in my red car, 24/26 in my white. I've got a 22mm front bar ready to go into the white car when I get some time.

 

[40BelowSummer]

Ok, so Jason, I respect your opinion. Do you think I should try the 28mm rear bar first?

Or I could just sell it and use the money toward a Quaife

 

[yamahaSHO]

If I were to choose between selling and saving for a Quaife and trying the 28mm bar, I would choose to sell and save for the Quaife. With Eibach/Tokico and STB's (rear), I think you would be very happy with a 22/26. The 24mm bar is just too large. You'll lift a wheel often.

 

[40BelowSummer]

Yeah, thats what I was thinking.

For future reference: (I had someone PM me about this)

The most recent part number for the GM rear adjustable control arms is 10329694 from a 97-01 GM W-Body. I know Ive seen that number posted before but no threads ever came up during a search. (weird) So hopefully this thread will be useful in the future for that number.

 

[NJSHO]

I wouldn't put the 22/28 combo on, yet. The 20.6/26 tends to make the car very tail happy and even "dangerous" as some people put it. Maybe if the car was autox only but for every day driving not that great. You would probably experience the same amount of oversteer with the 22/28 since it is almost the same ratio as the 20.6/26. A 22/26 combo seems to be pretty neutral, but if you find that its not to your liking its easy enough to swap rear sway bars.
Some other tips for Autoxing
1. Get there early and walk the course as many times as you can.
2. If this is the first time make sure you get an instrutor to ride with you a couple of times.
3. Look ahead. You shouldn't be looking at the corner your in, you want to be looking at the next corner.
4. Tire Pressure: 40 psi all around seems like a good starting point. After a run, check the sidewalls of your tires. If you see scuff marks too far down that means your tire is rolling too much in the corners and more air should be put in.
5. Ease onto the throttle after exiting a corner (especially without a quaife) or your just going to spin your tire, not go any faster, and make your diff unhappy. We all know what happens when you have unhappy diffs.
Hope it helps.