This is both of those times... After last weekend and finally after more than 5 years getting a chance to really wrench on my 01' ophidian I remember now why I used to do so much of my own work... it's actually kinda entertaining and it's rewarding as hell. Well, that and it's cheaper by a damned sight and the 96-04 series are one of the easiest cars to work on even when getting into major assembly modification/replacement. So, I'm going to find myself a cheap as dirt racing style floor jack and grab a set of box end wrenches and some jack stands and I'm going to do it my damned self. By "it" I mean I'm going to set the ride height and dig around the wiring to find that damned O2 wire short and then I'm going to install the steering shaft. I had hesitated because under the dash is where we always find all the evil that lurks in our plumbing. Loosening up 2 split joints and one retaining plate seems like it's entirely too easy so I'm going to find out on purpose how much more difficult it can be if any.
Man I missed having a car that went where you point it. I'm ripping around right hand corners at intersections at 40+ and the tires barely even chirp, and this is with maybe .5deg camber and a little toe-in. I can steer with the gas pedal when I want to and it launches harder with way less squat in the rear. It's even a little bit of a challenge to get it to wheel hop anymore. I also now realize why Ford didn't set them up like this from the beginning. It would have forced Chebby and Dodge to up their game in a day and age where Chebby had already shown Ford's shoddy decision making when it came to suspension when they put a torque arm on the Camaro. If Ford went coil-over and 3-link + PHB to stay at parity then Chebby would have dialed up the power-wick on their OHV SBC engines. Ford would have had no choice but to put up their dukes for the ensuing brawl but Ford had no dukes to be putting up, having instead pushed into the OHC universe. Chebby had decided OHC was a losing proposition for them after the disastrously unsuccessful Aurora motor was finally taken out behind the barn and quietly put out of its misery. Aurora was an answer to a question nobody asked. Ford lacking options, because they painted themselves into a power-capped corner, meant that they couldn't punch GM in the nose with a really great suspension package because GM would just punch back and Ford knew they'd lose that fight even if they managed to win any particular round. I realized all this when I looked at the history of the GM OHC engines and how terrible they seem to have been.
So anyway, to all of you: fark you and thank you. You have sealed the fate of my hands to be always stained with grease and of my head to always have something to look forward to on those lonely weekends when there's always a steady supply of nobody else to talk to and nothing else to do.
For someone that knows: The math tells me that the rear end being up so high compared to the front is probably why the rear end is looser than I expected. I'm assuming that dropping it a bit while only nudging the front end a very tiny bit higher will push the center of gravity rearward and downward which should increase rear grip but also probably rear squat too. LMK if that's rectal-cranial inversion or rational thought.
Gratuitously gigantic car pic
Man I missed having a car that went where you point it. I'm ripping around right hand corners at intersections at 40+ and the tires barely even chirp, and this is with maybe .5deg camber and a little toe-in. I can steer with the gas pedal when I want to and it launches harder with way less squat in the rear. It's even a little bit of a challenge to get it to wheel hop anymore. I also now realize why Ford didn't set them up like this from the beginning. It would have forced Chebby and Dodge to up their game in a day and age where Chebby had already shown Ford's shoddy decision making when it came to suspension when they put a torque arm on the Camaro. If Ford went coil-over and 3-link + PHB to stay at parity then Chebby would have dialed up the power-wick on their OHV SBC engines. Ford would have had no choice but to put up their dukes for the ensuing brawl but Ford had no dukes to be putting up, having instead pushed into the OHC universe. Chebby had decided OHC was a losing proposition for them after the disastrously unsuccessful Aurora motor was finally taken out behind the barn and quietly put out of its misery. Aurora was an answer to a question nobody asked. Ford lacking options, because they painted themselves into a power-capped corner, meant that they couldn't punch GM in the nose with a really great suspension package because GM would just punch back and Ford knew they'd lose that fight even if they managed to win any particular round. I realized all this when I looked at the history of the GM OHC engines and how terrible they seem to have been.
So anyway, to all of you: fark you and thank you. You have sealed the fate of my hands to be always stained with grease and of my head to always have something to look forward to on those lonely weekends when there's always a steady supply of nobody else to talk to and nothing else to do.
For someone that knows: The math tells me that the rear end being up so high compared to the front is probably why the rear end is looser than I expected. I'm assuming that dropping it a bit while only nudging the front end a very tiny bit higher will push the center of gravity rearward and downward which should increase rear grip but also probably rear squat too. LMK if that's rectal-cranial inversion or rational thought.
Gratuitously gigantic car pic
