Horn Cover!

Quick update. Was able to get the ball joint cover installed and the driver's side suspension put back together.

I also installed some Maximum Motorsports solid Caliper sleeves to hold the brake pad against the rotor.

Lots planned for next week. Kids are on Spring Break so I'm taking the week off to do things with them (and work on the car!) Hopefully the MM bumpsteer kit and hybrid steering shaft will arrive. I'll order the 2003 Mustang Cobra rack tomorrow and it should be here on Saturday too!

One thing that's been bothering me about the car is that the 'cat' head on the horn cover is long gone. I looked around a lot last year for one and no one was selling them. Well, I found one on eBay for $5. Plus $5.20 shipping!

Here it is:

New ball joints

I've encountered a minor setback in the Capri reconstruction. Turns out that the lower control arms I got off eBay are 94+ not 79-93. So they are slightly longer and have different ball joints.

That would have been fine if I was going with 94+ spindles and a 5 lug upgrade, but that really isn't the budget right now. The longer lengths is still a good thing, but the wrong ball joints are an issue.

As you can see from this picture, the 87+ spindle I bought doesn't fit on the ball joint correctly, so I had to replace them.



Even after buying 2 $60+ ball joints, I'm still better off than buying new Ford Racing arms by $150.

I'll not go into the details of changing the ball joints, this site has a great write up on what to do.

I will add a picture of the ball joint removal tool setup when doing the removal. Strange I couldn't find any pictures anywhere of this part.



And make sure you get a ball joint/tie rod end removal tool. This is a set of pickle forks to help the spindle come off the ball joint. It is impossible to do this job without them.

While I had it apart I installed my new Maximum Motorsports Caster/Camber plates that my Dad got me for Christmas. At first I was confused that I couldn't get the strut into the plate, but then realized that without an engine there wasn't enough weight to compress the spring enough! Even with a jack under the spring I can barely get the nut on. I'll take care of that when she's back on the ground and I can sit on the k-member.

Of course, everything didn't go correct. I managed to split the brand new grease/dust boot on the drivers side.



And it turns out that no one stocks replacements. Either buy another ball joint or go after market. After searching for awhile I found that Maximum Motorsports sells them. Of course their site is like a candy store, you can't get just one thing. So rather than paying for shipping on a $3 part, I had to get a few other things that I need to complete the front suspension and brakes. So much for the March budget.

More pictures next weekend when I finish the suspension.