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Mustang Live Buildup, Part 1

Converting a strut to a tubular A-arm setup

Going to car shows to check out the latest rides is a favorite American pastime, but how often do you see anything more than static displays of shiny new vehicles? What if you could see a stock Mustang being modified into a high-performance street machine right on the show floor?

Performance West

That's exactly what happened at the San Diego Auto Show earlier this year, where attendees witnessed firsthand how to upgrade a stock vehicle with the latest products to enhance the engine, suspension, and body panels. Surprisingly enough, this is the first time such an extensive buildup has ever been done on a Mustang at a car show—and probably on any car for that matter. Larry Weiner of Performance West Group orchestrated the entire project.

For this first installment, we'll kick things off with Control Freak's front suspension conversion from a strut to tubular A-arms. Another article in this two-part series will show how to bolt on a Kenne Bell blower and RK Sports body mods.

Why consider converting the front suspension? After all, the stock McPherson Strut is a tried-and-true suspension type, lightweight and simple. However, when it comes down to real race tuning, the strut lacks adjustability and overall strength. A professionally built racing car will typically have a tubular A-arm suspension, attached directly to a welded tubular steel frame.

Therein lies the problem. There is nowhere to attach this kind of suspension to the front end of the Mustang. It has a unit body made of sheetmetal. Attempting to weld in tubular steel frame members is just not practical or cost effective.

Control Freak

Enter Control Freak Suspensions. This company has produced a number of independent suspension conversion kits that can transform your everyday driver into a real racetrack star without losing its street drivability. Kits are available for the new Mustang front and rear suspensions, as well as a number of other early- and late-model Ford and GM products.

To simplify the conversion, the independent front suspension (IFS) comes with a new sub-frame section that replaces the stock sub-frame and motor mounts. The tubular control arms simply attach directly to this new frame piece.

The beauty of such a system is that a capable street drivable car can have its suspension re-tuned to a full race setup within a few minutes. Spring preload can be adjusted with no more involvement than removing the tires and turning the adjuster nuts, and the shock absorber settings are made with a simple turn of a knob on the side of the shock.

In keeping with racecar quality, all attachment points for the new control arms and spindles are made with Heim joints (spherical rod ends), each adjustable on their own. This allows for a full range of camber, caster and toe adjustments that is simply not possible with a McPherson strut. The addition of the new cross-member frame section also gives the suspension a more solid attachment point than just the sheetmetal unibody. This setup provides more precision in adjustment and overall handling performance.

Another bonus of installing the kit on a Mustang is that the steering rack is repositioned forward to eliminate the tendency of bump steer (slight steering deflections caused by the suspension's up-and-down motion). The result is more stable handling at the limit on irregular pavement, and also more positive high-speed straight-line tracking.

A new sway bar also comes with the conversion. It may look smaller in diameter, but the stock bar is a hollow tube, while the replacement is a solid, and much firmer, bar. The sway bar is of course fully adjustable for the style of driving that you will be throwing at it.

Stainless Steel

Another aspect of the Control Freak IFS merits special attention: the brakes. That's because the calipers have eight pistons each. Offered as an option on the Control Freak package, the Force 10 V8 8-piston calipers and 14-inch rotors are made by Stainless Steel Brakes Corporation (SSBC).

Why so many pistons? Obviously, increasing the clamping force is desirable, especially when you add a lot of horsepower (in this case from a Kenne Bell blower, which we'll cover in the next installment). As SSBC president Mike Jonas points out, "With any type of motor work, you end up out-driving the factory front brakes. With our eight-piston calipers, though, you never run out of brakes."

For comparison, Jonas points out that the stock binders have only a pair of 45mm pistons, while the SSBC calipers have eight 40mm pistons, an increase clamping area of more than 75 percent. Not only that, but the grooved and plated rotors are two inches larger in diameter than the factory units.

These two aspects together increase the net effective clamping force of the brakes for a clenching stop, but there's yet another benefit of extra pistons: increased pad longevity, due to a more even distribution of force on much larger pads. That's not to say the pucks are hard to replace—they're readily available, off-the-shelf Hawk HPS parts.

How difficult is it to perform a conversion with the Control Freak IFS? Surprisingly easy, especially considering that it involved removing a major component from the car during a car show. If you are experienced with performing other large automotive projects, then it is something that can be done yourself.

Power Point

With the suspension and brakes upgraded, we're ready to add more power as well. So check out part two of this Mustang Live Buildup, where we'll install a supercharger and give this car a whole new look to match its hot performance.

Resource

Blue Moon Motorcars, Control Freak Suspension, 888-325-6462, http://www.bluemooncars.com/