Scratch builders

[427sharpe]

I like the oe style rack because the lock-to-lock is a bit more favorable...I THINK the oe was 3.25 turns and the M2 is 4.25 or some such...the info is on the flaming river site. As for control arms, I fabbed my own by setting the spindle in place and then making the arms fit the picture....worked well for me!
For the spindle mod, it was rather easy. I milled the steering arm on the spindle out to a 1 inch hole, than used my lathe to make a set of bushings with a 1 1/32 od and an internal taper to match the oe tie rod ends. The extra 1/32" makes for a tight press fit to retain the taper sleeve, and locate the outer tie rod. In reality, if you put a steel washer under the castle nut the squeeze between the joint and the nut would probably hold the taper in place just as well. I have been told that the M2 outer tie rods will thread onto the oe inner, but I have yet to investigate that......It would be nice, because the M2 outer tie rods are available anywhere for a very good price. I bought the ball joint threaded sleeves from stock car products... www.stockcarproducts.com
I like the Explorer diff because it is MUCH beefier (I broke 2 TBird diffs at the mounts) and it has a strong mount near the pinion flange for extra strength. The bolts on the rear of the diff are wider apart, and were easier for me to fab into a stock looking cradle. The axles on the Explorer have the small inner shaft and large outer (also on Mustang Cobra's) so the parts fell together rather easily. The large diameter of the axle tube itself made it easy to shorten as well..plenty of room for an internal steel rod to be rosette welded into a unitized structure for a very strong a dependable axle.