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The Terminator
Suspension Modifications
2003 Mustang Cobra convertible getting Accuair e-level setup!
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<blockquote data-quote="Fastphil" data-source="post: 11916205" data-attributes="member: 39941"><p>Back from the dead with an update!</p><p></p><p>I <em>finally</em> got some time to sort out things that were on my to-do list for the air suspension. </p><p></p><p>The first order of business for the day was to swap out the 9 or 10 year old stock battery for an Optima Red Top. Thirty minutes later, that was taken care of.</p><p></p><p>Next up, I needed to sort out the tire-rubbing issue. As I have surely mentioned several times in this thread, the tires rub in the fenders near where they meet the bumper. This had been going on since I swapped on the 11-inch wide CCW Classics in October of 2009. It was never serious enough to worry about, but it was chewing up the tire where the tread rolls over to the sidewall. </p><p></p><p>On top of the usual rubbing, I encountered a problem one cold morning this spring when the car wouldn't air up because the water in the suspension system had frozen up. When I tried to move the car, the passenger side tire bent up the lip of the fender a bit. No visible damage, but it resulted in the tire rubbing even more than usual, and the lip of the fender cutting into the tire every time I'd air up or down. You can see below the section I'm referring to. The first two pics are "before," the last two are "after":</p><p>[ATTACH=full]337183[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]337184[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]337185[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]337186[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>The driver side rubbed too, but nowhere near as much, so I fixed that side too. No pics necessary. I didn't use any fancy fender roller this time, I just went at it semi-gently with a plastic mallet. I followed up with some black paint to help protect the exposed metal. In retrospect, I should have gone with some shade of red to make it less obvious. Whatever.</p><p></p><p>Now the fenders don't grab the tire sidewalls any more when airing up or down and there's no more rubbing when going down the road! I can even drive now on preset 1 without rubbing. I haven't tried driving with it fully dumped, but I think that will be possible as well, with only very minor rubbing in the rear. Awesome!</p><p></p><p>And finally, I took care of finishing up the trunk to a more satisfactory level. Here again I didn't use any fancy tools or products. I just thought it through (for the last 10 months!) and followed the plan in my head. Here are a couple pics of what the trunk looked like before I got to work on it today:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]337187[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]337188[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]337189[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>I figured I would be able to reuse the stock trunk panel that is missing in the pictures above. I got to work cutting and test fitting it until I was satisfied. Now the only things visible are the compressors on the sides of the trunk. Here is the end result (the plugs across the top of the panel are missing, but I have them somewhere. That's a 10-second job):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]337190[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>I think for a total of investment of zero dollars (aside from the price of the battery), I did a helluva good job today! I'm especially relieved to finally get these items checked off my list. Finding time to work on the car without my own garage is more complicated than it seems. Now that it's done, I'll be able to enjoy the car even more!</p><p></p><p>In other news, the car has been featured in two magazines and a couple more websites. It may yet still show up in another magazine and at least one more website this year. Considering I did this for my own pleasure, I'm really tickled pink to see how much attention my car is garnering! I really do appreciate all the feedback, and I even enjoy reading the comments from ignorant people who just like to bash me and the car without even getting informed first.</p><p></p><p>I've also got a new pair of rear INVOs sitting in the shed, so when I get time I'll be swapping those on. In the meantime, I'm having fun leaving darkies wherever the opportunity arises.</p><p></p><p>Another thing to take care of is to install a water drain for the air tank. I've got an idea in mind for that. I just have to check it out more closely to see if my idea will work out.</p><p></p><p>The main reason for this work today, besides to get these things done, is that next weekend there's a big local show and there's gonna be a lot of bagged cars in attendance. I wanted to be able to show off something that was at least presentable.</p><p></p><p>That's all for today.</p><p></p><p>Phil</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Fastphil, post: 11916205, member: 39941"] Back from the dead with an update! I [I]finally[/I] got some time to sort out things that were on my to-do list for the air suspension. The first order of business for the day was to swap out the 9 or 10 year old stock battery for an Optima Red Top. Thirty minutes later, that was taken care of. Next up, I needed to sort out the tire-rubbing issue. As I have surely mentioned several times in this thread, the tires rub in the fenders near where they meet the bumper. This had been going on since I swapped on the 11-inch wide CCW Classics in October of 2009. It was never serious enough to worry about, but it was chewing up the tire where the tread rolls over to the sidewall. On top of the usual rubbing, I encountered a problem one cold morning this spring when the car wouldn't air up because the water in the suspension system had frozen up. When I tried to move the car, the passenger side tire bent up the lip of the fender a bit. No visible damage, but it resulted in the tire rubbing even more than usual, and the lip of the fender cutting into the tire every time I'd air up or down. You can see below the section I'm referring to. The first two pics are "before," the last two are "after": [ATTACH=full]337183[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]337184[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]337185[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]337186[/ATTACH] The driver side rubbed too, but nowhere near as much, so I fixed that side too. No pics necessary. I didn't use any fancy fender roller this time, I just went at it semi-gently with a plastic mallet. I followed up with some black paint to help protect the exposed metal. In retrospect, I should have gone with some shade of red to make it less obvious. Whatever. Now the fenders don't grab the tire sidewalls any more when airing up or down and there's no more rubbing when going down the road! I can even drive now on preset 1 without rubbing. I haven't tried driving with it fully dumped, but I think that will be possible as well, with only very minor rubbing in the rear. Awesome! And finally, I took care of finishing up the trunk to a more satisfactory level. Here again I didn't use any fancy tools or products. I just thought it through (for the last 10 months!) and followed the plan in my head. Here are a couple pics of what the trunk looked like before I got to work on it today: [ATTACH=full]337187[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]337188[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]337189[/ATTACH] I figured I would be able to reuse the stock trunk panel that is missing in the pictures above. I got to work cutting and test fitting it until I was satisfied. Now the only things visible are the compressors on the sides of the trunk. Here is the end result (the plugs across the top of the panel are missing, but I have them somewhere. That's a 10-second job): [ATTACH=full]337190[/ATTACH] I think for a total of investment of zero dollars (aside from the price of the battery), I did a helluva good job today! I'm especially relieved to finally get these items checked off my list. Finding time to work on the car without my own garage is more complicated than it seems. Now that it's done, I'll be able to enjoy the car even more! In other news, the car has been featured in two magazines and a couple more websites. It may yet still show up in another magazine and at least one more website this year. Considering I did this for my own pleasure, I'm really tickled pink to see how much attention my car is garnering! I really do appreciate all the feedback, and I even enjoy reading the comments from ignorant people who just like to bash me and the car without even getting informed first. I've also got a new pair of rear INVOs sitting in the shed, so when I get time I'll be swapping those on. In the meantime, I'm having fun leaving darkies wherever the opportunity arises. Another thing to take care of is to install a water drain for the air tank. I've got an idea in mind for that. I just have to check it out more closely to see if my idea will work out. The main reason for this work today, besides to get these things done, is that next weekend there's a big local show and there's gonna be a lot of bagged cars in attendance. I wanted to be able to show off something that was at least presentable. That's all for today. Phil [/QUOTE]
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Suspension Modifications
2003 Mustang Cobra convertible getting Accuair e-level setup!
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