Cougar/Thunderbird IRS is halfway into the Stealth

Well I’ve spent a few days trying to position the suspension perfectly from side to side and front to back. I also measured the wheelbase and taped strings to the rear wheel well on both sides to help me line up the rear axles. Spent a couple short days doing this, but I am satisfied that I got everything lined up. I sent a transfer punch through the rear mounts to the Stealth frame to get nice marks so I could remove the suspension, measureeverything again, and drill the holes.

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From most points that I measured from on the frame on both sides I was about 1/8″ off front to back between the two holes, so I split the difference and moved one forward and one back 1/16″. I was fine side to side , so I drilled the holes and tapped them so I could do a test fit of the suspension before actually making it permanent.

I got the holes drilled in the right places, but my threads are not perfectly strait into the frame.It is hard to tap threads perfectly strait up/down and side to side when you are laying on your back and working on a slanted piece of metal. Because I tapped the holes slightly crooked, the placement of the rear end is shoved forward slightly since the mounts are rubber and want to conform to the slanted frame,but that will be fixed when I actually weld a threaded nut and plate onto the frame for the suspension to bolt to. I also need to make the front mounts, but I want to wait until the adapter plates for the hubs are in to test it with the right wheel spacing.

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I was able to bolt the wheels on even though they are the wrong bolt pattern just to see where everything will sit. I did not put the full weight of the car on the wheels, I always kept jack stands and the jack under it so I wouldn’t bend my studs on the hub since it is the wrong bolt pattern. You can notice in the pictures that the wheels are inside the fender lip too far, 1.5″ to be exact, but the spacers I purchased will fix that and also adapt my wheel bolt pattern. The spacers are 1.25″ thick, so the wheels will actually be in 1/4″ further than the factory, but that shouldn’t matter or be very visible.

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I am thinking about making the front mounts so I can adjust the rear end aroundslightly and then weld it solid when it is in the right spot. This way I would be able to mount it in and trailer it to a body shop where it could be put ona machine to verify its position before it is permanent.