integrity of super coupe

stephen wolfe

Registered User
just bought a 95 super coupe....

1st concern is the axles...what kind of hp and torque are they able to handle.....i bought a motor that runs 7.40's in a 3,400lb car.....that is on a 200shot of nitrous.....i haven't heard of anyone upgrading their axles......

2nd concern is it worth taking the front and or rear sway bars off....i want the weight transfer and i don't do turns anyway......

3rd is their a k-member around $300 dollars....i need the room....

the project starts this weekend and i am hoping to be done by the end of oct.....thank for any help in advanced...
 
stephen wolfe said:
just bought a 95 super coupe....

1st concern is the axles...what kind of hp and torque are they able to handle.....i bought a motor that runs 7.40's in a 3,400lb car.....that is on a 200shot of nitrous.....i haven't heard of anyone upgrading their axles......

2nd concern is it worth taking the front and or rear sway bars off....i want the weight transfer and i don't do turns anyway......

3rd is their a k-member around $300 dollars....i need the room....

the project starts this weekend and i am hoping to be done by the end of oct.....thank for any help in advanced...

Wow, you've got some big plans...From what it looks like you are planning on making a drag only car? Please confirm this as it will determine what type of help you get. If you're planning on running 7's with the SC, then you will be best to get a solid 9" rear end. We've got IRS, which is not as good for straight line acceleration as a solid axle is. If you're not doing corners, then ditch the IRS assembly altogether. Sway bar removal will definately help with weight transfer...also consider removing the ARC...There is a K-member available, but not for $300...With the control arms it is close to $1000...but it will give you room and save weight.

Good luck on your project. I'd love to see it when it's all done.
 
i am more of a drag racer....i am trying to test the IRS and see what it can withstand......friend had a vette with IRS and it held some hard launches......i will try to stay on a drag radial so not to blow the rear on the first pass.....i will keep you posted on the project......

what is the arc??????
 
stephen wolfe said:
i am more of a drag racer....i am trying to test the IRS and see what it can withstand......friend had a vette with IRS and it held some hard launches......i will try to stay on a drag radial so not to blow the rear on the first pass.....i will keep you posted on the project......

what is the arc??????


Auto Ride Control, switches from soft to firm with the switch on the console or automatically switches from soft to firm when hard acceleration, braking or cornering is done in auto mode.


David
 
stephen wolfe said:
i am more of a drag racer....i am trying to test the IRS and see what it can withstand......friend had a vette with IRS and it held some hard launches......i will try to stay on a drag radial so not to blow the rear on the first pass.....i will keep you posted on the project......

what is the arc??????

ARC = Automatic Ride Control. Electronic system that uses a 2 way electronic adjustable shock to go either soft or firm rides based upon throttle/brake/handling/speed inputs.

Many here use the manual adjustable shocks and disconnect the ARC. When you launch, the ARC will go to firm setting and not let the back end sag on the rear tires as much as you may want.
 
ARC=Automaic Ride Control It electronically stiffens the shocks on hard acceleration, cornering and breaking. For wieght transfer you're better off to get rid of it altogether.

There are some options available for the IRS set-up. One thing that you need to be aware of is wheel hop. There are several other posts concerning wheel hop and how to reduce it. I can dig them up, but now isn't a good time for me to do the searches to find them all.

Power-wise, the IRS can handle a bit. I'm not sure if it can hold what you will be throwing at it. There are some aftermarket axles for our car (raxles), but they are the only aftermarket provider out there. One thing that you might want to look at is getting a complete IRS assembly from a '99 and up Cobra. They're set-up is a bit stronger than ours, although they still suffer from wheel hop. But the difference is the splines on the axle. Ours are like 28 or 29 spline...I can't remember for sure...but the cobras are 31 spine, which provides for more power to go through. I also see that there are cobras out there running in the 9's on the stock suspension, so they can hold up well. I'm not sure (have no knowledge) if our IRS can handle similar output.

Here's some of the things that I suggest for optimal straight line traction and performance (I hope others will chime in because this is by no means everything that can be done):
+ machine subframe to unibody metal bushings to replace the stock rubber ones.
+ re-design the upper control arm so that it is an "A" arm
+ replace ALL bushings in the rear suspension
+ Only available poly bushings are for the control arms to spindle...I'm not sure how good they help reduce wheel-hop, but I hear that they help.
+ Significant chassis stiffening both in the front and rear of the car. (The roll cage that you will install should suffice enough)
+ tbird88's rear differential mount
+ Poly differential bushings
+ solid tranny and engine mounts

I know that there is more to it than just that, but it will get you started down the right path as far as getting the rear end to hold up. I'm not sure if the 8.8" rear end will be able to hold up to the power you have with that engine. Seems like most running in that range use the ford 9" rear end.
 
gotcha......i have been more worried about the mechanical ability of the car and haven't even adventured to the electronic stand point.....the car will more likely get carburated anyway.....i don't have the technology to keep it fuel injected......thank you guys for responding to my questions.....keep them coming...
 
you have me worried about the wheel hop....don't know what i can do about it at this time....but your other suggestions are being considered at this time.....i always solid mount my motors and trans.....i do quite a bit of street racing and i usually want a car to twist up.....i don't know about the IRS and how it will handle a car twisting....this friday is the brainstorming with my other buddies at our garage.....i have printed out your responses and they will be brought up.......you guys seem very help full.....thanks again....
 
The twisting is not really a good thing with our cars. With the unibody construction, there are strong and weak points in the chassis. I have seen relatively stock cars with cracked firewalls or other stress points because of imbalanced chassis re-inforcements. Now, to run at any track with that engine, I'm assuming that you are building a roll cage. With that assumption, you will stiffen the chassis up accordingly and should not need to worry excessively about the twisting.

Another person who is brainstorming right now is 68 Cougar. You might try talking to him to see what his thoughts are. He has some birds with big blocks dropped in and is experiencing wheel hop. He's trying to get a way to eliminate as much of the wheel hop as he can. There are other posts on the subject as well. I would suggest searching for them to see what else is said about them. It is a long subject with a lot of good information out there. It would be worth the reading. The only thing that I know about the suspension at this point is what I have learned by reading and asking questions. And I don't know very much of it. There are some who have a lot more knowledge on the subject than I do.
 
i am thinking that i will have to do some thinkin on the wheel hop subject.....my shop will have some input on what i need to do.....we might just wait till it happens and fix it as we go.....but i am interested in 68 cougar and what he is running into.....thanks again....this site is the poop po......thats a good thing...
 
Back
Top