Quote Originally Posted by JeffP View Post
I took my first batch of aluminum (maybe my last if I got lucky) to the powder coater. It seems inflation has hit that process just as much as everything else these days. I definitely am paying a premium over what I've seen others pay but honestly I feel it could have been much worse.

Back at the house I began working on the IFS. It went pretty smoothly thanks to the pioneers before who figured out all the little details to make it easy. Like many others, a quick wire wheel to the ball joints (sockets) cleaned them up and they screwed right in without issue. I attempted to create the geometry of the upper control arm thats listed in the manual and like others I'm just not able to come close. I assume this means I need to do the mod to the rear link (cut 1/4" off each end and the rods)? I also ran into a similar issue with the upper ball joints castle nut not engaging the cotter pin so I'll need to grab some spacers (washers) to finish that off. I do have the Wilwood front brakes and I've seen others got lucky and their leftover washers fit but mine are too small. I also needed to use the FFR supplied caliper bracket bolts instead of the Wilwoods as the 12pt bolt cleared the spindle where as the hex bolt would have been impossible to get the torque wrench on. I went ahead and torqued everything and marked it. A few bolts on the upper control arm are left loose until I bite the bullet and do the mod. I was shorted the 4 x M12 x 50mm bolts to mount the steering arms so a quick trip to the hardware store fixed that. Tomorrow I'll wrap up the brakes (need to grab a cheep set of lugs to hold them on, wheels are POL) and I'll probably go ahead and get a spindle nut at the auto store as well and just call that done rather than wait.

As always, I welcome any critique of my work on the IFS in case I missed anything. If you see blue tape oddly wrapped around stuff - its just my reminder that assembly needs attention.

Driver's Side IFS:


Passenger Side IFS
hard to tell in the pic, but make sure your steering arms have the larger end of the taper at the bottom as the outer tie rod attaches from below. Easier to fix now than later.