Adding simulated back seat passengers (351W block = 340 lbs) again lowers the clearance to about 6” when measured vertically. Shortest distance at about 45 degrees to vertical is 5.5”
From the bump stop mounting surface (w/o rubber bumper) to the axle tube is about 7”.
Not that I’d go that small, comparing to a stock 215/70R14 there is approx 1.5” extra clearance than the Ranger tire. Even a very aggressive 275/50R17 gives an extra 0.5” clearance.
I added the last couple hundred pounds and everything appears to check out OK. With the very tall 235/75R15, the tire will rub when the bump stop bottoms-out on the axle tube. Less tall tires will give me more room obviously.
The effective spring rate appears to be about 200 lbs/in.
Burning-in the new metal into the modified wheelhouses. Some dimensions and pics. New piece was 17x5.5 with 2” 90-degree lip on the long side and then trimmed to fit. The piece sits parallel to the axle and is inclined front/back as shown in the pics. The back of the piece ends pretty much with the centerline of the axle.
Tight spot. Difficult to get the tip of the welder in the 2” deep recess. Same thing for the grinder so must use a large diameter wheel. Slow, tedious, but doable. Thinking back I probably should have added a flange to my new panel and plug-welded this rather than trying to get a fillet into this tight spot. Oh well.
Rear seat frame and convertible top mount is back in. This is lined-up with existing cutouts in the Cougar sheet metal. The location is verified with the 67 Mustang convertible interior quarter panels. The fit is good although I did modify the frame to better fit the differences in the driveshaft tunnel.
The real challenge here is that I need to modify the parts, then tack in place, remove, fully weld, clean, prime, seam seal, reinstall, weld-in as a complete assembly. Otherwise you cannot get into a lot of small areas!!!
The real problem is the quart wheelhouse reinforcements. These are going to need tweaking. I want them to fit the floor profile over the torque box. But there is a good gap of about 1/8”. The issue is that the hump for the rear axle has a different curve and there is going to be some cutting.
Top of the hump. You can see where the profiles are very different. The “Left” end must be removed and reshaped. Honestly not too concerned about the fit to the hump. The strength is in the toque box area and connecting that with the “vertical” portions of the frame.
The piece of metal used to connect the upper edge of the wheelhouse reinforcement and the frame had to go for now. I’ll fix that when the wheelhouse reinforcement fits the hump better.
