Hi guys. I am new to this forum and am hoping I have posted in the correct section. As the title suggests I am building a Pro Tourer and need to add upper control arms to the diff. My plan is to use 69 or 70 Mustang Fastback rear seats (narrower than the XR rear seat) and rear seat quarter panels in the build so that I can locate the adjustable mounting brackets for the upper arms through the floor pan but they are hidden under the rear trim quarter panels while still having rear seats.
Q1. Has anyone seen this seat arrangement used in a Cougar before?
I realise some mods will be required to the trim but I am hoping to confirm the seat fitment between the existing floorpan pressings before buying seat frames etc. Thanks for any help you guys can provide. Greg
No idea, but it sounds like a very cool project. Post some pics and progress/advice from the school of hard knocks on this one. I love a pro touring machine done well.
Don’t quiet follow what your asking but sounds like you are going about it the hard way. Their are kits available for four link and three link rear suspensions that won’t require the modifications you are asking about if I’m following you correctly. Here is a thread I did when I built my road course Cougar with three link rear suspension.
Here’s a system that vintage racer Walt Hane used.
Not sure this is what your thinkin, but here ya go anyway
http://haneperformance.com/Override-System.html
This is the type of seating and inside rear quarter panels I am looking at using as my basic setup guys.
Cougar convertible rear seats are narrower too.
Hello Protourer69 and welcome to the forum. Show us pictures of what are working with and your progress. Also, where are you from?
Thanks for the welcome guys. As a bit of background on me and my project, I am from the “land of Aus” and my car is currently in Texas awaiting shipping, along with a long list of components. The build will be fully documented and I would be pleased to put it up on this board. To BossElim69 and Cougar Bill, thanks for your interest this far, I have had a look at the system you used (Boss) and the Alston triangulated 4 link but neither give me the ability to adjust weight on a particular wheel by tweeting the geometry of the rear so I have decided to build my own setup using some Chassis Works components and some down home engineering, ending up with a high articulation road race style 4 link rear suspension. Not quite as easy route as I could take but the end result should be equivelant to the geometry of a full chassis car in the confines of a classic Muscle car. As mentioned before, this is my effort at an absolutely no compromise toy that hopefully will compete with HiTech late model stuff and still be able to go get the groceries and a beer. A lofty goal maybe but I finally have the time and money to fulfil a promise to myself.
Thanks also CougarCJ. Would anyone with a 69 or 70 Convert be able to give me a seat base width as a point of comparison to the standard XR rear seat?
This is the type of thing I will be building but using the Alston True Centre pivots rather than conventional heim joints for greater articulation. The front bracketry will be tied into a beefed up chassis area and the top of the front bracket will be above the floorpan alongside the narrower seat. I will then use a pan hard bar to adjust not only roll centre but tweek wheel weights to balance traction on individual circuits if needed. The rear reinforced chassis will be run forward as a chassis connector. This in conjunction with a 6 point roll over bar (like the Tiger Cage) will help with additional chassis stiffening but allow me to use the rear seating in the Cougar.
Here is my rust free 69 Cougar the day I put it into storage. Originally a 351 FMX, the new power plant will be a 461 Ci Windsor based Jon Kaase P38 headed MPI engine in the high 700 HP range backed by a manualised 4L80E trans so I can run a 3.9 rear locker and still do highway speeds. Add in mini tubbed rear wheel wells to carry 335 rubber and a coilover front end conversion with some well designed moly tube placement and that is the basics of the build guys. Sounds simple eh…not. Lol
Don’t know if this makes much sense to you guys but this is the type of thing I will try to achieve. Upper and lower control arms will be length adjustable to square up the rear end and centre the wheels in the arches. Anti squat/tyre plant is adjustable without adjusting upper rod length.
Be careful using anything with a heim joint. No engineer will certify it for a road registered car. Same with 6 point cage - they have been banned in all states as part of the new national code
If you intend bringin it into Oz, make sure you have import approval. Cars are being rejected with fewer mods than yours has. Mini-tubbed Mustang recently got sent to NZ because they wouldn’t allow it into Oz
Thanks for the info leonbray. The car is being shipped to Aus standard and will be licenced here before mods. The front bars are removeable but the centre hoop is ok because it is OE Mustang-Ish. Lol. I appreciate your warnings but.
Look into the pro’s and con’s on the four link vs. three link. When I did my research the general consensus was the four link will bind more corning than the three link. Mine is the torque arm style of the three link. With the long torque arm and shock absorber mounted in the front torque arm this cancels out most all the negative aspects of the torque arm setup. Whatever system you choose that is right for you their is always trade offs. Your next research will be pan hard bar vs watts link. I have a pan hard bar and haven’t felt like going to a watts link would show any improvements. The six point cage is the best thing you can do to add stiffness to the body. Huge difference! This is some what dated but still a good read on the different types.
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/throwback-tuesday-look-inside-carroll-shelbys-new-shop/
Was originally keen on the Watts Link but it doesn’t give me the ability to load a tyre that is say a little cold by raising the opposite side and lowering the cold side without changing the roll centre height and unsettling the car. The small amount of diff shift in a pan hard rear end is a tiny trade off for the fine tuning it offers against a Watts link.
I agree with the comments on heim joints. There have been enough failures that tracks are starting to say “no way”. If tracks are starting to not allow then I wouldn’t consider it a street option at all. If I missed your plans for a shifter for the overdrive trans forgive me, but paddle shifters would be very cool.
Hi Brian. Thanks for offering your opinions on the rear end. Sat down last night and CAD modelled my 4 link design to find out that I overlooked a geometry problem when I started moving the bars away from parallel. Had a look at the TCI setup you use and I see why you opted in that direction. Plan B is now coming. Lol. I am glad I signed in to this forum now. I never have been too enamoured with these groups but the quality (and your threads) of information is proving my theories wrong, so for that I am very greatful.
I have to laugh. I fell into a trap that I have often accused other’s of doing by taking a drag racing suspension and thinking I could recreate it into a better mouse trap only to realise (with a bit of promoting) that what I want to do with my toy is a little more involved than straight line work.
I appreciate your opinions. Keep em coming.
Many years of racing in lots of different forms of the sport have taught me that there are lots of different causes for heim joint failures. Lack of maintenance, failure to realise they are a replacement item, their lack of ability to absorb compliance problems, light weight construction because of their racing past etc etc. Elastomeric bushes just don’t give the sort of reactive connection you would wish for when trying to attain perfection but this industry is full of compromise so the search continues. Lol.
And yes, the engine will be on EFI so the computer can handle the electronic 4L80E trans shifting via a paddle shifter so I will be going in that direction for sure with an option for just selecting D (Driving Miss Daisy mode) and going for a cruise with the family. 
It sounds like you have a good plan and have given a great amount of thought before execution, so I can’t wait to see the progress.