OregonDave
05-21-2011, 04:59 PM
One of the things I'm realizing as I'm 2 months into my build is I spent way too much time worrying about things like how I'll protect my aluminum or how I'll evenly space my rivet holes while completely missing more important things like the fact that the 4.25" hole pattern on my thunderbird hubs won't work.
Fortunately, I got a good recommendation from a vendor to send my hubs, knuckles, and rotors to Stu Spencer. He cleaned everything up, bead blasted the parts, put new bearings in the knuckles, redrilled the hubs on the correct 4.5" hole pattern, and pressed in the FFR studs that come with the complete kit. Everything looks great and very close to new parts. Since Stu lives just across the river in Vancouver, WA I dropped the parts off at his place and he delivered them to me in his roadster less than 2 weeks later. But that's not all, he also let me drive his roadster on a beautiful day in Portland, OR (a rare occurrence) and it was a blast!
Thought I'd post something here so other IRS builders are aware of Stu. His website is www.irsmachining.com and the pictures are exactly what you'll get back. I'm sure there are posts on this elsewhere, but unless you're looking for this info you may not find it so hopefully my post is helpful. The attached picture shows one knuckle/hub assembly as received from Stu and one after painting with black POR15.
Now that my rear end is nearly done, I'm focusing on other unplanned projects like the in-tank fuel pump, power steering and power brakes (hydroboost) for the Coyote, etc. The fun never ends (I mean that - I'm having a lot of fun with this build and learning a lot).
Dave
Fortunately, I got a good recommendation from a vendor to send my hubs, knuckles, and rotors to Stu Spencer. He cleaned everything up, bead blasted the parts, put new bearings in the knuckles, redrilled the hubs on the correct 4.5" hole pattern, and pressed in the FFR studs that come with the complete kit. Everything looks great and very close to new parts. Since Stu lives just across the river in Vancouver, WA I dropped the parts off at his place and he delivered them to me in his roadster less than 2 weeks later. But that's not all, he also let me drive his roadster on a beautiful day in Portland, OR (a rare occurrence) and it was a blast!
Thought I'd post something here so other IRS builders are aware of Stu. His website is www.irsmachining.com and the pictures are exactly what you'll get back. I'm sure there are posts on this elsewhere, but unless you're looking for this info you may not find it so hopefully my post is helpful. The attached picture shows one knuckle/hub assembly as received from Stu and one after painting with black POR15.
Now that my rear end is nearly done, I'm focusing on other unplanned projects like the in-tank fuel pump, power steering and power brakes (hydroboost) for the Coyote, etc. The fun never ends (I mean that - I'm having a lot of fun with this build and learning a lot).
Dave