Fordnatics List Archive

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Mail From: (email redacted) (Scott Griffith, Sun Microsystems Lumpyware)

I just spent the bulk of this past weekend at the PRI
(Performance/Racing Industry) trade show at the Santa Clara
Convention Center, and I though I'd report some of my findings to the
list.

As soon as I walked in the door, I ran into Doug Norrdin and the
Global West booth. Long time list members will remember that in the
past some of us have had some concerns over the longevity of the
Track-Link rear suspension member for Fox Mustangs, and also the with
longevity of the Del-A-Lum bushings that allow the Delrin liner to
rotate directly on the bolt.

Well, I was very pleased to see that Doug has redesigned both the
Track-Link and the bushings. The current production Track-Link is now
heavily gusseted in the most highly stressed areas. There were some
failures experienced in the first year of operation, and all stock
that you get now, whether through Global West or the Motorsport
catalog, will come with the revised design (regardless of the picture
in the Motorsport catalog, which shows the original version).

The added gusset is a single flat plate that ties together the
forward-facing arm, and the rearward-facing stringer that picks up the
rear cover bolts. Doug asked me to mention that people who own one of
the ungusseted original designs (which are all tubular, with no flat
plate gussets) are welcome to call Global West and arrange for either
replacement (if cracking has begun), or they'll provide the gusset to
be welded on to the link by your local fabricator. This is especially
important if you are using the Track-Link for drag race launches. He
is very concerned that everyone who owns one is fully satisfied with
the longevity and performance of the design, and I for one am glad to
see it.

The Del-A-Lum bushings have been redesigned to include an inner sleeve
that the Delrin bears against. This allows the mount bolt to be
properly torqued without binding up the bushing, allows the mount
flange/bolt/bushing core assembly to be locked solidly up (like it was
designed to be) to prevent mounting hole elongation, prevents fretting
wear on the bolt from the Delrin rubbing against it, and all in all is
a much, much better design.

There are now two versions available. The original version is still
available for anyone who needs it due to some provision in class rules
that prevent the use of an inner sleeve (although I'm not aware of any
such). If you are buying these bushings, and don't have a specific
rules-driven need for the coreless design, I *strongly* recommend that
you make sure that you specify the inner core version. Again, kudos to
Global West for listening to customer input, some of which came from
this list. It just goes to show that they are responsive to the needs
of their customers, and they do still listen to our input.

I also spent quite some time at the Ford SVO booth. John Vermeersch
was there, and I took the opportunity to rag on him at length about
the omission of the EGR feed crossover on the new Aluminum GT40 heads.
He apparently wasn't aware that it was absent, and was also unaware
that that omission would preclude CARB EO (smog legal) status for
those heads on the '79-93 cars that use intake-manifold EGR plumbing.
He promised me that he would "look into it" when he got back to
Dearborn, so we'll see. Perhaps in the fullness of time, they'll fix
this problem, if enough of us complain about it. Meanwhile, business
was pretty brisk at the Edelbrock booth. Ford may get into the party,
but it may well be far too late.

I also got a look at the very trick Mulsanne Enterprises) sequential
shifter for the toploader and Jerico gearboxes, with one supposedly on
the way for the Tremec and T-5 boxes. No H pattern, just pull and
push, motorcycle style. I'll be interested to see what they can do
with the T-5/Tremec. Quick downshifts for roadracing use, for sure.

The folks at Aero Tech Industries have a very nice and still
inexpensive race seat with slides especially adapted for Mustang use.
The good news is that this seat actually has enough room for a butt
the size of mine. It's good to see a race seat that will fit a driver
who's not so skinny that they can sit down on a coffee can and fall
in.

I finally got to catch up with the folks from Vellios Engineering who
are doing the aluminum metal-matrix composite (aluminum with a
silicon-carbide fiber matrix) brake rotors for 911s and 914s. I may
have to snag a sample or two from them and burn them up. Won't take
too long on a car as fat as a Fox Mustang! The damned things sure are
light, but they melt at 950 degF (which is just where the pads start
to work). I have some more info on the way from them, like their brake
dyno results. Looks like you get into bigtime fade at 850degF because
of localized surface melting on the rotor. Molten aluminum is a great
lubricant for brake pads...

There was *far* more than this, since essentially all the major
players were there (400-odd booths...). Lots of chassis stuff, lots
of braking stuff (since that's what floats my boat). It'd take too
long to go into it, though. It was a very enjoyable way to spend a
couple of days, and it didn't feel at all like work.

-skod

- --
Scott Griffith, Sun Microsystems Lumpyware
expatriate SCCA New England Region Flagging/Communications worker
(and driver, of anything that turns both right and left,
and can pass tech...) Return Path : (email redacted)