Stoffregen Motorsports Posted May 26, 2022 Report Share Posted May 26, 2022 I like the slider on the front spring. But wouldn't you want shackles for weight transfer? Also, I thought all 520s had single headlights. Did the LS help with your cab to bellhousing interference? Or did you end up cutting those corners? Obviously you are probably using the same bellhousing... 1 Quote Link to comment
520 gasser Posted May 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2022 (edited) Sliders will transfer weight. I have them front and rear. They really help in drag racing by reducing the side play you can get under a hard launch and help keep the car reputable. I put them on the front only to get the right ride height as the shackle raised the front by almost 2 inch. Tried spring under and over but couldn't get the truck level. The 66 250 had single headlight In the pic of the head light bucket I modified them to take a more readily available ford headlight adjuster that I could rivit into the bucket with just a light grinding of its tab The ls didn't help I had to cut some fire wall out. the heads sit back more than a small block chevy. I had to get a different bellhousing as I had adapted a 153 tooth small flywheel onto the 400. The ls platform uses a 168 tooth flywheel and I had a 153 only scatter shild Edited May 26, 2022 by 520 gasser 2 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted May 26, 2022 Report Share Posted May 26, 2022 That makes sense. Getting the correct ride height with leaf springs can be challenging. You could always add/remove leaves, but then your spring rate changes. I played around with the leaves on the rear of my Land Rover to get the truck level and the only way I could do it was to put one leaf in each rear pack UPSIDE DOWN, then clamp the pack back together. Right, the heads are farther back. I run into that problem with LS swaps in tight engine bays. Nothing beats a shop full of sheetmetal tools to alleviate that issue. 1 Quote Link to comment
520 gasser Posted November 14, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2022 Getting the radiator finished up lots of fab work on this guy to make it fit between the headlight buckts. Also made it into a dual pass. Have the an fittings on the way for the radiator hose. Made the fanshourd out of a backing sheet and have a flex a light 3000cfm fan for it. 4 Quote Link to comment
Kenp19 Posted November 30, 2022 Report Share Posted November 30, 2022 Killer build cool to see another v8 520 👍🏻 This is mine 4 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted November 30, 2022 Report Share Posted November 30, 2022 http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a567/520gasser/Mobile Uploads/20150412_153156_resized_zps57798111.jpg The axle is fixed in place by the ladder bars and the leaf spring on the front side so can only move up and down. When the leaf spring flattens under launch, the extra length extends to the rear. Where's the weight transfer? When squatting under launch, the front of the leaf spring will try to lengthen and push back on the axle. It's prevented from doing this by the solid connection of the axle to that front cross member by the ladder bar. The axle is trying to follow two vastly different arcs that only intersect in the 'at rest' position. As soon as there is suspension movement the ladder bars and the leaf springs are in a bind situation. April '65 through Sept '66 were single round head lights. Dual head lights from Oct '66 or the start of the '67 model year and on. 1 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted December 1, 2022 Report Share Posted December 1, 2022 (edited) I gotta agree with you on this one Mike. Looks like that geometry isn't going to work. Try plugging those numbers into a three link calculator and see if everything jives. You would have to do the calculations twice. Once with the leaf spring pickup points and once with the link pickup points, and then compare the two. Here's the calculator - https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAMQw7AJahcKEwiA2Nyi89j7AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAg&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.crawlpedia.com%2Ffiles%2F3_link_calculator.xls&psig=AOvVaw0c_x8QZbmnvYC9s5aqcrCU&ust=1670000459178249 Oh, it's an XLS file so you'll have to click the link and then open the file. Edited December 1, 2022 by Stoffregen Motorsports 1 Quote Link to comment
520 gasser Posted June 10, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2023 The axle is not solid mounted to the spring I have a set of leaf spring Sliders that also free float on the axle housing. The rear of the spring has a slider as well instead of a shackle. So when the axle moves up the pin on the leaf spring can slide back and forth allowing the axle to swing in the ark of the ladder bars and allowing the leaf spring to grow to the rear of the truck https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Competition-Engineering-C2030-Floating-Housing-Mounts,297048.html?utm_medium=CSEGoogle&utm_source=CSE&utm_campaign=CSEGOOGLE&gclid=CjwKCAjwm4ukBhAuEiwA0zQxk5oBU-n5RaThj6YDxZH_nabrczzCww-WTF9Dqi3YTg0mxrCdWMrKIxoCt0IQAvD_BwE 1 Quote Link to comment
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