[old willy]

Hello all!

Thanks so much for the measurements guys, I especially like the fact they are both the same. The picture of your diff housing is also quite handy for reference too.
I will keep that 3 degrees in mind and check and see how the engine falls after I work out where the mount should be. I ran out to the lab quickly and on a rough measurement the mustang T5 tailhousing is about 3 1/4 to the centerline and the S-10 type tailhousing is about 2 7/8, not what I was expecting, for some reason I thought the T10 housing would be smaller but I never argue with results.
I think this means I will be putting the transmission mount at the stock height and adding a spacer to the bottom of the transmission. However the fore and aft placement of the crossmember with the mount is yet to be determined.

That brings me to your answer about the placement of the rear crossmember tube. Chuck has it at 8.75 inches from the face of the rear tower but on the next page he also notes that this tube needs to be coordinated with the differential being used. I do appreciate the work that has gone into the plans, they are my best asset for the chassis build along with the great folks here of course . I have found the odd typo or missing note, and I tend to double check everything in relation to other stuff before I commit to it, but really an amazing amount of work has gone into these and I am glad to have them.

As for mounting the 8.8 IRS diff my current plan is to build a front mount to suit the stock Ford front mounts and at the rear I am looking to make a steel plate that sandwiches between the diff case and the rear cover that I can then add a pair of tubes for polyurethane bushings to and use the original AC upper mount point. This also means that my rear crossmember tube placement is is still a bit of a mystery and will need to be coordinated with the differential being used .

I am basing this on some designs I have seen on a Mazda Miata forum, it seems those fellows swap in the 8.8 diff sometimes. A bit of preliminary measuring says it should work out. My original idea was to use one of the Explorer style rear cover/mounts but that would put the diff way too far forward. I may still use the cover though as they look quite good with those big mounting ears trimmed off, and they also feature a drain plug unlike the steel ones.

And while I am still thinking about the turn signal switch perhaps someone can answer the big question for me.

Why is it flipped to the other side?

Is it a clearance thing? or was this just something that had yet to be standardized in cars, kind of like older motorcycles with the foot brake and shift locations. Ever ridden and old Husquvarna? It's very strange and potentially dangerous if you are not use to it .
Not so much with the turn signals but I am curious, and to be honest I have seen pictures of original 289's with the lever on the left side so was that just modified "in the field" as we use to say?
I have also noted that some of the British market cars have the turn signal lever on the right as well so perhaps this is just a British thing?
Monkey see monkey do?
It's just something I have wondered about so if anybody knows please fill me in.




a