Fast Cars IFS for Arntz/Butler

[750hp]

Hi,

Is the Fast Cars independent front suspension a genuine "bolt-on" upgrade, or is there still an amount of fabrication required? Obviously, engine mounts will be one thing to fabricate. If I just have to unbolt the four mounting bolts to remove and replace the front end, I'm keen!

On a related note, to know what brakes/hubs I need, what is the bolt pattern for Arntz? I'd guess 5x4.75", but I'm wary of making assumptions before I order anything.

Thanks for your help,

Craig

[SoTxButler]

The Fast Cars suspension is a bolt-on. There are four (4) bolts securing the K-member to the frame. Those four come out and the new suspension bolts in.

Now, this is true for a Butler and I feel certain it is the same for an Arntz. Check with Arthur, he fitted his Fast Cars himself and can guide you through the process.

Can't help on the bolt pattern.

Good Luck

[750hp]

Hi Russ,
Thanks for the response. I am really keen on the idea of getting correct suspension geometry and losing 80lb, and have read every word that you and Arthur have written about the Fast Cars suspension - over and over again Arthur had mentioned needing to mod his chassis and also to add wheel spacers. Did you need to do this? Arthur also mentioned (back in 2008 I think) that Fast Cars might have been making changes to make it a true bolt-in proposition for Cobras.

Does the sway bar come with the package?

Cheers,

[lal Naja]

Originally Posted by 750hp

Hi Russ,
Thanks for the response. I am really keen on the idea of getting correct suspension geometry and losing 80lb, and have read every word that you and Arthur have written about the Fast Cars suspension - over and over again Arthur had mentioned needing to mod his chassis and also to add wheel spacers. Did you need to do this? Arthur also mentioned (back in 2008 I think) that Fast Cars might have been making changes to make it a true bolt-in proposition for Cobras.

Does the sway bar come with the package?

Cheers,

You should also talk to Ted at Fast cars to find out if Russ has the wider Fast Cars IFS. Ted makes two widths, I have the narrower and I'm reasonable confident thet the wider unit should fit my car too and that would not require cutting two little notches in the chassis as the shock towers are wider apart. But even with the narrower unit the fitting was pretty easy.

I went throug a great deal of trouble to measure and elongating the Fast Cars IFS bolting holes to precisely mate up with the bolt holes on my frame as the center to center measurement between my Butler frame & the Fast Cars IFS was about 1/8" off from front to back and about 1/4" left to right. The elongation I did was painstakingly accurate. But after all my careful measuring I bolted it up and found that the new IFS was not at 90 degrees to the center line of the car. If you are fitting it yourself I would suggest doing your measuring and use a die grinder and elongate holes in the correct direction to give you plenty of clearance. I've now made the holes bigger and I'm now completing the alignment to be dead on 90 degrees. Then I'm welding 1/2" shaft collars to each of the holes of the IFS. The shaft collar has set screw that can be used as an additional locking device to lock the four 1/2" NC bolts in place. And with this modification the suspension can be removed and replaced with dead accuracy any time it needs to be removed and refitted.

If your car has the fiberglass shrouding between the radiator and engine that hides/covers the MGB crossmember, you will need to notch it to clear the steering shaft which will now go directly from the Fast Cars rack & pinion up to the MGB steering column. The intermediate roughly 8" long piece of steeering shaft & extra U-Joint that the Butler uses will not be needed. Nice & clean. Russ did not have the shroud on his car, Correct Russ?

With regard to the wheel spacers. It is a temporary solution. I will eventually be getting 17" wheels and will have them made with correct back spacing.

So if Russ has the wider IFS go with that as it resolves a number of issues. And I think wider is better anyway. Ted can make any bolt pattern hub you need.

I'm sure Ted can create a sway bar but you will need to adapt it to your frame. I designed and created my own system using 1" diameter 48 spline sway bar with aluminum arms from Stock Car Products. The nice thing about this setup is that you can have the sway bar ground to a specific diameter and tune the suspension/anti-roll to tweek any over/under steer issues. The grinding fee is very reasonable and they have been great to deal with.

Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions. Ted at Fast Cars has been perfect to deal with too, give him my regards when you talk to him.

Arthur

[spookypt]

Originally Posted by 750hp

Hi Russ,
Thanks for the response. I am really keen on the idea of getting correct suspension geometry and losing 80lb, and have read every word that you and Arthur have written about the Fast Cars suspension - over and over again Arthur had mentioned needing to mod his chassis and also to add wheel spacers. Did you need to do this? Arthur also mentioned (back in 2008 I think) that Fast Cars might have been making changes to make it a true bolt-in proposition for Cobras.

Does the sway bar come with the package?

Cheers,

Found something have we Craig?

Schuey!!!

[SoTxButler]

Craig/Arthur,

Ted installed my front-end. But, I have the wider version and as I recall, there was little or no modification necessary. I do not have spacers and I did have to notch the fiberglass that covers the front suspension. The notch is rather small and is an easy fix.

Craig, I suggest you contact Ted and he will take you through the process on the install on my car as well as what he learned from Arthur's installation.

It will be worth the time and effort...I love the suspension.

[750hp]

Russ and Arthur,
Thanks very much for the insight. I emailed Ted a couple of days ago, and he just replied to say that he can't deliver the product before December. Wow, business must be good at Fast Cars!
Thanks again - I'm sure I'll have many more questions for you both over the next little while.

[lal Naja]

BTW, Ted also makes the splined steering shaft that you will need. I cut a length of high strength 3/4" Aluminum bar and had him spline the ends for the U-Joints.

Are you installing this on a Arntz Cobra, Butler or MGB?

[750hp]

It's for an Arntz. Knowing that there's such a long delay in the availability of the IFS has it's good and bad points. Good in that the car will be in front of me to measure everything to know for sure if the wider assembly will fit with the existing wheel backspace, etc
Bad in that it'll cost a ridiculous amount in shipping to Australia on it's own. It would have cost me nothing to include it in a container with the car...

[lal Naja]

Originally Posted by 750hp

It's for an Arntz. Knowing that there's such a long delay in the availability of the IFS has it's good and bad points. Good in that the car will be in front of me to measure everything to know for sure if the wider assembly will fit with the existing wheel backspace, etc
Bad in that it'll cost a ridiculous amount in shipping to Australia on it's own. It would have cost me nothing to include it in a container with the car...

I've read on this forum that a lot of guys in OZ buy stuff here and have it shipped for less money that the retail price there. I don't know what your dollar is doing right now to run the numbers, but I'd guess you've lost your peak buying opportunity right now.

You would also want it shipped dismantled I would think, to keep the crate size down, or shipped in seperate cardboard boxes. Assembling it is pretty straight forward.

Fitting will be piece of cake too if you are just handling the crossmember while installing it. Then bolt the rest of the components on. I did mine install single handed as a complete unit. I have a car lift which helps and I used a transmission jack the can lift up to about 6' high to get it up.

I made an accurate template of the IFS with 3/16" plywood held it in place against the Butler frame which showed the slight mismatch of the 4 bolt holes. Some tracing paper/vellum also helped to make a full size tracing to assist with the measuring to elongate the holes.

Good luck,
Arthur

Are you running the stock MGB steering column?