The SSE (Super Sport Estate) Project

[shane_lxi]

I wish I had a machine shop . Good work, cant wait to see the finished product!

[slodat]

Any updates?

[spoolinitup33]

wow..that fabricaion is awesome.I wish I could weld good so I could do that kinda stuff. Those rear wheels look tits!

Am I the only one who noticed that Meso said those wheels look tits?

[thisismatt]

tits = "the shiz" = cool

[spoolinitup33]

Hmm, must be some type of californian lingo I don't know about.

[thisismatt]

Not really. Personally, I don't like the saying and find it pretty crass, but I have heard of it.

[goichi1]

not to get toooo far from this post but being in the Navy, I hear all kinds of those words......seems like a new one every week or so....sometimes i think....."where the hell did that come from"....

[510wizard]

No updates on the rear end, but now that the weather is turning towards winter and "the honey do" list is short, I am going to start the upper frame assembly prototype. This will be the frame between the car and the rear end lower assembly, but will also include the attachment points for the coil-overs and upper "A" arms. I am thinking of using a 240z-280z mustauste (sp)bar on the back of the diff. and a 80's Suburu front diff. mount that will maybe attach to where the old pinion snubber was mounted on the wagon. Here is a picture that shows the Suburu front diff mount that I am talking about.


A "H" shaped frame will go between the frame loops on the wagon with stiffeners on the side of those loops. This is my brain storming at this time, but will probably change when the work starts.
Monte

[510wizard]

Long time no update, next up the upper sub assembly. Started working on the rear end again, made a wooden jig to hold the upper "A" arms in position along with the lowers and the uprights. Now the complete rear end assembly. can be lifted into place with a jack under the lower sub frame, to see how the upper sub assembly can be designed into the wagon's existing frame work. All of the adjustments are set at zero( camber and toe). The "A" arm droop is set at 6 degrees to start. It looks like the coil-overs will have to be set side ways with bell-cranks to the lower "A" arms (not enough height) I refuse to go into the cargo area.





But, I need some input guys. what would you consider to be minimum travel of the suspension before hitting the bump stops? I am thinking of running something in the 300 to 400 lb. spring rate.

[510wizard]

Pretty much have finished working on the mustache bar for the diff. Made to fit the Zcar/later 510 bushings. Will do some finish work on the bar , like some chamfering on the edges and some surfacing on the flats, then will get it anodized. Next project up, the upper "H" sub frame for the bar and upper "A" arms.

[Byron510]

Glad to see the project is still in the works - thought you'd dropped off the face of the earth!

Nice work, gotta love carving up a chunk of aluminum. A good friend and I carved up a 6X12X14" chunk into an intake manifold for his MR2 many years back - that was fun!

Byron

[ace028]

Sweet man, I love these kind of builds! Can't wait for more updates!

[510wizard]

The Energy Supspension bushings have a radius on the bottom of the flanges, so I put a radius on the top & bottom of the bushing mounts. This will keep the sharp edge from cutting into the bushings.
Monte

[goichi1]

Have you slid it under the car yet? I didn't think there was much room between the diff and the cargo floor, so maybe you are not going to have much upward travel?? unless the wheel wells have the room.....maybe. It's very interesting to watch this, that looks amazing so far!

[510wizard]

No, not yet. I have get the rear assy. to the point that I can put the whole thing in the back of this mule that I have. The mustache bar is the first part on working my way up from the diff. Next up with the build is the upper sub frame assy. It is going to be a "H" shaped frame that the Upper "A" arms, the mustache bar and the coil-overs bolt to. There is about 4"-5" from the top of the diff. to the bottom of the cargo floor. I think that the front of the diff. is going to be supported by a frame that goes to where the front leaf spring mounts use to be, at least the what I am thinking right now. I have a WRX frame as shown in the picture below , maybe a 510 rear crossmember or something custom.
It a lot easier measuring on the mule then laying underneath a car.




Although I had done lots of measuring and changing the design over and over, the final test will be actually putting the assy. in the mule. From the measurements it looks like about the bump travel will be at 3" and the rocker to ground distance will be 6.5" to 7". Also I am bound and determined to not have any suspension in the cargo area, IMHO, it wrecks the whole idea of a wagon in the first place. I have designed the IRS to follow the the Miata suspension pickup points, they seem to work pretty good for the racers. If I have to change anything, which I am sure I will have to, it will happen on the mule and not on the final wagon.

This whole thing has been quite the journey so far, I have learned a lot about suspensions and have enjoyed the process.