Thread: 03 infiniti fx35 w/all the toys, add a carpc too? oh yeah... :)

The taurus is ok, it's just old, so it's showing it's age. If it were better taken care of, it would actually be a really good car.

The one I have has some uncommon options (as I've come to find trying to find parts for it.) I have the Duratec 200hp V6 engine, where as most have the Vulcan 145hp V6, I have dual sun visors, most have singles, I have a vinyl wrapped dash, most have a plastic dash. I have the power seats with inflatable lumbar pillow, most have the manual seats.
So I do appreciate it for what it is. I bought it because it's what fit my credit and payments, etc. At first I thought 'Oh, damn it's a taurus! ' but it's actually an underestimated car. They've used the engine from this car in Noble M12's and other kit cars, and stock it's got a little pick up in it.
Once the carputer is done (which will be very soon I hope) it will be a truly unique car. I'll probably end up keeping it until it explodes, and at that point I'm going to drop in a northstar if it will fit, otherwise a twin turbo duratec...

Insurance fraud is nothing I want to mess with, that's why I haven't. It wasn't hoping to get hit, it was more, I hope someone backs into it in a parking lot or something (not this car, a previous one) so that I could get a replacement.

I totally agree with the karma thing, basically what goes around comes around.

Sorry to assist in the thread jacking here, sometimes it's good to go off topic for a bit though.

I now know that I truly have a sickness. I can't help modding cars no matter what it is. I just have to resist. I already learned that Ford offers a aluminum rear axle housing with 3.73 gears and a LSD for like $600. It's a straight forward 3 hour swap. I'm kind of tempted as it should really wake that car up. Later maybe, right now it's just second hand stereo stuff for it so I have some music to listen to. I want to put a 12 bolt in the TA as well as a stronger clutch, but I'm focused on the motor at the moment. I did decide on a bigger amp rack/sub box, though. I have 3 JBL GTi 12's and will get 3 1000w Rockford amps. I'll need the extra HP just for the added weight.



Do you have plans for a sub in the FX35?

Hmmmm. Maybe add that 8.8 IRS to the TA? That would be cool.

yeah man, I don't know nothing about that sickness, not me, nu-uh, nope, sorry

what's an 8.8 irs? sounds expensive

I haven't planned my subs yet, don't want to loose no space, theres like almost none to begin with, I want to see the new jbl shallows, might be able to add a few of those to the rear quarter windows & not loose any interior space.

I wanted to do runflats & elimate the HUGE spare, then I could really go off, but the runflats suck pretty much, so that's not too much of an option really... maybe the spare on the roof might not look too bad, don't think I could pull of a continental kit on this fx, although, that might look interesting

Originally Posted by turbocad6

yeah man, I don't know nothing about that sickness, not me, nu-uh, nope, sorry

what's an 8.8 irs? sounds expensive

I haven't planned my subs yet, don't want to loose no space, theres like almost none to begin with, I want to see the new jbl shallows, might be able to add a few of those to the rear quarter windows & not loose any interior space.

I wanted to do runflats & elimate the HUGE spare, then I could really go off, but the runflats suck pretty much, so that's not too much of an option really... maybe the spare on the roof might not look too bad, don't think I could pull of a continental kit on this fx, although, that might look interesting

I'm doing my best to resist. The Tbird needs a radio and I can already see relocating the climate controls lower where the ashtray is and making a 2 DIN opening for a LCD touchscreen unit. Damn, I have to resist.
What I should do is go to the fleamarket and pick up a cheap used radio for it.

My rental Rav4 had a spare on the outside rear with a painted hard cover. It looked pretty good. I'm not sure how the rear opens, but that might look factory. SUV's are few of the vehicles that can get away with that look. Continental kits always looked strange to me.

Where you thinking of blocking the view through the rear windows? I don't know. If you don't need the vision, then go for it. Usually SUV's have wasted space under them.
I would look underneath the vehicle for room and mount a box under it and port it into the vehicle. It would be very stealth and you may not need a special shallow driver.

I was talking about mounting a Thunderbird indepandant rear suspension to the TA. the whole unit is bolted on with 4 bolts. just drop it down and tuck it under the TA. I can gat parts from a junked tbird/cougar. I can then get a brand new aluminum center diff ford 8.8 with 3.73 gears and a traction lock LSD already put together for $600. Considering that a new stronger straight axle for my car is $2000-$2500. I should be able to do the IRS swap for way less than that. Anyway, more about this here, last post.
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=539526

Originally Posted by JasonWW

I was talking about mounting a Thunderbird indepandant rear suspension to the TA. the whole unit is bolted on with 4 bolts. just drop it down and tuck it under the TA. I can gat parts from a junked tbird/cougar. I can then get a brand new aluminum center diff ford 8.8 with 3.73 gears and a traction lock LSD already put together for $600. Considering that a new stronger straight axle for my car is $2000-$2500. I should be able to do the IRS swap for way less than that. Anyway, more about this here, last post.
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=539526

That is simply amazing, one more thing to add to my list...

Originally Posted by JasonWW

I was talking about mounting a Thunderbird indepandant rear suspension to the TA. the whole unit is bolted on with 4 bolts. just drop it down and tuck it under the TA. I can gat parts from a junked tbird/cougar. I can then get a brand new aluminum center diff ford 8.8 with 3.73 gears and a traction lock LSD already put together for $600. Considering that a new stronger straight axle for my car is $2000-$2500. I should be able to do the IRS swap for way less than that. Anyway, more about this here, last post.
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=539526

I don't want to be a wet blanket, but a swap like this is going to take a lot more than "just 4 bolts". The link you provide is to an F-Body which got an IRS from a 4th Gen Corvette, which is a lot closer in DNA than a TBird.

You're going to have to (at minimum) do some chassis fabrication to provide mounts for the link arms. There's also the matter of where the shocks and springs, or coilovers will mount, since it's likely they won't line-up with your existing suspension components, and you may be looking at different length axles to match your track width.

It's a cool project, and I'm not trying to discourage you, it just sounds like you're underestimating the cost and effort. :-)

yeah man, don't want to sound negative or nothing, but even the job they did with that c4 rear isn't right, they'd need to cut a whole lot out of the back half of that car & bring it down over that suspension at least another 3 inches or so, there going to compensate buy lowering the suspension on it's pivot points, but there going to have camber issues& travel issues, every suspention geometry has it's sweet spot of centered, there way to high in the rear...

the rear end needs to be 100% structurally part of the car too, there is a lot of work to do what your talking about, most likely needing new frame rails & all, just cause he made brackets & dropped the body on it don't make it right... I don't want to sound negative or like a hater or a know it all, but that don't loook so great to me, I mean it looks impresive on a lift maybe

Originally Posted by cherrybomb

I don't want to be a wet blanket, but a swap like this is going to take a lot more than "just 4 bolts". The link you provide is to an F-Body which got an IRS from a 4th Gen Corvette, which is a lot closer in DNA than a TBird.

You're going to have to (at minimum) do some chassis fabrication to provide mounts for the link arms. There's also the matter of where the shocks and springs, or coilovers will mount, since it's likely they won't line-up with your existing suspension components, and you may be looking at different length axles to match your track width.

It's a cool project, and I'm not trying to discourage you, it just sounds like you're underestimating the cost and effort. :-)

Actually the C4 rear requires way more work and it's actually the T-bird rear end that is much closer in DNA. This Tbird rear really is 4 bolts. The bolts mount a cradle to the car and all the arms mount to the cradle. The shock is just forward of the axle and the spring is just rear of the axle which is extremely similar to the F-body. Besides the 4 cradle mounting points, only the top of the shock and the top of the spring actually touch the car body. A far as the track goes I can easily fab new control arms to narrow it if need be and I'm sure a driveshaft shop can shorten these half shafts with ease. Since the cradle is steel it would be rather easy to alter the geometry and arm lengths if I want to. I'm thinking minimal camber gain.

The only way someone can discourage me is if they have already tried this and know the challenges. Since you guys are just guessing, I'm not discouraged at all. I may go get a whole rear cradle from a junkyard and see how much I need to modify the car to get it sitting nice and high where it needs to be. I have no issues moving the gas tank or cutting out the floor as I was going to do that anyway.