[sour]

Hello -

I just added a '94 GT project to my garage & spent pretty much all weekend removing 27 years of muck & filth from it so I could begin to properly evaluate what it needs to be healthy.

My wife has had an '02 for close to a decade and I'm OK with a wrench; just curious about this piece right here:

It appears at some point it caught a rock or some other road debris and became bent.

If I'm looking at junkyard cars, which ones specifically would have it? My wife's '02 V6 does not have one.

Or, does it have a specific name I could look for on ebay/etc , or is there an aftermarket chassis performance kit that includes a "better" one ?

Thanks!

 

[Dwain]

Mine was removed a long time ago. I think my old oil pan didn't clear it. 94/95 do not have the same cross member as 96-98. I would stick with 94/95.

 

[cwstephens]

Congrats on the new project!

That is a factory 2 point K Member brace. Type in "1994 Mustang K Member Brace" on google and you should get a lot of results.

Steeda calls this a "G-Trac Brace" and claims theirs is an upgrade over the factory one. It is a 2-point, like the original on yours, and just bolts into its place.

Maximum Motorsports makes an upgrade 4 point brace for the factory K member. Should clear factory exhaust (and some others) and work on manual trans cars. They have special notes for automatics.

If you just want a factory one, hit up the boneyards or here is one on eBay if you want to go that route.

The convertible cars also came with a 4 point brace. I'm not sure if it will even bolt on to a hardtop car, but I assume it might. Ford's intent with the 4 point was to replace the structural help of the roof by tying the K into the structure of the car.

That said, a good set of Maximum Motorsport's or Stiffler's Subframe Connectors (SFCs) will go a LONG way toward making the car better. My opinion, no matter your plan with the car, BUY SFCs. They help with the stiffness of the car, increasing the structural integrity, and they even cut down on a lot of the squeaks and rattles that these tend to have.

I've had a 1994 Mustang convertible, 2001 Mustang convertible, and 2000 Mustang hardtop in the past. If you jacked up the 2001 or 2000 cars on one corner (say, by the front control arm), you would have trouble opening the door. It would just be stuck. On the 2001 convertible, closing the door would not happen. The body of the car was twisting enough that the door no longer lined up. Neither of these cars had SFCs.

On the 1994 Mustang convertible, I had subframe connectors. I don't recall ever having that problem with it, and I had that car jacked up plenty. To be fair, I wasn't looking for it, as that was the first I owned out of the bunch. But my current 1995 Mustang hardtop with Stiffler's SFCs definitely doesn't have that issue.

I believe, and a lot of people would agree, that SFCs should be the first thing you do to one of these platform cars. I would put them on long before I spent the money on replacing the K member brace. It serves a purpose, but on the priority list, it would be lower than the K brace to me.

 

[sour]

Man... now THAT is an informative answer!

Thank you very much for the knowledge and the links, I'll chew it over and implement the solution that makes the most sense - today I was working on top-of-car stuff.

Still need to replace torn shift boots (both the bottom one and top one are ragged) and start investigating a misfire condition in the engine. It's been a few years since I worked on a pre-OBD2 vehicle - last was my wife's old SHO but I figure the old skills will come back if I ask them nicely.

 

[sn95gts331]

FYI I have the Maximum Motorsports 4 point k member brace on my 1995 GT coupe. Very easy to install.

 

[sour]

I was leaning toward that Maximum Motorsports unit... seems like the best compromise between doing nothing at all or welding on chassis stiffeners. I have no doubt that increasing chassis rigidity with the stiffeners would go a long way toward modernizing the feel of the car - haven't had this 94 GT a week yet but my wife's 02 squeaks and creaks from throughout the body when transitioning over angled surfaces, while my '15 (unibody, 5 door) Jeep is dead silent crossing the same kind of surfaces.

But I'm a sub-mediocre welder best left to build garden decorations and mend the occasional gate hinge.. for now I'm just trying to get the Mustang up to a good steady baseline from several years of neglect. I have no idea how old the shocks and struts are other than "very" so those are getting replaced as budget allows & I will probably need to replace most of the control arms as well since their bushings look dry rotted. Rear shock bushings are rock hard and oval so the suspension has ~2mm of motion without any damping at all 🤣

 

[sn95gts331]

If I was in your position I'd buy these items for suspension, you'll love it. If you saved and did all of these mods at once you'd think you were driving a brand new car, plus it would handle very well.

Koni red shocks or (Bilstein shocks if you can afford them)
Eibach Pro-kit springs
caster/camber plates
Poly sway bar bushings and end links
MM full length subframe connectors
MM rear lower control arms, heavy duty
J&M upper control arms with spherical bushings
All other bushings should be rubber.
Good performance summer tires like Nitto 555 G2's.

 

[narmalee]

I got the MM weld in ones in my vert, and I beat the crap outa it in autoX, they are worth their weight in gold, and easy to install... provided u keep your hands outa the way of the grinder wire wheel...….

 

[sour]

I should probably update here -

I installed the Maximum Motorsports brace. Fit was super easy, I really didn't drive the car a lot before installing it so I can't say it made any difference one way or the other from before but it makes me feel better to have things "put together" instead of all beat up.

 

[narmalee]

I should probably update here -

I installed the Maximum Motorsports brace. Fit was super easy, I really didn't drive the car a lot before installing it so I can't say it made any difference one way or the other from before but it makes me feel better to have things "put together" instead of all beat up.

any subframe connectors yet?

damn maximum motorsports, their stuff is like crack, once you start putting the pieces in you cant stop

 

[cwstephens]

any subframe connectors yet?

damn maximum motorsports, their stuff is like crack, once you start putting the pieces in you cant stop

Agreed...I went from a stock K, Steeda 650/250 conventional springs, and ooooold Tokico Illumina shocks all the way around to MM K member, FCAs, RLCAs, MM struts w/coilovers, torque arm, solid steering shaft, etc etc etc. Jack Hidley from MM is about as smart as they come with these cars.

It's a good enough suspension package to beat up on late-model 5.0s, GT350s, Boss 302s, etc at Hallett (well, with a lot of help from a 635hp 427w...)

My profile and build thread over on TrackMustangsOnline: "Chris' 351w Swapped 1995" Vehicle Profile - SN95 Mustangs

I used some other brand parts, like Stiffler's SFCs and trans crossmember, Fays2 Watts Link, etc, but the MM stuff would've probably done just as well for me in those cases.

CRACK.

 

[narmalee]

Agreed...I went from a stock K, Steeda 650/250 conventional springs, and ooooold Tokico Illumina shocks all the way around to MM K member, FCAs, RLCAs, MM struts w/coilovers, torque arm, solid steering shaft, etc etc etc. Jack Hidley from MM is about as smart as they come with these cars.

It's a good enough suspension package to beat up on late-model 5.0s, GT350s, Boss 302s, etc at Hallett (well, with a lot of help from a 635hp 427w...)

My profile and build thread over on TrackMustangsOnline: "Chris' 351w Swapped 1995" Vehicle Profile - SN95 Mustangs

I used some other brand parts, like Stiffler's SFCs and trans crossmember, Fays2 Watts Link, etc, but the MM stuff would've probably done just as well for me in those cases.

CRACK.

i looked into the Watts, but i dont have enough movement to justify it, i have less than 1/4 movement +/- with the long PHB so nbd for this guy lol
been looking at a CHI 638 bbf that would be almost the same exact weight as a alum headed factory 351... but so much more hp... im tired of these new 700+ 5.0's makin me look slow
but right now im in the middle of starting my first company, putting in a full drain/gutters at my house... been a very busy year and havn't touched the mustang in like a year and a half

checked the link, what the hell man, was that cracked out of the box? there is like no damage to anything?!?!?!

 

[cwstephens]

i looked into the Watts, but i dont have enough movement to justify it, i have less than 1/4 movement +/- with the long PHB so nbd for this guy lol
been looking at a CHI 638 bbf that would be almost the same exact weight as a alum headed factory 351... but so much more hp... im tired of these new 700+ 5.0's makin me look slow
but right now im in the middle of starting my first company, putting in a full drain/gutters at my house... been a very busy year and havn't touched the mustang in like a year and a half

checked the link, what the hell man, was that cracked out of the box? there is like no damage to anything?!?!?!

If it were me, I would stay away from the BBF route. Much more torque, but greater rotating assembly weight to spin up AND slow down under braking going into corners (if that's your bag). I can't imagine that the weights are that close, but suppose it's possible. The swap would be much more involved (time and cost) than going into a 351 based, since the 302 and 351 are so similar. It wouldn't be the route for me, but I can see the desire. I was really frustrated with my car at Hallett just last year. I was driving the balls off of it, still getting whooped by Boss 302s, late model 5.0s, etc. This year was muuuuuch more fun.

Are you talking about the piston? That was my old 351w, and the reason for the upgrade to the 427w. I don't know what happened to it, I bought the engine used from a guy that had it listed on RacingJunk in March 2018. It did fine for three years. Made a lot of noise, but never had a ton of power, so I was just tearing it down for a refresh and possibly a cam swap when I found that. It was fixable with a new piston, but the cylinders weren't the greatest, the heads were meh, the cam probably wasn't the best for my application and...I really wanted a 427

 

[narmalee]

If it were me, I would stay away from the BBF route. Much more torque, but greater rotating assembly weight to spin up AND slow down under braking going into corners (if that's your bag). I can't imagine that the weights are that close, but suppose it's possible. The swap would be much more involved (time and cost) than going into a 351 based, since the 302 and 351 are so similar. It wouldn't be the route for me, but I can see the desire. I was really frustrated with my car at Hallett just last year. I was driving the balls off of it, still getting whooped by Boss 302s, late model 5.0s, etc. This year was muuuuuch more fun.

Are you talking about the piston? That was my old 351w, and the reason for the upgrade to the 427w. I don't know what happened to it, I bought the engine used from a guy that had it listed on RacingJunk in March 2018. It did fine for three years. Made a lot of noise, but never had a ton of power, so I was just tearing it down for a refresh and possibly a cam swap when I found that. It was fixable with a new piston, but the cylinders weren't the greatest, the heads were meh, the cam probably wasn't the best for my application and...I really wanted a 427

yeah im just not thrilled about the geometry of a 462 cleavor, and im at the breakover point of an all aluminum bbf vs all aluminum cleavor cost v performance, plus i still wana get out and hammer on it outside the track

if i wanted to set the best corner times i'd go to a turbo'd 2.3 lol, i never win, but its about the fun for me, i can still run top 6 and considering this is a offset tire size, its not horrible... i dont want to go all 315 all the way around... talk about a headache

thats crazy... 3 years of running like that without a dent lucky!!!

 

[sn95gts331]

Agreed...I went from a stock K, Steeda 650/250 conventional springs, and ooooold Tokico Illumina shocks all the way around to MM K member, FCAs, RLCAs, MM struts w/coilovers, torque arm, solid steering shaft, etc etc etc. Jack Hidley from MM is about as smart as they come with these cars.

It's a good enough suspension package to beat up on late-model 5.0s, GT350s, Boss 302s, etc at Hallett (well, with a lot of help from a 635hp 427w...)

My profile and build thread over on TrackMustangsOnline: "Chris' 351w Swapped 1995" Vehicle Profile - SN95 Mustangs

I used some other brand parts, like Stiffler's SFCs and trans crossmember, Fays2 Watts Link, etc, but the MM stuff would've probably done just as well for me in those cases.

CRACK.

Wow, your car is sweet. How is that handling with the extra pounds of that 427??? Is it similar in weight to a 1995 Cobra R???

 

[90lxwhite]

Subframe connectors don’t stiffen the chassis as much as we think. But the ones that tie into the seat mounts make it feel a lot stiffer. I have SVE standard length weld in’s (w seat supports) in my ‘95 going on a decade and it’s stiffer than Deshaun Watson at a physical therapist convention. No need to spend MM money on a set of square tube steel bars.
Here’s a good read on SFC’s and chassis flex. Cliffs notes- it’s the floor pan. Buy SFC’s w the seat mount supports.

Redirect Notice

 

[90lxwhite]

Agreed...I went from a stock K, Steeda 650/250 conventional springs, and ooooold Tokico Illumina shocks all the way around to MM K member, FCAs, RLCAs, MM struts w/coilovers, torque arm, solid steering shaft, etc etc etc. Jack Hidley from MM is about as smart as they come with these cars.

It's a good enough suspension package to beat up on late-model 5.0s, GT350s, Boss 302s, etc at Hallett (well, with a lot of help from a 635hp 427w...)

My profile and build thread over on TrackMustangsOnline: "Chris' 351w Swapped 1995" Vehicle Profile - SN95 Mustangs

I used some other brand parts, like Stiffler's SFCs and trans crossmember, Fays2 Watts Link, etc, but the MM stuff would've probably done just as well for me in those cases.

CRACK.

How does it do from a dig? Decent enough?

 

[sn95gts331]

Subframe connectors don’t stiffen the chassis as much as we think. But the ones that tie into the seat mounts make it feel a lot stiffer. I have SVE standard length weld in’s (w seat supports) in my ‘95 going on a decade and it’s stiffer than Deshaun Watson at a physical therapist convention. No need to spend MM money on a set of square tube steel bars.
Here’s a good read on SFC’s and chassis flex. Cliffs notes- it’s the floor pan. Buy SFC’s w the seat mount supports.

Redirect Notice

The seat support sub frames definitely help ALOT. I put off having them installed for a while because I didn't want the extra weight. Well I'm glad I had them installed a few years ago, because I can tell the difference.

 

[90lxwhite]

The seat support sub frames definitely help ALOT. I put off having them installed for a while because I didn't want the extra weight. Well I'm glad I had them installed a few years ago, because I can tell the difference.

Don’t sweat the weight so much. Think about a 130 lb guy and a 170 lb guy racing in identical cars. It’ll still be a drivers race. Unless they’re driving something as light as a go kart that is I guess. Better analogy, 120 lb man and 220 lb man racing identical half-ton pickups. 100 lbs differences and it’s still a drivers race. Don’t throw away y’all’s cup holders in the name of speed.
The irony is without the seat braces the SFC’s are mostly just extra weight.
Edit My weight analogies primarily apply to street cars. Race cars- strip ‘em bare.

 

[narmalee]

Subframe connectors don’t stiffen the chassis as much as we think. But the ones that tie into the seat mounts make it feel a lot stiffer. I have SVE standard length weld in’s (w seat supports) in my ‘95 going on a decade and it’s stiffer than Deshaun Watson at a physical therapist convention. No need to spend MM money on a set of square tube steel bars.
Here’s a good read on SFC’s and chassis flex. Cliffs notes- it’s the floor pan. Buy SFC’s w the seat mount supports.

Redirect Notice

have you ridden in a 'vert pre and post weld-on-SFC?
'nuff said