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    Thread: Monroe Handler

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    1. #1
      Join Date
      Apr 2006
      Location
      Yankton, SD
      Posts
      240
      Country Flag: United States

      Monroe Handler

      Backstory: I owned a 76 Cobra II in high school 25+ years ago. My situation allowed me to buy another in 2005 and I turned it into a nice driver with typical bolt ons. I've always lusted after a Monroe Handler Mustang IIs and the opportunity to buy one popped up on eBay in late 2010. I was somewhat familiar with this particular car as the owner had registered himself on the forums at MustangII.net and posted pictures.





      The owner ended up listing the car on eBay and I purchased the car in late 2010 never having never seen it in person. I knew before I bought it I didn't like the wheels and my plan was to part out my existing Mustang II, keeping the parts I wanted for the new car and selling the rest. From the pictures I thought it looked pretty good but my love for all things Handler clouded my vision and I didn't vet the car nearly as well as I should have (18" wheels with stock 9" brakes, exhaust tubing roll bar, was supposed to be a King Cobra and wasn't, etc, etc, the list is almost endless)

      Long story short, the car wasn't as nearly as nice in person as it was described to me and as shown in the pictures. The front subframe and floor were damaged and I didn't the realize the extent of the damage until after my other Mustang was gone. In frustration, anger and disappointment, I ended up stripping the car I bought on eBay, cutting it up and scrapping it having driven it only 3 miles. Oddly though, it felt good.







      Fast forwarding to today, I have a replacement Cobra II shell now that I am building and adding the Monroe handler body salvaged from the eBay car. I am a couple hours drive to the SORC in Nebraska and the Mid-American Motorplex near Omaha. A few of my co-workers also auto-x regularly and Thunder Valley dragway is less than an hour away. This car is being built to run at these events and have tried to find the overlap in all of their various rules and regulations. I don't expect to be competitive (at first if ever) but I do want to have fun and increase my skills. The car will also be driven on the street (Power Tour maybe someday) but not daily driven. Although I'll take it to car shows, I'm not building it to show, I want to run this hard and I want the limit to be me, not the car. I expect it will end up in a blurry area somewhere between street fighter and pro-touring.


      I've read all of the info I can find on Alcino's Mustang II and he was able to do a lot with his driving skill, continual tweaks / tuning and a set of sticky tires. The more I read on this site and others though, it is readily apparent that, out of the box, the Mustang II has a number of shortcomings that don't really make it ideally suited for my intended usage. The tires and brakes are small, the control arms are too short and have poor geometry, the weight distribution is poor and the uni-body has a lot of flex. The car I love is the car I love though so some changes are in order. Nothing is really off the table except that whatever I do, I don't want to change the wheelbase, the Monroe Handler body and I'd like to keep the crossbreeding of parts from other makes to a minimum. Nothing against any of the others; I used to own a Camaro in fact. I like all cars and things mechanical, but I bleed blue. My budget is not unlimited but my situation changed again recently and I should be able to build the car I've always wanted, even though it will take several years.


      I have been a mechanical designer for almost 20 years, use 3D CAD software and can design just about anything for this that I need to. I'm not the most experienced fabricator but I should gain much needed experience with this project. I think I have a pretty good handle on the rear suspension and have designed a 3-link and bought components from Fays, Spohn & ridetech (sorry Monroe, I don't think you have anything to offer this Handler except the name)








      It is looking more and more like the car wants to have a full frame. It will cause a few problems and delay things a bit, but overall, should be an improvement. I don't really have any concerns about designing and building the frame but the front suspension has me a bit worried. The Wilwood Pro spindle looks better than the stock spindle but also has a few shortcomings from my understanding. When I get to that point, I would appreciate any advice on front suspension geometry and design anyone can offer. I have the weight distribution on a stock Mustang II but don't have an exact CG height. I'm building in as much adjustability as I can into both the front and rear suspension and expect that once I get the car on the road, things may have to be redone.


      In addition to the members of MustangII.net, I have pulled a great deal of inspiration from many of the projects here on this forum, most notably:



      $5000 budget Mustang: https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...budget-Mustang


      Project BLUEprint, 1965 Falcon: https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...nt-1965-Falcon


      1967 Mustang Coupe, Project "Code Blue": https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...Code-Blue-quot



      All of you folks really do ground breaking work here, thank you.



      (to be continued)






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