yea I was thinking the same thing. Remember yaking about it like it was yesterday....

 

So, in the past 2 years, nothing has come from all this?

 

IRS sucks hardcore for straightline. The only reason to switch would be for corners.

FYI, me and a buddy did this over a year ago in a little *** garage on jackstands. The idea has been kicked around about offering the swap, but there is some cutting involved that the average owner would be either A.)ill-equipped to do, or B.)too scared to do.

http://www.quarter-mile.net/IROC/images/IRS/IRS47.jpg

This was on a 3rd gen, but adapting it for a 4th gen wouldn't be hard. If I ever build a 4th gen street cruiser, this is what I'd put in it.

 

To be honest, I want to t put it on my 3rd Gen. Your set up looks sweet. How hard was it? Where is that rear from?

 

I think an IRS would not have to be any stronger than a typical stock rear-end. The point is that an IRS is for handling, not drag racing. What is necessary is for the car to be competitive with BMW on handling, not a fuely dragster pulling sub-9 sec quarters. To build an ultra-strong IRS would add so much weight that a drag car would be slower. Point missed.

If you increase the strength, you increase the weight. If you increase the weight, the car is slower. IRS is not for drag racing, it is for better handling...of which weight is also very important with our front-biased, heavy cars. A Ford 9" is significantly heavier than the stock 10-bolt or a 12 bolt, with thicker castings, larger bearings, gears, etc., and for good reason.

What should be accomplished is a fully compliant IRS that weighs less than or equal to the existing infrastructure and provides improved handling. If you want a dragster, put in a 9'' and go in a straight line. I want to be able to traverse a railroad track on an uphill curve without slowing to a crawl first.

 

im deffinatly more interested in handling then just straight line. im sure on the highway a IRS would do just fine in a straight line.

different options for different people who use f bodies for different purposes. im sure theres room in the market for a IRS, not everyone builds a drag car.

 

most don't...

 

I saw that yellow car last year in Indy. WOW, that's one helluva job you guys did on that. Looked like it was handling nice on the road course. I've been toying with this for years. I might do it when I find a project car.

 

Not too bad. It took a little work w/ a plasma cutter and some welding to get it in, plus we fab'd our own torque arm and made adjustable control arms for it. The rear was in the car in a weekend though. We got this one out of a '91 (?) C4 convertible. The droptops came w/ a Dana44 (hardtops had a Dana36). Got it for a good price ($500 I think) b/c one of the body mounts on the rear cover was busted. Nothing a TIG didn't fix.

The C4 IRS setup is very strong from the factory. Add in that quite a bit of it is made from aluminum and it's pretty light. Also, it's not too noticeable in the picture, but the halfshafts on the Vette IRS are easily twice the size of the ones on the Ford/Lincoln IRS that come in the new Cobras, Mark VIII, etc. I've replaced my fair share of those toothpicks.

Thank you. He was going to take it to the event in Memphis this year, but the motor gave up this weekend. It blows smoke worse than when I blew up my TA a few years back (and it looked like it was on fire ). It'll have some more upgrades next year. New motor, bigger turbos, and some body modifications. He's already got a working prototype of a front-tilt hood that uses the factory latch on another car and we're trying to figure out a way to eliminate the strut towers w/o going to a tube chassis.

 

the ford irs in the thunderbirds cougars and mark VIII's use cv joints, probably to cut costs, seeing how an irs doesnt really need constant velocity joints, and those cars never push more than 250 hp

i have an 87 irocz that i have no intent drag racing, i would love an irs for street handling autox and anything else to pull some serious g's