[x-bird]

Surprisingly it's not a lot wider at all. it's really going to depend on the spindles and how far off the rims i have to come to get steering arm to clear. My stock rims had a spacer and 4 washers next to the rim. Not sure if that was a "mod" by PO or not. There were vise marks on the shock mounts, so this thing was taken apart for some reason along the way.

I've hit the point where i have to decide on where to mount the shocks, if they have 2 inches of travel, the place i'd like to put them gives the end of the arm 10 inches of total travel based on that two inches. It's pretty much critical as the shocks will set the arm angle at full droop,-- from there i can figure spindle angle I can make the arm end adjustable so i'll have a little wiggle room. I wish i knew how much they'd compress when i sit in it--no real way of knowing til it's all together. I'm actually considering making a wood block rig to clamp on the end of the arm to try different spindle angles. Overall, it look like the frame will sit level at the rear frame height--maybe even a touch nose-high, which i can correct by changing the rear shock position if needed.

The steering won't reach this setup it's too low and too far back. Remember i mentioned an old Rancho steering stabilizer? (still brand new) The frame mount for the shock end of that is very similar to the steering bracket welded up front. It's much taller, which is perfect and pre-fabbed--will just need a bend to match the angle where the shaft will go in. I'll cut the steering mounts off the tubes and shorten them to move the steering "column" forward and the stabilizer mount will raise it to clear the same tubes it hits now. If i need to lengthen the tie rods, that's no biggie. I was actually even thinking of offsetting the column a bit to equalize the rod length. I've driven enough offset steering Italian cars for it not to bother me. lol