Oh man....what an awesome driving feeling now!
Been wanting to go through the suspension on this thing for some time but just haven't made up my mind on the exact parts I needed or wanted.
With my background in autocross and open tracking I knew I wanted something that I was familiar with.... But wasn't concerned about ultimate handling like with heim joints/coil overs like I have on my Mustang. I'm wanting to make this a really good street car and not change up everything with a k member/coil overs and keep it sort of true to the seventies suspension style.
I was anxious and threw the wheel and tire package on it previously just to get that look and inspiration that I was looking for.
All I did was crank the torsion bars down and put a 2 inch block in the rear to subtract some of the Super Stock leaf springs lift. It had the look but nothing to back it up.
I noticed the Hotchkis kit used heim joints in the upper control arms and on the steering and I was a little bit leery of that because of how my Mustang feels. I mean don't get me wrong it feels like a race car should but I really want to drive this thing is so much fun.
So with having my game plan established and my budget I went with the following:
Safety items first...Moog steering tie rods and joints....global west fully threaded adjustment sleeves...Moog lower balljoints.
Qa1 lower control arms
Qa1 upper control arms
Qa1 strut rods
Hotchkis 1.03 torsion bars
Hotchkis leaf springs
Hotchkis 1.5 fox shocks
Hotchkis sway bars
I did the best home alignment that I could with the upper control arms caster camber and what not the only thing I think I got wrong was that the steering wheel is just a tad off center but that's just annoying not really a problem to me right now.
I was very happy that the ride height didn't change from what I had before because I really liked the way it looked.
This thing is such a blast to drive now it feels like my old autocross Mustang which was really built out the ass with suspension... it's so flat and stable and predictable now! The ride is not harsh at all I really think the shocks are really what's making the difference on this. I was never a fan of the adjustable shocks because I just spent too much time worrying about if I got it right or not and I've had good luck with Bilstein non-adjustable in the past but I figured I'd give these a try....im glad I did!
I bet my dad would probably freak out with how well this thing handles and drives like a modern sports car! He always said that you didn't drive these cars because they handled good, you drove them because they went straight.... fast.
We've got a few popular curvy roads down here where I live and on its maiden voyage where I was feeling it out and I had become more comfortable with it I run up on one of those Subaru STi and we hit some corners together and he couldn't lose me and in the straight aways I was all over is ass. We pulled up together at a two lane split and I got the thumbs up and he said "man there's no way I figured that car would have hung with me! I was like I'm getting ready to put this guy in check!!"
I'm still getting used to that long hood but I'm getting more comfortable with it each time I drive it and now with this suspension I can't wait to really get comfortable with it!
On a side note, i'm glad I didn't go with any bigger torsion bars. The Hotchkis units are a hair width away from hitting the big old headers. May even be touching it a lil, but if it is I can't hear it.
Pile of 45 year old stuff...some still ok....some sketchy.
Stuff goin together...
Sitting just right to me!!
