65 Rear Suspension

[Rickster]

After a lot of years of towing my rusted out 65 Mustang from home to home, I'm ready to begin the restoration project. A pal of mine turned me onto several Mustang forums and yours is by far the best. I just purchased a solid 65 Mustang chassis minus engine and trans, former 6 cylinder, and the plan is to use my rusted-out 289 vehicle as a donor car. I'm not a Newbe when it comes to working on cars but there’s a lot of restoration advice I'd like to tap into here as I proceed along on this project. Not looking to build a show car, drag car or track car, just want to bring my baby back to life again…. well, with a little extra juice.

Step one of the project is to swap rear axles. Rear leaf springs are shot on the donor, so plan is to replace with new rear leaf's, shackles & bushings. I’ve spent the first few days here searching on related threads and there are a lot of suspension options available out there; stock rear leafs vs 5 leafs and standard-eye vs mid-eye. Looks like 5-Leafs will stiffen up the ride and help to eliminate wheel hop while the mid-eye will lower the chassis about an inch. Did I get this all correct or miss anything? If I do opt for the mid-eye version, what do you match it with on the on the front?

Also, what's the story on the different choices of bushings; rubber vs polyurethane vs this Prothane-Urethane I saw in the NPD catalog, with respect to ride and any squeaking problems? Which do you recommend for the rear leaf springs? Thanks

 

[dolfan87]

The 5 leafs are a bit harsh on a 65 if all your going to do is drive it. I would consider the 4 leafs with a good shock (KYB, Koni, Edelbrock, ect.) The Dr. Gas small block progressive rate front springs are an excellent choice, and should match up well with the 4 leafs.

If you go mid eye, you will probably want to just start by cutting a quarter of a coil at a time in the front. This will be time consuming, but it's the only for sure way to get the ride height where you want it.

Also, don't just cut the coil, and set the car on the ground. Drive it around the block, and let the thing settle down. That will give you a much better idea of what you've got after each cut.

The polyurathane bushings have the rep as squeakers. I have never had a problem with them, but I know several people who did.

The Midolene (sp?) from Laurel Mountian is supposed to cut that down a lot, but honestly, that is what everyone claims their particular spin on the urathane bushing does.

I wouldn't hesitate to just get the plain jane rubber bushings if your just building it to drive.

Hope that helps.

87