68 mustang front suspension

[cooperscobra]

I just bought my dream car, a 1968 mustang fastback. I wanted to do a few modifications such as power rack and pinion front brake rotors, and an improved front suspension. I stumbled across this kit and wanted to see if anyone had an opinion on it. The car currently has four wheel drum brakes, stock suspension, and a 351w with a four speed toploader.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...arms=tab=Watching&item=120342545943&viewitem=

I was looking at getting the power rack and pinion option as well as the 2" drop spindles. Seems like a great deal for everything you get. Any input you may have would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

[golf4283]

It's pretty labor intensive in regards to welding so if you don't weld I would stay clear of it.
IMO you should look at something like a randall's rack and pinion along with a nice rebuilt front setup. That will handle just as well as that Mustang II setup if not better.

 

[jcode68]

Congrats on getting your 68 FB (happens to be my favorite too) and welcome to Stangnet. The kit you are looking at is NOT a bolt in kit, it requires major surgery, cutting out the stock suspension points, shock towers etc and welding in the new stuff from the kit. I reccomend you look at the bolt in kits available from companies like TCP, RRS, Global West and others. This site is chock full of great information, I would suggest you spend some time using the search feature and you will tap into hundreds of threads on this subject.

 

[cooperscobra]

Checked out kits from TCP, RRS, and global west and they are costly! The reason I liked the kit I posted was because of what it included. Power rack and pinion, brake upgrade, and the suspension. Because of how much is involved with the install it will definitely be beyond me and I will have to pay a shop to do it. I will have to call around to see if the shop fees out weigh the initial savings on the kit.

 

[jcode68]

It would be a shame to cut up your car just to put this system on. Generally speaking, these kist are use by guys who are doing an engine swap that wouldn't otherwise fit the engine bay with the original shock towers. For example, lots of people swapping in late model modular motors are much wider and require the extra space. My suggestion is to spend a lot more time researching ALL of the options, which are many. I simply listed 3 of the top performing systems on the market, not necessarily the most cost effective. Spend some time searching and you will see what I mean. I personally think the stock suspension with some minor upgrades is pretty good. Doing small things like roller spring perches, shelby drop, larger sway bar, better shocks, urethane bushings will go a long way and keep your budget in check. As for disc brakes, there are a bunch of options ranging from low cost, but very effective, to higher priced bling systems. It all depends on your goals and what is important to you. I will say that an R&P steering upgrade is creeping to the top of my list of future upgrades. The old steering box technology is sloppy and unresponsive, especially with factory power steering. Again, many solutions available, do your homework. I would suggest taking each as it's own project rather than an all at once approach unless you have the budget for it.

 

[BarnStang]

By the time you pay a shop to install that, you could just about pay for a complete Total Control system and bolt it on yourself...and you will need to find a shop that actually does this type of work. Not a shop that wants to "learn how" on your project.

 

[cooperscobra]

Thanks to all of you, especially jcode68, for your input. I am really new to a lot of this. I had a 65 coupe and remember how horrible the steering and handling was in it especially at higher speeds. I definitely have more research to do but you have all greatly helped in pointing me in the right direction. Struggling to pick out my mods soon though. I am making decent money for now, getting ready to go back to college full time though. Need to decide how much of a budget I will need to get my mustang where I want it for now. Once I get more educated on everything and closer to making a purchase I will definitely post to see what you all think. Thanks again!

 

[Mil1ion]

On my 68 coupe 289 with manual drum brakes I swapped in a set of power front discs with coil springs for a 390 car, plus a 1" sway bar for a better ride and handling.

I did a complete system for $400.00 back in 1996

 

[wicked93gs]

having done the mustang II swap, I have to say it really isnt all that difficult....it is time consuming though(mine took me roughly 40 hours to finish working on my own, if I had to do it again, I could cut it down to 30 hours) a lot of that time on my swap was spend welding in the patch panels and grinding and sanding....regardless though, unless you are swapping engines to a big block or modular(or some other wide engine), there is no reason to do the mustang II swap....a performance suspension based on the stock design will handle the best(such as global west, control freak, or open tracker) they are expensive...but then, you own a classic mustang.....get used to it...I do admit though that for a little more than the cost of one of these rack and pinion kits, I have R&P, 11.25" discs, and a somewhat decent suspension...that I will most likely end up modifying to make it handle a bit better

 

[bnickel]

the biggest problem with the stock 60's mustang suspension is the steering and the bumpsteer issues. what i would do is swap in a decent power rack kit; TCP, Randalls Rack, Steeroids, Unisteer and RRS are all good ones but stay away from the flaming river rack kits. next would be the bumpsteer issue, the rack will solve most of that but you might also need a bumpsteer kit, TCP, Pro Motorsports, Baer, Opentracker and others all have good bumpsteer kits but you should also consider adding a set of Opentracker roller spring perches and also do the 1" upper control arm drop (it's free other than the cost of a 1/2" drill bit if you don't already have one) and a set of heim jointed adjustable strut rods, that will take care of the bumpsteer issues.

however before you do all of this stuff you should first make the all the suspension parts are in good shape, all bushings etc, now would also be a good time to change the front springs and swaybar as well, and also do your disc brakes, OpenDNS has several good kits that will work great on your car, they are basically stock style disc brake systems but with good semi-metallic pads the stock power disc kits work just fine.

yes, all of this stuff will cost more than one of the mustang II kits but if you factor in the cost to have someone install the mustang II kit correctly you're looking at another $1000 or more, probably closer to another $1500 to have it done right so actually the cost difference between it and just upgrading the stock system is negligible at that point.

if you shop around on all mustang forum classifieds sections you can probably even find a lot of the stuff used from people who have upgraded to even better stuff like full coilover systems or even people who just need to cash out some new parts because they over extended their budget or whatever.