Gremlins

[WolfDog50]

I am recently the new (and 4th) Owner of an '87 GT 5.0 I have spent the last 2 weeks massaging the gremlins outta the thing. Minor stuff like a half functioning cluster and rotten exhaust. I'm down to two last gremlins. One is that the car usually idles OK but sometimes when it's up to temp, it will idle with a surge between 500 and 900 rpm or so. I still need to double check for vacuum leaks but any additional help here would be great. I did read the thread about adjusting the TPS, I'll try it in the morning. The car cold starts and warms up just fine.
My second and probably most serious gremlin is that when the car goes around hard left turns or over "imperfections" in the road, the right front tire rubs against the fender. With the car on a level shop floor, it sits dead level on all 4 corners. (measured from top of fender arc/wheel well opening) The car has been lowered considerably but I have no problems with the other side, I recently replaced both front struts and now it rubs only over road bumps, not around left curves. The car nosedives pretty hard under hard braking so I'm thinking I maybe need stiffer springs up there? I have a set of Eibach's in mind but would bad/worn bushings be the culprit?

P.s. I'm a chevy convert so I'm new to the Fox 'Stangs and Ford in general. However, I'm starting to see where all the fun went, lol.

 

[HISSIN50]

a stock-ish motor should have 15-20 inches of vac at idle.

do you think the tire is rubbing from compression? the stock springs have the car up pretty high in the front - maybe you just got some sag?

when you did the struts, how did the bushing on top of the strut look?
have you jacked it and played with the tire (push/pull) to see if there is slop?

just a couple random ideas - it sounds like you know what you are doing. welcome to the boards. im not sure what Chevy stuff you had, but i think youll find much of the stuff on the stang easier to work on (G/F has a 4th gen camaro. PITA to work on).

good luck.

 

[notchback]

what size tires are up front? they are supposed to be 225-60-15's if they are wider than that ,
that may very well be your problem. and are the stock wheels still on it? i have to say i've seen guys w/ some crazy backspacing on their wheels.
as far as the nose dive...stangs were never a great handling car but....alot of guys put the 4 cyl springs up front to aid on launch...don't work too well for handling though....just an idea