How to make a 67 handle

[pyroman]

I've had my 67 289 for over three years now and I want to start a project upgrading the suspension to make it handle a corner and making it more fun to drive in the twisties. Currently, the suspension is stock, but my lower ball joints are wearing out and so I am about to replace the lower control arms. I figure since I have to replace them anyways it probably is a good first step to upgrading my suspension. I've been doing some research on what it out there. I've looked at Global Wests products including their tubular lower control arms. So my question is for all you guys and gals who have their cars setup to handle. What setups are you using? What do you recommend for lower control arms? I don't really have alot of money right now so this project will take awhile. Basically tell me what you know are the keys to making a mustang handle, thanks.

 

[mustangdave]

The Global Wesy units are good if for no other reason than they do away with the rubber bushing at the pivot point. You need new higher rate springs, roller spring perches,upper control arms like Global West (again, does away with the rubber bushing), aftermarket strut rods, a one inch frt. sway bar, wider wheels/tires, shocks....and that's just the frt. end! That should eat up your budget for quite awhile. Since you need a new lower control arm, I would start with that, then springs frt. and rear, and new shocks for the biggest effect.

 

[pyroman]

Sweet man thanks!

 

[4MuscleMachines]

GW units are also much stronger and resistant to flex, plus the delrin bushings make it all worth it. ..a big plus if you drive your car hard like I do. OEM replacements must be boxed off in order to reduce flex in the arms. Have you ever picked up an oem stamped A-arm? They are ridiculously flimsy and light weight. Imagine imported MIT crap *(made in taiwan), subtantially worse when adding larger tires and heavier wheels to an already stressed system.

 

[rbohm]

first you need to decide what you want from the suspension, and what you are going to do with the car when you are finished. also how much is in your budget to do these mods. you are going to spend around $1000 just getting the gw upper and lower arms to you. if you are going racing, or even pro solo, then the cost is worth it, otherwise for the street, i wouldnt spend that kind of money. i would however get a new set of upper and lower arms, and reenforce them, install a spherical bearing in the lower arms, then add a 1" front and 3/4" rear anti roll bar.
for springs i would use the 540 or 620lb/rate springs in front and a 5 leaf rear spring. your choice on how much you want to lower the car. for shocks i would use either kyb gas adjust, or koni's. the koni's are expensive, BUT they can be rebuilt, and if you set them at their softest setting, and adjust them every 10k miles or so, you can get about 100k miles before you need to have them rebuilt. top the build off with a set of 15x8 wheels, and a decent tire say 235/60-15 on all four corners, and you are good to go.

 

[1320stang]

Interior or Exterior? Original looking (don't know why you wouldn't buy one from a vendor) or a custom one? In any case, you'll need to make the handle out of something that's easy to form, yet tough enough you can pull a mold from it..... Oh wait.... .....sorry..carry on.......

 

[pyroman]

Interior or Exterior? Original looking (don't know why you wouldn't buy one from a vendor) or a custom one? In any case, you'll need to make the handle out of something that's easy to form, yet tough enough you can pull a mold from it..... Oh wait.... .....sorry..carry on.......

HAHAHA, didn't realize the thread name could infer something else.

My application is going to be for aggressive street use now until I get out of college and then I would like to do some kind of racing, whether it be a vintage race a road rally etc. But, like I said this is going to be a long-term project. I certainly won't finish it in a year. Just upgrading parts when they need to be when I have the money to do so.

 

[Riggs]

Don't people put in Mustang II suspension? I think that would probably be the best upgrade you could do.

 

[Edbert]

One of the best arguments for a MII suspension is the abundant parts and the fact that you can cut out the shock towers for a larger engine. If you are keeping the 260/289/302 all the way to an FE (390/427/428 or even a Lima (429) you don't need more room, only the 4.6 wont fit a 67-68.

If your budget is under $1K you can get great results with new U-LCAs, poly bushings all the way around, some new springs (620s in front an 200-225s in back), some gas shocks, and the Shelby UCA drop and you're set.

If you want to spend more then GW, TCP and Griggs can make you a track star for more money. Some kits will cost $5K when you are all done. Also dont forget shoes (wheels and tires) and brakes (if you've got the go, you'd better have the whoa).

 

[BB1966]

Or if you got skillz you could do all of Opentrackers mods and save a BUNCH of $$$$$$$

 

[BobV]

Many different options - all costing varying degrees of comfort, time or money - your choice. When it's ALL said & done, TIRES are the single biggest variable though.

My suspension tech page covers some of the options.

 

[S-Car-Go]

Some may disagree, but this is what I'm ordereing for my 68 tomorrow for an agressive street setup.

Maier Racing: 500/lbs coil springs, 165 lbs leafs (1"lower)

Pro Motorsports: Negitive wedge kit

Global West: Lower control arms, Strut rod bushings (hard rubber), Sub-frame connectors

Summit Racing: Edlebrock shocks (haven't tried these before)

Plus local mustang shop will provide 1" sway bay, shackle kit, general rebuild parts

Last is a good alignment, not the factory specs.

 

[rbohm]

s-car-go the only thing i recommend that you do is reenforce the upper control arm, especially right behind the ball joint as that is a high stress area, that negative wedge kit put more stress there than the arm was designed for. otherwise you have a good settup for decent handling and decent ride.

 

[Jester67]

Maier Racing sub-frame connectors
Global west UCA, strut rods
Roller spring perch
Progressive rate springs form Pro Motor sports
Replace worn out rubber in suspension with Poly
KYB shocks
1 1/8 sway bar font no rear
Export and monte carol braces
4 and a half or 5 and a half have not decided yet
Biggest tires I can fit all around

 

[65fastback2+2]

my 67 suspension has all new front and rear parts. The front has the shelby drop and 620lb coils, 1" sway bar and midolyene bushings...the rear has midolyene bushings with mid-eye leafs...kyb gas shocks all around....this car handles amazingly....from before i did all this to after is atleast a 200% improvement in handling...i can now swing through a turn and run with any honda/ricer

 

[CornerCarvin67]

Biggest handling improvement on MY 67 Fastback would HAVE to be the TCP subframe connectors with cross cage.... along with their full tower brace support kit. The next in line would be the modded 620lb front springs along with Shelby mods. The rear springs dance with the front springs... 5 leaf reverse eye springs with heavy duty shackles and poly. Oh yeah... the big front sway bar helps too I'm sure.

But back to where I started... the connector are the big thing.... GOTTA stiffen the chasis before realizing all the other mods like arms and such.. good luck!!

 

[pyroman]

My car already had the monte carlo brace on it when I bought it but I still need to get the export "K" brace. I need to get new lower control arms anyway CornerCarvin because mine are about to go so I might as well replace them with some performance ones and before I upgrade anything else I'll make sure the chassis has been stiffened. Thanks for all the advice guys!

 

[gzminiz]

I was looking into the heidt's mustang II conversion as it was around $3k and also give me power steering, power brakes and 600# coil overs (disc front and rear), I have the I6 currently in it so I know to put an 8 in it i have todo a bunch of suspension work. Of course the full set of subframe connectors will also be installed.

I haven't figured out what I want to do with the rear end yet but to me $3k for all that seems like a pretty good deal. Don't think i could do all that for less. yes, no?

 

[RGS0907]

Anyone have any experience with the aftermarket power racks out there? I'm thinking about dumping my &^%# power steering setup for a R&P but it has to be bolt-in, I can't chop up the car!

 

[Jester67]

I don’t like the mustang II conversions they load the car in a way the uni-body was never designed for and the extent of modifications required leaves no room for error. A vary common failure mode is a broken / torn out weld. Just not a good option IMHO.


As for power racks to my knowledge there is no ideal conversion that does not require modification to the car.