Unique Performance Coilovers

70vert

New Member
Dec 31, 2004
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Bay Area, CA
Hey all,
I'm in the middle of an overhaul of the original front suspension on my '70 convertible. Steeroids R&P, and probably Unique Performance coilovers on the front. Talked to their tech and order guys, and it seems the coilover will fit a '70:

(http://www.uniqueperformanceproducts.com/ProductPage.aspx?ItemID=29)

It seems like Overhaulin' used it on the Gambler 514:

(http://overhaulin.com/gallery20.aspx)

I'm doing the upgrade for street performance - I want the best handling '70 convertible I can afford, and I've had the car for 15 years, though it's been off the road for 10 or so. It's got a 302-2v original (currently running fine)
Any comments on the above, either Steeroids or Unique's coilover system? They recommended their 450 lb. spring for small block but that sounds a little low. I eventually want a stroked 351w in it and I'm looking for stiff but not punishing handling. Is 450 enough or should I request their big block springs? Also, I'm going a few inches lower and the car will get the Shelby Drop in addition to adjusting the coilovers down. Stock wheels with Eagle STs until I can get some 17x8 Torq Thrust IIs or Stockton Wheel TQs.
It's great to be back into this, I just got the car back after 10 years of it sitting in my parents' garage and I'm going full tilt on getting it done right.

jb
 
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70vert said:
Hey all,
I'm in the middle of an overhaul of the original front suspension on my '70 convertible. Steeroids R&P, and probably Unique Performance coilovers on the front. Talked to their tech and order guys, and it seems the coilover will fit a '70:

(http://www.uniqueperformanceproducts.com/ProductPage.aspx?ItemID=29)

It seems like Overhaulin' used it on the Gambler 514:

(http://overhaulin.com/gallery20.aspx)

I'm doing the upgrade for street performance - I want the best handling '70 convertible I can afford, and I've had the car for 15 years, though it's been off the road for 10 or so. It's got a 302-2v original (currently running fine)
Any comments on the above, either Steeroids or Unique's coilover system? They recommended their 450 lb. spring for small block but that sounds a little low. I eventually want a stroked 351w in it and I'm looking for stiff but not punishing handling. Is 450 enough or should I request their big block springs? Also, I'm going a few inches lower and the car will get the Shelby Drop in addition to adjusting the coilovers down. Stock wheels with Eagle STs until I can get some 17x8 Torq Thrust IIs or Stockton Wheel TQs.
It's great to be back into this, I just got the car back after 10 years of it sitting in my parents' garage and I'm going full tilt on getting it done right.

jb


there is a guy on here that goes by dolfan87 who is working on a coilover kit for 67-70 cars right now and will be selling them before long, hopefully, once he gets done with the testing and it should be quite a bit less than the tcp or unique performance pieces do a search on his user name and you find some pics of his prototype kit. personally i like his kit a lot better than the tcp or unique kits
 
bnickel said:
there is a guy on here that goes by dolfan87 who is working on a coilover kit for 67-70 cars

I would like to pipe in here as a satisfied customer. I ordered an off-the-rack, custom-made piece from Dolfan. He fabbed it up and delivered according to spec. If I had to redo my suspension, which I just did, I would not hestitate to go with his kit. The only thing is that he is still in the testing phase so the product is not immediately available.
 
I'm thinking 450 rate would be enough. Since the unit mounts all the way to the end of the Lower control Arm it has a much greater advantage (leverage) than the stock spring mount on the middle of the Upper Control arm.
 
We are delivering our first test kit next weekend. It took some serious doing to get a driver, and a car that would work for us.

Fortunately we found a guy who races a 68 Cougar, and also drives it on the street.

As long as everything goes well, within a month our kits will be available to the 67-70 crowd. This is of course as long as we don't have to re-engineer anything. (I don't forsee a problem as we over built everything)

As most of you know, it has been a terribly long and drawn out process full of problems that I didn't expect. But hopefully that is behind us now.

Jerry, let me know how that monte bar works out.

Happy New Year everyone!!

Gram
 
70vert said:
Any comments on the above, either Steeroids or Unique's coilover system? They recommended their 450 lb. spring for small block but that sounds a little low. I eventually want a stroked 351w in it and I'm looking for stiff but not punishing handling. Is 450 enough or should I request their big block springs?
jb
Regarding the spring, I think the people you are buying from will know the best. What you are looking for is a "wheel rate". Since the spring in a coilover will be attached to the lower arm and due to the improved geometry that will provide, you should expect the coilover to use a softer spring compared to the stock Mustang springs.

Tell them what you want and they should be able to help. The main problem is that "stiff but not punishing" will be different for every individual. Some people think the big block Mustang springs are too harsh, and others like them fine. Maybe the suspension company will have something available that gives a wheel rate in between the stock small and big block suspension.

Dolfan87 - looking forward to seeing your finished product up for sale!
 
70vert said:
Hey all,
I'm in the middle of an overhaul of the original front suspension on my '70 convertible. Steeroids R&P, and probably Unique Performance coilovers on the front. Talked to their tech and order guys, and it seems the coilover will fit a '70:

(http://www.uniqueperformanceproducts.com/ProductPage.aspx?ItemID=29)

It seems like Overhaulin' used it on the Gambler 514:

(http://overhaulin.com/gallery20.aspx)

I'm doing the upgrade for street performance - I want the best handling '70 convertible I can afford, and I've had the car for 15 years, though it's been off the road for 10 or so. It's got a 302-2v original (currently running fine)
Any comments on the above, either Steeroids or Unique's coilover system? They recommended their 450 lb. spring for small block but that sounds a little low. I eventually want a stroked 351w in it and I'm looking for stiff but not punishing handling. Is 450 enough or should I request their big block springs? Also, I'm going a few inches lower and the car will get the Shelby Drop in addition to adjusting the coilovers down. Stock wheels with Eagle STs until I can get some 17x8 Torq Thrust IIs or Stockton Wheel TQs.
It's great to be back into this, I just got the car back after 10 years of it sitting in my parents' garage and I'm going full tilt on getting it done right.

jb
You do realize that Uniques coil-over is basically the same as TCP's. They started producing their own version of the coil-over when TCP was in the toilet.
 
Jerry S, how does your Global West suspension stage 5 preform? I'm looking hard at this one myself. It seems to be the best deal, since you get rear suspension and big brakes all around the car with that kit. What did your kit cost? My plan is to get that kit, and combine it with Håkan's rack & pinion, which you also can find on this tread.
 
If I could see the photos on that earlier thread . . .

Gram,
I already had my order in with Unique when I opened the thread. I assume I could get my money back, assuming they don't make it a PITA to do so. I can't see the images on your thread from May of this year:

(http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=468653&page=1&pp=25&highlight=coilover)

on either IE or Firefox or Apple's Safari browser on my Mac. Did these images go bye-bye? If you email me photos at (spam filter) "stang70convertible at mac dot com" (/spam filter) I will actually make a web page with your descriptions. It's based on a template, so nothing fancy but you can at least have a link you can post for now.
I wish I had been on StangNet a month ago when I was looking around for coilovers. I like the adjustability, the bling factor somewhat. This is a lifetime project (had the car for 15 years) so I want to do it right but I'll never have Eleanor-level money to spend on it. I do need to get this done soon or I'll probably just throw the money into the house, though.
Can't wait for pics, let me know if you want me to set up something for you.

jb


dolfan87 said:
As long as everything goes well, within a month our kits will be available to the 67-70 crowd. This is of course as long as we don't have to re-engineer anything. (I don't forsee a problem as we over built everything)


Gram
 
fvike said:
Jerry S, how does your Global West suspension stage 5 preform? I'm looking hard at this one myself. It seems to be the best deal, since you get rear suspension and big brakes all around the car with that kit. What did your kit cost? My plan is to get that kit, and combine it with Håkan's rack & pinion, which you also can find on this tread.

My suspension performs well. It is really for an open track race car. I have not put my car on the track at Assen yet but for the street use, I can tell you that it is more than you would ever need for a street application. It is a fine suspension without any doubts. The brakes work fine but these parts are cobbled together from various sources. I ended up upgrading to power brakes with a kit from MPBrakes.com because I had way too much "go" and not enough "whoa." I got a deal on the price for the wheels because I got the seconds from Vintage Wheelworks for $650, not $995 that they go for new.

As for the company itself, they will kiss your donkey to make the sale but once your check clears, it is another story. When I called to place my order in late August of last year, I was told that everything was in stock and would ship out pronto. It turns out that this was not true. My order was not completely shipped until January of 2004. While I was having the car built, I estimate I called them at least 30 times and they never ever once called me back.

There were two problems with my order. One of the items I purchased was the shock tower brace that is bent to clear aftermarket distributors. When I eventually got my MSD pro-billet distrib, the brace did not clear. I called GW to discuss. I pointed out that their product did not fit as advertised, that if it did not fit my MSD distrib, it wasn't going to fit anyone else's. I asked about reconfiguring the bar so that it would actually do what they claimed it would do, i.e., fit an aftermarket distrib. They seemed disinterested. They offered to maybe look intomaking another one for me in a few months but based on my previous experience, I felt it would just be a waste of time. Instead, I had Gram make one for me. I paid double for this bar. Once to GW for a bar that did not fit and once more to Gram for a bar that will.

Another problem was with the adjustable strut rods. These have adjusting sleeves are threaded all the way through. When the sleeves were anodized, some of the anodizing fouled the threads and I could never adjust the front end for correct caster. When I complained to GW, there was no offer to send me adjusting sleeves without fouled threads, a repeat of the bar situation. I had to buy a tap in the US and have it sent to Europe and pay to have somebody else fix the problem at my own expense.

My price for my kit was $6500 plus another $100 for a monte carlo bar that actually fits plus another $150 to rethread the adjusting sleeves and reinstall the strut rods.

If I had to do it over again, I would not get the GW kit. INstead, I would have got Gram's front end kit and then do the rest on my own just because of the complete lack of after sales service I got from GW. It was zip, zero, zilch. You can get the wheels direct from VWW for the same price or less. If I had know at the time that I could have got 16x8 Magnum 500s with a 4.5 inch BS from National Parts Depot, I would have got those instead. As for the brakes, I could have got a kit from SSBC for about the same price as what I paid to GW.

The GW stuff is pretty good quality, definitely cheaper than the TCP stuff, and more than adequate for racing your car but I really feel like they don't place much value on customer support. They had all kinds of excuses for it; "we were moving to another building," "our supplier is late delivering the del-alum bushings," and "we are too busy with the new coil over kit to address your non-conforming monte carlo bar." This isn't going to be my last mustang. I am planning a 1966 GT-350 clone for the next one. I cannot see myself willingly going with GW the next time around because of their cavalier lack of concern about making right on any of the things that went wrong. TCP is out just because of the price. If Gram is selling for a 66 when the time comes, I would go with him.
 
Cool! :banana:

So, Greg, just a recap... your kit is the coilovers only, no brakes, no rear end suspension, or do you have something planned for that too? And what retail price are you shooting at ? (I'm to tired to read thru that other tread.)

Anyway, I'll be doing a coilover upgrade in the near future (at most within a year, but plans are to do it within the spring) so I hope you got some answers that will make me rethink my plans, because with TCP out of the game, and Unique Preformance only delivers '65-'68 mods i think, GW is the only real option for me. Unless...

Hmm... guess we hijacked the tread anyway. :crazy:
 
fyi, Unique says its stuff works for '69-70 if you ask

and Overhaulin' used them for their Gambler 514 '70 mustang. Not that that is a great pedigree, Overhaulin' goes for the bling factor primarily.
If I hadn't paid for the Unique system already, and they promised delivery by the end of January, I'd go with Gram's unit. If they don't deliver as promised, I'll try to get my money back.
I need descriptions for the different photos! plus, let me know if you want your email on there so people can contact you, place orders, and generally get your coilover business going.

Joe

fvike said:
Cool! :banana:

Unique Preformance only delivers '65-'68 mods i think, GW is the only real option for me. Unless...

Hmm... guess we hijacked the tread anyway. :crazy:
 
70vert said:
and Overhaulin' used them for their Gambler 514 '70 mustang. Not that that is a great pedigree, Overhaulin' goes for the bling factor primarily.
If I hadn't paid for the Unique system already, and they promised delivery by the end of January, I'd go with Gram's unit. If they don't deliver as promised, I'll try to get my money back.
I need descriptions for the different photos! plus, let me know if you want your email on there so people can contact you, place orders, and generally get your coilover business going.

Joe

Well my e mail is [email protected]

As far as placing orders, we need to get things tested, and then get a cost estimation put together.

Descriptions...I will e mail you some as soon as I get more than 5 minutes to myself. ;)

fvike- It's just the front suspension. This will include upper and lower a-arms, adjustable strut rods, Bilstein aluminum coil overs and springs, upper shock mounts (lowers are built into the strut rod) and an adjustable export brace/shock opening cover.

There are already several great companies out there selling brake systems. I prefer Baer (local company, and great products) and recommend them to everyone who asks.

Rear suspension is not something we are looking at right now. We did put a z link coil over set up on my Mach, but that was a ton of welding, and requires limiting straps. If things work out well on the front end stuff, then we can think about expanding, but right now we want to start simple.

Pricing we aren't sure about, but we are shooting for under 2 grand.

Gram
 
Gram,
Can you rework that upper mount so the shock towers can be cut in for larger engine applications like say a 4.6 (for some additional clearance)? Maybe offer it down the road as an option?
 
GT2K said:
Gram,
Can you rework that upper mount so the shock towers can be cut in for larger engine applications like say a 4.6 (for some additional clearance)? Maybe offer it down the road as an option?


Boy that would be a tough one. I am sure there is always a way, but I haven't even thought about it until just now. I will talk with the boys about that, and see if there wouldn't be a way to get it done.

As of right now those shock towers are fairly important.

Gram