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1968 Suspension/Handling/Drive-ability/Safety Upgrades

p51

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Aug 2, 2005
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Location
NorCal
Suspension/Handling/Drive-ability/Safety Upgrades

Thought some folks might be interested in this...

For you Concours guys you can stop reading now – these upgrades definitely modify the car away from stock. And for you rodders out there (are there any left on this website?) these changes are probably too mild. But for those of you who, like me, want a car that “looks 1968” but “drives 2008” at a reasonable price, here's what I've done and would recommend. This is listed in a priority order where priority is some combination of benefit of the mod vs cost to do the mod...

(1) Add an export brace. Cheap, easy to do, can be reversed. Adds structural support.

(2) Add a metal divider between the back seat and trunk. I did this mainly for safety reasons (in case of a rear-end collision) but, interestingly, it also seems to add structural support. After adding the divider I noticed that the car didn't flex side-to-side nearly as much so this apparently also adds structural support. And all the creaks and groans (like when you back out of the driveway) vanished! It's cheap and easy to do.

(3) Arning drop (aka UCA or Shelby drop). Dropping the UCA 1”. Makes for much better handling.

(4) Roller perches. Again, this helps with the handling. It's a good kicker on top of the Arning drop.

(5) Progressive rate front springs – stock height. I personally don't like the front of the car being lowered. I'm also not fond of the reverse rake that stock mustangs have. I like the car to have a level stance, which is about what you end up with after doing the Arning drop but keeping stock height springs. When I added the roller perches I also added progressive-rate, stock-height, front springs so I don't know which contributed the most for the better handling – the springs or the perches (note, I've *read* that the roller perches add the most benefit). This, again, is a good kicker on top of the Arning drop. Note: The car previously had “lowered” and stiffer springs on it. I neither liked the lowered front ride height nor the “go-kart” stiff suspension feel.

(6) Front-end alignment to the Dazecars.com spec. Really helped with the handling and most of what I thought was steering linkage slop was gone after aligning to these specs. BTW: You can do FE alignments yourself with ~$200 worth of tools.

(7) Note: The car already had a upgraded front sway bar so I can't comment on how much benefit that adds...

(8) Headrests. Safety. I just added '69 seat backs.

(9) Front disk brakes. Safety.

(10) LED tail lights. Safety and unique look. One benefit of the GT/CS is that is so unique that people already tend to notice it on the road. The more you are noticed the safer you are. Adding LED tail lights which are both brighter and more unique increases the notice-ability (esp when stopping) quite a lot.

(11) Subframe connectors. I put Global West subframe connectors on the car. Along with the other suspension upgrades this makes the car handling fill really tight without having that “go-kart-jouncy-suspension” feel.

(12) 5-speed manual transmission. Fun, fun, fun (used to be a 3-speed... arrgh!)... also a bit better gas mileage on the freeway. Added a T5 transmission and changed the rear end from 3.0 to a 3.4.

(13) EFI. TBI, self-learning, EFI kit. It's a split decision whether I would recommended this or not. Not only is it the most expensive upgrade (~$1800) but, depending on your background, this could be a very frustrating addition.

The benefits: Better throttle response, better cold starts, better gas mileage, no fuel smell, adapts to altitude and ambient temperature changes (no re-jetting, etc required). And, if you do it right you can easily switched back (~5hours) from EFI -> carb.

The deficits: More complicated setup – more things can go wrong or fail and diagnosing them can become difficult. Moreover if you have EFI on a classic mustang and take it to most shops most of the mechanics don't know where to start. Even if they are comfortable with EFI a mechanic would need to know your specific EFI kit to be able to fix or modify anything. So, you end up doing a lot of your own work. And, unless you commute a long distance in your mustang, this mod will *not* pay for itself in any reasonable amount of time.

The decision:

Yea: If (like me) you feel more comfortable with computers than carbs, you like to fine tune the engine (eg A/F ratios, etc) using a laptop, and the above benefits of EFI are of sufficient value to you then, I'd recommend EFI. If you already know what you are doing, installing one of these kits takes no more than a day. The main things to focus on are the fuel system (esp the choice of the fuel pump), making sure the engine has very good electrical grounds (bad grounds cause a lot more problems with EFI while carbs are almost immune to this), making sure the engine has no vacuum leaks (again, EFI is much more sensitive to the vacuum signal) or exhaust leaks (can cause errors with the O2 readings).

Nay: If you're really comfortable with carbs, or are computer-phobic, or are not willing/able to do your own diagnosis/fixing of problems then I would stay away from EFI – even the one's touted as “plug-and-go”.

The tradeoff: If you only drive your car at a given altitude in an area where there's not a lot of ambient temp changes (eg coastal CA) then, IMO, you can tune your carb to within ~10% of what you'd get with the best tuned EFI. If you drive your car under differing and extreme conditions (temp, altitude) and really don't know how to fine tune a carb then you can probably get up to 25% better avg fuel economy (eg 16mpg -> 20mpg) from EFI along with better cold starts, better throttle response, etc
 

robert campbell

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Apr 10, 2007
Messages
4,321
Hot-rodders???













I prefer the Maier Racing subframe connectors. They connect in two places in the front and in the rear. Much more solid front to back, but I like to go fast in a straight line.

Interesting on the panel behind the rear seat. Makes good sense. I have heard that the one inch drop (aka Shelby drop) is very rough on tires and increases tire "scrubbing"? I have no proof of this, just a rumor so to speak.

There are a few hot rodders on the site. Joe, David, where have you been? Steve Wick also. He used to beat on some 71 to 73's on a roundy course as I remember!! Tim O'Brien loves to beat on his big blocks!!

Rob
 

Midnight Special

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Nov 5, 2005
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Location
Grass Valley, California
...Very inspiring and impressive thread, "p51"! Rob is also correct... The perfect driving machine to go with those awesome GT/CS looks completes the deal well above building a giant model in my book! :)
 

Ruppstang

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May 22, 2009
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Now you got Rob all fired up and it will take a week or two get him settled down.
LOL Marty
 
OP
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p51

p51

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Aug 2, 2005
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Location
NorCal
OP
OP
p51

p51

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 2, 2005
Messages
1,025
Location
NorCal
...Very inspiring and impressive thread, "p51"! Rob is also correct... The perfect driving machine to go with those awesome GT/CS looks completes the deal well above building a giant model in my book! :)

Thanks. Clearly, great minds think alike :smile:

James
 

robert campbell

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Now you got Rob all fired up and it will take a week or two get him settled down.
LOL Marty

NO KIDDING!!! I got to ride with Tim through the hills in Grass Valley in one of his GT/CS's with Steve Wick following in his Cleveland powered Fastback!!!

What fun!!! It reminded me of me!!!

Rob
 

sam

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Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Messages
494
I'd love to ship my Cal Spec from the great state of New Hampshire and get those upgrades done ! Plus I am a huge P51 Mustang and B 17 Flying Fortress fanatic.
......that's what I'm talkin about !
Sam
 

Midnight Special

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LOL ...Now Marty is going to yell at you for getting me started, Sam :)
 

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franklinair

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Mar 1, 2007
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4,740
Sam; Bumper guards are easy to install. Virtually a bolt-on. Same for wheel well trim pieces.
Suspension mods are another story.

Neil
 

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sam

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Jan 2, 2003
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494
Tim, those pics of the P51 & Fortress are great. Would love to catch a ride in one of them someday...............on the bucket list. Thanks for sharing ! Neil, the Shelby 10 spokes look awesome.

Sam
 

whodat

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Mar 26, 2010
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Can you be more specific on the roller front perches and the springs you are talking about.
 
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p51

p51

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Can you be more specific on the roller front perches and the springs you are talking about.

Opentracker for the roller perches...
http://www.opentrackerracingproducts.com/rollerperch/

I forgot who I bought the progressive rate springs from but here are two choices...
Mustangsplus Grab-a-trac (my springs are blue so...)
http://www.mustangsplus.com/xcart/1...Variable-Rate-Coil-Springs-Grab-A-Trak-R.html

Scott Drake
http://www.cjponyparts.com/scott-dr...sive-rate-pair-small-block-1967-1970/p/CSPR2/
 

franklinair

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Mar 1, 2007
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4,740
I've never been convinced that the roller bearing spring perches offer any significant benefit to handling characteristics, especially considering the cost. Some folks say they love them, but for normal city/highway driving I can't determine the added benefit of roller bearings over the stock rubber cushion application. But that's just 'old stick in the mud' me.

Neil
 
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p51

p51

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Messages
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Location
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I've never been convinced that the roller bearing spring perches offer any significant benefit to handling characteristics, especially considering the cost. Some folks say they love them, but for normal city/highway driving I can't determine the added benefit of roller bearings over the stock rubber cushion application. But that's just 'old stick in the mud' me.

Neil

You might be right that roller perches don't add much by themselves. I added them along with the progressive rate springs so I don't know what made the most difference. And at the time I was removing cut, stiffer springs which I really did not like because they were too harsh. The long story is as follows:

When I bought the car it had stock springs with no Arning drop. The springs were in reasonable condition but I neither liked the handling or the "reverse rake" that stock mustangs have. So I did the 1" Arning drop and put in cut springs that would lower the center of gravity. While I liked the handling I hated the car's look (it turned out that I also don't like an even slightly "slammed" look) and also really disliked the harshness of the ride. So, when I replaced the springs again (to level the car) I decided to go progressive rate springs with roller perches since I really didn't want to go through the hassle of doing all this incrementally. What I can tell you is, IMO, from a ride, handling, stance point of view...

Handling:
Arning drop + cut springs >> No Arning drop + stock springs (I think Shelby would agree on this :wink:)
Arning drop + progressive springs + roller perches ~= Arning drop + cut springs (I really saw no difference here)

Ride quality:
Arning drop + progressive springs + roller perches >> Arning drop + cut springs
Arning drop + progressive springs + roller perches >? No Arning drop + stock springs (hard to remember back that far)

Stance:
The 1" Arning drop with stock height springs (either stock or stock-height progressive rate) comes very close to leveling the car which, again, I personally prefer.

The bottom line is the car handles, rides, and looks a lot better than it did before I made the changes. It feels more like a 1998 (not quite 2008... yet) than a 1968 car now.
 
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