Mustang Lowering springs and general maintence... day 1

[bswor]

Well the plan for today was to install the 1" Drop coils and Fan shroud.

I started the day off with the fan shroud, it took a little longer than expected. The fan blade was hitting due to the radiator hose being in the way which was no problem just had to cut it back a little. Then walah no clearance issues. During the shroud install i notice my fuel pump leaking around the diaphram. So i call the local parts store and they have it in stock. A $20 fix. This delays the coils a little longer.

So onto the coil spring install. Using spring compressors i finally get the drivers side out and decompressed. Then on further inspection my father and I notice my upper ball joints are almost shot. So once again i call local parts store but they had to order them. So the springs get delayed until tommorow. Which gave me time to clean and polish my wheels so no big deal.

8)

More to come.

[bswor]

Day 2 goes very well indeed. I pick up the ball joints and a new air cleaner early this morning. Install of the ball joints went good and was able to get the 620 springs in without compressing them. (took a little prybar action) The stance is much improved i really like the way it sits on the low profile tires.

short and sweet.

[Trinitys]

Awesome! I also didn't need a compressor on my 620's.
I am going to cut mine, maybe a third of a coil to bring it down slightly more in front. Yous will settle, although you probably wont notice it, it'll happen slowly over the next few months, then it’ll be slightly lower. Keep up the good work!

we want some pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Out of everyone here, I don't think I’ve ever seen pics of your car, so we want pics!

[bswor]

LOL yeh im very lazy with getting pics. One reason is i dont want to show any pictures until i get it painted sometime in the next coming weeks :lol:

But if you want some early pics right after i installed the 550 heavy duty springs (which we just removed and installed the 1" drop 620's) you can go here: http://www.1969stang.com/gallery/mystang/

And since trinity INSISTED here are some pics of my dirty car :)

http://www.1969stang.com/albums/lower/PICT0239.thumb.jpg
My lovely peeling paint.

[bswor]

I'll try to get some better pictures tommorow, rainy and miserable out today.

[Trinitys]

what are you doing with your old springs? i want them...think it would be possable?

[bswor]

still undecided on the springs. Was thinking of hanging onto them incase i lose the low profile tires in the future. I'll get back to ya.

[bswor]

Daytime photos.

http://www.1969stang.com/albums/lower/driver2.thumb.jpg

http://www.1969stang.com/albums/lower/drivers.thumb.jpg

http://www.1969stang.com/albums/lower/passenger.thumb.jpg

[mustang70]

On the topic of springs.....am I the only one running the 720's? It sure seems like it to me.

[Trinitys]

On the topic of springs.....am I the only one running the 720's? It sure seems like it to me.

see, thats an intersesting thing, 720's for the street are agressive and i belive they hurt true street proformance becauce they are so rigid they dont follow the surface contour of the street. its like a go-kart,, good on the track, but give it bumps and its all over the road. the goal of a street orianted front end is that you want the tires to maintain contact with the road as much as possable and if your riding on overly stiff suspension, you gonna follow the bump unitl you come off of it, like a tiny ramp, you'll jump it. this is a lose of surface contact. the combination of a larger sway bar incorporation with high rate springs causes a much higher wheel rate. for me ideal spring would be 550's, lowered and a 1 1/8 sway bar with good shocks...such a edelbrocks like the ones i got from dolfan...but this is for my car i drive semi aggressive in traffic, not at the flat track. if i were to opentrack, stiffer would be good.

[mustang70]

But that's just it, the springs aren't that stiff. Maybe it's because of the tires I was running, but I never had a problem with bouncing or anything. Maybe one of these weekends we can get rambunctous and throw my springs in your car and take it for a spin. I have a spring compressor so it'll be really easy.

[bnickel]

i have 720's in mine too. i've never had any problems with it being too stiff, and remember all my back problems?, my cherokee hurts me more than the stang does. i just use a softer shock like monroe matic-plus or kyb gr-2's and it rides as nice as can be, might be because of all the weight on the front end like the ac and power steering stuff

[mustang70]

I run the 720's with KYB gas adjusts and a 1" sway bar. But I also had a tall sidewall. I was running 235/60-14's. Maybe it's a little rougher with a lower profile tire. :?

[bnickel]

same here 1" bar with 235/60's only mine are on a 15" rim instead of 14. however at one time i was running a 215/60-14 in the front and i really couldn't tell much of a difference in the ride between them

[bswor]

What is this ride roughness you speak of? All the louisiana roads are rough so its kind of hard to tell in my case :lol: They are starting to get better though. 620's keep my car pretty level in corners which is nice. 550's didnt do as good a job.

[Solo2]

Hello my username is Solo2 I have owned a '69 sportsroof for the last 26 years and introduced myself to the forum under the name Solo2. See my post under Newbie with a lot of questions.

I want to rebuild her to the '69 TransAm Series Car.
Please tell me the experiences and troubles that occured to install the 750 lb front springs. What other mods was done. What is the rate for the rear springs?
Does the 220 lb or 200 lb or 180 lb rear rates exist?
Did you use the 5 1/2 leaf rear? What are those rates?
I notice that you are using the cobra 1" front sway bar, what are you using as a rear bar, what size? What mods do you do to the control arms?
Did the forum members add a bump steer kit?
Where to get these parts?
Did all the suspension parts come from MustangPlus?
Please help a long time owner with today's ideas and technology.
Thank you.
"Solo2"

[bswor]

Well to answer one of your questions briefly. Part suppliers i prefer to use are:

National Parts Depot (usually have the best prices, some repro items arent always up to quality but you can return anything!)

Their site is: www.npdlink.com (go ahead and get a catalog)

Another is: www.cal-mustang.com ( Prices are usually a little higher so i just shop deals with them, also good customer service.)

And: www.dallasmustang.com ( Very nice website, Just shop prices between the three for the best deals)

www.thepaddock.com although ive never used them.

NON Mustang specific:

www.ebaymotors.com <- for used and new parts just search for 69 mustang.

http://www.summitracing.com/ lots of good stuff.

www.jegs.com is also good.

[Solo2]

Thanks bswor for the vendors list.
BTW "Dallas Mustang" was not formed until after my restoration.
Back when they started=up their prices was very high. Only thing that I ever purchased from Dallas Mustang was decals.California Mustang was about two years old then. Most of the decals came from them. That really brings back memories.
$15 for the console, $5 for mint condition rim blow steering wheel, $30 for the complete shaker assembly, $10 for the rear down fold seat assembly, and $25 for the gray scale tech dash instruments plus all the interior wiring. Ahhh those was the dayyysss.

You are right. At swap meets I always had California / Dallas Mustang with me while I was at the sawp meets during the early to mid '80's.

My real questions are aimed to the individuals who race the Mustangs, What did they do to the 'stang.

I have showed the '69 stang for over twenty years and am show burnt out. Including many AutoRama circuits across the county.

Now is the time to degrade the car and race her

[mustang70]

Now is the time to degrade the car and race her

It's not degrading it. It's making it more user friendly. :lol:

BTW, I now hate you since you found a shaker for $30. Even if it was 26 years ago.

[Solo2]

Thanks!
Just to let you know I did not keep the shaker, sold her about ten years later for around $250, still not a bad investment. The best deal I ever made was selling the 600cfm OEM holley carb with all the matching numbers for $750 when I only had $7.50 invested into the carb, it took over six carbs to make just that one unit.

That is how I paid my way through college in the early '80s. I would buy and sell Mustangs, and sell them at the swap meets. Purchase the mustangs for $250 to $500 and sell her within the first hour at the swap meets for $1500 to $2500. That money paid the entire tuition funds for college, so college was free for me! It took ten mustangs to pay my way for four years of college and not one penney was out of pocket. Isn't that not a nice way to go to college?

But thanks again.
Please people are there anybody out there that is actively racing there mustangs. What did you do.
Solo2

[bswor]

I do not believe that anyone on this forum does race theirs but i could be wrong. I know there are a few over at www.stangnet.com 's forums you may want to check them out.