which front suspension for my 66 fastback?

[wldtang]

As I plan my fastback resto build, I am looking at front and rear suspensions. Something other than stock.

I spoke with Griggs but man their front suspension breaks the bank.
I am now looking at two different front suspensions.

AJE front strut w/ K member
http://www.ajeracing.com/64-70Mustang.php

Martz front suspension
http://www.martzchassis.net/page3.htm

Any thoughts on these?

I wonder how the martz compares to the griggs setup.

 

[DukeGnarley]

what exactly are you trying to do with your suspension?

if you're not hellbent on getting rid of your shock towers, then you might look into the opentracker racing products stuff, which is similar to stock, only greatly improved upon. there's also TCP, Global west, and a plethora of other options which are bolt in so you can return your car to stock if you wanted to.

Ron Morris makes a coil over kit similar to the tcp one with tubular control arms and they also make a coilover kit to work with stock style suspensions (ORP and global west).

the TCP kit runs around $2500 and the others i have mentioned are cheaper than that, so it depends on what you are trying to do with your car. I personally like the look of the shock towers so i'm going to go with one of the suspensions i have mentioned once i have the money.. probably ORP control arms / RMP coil over kit.

 

[wldtang]

This will be a street rod. Need extra engine room. It doesn't bother me to modify the shock towers or remove them all together.

I will be either going with a 351w (408) or a 4.6.

 

[DukeGnarley]

a 351 Windsor or Cleveland can fit without removing the towers. the Cleveland is a much tighter squeeze from what i hear, but you don't need to remove the towers for a Windsor. the 4.6 would require removing the shock towers or at least making some severe modifications as it is in fact wider than a big block.

if you really need the extra room, then your options are basically the griggs and MII setups. you can also get a strut setup like the RRS one, and then be able to remove quite a bit of shock tower.

 

[Gailahan]

For no shock towers, go MII all the way. Check out Heidts hot rod shop.

 

[wldtang]

I know I can fit a windsor in there but i prefer to clean it up some and open up the bay.

 

[CraigMBA]

You realize you're looking at $4k no matter what on this deal, right?

 

[wldtang]

$4K for what? front suspension? No way.$2500-3000 max.

 

[CraigMBA]

Does that get you a column?

 

[Rusty67]

Keep is simple man. Stick with a 351w and modify the stock suspension as you see fit. If you want power steering with a cleaner setup there are some people who have put in power steering boxes that have an integrated assist and used the manual steering linkage with that box. That will clean up the steering linkage a lot.

If you were trying to do something to the car handling wise I could see puting in some crazy aftermarket stuff, but for a car that isn't going to see any severe duty, there is no reason to spend that kind of money on the suspension.... unless you go with the 4.6L

 

[CraigMBA]

$3K in hard parts, $1K in incidentals. You might be able to get it done cheaper, but most people don't have a spare Flaming River column stashed in the rafters or the right engine mounts handy........plus the new steering wheel. It all adds up.

I used to love to read PHR in the 1980's when they'd do a "475 HP for only $3300!" article and convenently forget about the set of Brodix heads they had lying around they got for 'free'.

 

[CraigMBA]

If you were trying to do something to the car handling wise I could see puting in some crazy aftermarket stuff, but for a car that isn't going to see any severe duty, there is no reason to spend that kind of money on the suspension.... unless you go with the 4.6L

If he wants it to handle, adding the 200 or so pounds of weight on the front axle courtesy of the 4.6 is not an optimal place to start.

 

[wldtang]

I could very well keep it simple and stock. But that just isn't me. I like having something a little different and very much a performer.
I spoke with Andy at Martz and was surprised at how flexible they are.

If this car was in good shape, then I may not cut on it so much. But there is no describing how much work this car needs. It needs the entire front and rear sections, full floor, rails, firewall and etc.

I am selling my 1994 cobra to fund the project.

 

[68EFIvert]

I went with a Ron Morris kit that I purchased new from Ron on eBay with what he said was slight blems in the finish. I Couldn't find them. I paid $1700 + $100 shipping. I have a Steeroids rack with tilt column. Less than $1500. It will give you a great combination.

 

[ShAkE N BaKe!!]

^^ how do you like the results? I want 2 get a coil-over setup

 

[68EFIvert]

^^ how do you like the results? I want 2 get a coil-over setup

I have not had a chance to take the car out yet. It is still at the body shop. I have heard great things about the kit on another website. One guy does a lot of open track events with his car and made a statement that with his old modified stock suspension he started to feel a little uneasy at 110 mph. With the new setup he can go 140 with confidence. The kit is very high quality and I like the idea it gives you better handling without rattling your bones with still springs. Would I do it again and pay full retail? Without a doubt.

As far as coil over systems go I think the best designed kit is the one from Global West. It puts the load of the suspension on the lower side of the shock tower. TCP, Aeroform, RM and the others sandwich the loan with metal plates above and below the shock tower. Does it make a difference? Probably not but the GW system is closer to how the cars were designed to carry the load. It wasn't worth the extra money in my opinion.