Suspension Questions

[tunerEATER]

so my dad and I split an 87 GT over the summer, spent 3000 on it, no rust. Came with a pro ripper short shifter, we replaced it with a hurst. Came with full flowmaster exhaust, aluminum drive shaft, also has an intake. Mainly we've been fixing small body dents and imperfections, we replaced the bad clutch cable with a steeda aluminum adjustable one, everything's much smoother. We also fixed a leak in the transmission (which was a bi***). We removed the A/c spare, will remove back seat soon too.

So basically the car is a fun car for me and him to work on. I'm away at school now but plan to have a winter project, hopefully over my thanksgiving break we can fix up the interior to what we want it to be.

basically our short term plans are to clean it up in general and figure out the best suspension/wheel set up we can get. My goal is a nicely fitted, slightly lowered car with wide back wheels and a bit of camber. Functionally I want a little more planted feel in general, taking off, around turns, and around town as well. I wont mind a relatively bumpy ride because like i said this is just our fun car, I like to think of it as my toy in the garage. Anyways, i'd like to be able to take off and hook up off the line but i'm not trying to build strictly a drag car. I'm looking for a solid planted feel while still being able to be a child and do burnouts while I can and get sideways when i feel the urge.

To be honest I dont have much knowledge about suspension set ups but my goal is to be able to take turns at a higher speed and be able to hold the car sideways more easily than i can now..
I'd love to hear some recommendations. Also, tire set up help is much needed haha.


thanks guys!

 

[tunerEATER]

Here's a visual, I know, some nice skinny small tires on there.. but for 3000 with no rust i wasn't gonna say no

 

[gearheadboy]

Why does everyone insist on removing the A/C and rear seat?

 

[mikestang63]

It "adds" hp..... dunno I've owned 11 second convertible mustangs that still had all the a/c. p/s and rear seat.

For suspension, low budget is 4cyl springs up front and a bag in the right rear spring, 90/10 and 50/50 shocks, and replace the rear uca bushings. A step up and proven setup are tokico 5 ways, eibach drag springs, and a good set of adjustable rear upper and lower control arms. If you have the money go coil overs and weight jacker lca's. I'm sure others will give their recommendations as well. These worked for me over the years.

 

[gearheadboy]

I like A/C. But it's a fun car not just a race car.

 

[5pt0driven78]

tunerEATER,

I recently went through my whole suspension on my '89 LX hatch and was looking for pretty much the same setup and drive-ability you described. First thing I'd recommend is getting rid of every rubber bushing on the car (chances are most of the OEM stuff is worn-out already) and replace with urethane. I put new Koni STR.T struts up front and shocks in the rear, STEEDA lowering springs all around, UPR tubular rear upper/lower control arms, Prothane bushings in the swaybar linkage, front control arms and rear axle bushings, and Maximum Motorsports full-length subframe connectors and I'm running 16" Pony rims wrapped in Yokohama S.DRIVE tires. After all of these mods, the suspension is WAY more responsive and handles great all-around.

This is one of those topics though that you'll get a different answer from almost everyone,
cause there's many options out there depending on what you want to do with the car and how much cash-ola you want to spend. This setup was a reasonable cost and accomplished what I was looking for. Good luck with your suspension project!

 

[Cory Berg]

I'm sorry for going off topic here but do you have any idea where the hood scoop came from? I want it...... lol