I couldn't find it when looking recently but I am pretty sure the rates were different left and right depending on options and ac. Back in '87 I got new leaf springs for that II and was thinking of getting new fronts. That has been many moons ago but I think Ford listed around 10 different front springs. The local dealer was not helpful so I just replaced the rears instead of picking the wrong front ones. I think they fine tuned them from factory but aftermarket only gives us a couple choices.
I didn't realize that car had the competition
suspension and how much better it handled. A friend of mine with a Ghia was always trying to beat that car and he just could not. He even put a 4 speed in it to try and keep up. His rode a little better than mine but mine always took a corner better. I bought a new larger sway bar for this car but still need a rear one. My old car was on rails. Flat in corners and rode reasonably well. I took many long trips and other than the high rpms needed for 75mph and the seats sucking it was a great highway car. This one not so much.
My goal is to make it ride smoother. It still has some vibrations but it's just freaking feral. With the t tops you get cowl shake pretty bad over bumps / corrugated roads. I live in the rust belt so local roads are rarely in great shape. They are always patching them. The front end hops around when hitting bumps. Especially in corners. Every bump or crack in the road is felt. Everything is new up front except the coils and spindles.
Control arms, rack, bigger brakes, shocks, spring isolators, sway bar. Everything. But it's just..... Feral. You cannot just relax when driving it. You have to be ready for it to go in an unpredictable direction.
I do not want to spend $600 on coil overs but I also do not want to pull the front end apart a few times to get the springs right. Every time I tried the cheaper way on this build it has back fired on me.
The choices I have are 350 lbs or 500 lbs. Considering a v8 with a/c came with 360 lb I am leaning to the 500lb for handling. I just don't want it to ride like a go cart with no
suspension. Considering I plan on adding ac but have used a lot of aluminum and relocated the battery would the 350 be better for me?