Brakes/front Suspension Help/introduce Myself

[Wth68]

Hello im new to the forum figured id add this to my first post as the people on VMF never help me with anything I seem to need help with so im branching out...

I have a 68 my dad got as a father son project but ended up being a son teach father project as im mechanicaly inclined and hes not so much... I have a bit of a frankenstien motor due to my father torqing my rocker arms down after getting it back from the machine shop... that turned into a rounded off cam and I took the blame so he wouldnt think it was his fault ect... well now shes a frankenstien motor... I decided that instead of just getting another stock cam for the 289 id go bigger... which turned into going full roller.. friend had an e303, crane roller rockers, windsor srs port polished, all brand new as he decided he didnt want the old technology of the alpha cam sooo she sold all that to me for $200 that had 0 miles on it all.... now shes a 289 with windsor srs, e303cam, edel performer, 650 holly, auto c4, stock stall, which now gets me to my real question.....

Now that my car runs... ive noticed she pulls really badly to the right upon braking. Sooo I pulled the brakes to do an adjustment and the shoes looked worn unevenly... long story short I found a guy on a wim selling basiclly all new front suspension brakes included off a 67... it was all brand new parts minus the ball joints from age of sitting for a while... I got it for a 1/4 of what itd cost to buy new and im deff on a budget... so I got lowering springs shocks uca lca centerlink spring perches uhhh spindles new brakes complete idler arm torsion bars... so far ive noticed 2 differences... the LCAs amd the bar coming off it towards the front... and the drum brakes... on my car it has the drum that when removed you pull the drum off of the spinning hubs and the studs are attached to that spinning hub located behind the drum.... on these brakes that I got from him off of what he says was a 67 the drum has the studs attached and I have to remove the nut for the wheel bearings then I can pull off the drum to see the inside of the brakes which has the dowl coming threw the center with the bearings on it...

Now all I want to know is am I making a bad decision putting this stuff on my car. Its all new vs my 45 year old shot suspension and brakes and is there any reason it would be dumb to put the 67 suspension on that I got? Is this brake design good? Better? Worse? I honestly have no idea when it comes to suspension and just dont want to make a bad decision... I also read somthing about that setup needing a press to press the drum on... im confused... I just dont want to be putting this stuff on amd making a mistake because I wouldve just been better off using the 68 style brakes and lca

 

[v8only]

solid adjustable strut rods such as the ones from rosehill performance will help you stop straight and dial in positive caster for handling

id ditch the drums altogether for disc..mustang steve sells brackets that allow you to bolt onnlate model mustang disc brakes

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Wth68]

i completely agree with the disc break thing and plan to in the future when funds allow for it!!! i plan on going with the .3 CSRP power brake conversion kit.

just for now this will have to do untill i can get in inspected registered and become my DD

 

[Rusty67]

The strut rod on a 67 is, I believe, a one year part but it sounds from your description like you got that piece. I believe the lower control arms are a 1 year part for 67 as well....

The correct setup as I know it for a 67 is a hub with the studs in it and the drum slides onto that hub. If the drum has an integrated hub it may be from a different car or a non-oem replacement part.

The spindle for drum brakes is the same from 65-69. I believe in 70 they switched to a larger tie rod end so the spindle is slightly different but mainly just beefier. I think it also had a thicker spindle pin so you need different bearings/races but the same hubs will fit... I think. You can interchange them simply by swapping the outer tie rod but that is more then I think you needed to know.

The disc brake spindle is the same as the drum brake spindle from 65-67. From 68 on up they use a different spindle for disc/drum.

My dad has a CSRP 4 piston K/H caliper repro set that he bought foolishly BEFORE he bought a car and then decided to back out of the deal. Let me know when you want to upgrade and I'm sure he is willing to sell them at a discount over what he paid.

Since you have all the arms appart and have some time, I would put a poly lower control arm bushing in before you swap the stuff out. Also, put fresh rubber strut rod bushings in, not poly. See if the upper arms have grease fittings on them for the shaft, if not have them put on so you can service the arms otherwise they will wear out quickly.

A 1" front sway bar would be nice with some poly sway bar bushings but make sure you get the kind that are greasable. If you want a softer ride but still want handling you can go for a 3/4" front sway bar.

Don't run a 620lb front spring, it is WAY too heavy for a 302. Check in with John over at opentracker racing. Get a set of roller spring perches from him and ask his advice on front springs, I think he will tell you to get something closer to a 500lb front spring for a nice comfortable ride with good handling characteristics.

 

[Wth68]

Thank you for all that info ill def let you know about the csrp upgrade... I think what ill end up doing is just keeping my brakes and just swapping the shoes and springs and buying new drums. I might even just keep my lca and the rods with it as opposed to that other setup that im unfamilliar with... ill see if I can get pictures of it all so It might make more since than what im saying

 

[Rusty67]

I think I get what you mean. You may want to keep the lower control arm and strut rod as well as most of your steering linkage as well unless yours is really worn out. If it is worn out, Moog makes good stuff for steering. The lower control arm you have will have a rubber bushing as well. I would suggest a poly bushing in the lower bushing arm either way. Check the ball joint on your current lower arm and make sure it is good. Also, it would be nice if the lower ball joint had a grease fitting in it so you can service it and get much longer life out of it.

As for the drum setup. I would switch to the style with the separate hub/drum. The drums are much cheaper to replace because you don't have to buy the hub with it. Take the drums you have to a machine shop and have them checked to make sure they aren't out of round. If they are, either turn them or replace them if it is bad. Throw on some new shoes. Check the wheel cylinders and make sure they are working properly, no leaks and such.

If you don't have a Ford factory service manual, get a set. These things are like a bible for your car. I get mine at books4cars.com They aren't super expensive but they ain't cheap either... they are however worth EVERY penny you spend on them.

 

[Wth68]

Ok so you just helped me out a lot. .. deff alot more than vmf did.. so thank you for that. I need to look at the upper control arm to see if the ball joint had a 3 or 4 bolt setup so I can get upper ball joints. And then get poly bushings for the lower am like you said. ... as far as spring tension goes I have no idea what the tension is on them but he had a 302 in his so I hope it will do. ...

 

[rbohm]

one more thing, drum brakes are very sensitive to adjustment, especially the fronts. so when you go to adjust them, do your best to make sure that they are equally adjusted from side to side. there is a drum brake gauge that will help you do that available from orielly auto parts. it also makes it MUCH easier to adjust the drums as you dont have to crawl under teh car and use a brake spoon through a small opening in the backing plate to adjust the brakes.