Imporved handling for 67/68 ?????

[Sam8950]

Experience is worth a lot. I would like to ask for any experiences anyone has had restomoding a 67/68 in the area of handling qualities. In other words, what can be done to the chassis, suspension, steering, etc., to make a 67/68 handle a lot better than when it first came from the factory. I am currently restoring a '68 GT convertible and would like to make it as much of a pleasure to drive as possible. Any ideas are most welcome.

Thanks.

 

[68 & 00 GT]

Here's what I did to my 68 (so far)

-Added GT 350 (1 1/8in. I think) front sway bar
-KYB 3 way adjustible shocks. Set on most firm setting all four corners.
-Magna 1 in. lowering springs front the firmest ones they offered (added some spring clamps to lower a little more) may have gotten the wrong springs for a big block or something -
-Magna 1in. lowering 5 leaf rear springs out back.
-Added plain jane chrome shock tower support brace.
-Riding on 17's with 245 45 R17 tires.

All the above suspension parts (not rims / tires) are not that expensive seperately, and made a huge huge difference (rims and tires made little difference the way I drive her). Felt the same with my old 14's with 235 60 R 14's.
My steering still has play form the original box, but I plan to get a Flaming River steering box soon, and that should do it.
I may do a rear sway bar, and subframe connectors some day, but all is great now as is really. Corners flatter than my 00 GT now.

Weird to drive handeling like that with 2 tons of slop in the steering wheel -

 

[Edbert]

There are a dozen good recomendations we could make but we need more info. Primarily how you intend to use it and how much you want to spend

Street
Agressive Street
All out street
Drag
Autocross
Open track

You can freshen up a worn suspension fairly well for about $600. You can also buy a racing suspension setup that will out-handle nearly all production sports cars for $6,000. I am assuming you want something in between

Go check out global West's website, they take the "staged" approach which makes sense to me.

 

[Sam8950]

There are a dozen good recomendations we could make but we need more info. Primarily how you intend to use it and how much you want to spend

Street
Agressive Street
All out street
Drag
Autocross
Open track

You can freshen up a worn suspension fairly well for about $600. You can also buy a racing suspension setup that will out-handle nearly all production sports cars for $6,000. I am assuming you want something in between

Go check out global West's website, they take the "staged" approach which makes sense to me.

To fit your definitions, let's say "agressive street." I want it to be responsive around town and on those winding country roads, but not beat me to death on the long haul intersatate.

 

[68 & 00 GT]

You may start with something similar to what I've got, and see what you think from there. I'm very impressed with my set up, and it wasn't too expensive.

 

[jcp123]

just my $0.02...i have a VERY similar setup to 68 & 00 gt's but with slightly less stiff springs (620 front coils and 4-1/2 leaf rears), and it handles pretty well (albeit with a bit of body roll still), but gives a very nice ride out on the open road. the understeer is still there, but the chassis is now balanced enough that higher-speed throttle steering (i.e. freeway onramps and cloverleafs) is more fun, than edge of your seat excitement. i like it where it is, only thing i'd add is a sway bar on the back and a bigger sway bar on the front than i have now.

 

[customperforman]

you wanted experience...my 2 cents:

go with a progressive rate front spring (for example: 420#-580#compressed) if you can afford it, or a 620# linear rate if you are on a budget. id go with the lowering springs.

good shocks...koni, KYB, etc.

1 in sway bar. the original GT-350s kicked butt with the 1 inchers. anything over causes push. also, go without a rear sway bar. you wont need one with a 1 in front bar.

SUBFRAME CONNECTORS! and weld them in.

stiffer lowering rear springs and shocks.

oh, for optimal handling, get a tight ratio steering box, 17 in wheels and tires and box your control arms. polygraphite bushings.

 

[68converted]

you wanted experience...my 2 cents:

......
SUBFRAME CONNECTORS! and weld them in.
stiffer lowering rear springs and shocks.
oh, for optimal handling, get a tight ratio steering box, 17 in wheels and tires and box your control arms. polygraphite bushings.

This is what I did on the 68converted, aside from the sub connectors- Spring mod for sure!!! The convertable is very twisty and this should help. I have the 620 lowering 1", KYB's, 4.5 leaf standard height, 1" front sway, and 1/2 inch rear, New upper and lower arms, ball joints, and it is toed in by 1/4" (barely able to tell but it feels like it corners on rails with no push. Drove it this way all summer and loved it!!! Just got the steering box tighter and no wheel slop now. I can't wait till the 5.0 and AOD is in for a test drive.

 

[Edbert]

All good advice, just a few more tidbits...

620# springs are the limit IMHO before you reach the "harsh" category. Some might even say they are on the harsh side. The progressives make a lot of sense for a street driven car.

Since it is a convertible weld in your subs. I used the Global West bars on my 67 vert and also welded in a 4-point rollbar for additional stiffness and safety.

Polyurethane bushings throughout.

You cannot go wrong with KYB GasAdjust shocks. They are the best thing you can get dollar for dollar.

Don't get anything bigger than 4.5 leafs if you have an 8" rear end. With a 9" (much heavier unspring weight) you can get stiffer springs.

I haven't seen anything mentioned about traction bars either. Even if you don't plan on taking your car to the dragstrip you can benefit for them. I don't care for the slapper style myself. They sort of look ghetto, just my opinion. You can get under-ride or over-ride bars cheap and they're barely noticeable. Caltracs are the hot ticket for the drag racing or high horsepower crowd but it does not sound like thats where you are.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[RGS0907]

1 in sway bar. the original GT-350s kicked butt with the 1 inchers. anything over causes push. also, go without a rear sway bar. you wont need one with a 1 in front bar.

I’d definitely go for the rear bar. Otherwise you will have a real lot of understeer. It should be smaller than the front bar, but you should add one.

Two sources of advice include the Boss handling recommendations that came out of Ford in 1970, they had three stages of mods. Second, Addco has a booklet that they’ll send to you: "Handling! What It Is And How To Get It". http://www.addco.net/what.shtml

 

[LanceMach]

Everybody has given excellent advice: I'll just add, "Start with the subframes to give yourself a solid foundation." Then go from there.

 

[zookeeper]

Here's my current setup: I dropped the upper A-arms 1", then trimmed one full coil from the stock springs. The rear springs are stock with a 1 1/8" lowering block installed to bring it down a bit in the rear to match the front. I have a 1" sway bar in front and an adjustable 3/4" bar in the rear set on full stiff. The wheels are 15x7 Shelby 10 spokes with 225/50's on the front and 245/50's on the rear. The car rides very, very nicely ,yet handles much better than stock with absolutley no tire rub. Even my wife thinks it rides great, which is important since I've had plenty of impractical cars that were not enjoyable to drive day-to-day. I've ridden in a freinds '67 coupe with 620's and KYB's and felt it rode much too harsh for my tastes. My thinking is the shocks make all the difference when it comes to suspension "feel".