Things I am pondering today

[cstmwgn]

Is this project scope or poor diagnostic skill?

My daily driver (66 Fairlane) developed a pull to the right with no recent trauma.
So I jacked the car up and started a visual inspection. The wheel bearings / steering linkage all seemed tight. I did notice that the lower eccentric appeared to have moved (turned). So I loosened the adjuster and the lower control arm appeared to have some slope in it. Upon further inspection, I found a fairly used up LCA bushing



So I figured what the heck - I will look at the other side just in case it is used up as well.
After a couple of hours, I ended up at this point







So, I decided to clean things up a bit. And low and behold I found two new holes



And now that I have found those new holes, I decided to clean and inspect the parts to determine fitness of reuse.




After glass beading the upper control arms and finding both sides cracked at the spring perch / saddle mounting bolts (both bolts on both sides!). I decided perhaps new upper control arms was prudent. The theory was that the spring saddles caused this to happen over the life of the car (these parts appeared to be originals). And of course the spring saddles were shot so new and improved ones of those were put on the list. On to the lower control arms. SOMEONE decided to replace the lower ball joints with some that were almost correct - nothing drilling extra holes and elongating existing holes would not address. The boots were badly torn and while not toast, the joints themselves seemed loose. So now lower control arms are on the list. At this point, I decided to go all in and replace the springs and shocks.

So this job went from a front end alignment (slipped camber eccentric) to a complete suspension rebuild!

[74NovaMan]

I would be a shame not to do a disc brake conversion since you have it that far apart! Not sure if you've ordered parts yet, but we got the fully assembled and painted Scott Drake stuff for our mustang and were pretty happy with it.

[cstmwgn]

I would be a shame not to do a disc brake conversion since you have it that far apart! Not sure if you've ordered parts yet, but we got the fully assembled and painted Scott Drake stuff for our mustang and were pretty happy with it.

The control arms are Scott Drake - the lowers seem very nice. Uppers due tomorrow.
As to brakes - this is suppose to be my driver while I redo the truck - so a disk brake upgrade will have to include hydroboost, master cylinder, brake lines, wheels and tires on top of the actual disk brake kit. All this given my history would push that part of the upgrade to well over 3K if I go cheap on the wheels and tires. Nothing I am doing right now would be wasted - Wilwood has drum brake spindle kits.

[moparjim71]

Funny how these projects go from 20’s to 100’s in a hurry. A projected $40 problem often winds up in the $350 range. But it is fun!

[oletrux4evr]

Ahhhh.....the joy of our hobby. Glad parts are available for it.

[silver_bullet]

thats the shelby mod to correct camper issues, correct? IIRC that's a common fix on mustangs as well?

[cstmwgn]

thats the shelby mod to correct camper issues, correct? IIRC that's a common fix on mustangs as well?

Yes Patrick - it improves camber gain which supposedly improves cornering and reduces body roll. Time will tell.

[htrdharley]

Allen, the holes ( Usually 1" below the originals ) are commonly done to lower the front end of the car. A factory modification on Shelby Mustangs.

[70chevyC-10]

How about a pick of the Fairlane and your truck -- share the love.

[cstmwgn]

Allen, the holes ( Usually 1" below the originals ) are commonly done to lower the front end of the car. A factory modification on Shelby Mustangs.

Yes Lars, you are correct. 1" down and 1/8" back. I drilled the new holes - another failed attempt on my part at being a smartass!
Hope it helps the feel of the car.

[cstmwgn]

How about a pick of the Fairlane and your truck -- share the love.

Phil - take a look in the project section for the update on the truck

[74NovaMan]

As to brakes - this is suppose to be my driver while I redo the truck - so a disk brake upgrade will have to include hydroboost, master cylinder, brake lines, wheels and tires on top of the actual disk brake kit. All this given my history would push that part of the upgrade to well over 3K if I go cheap on the wheels and tires. Nothing I am doing right now would be wasted - Wilwood has drum brake spindle kits.

I kind of figured you wanted to keep this one simple to focus on the truck, but it seemed wrong to not at least try to spend your money and blow up your scope even more.

We did the upper arm drop on our Mustang but lacked a baseline to compare to. Are you planning on stock alignment specs? We got the following out of ours:



That was with non-adjustable strut rods and no adjustment possible on the LCA pivot (stock setup). If we ever get that far back into it I'd change those to get better adjustability and consistency.

[cstmwgn]

Parts!




Soooo, as with most of this stuff. It turns out Moog springs for a big block Fairlane are 3/4" shorter that the old sagged springs I had in the car! Most of the Fairlane vendors talked about their "go fast" springs being an 1" shorter - I now suspect they are just re-boxed Moogs. Now I have to decide if I can tolerate that much drop, Seems sort of silly to jump through hoops backwards to gain caster then give it back by dropping the front end too much.

Chris - those specs on your front alignment look very good to me. I am going to shoot for just a touch more caster - 3.0 - 3.5 and would tolerate up to -1 camber. The very bottom of the picture are a stack of plates and two bolts. These are the camber kit from opentracker racing. They give up to 5* camber adjustment and won't slip/change once the desired set are installed.

Did you do any before/after measurements on ride height after dropping the control arm mount?

[moparjim71]

Check with Laura at Espo Springs & Things. They do a lot of custom springs. I wanted my car higher so I ordered stock plus 2”. I’m sure there are other places too.

[cstmwgn]

Check with Laura at Espo Springs & Things. They do a lot of custom springs. I wanted my car higher so I ordered stock plus 2”. I’m sure there are other places too.

Thanks Jim. I will make a note if I can't make what I have work. They do sell 1" isolators. I have a 3/8" issolator and the factory rubber ones (~1/8). I am trying to get this back together this weekend so IF I can't find the taller isolator locally, I will go with the 3/8" deal and try it out. I suspect if I do get to the point that i put real brakes and full size wheels and tires on it that I probably would be willing to address the spring height issues again then.