What can I do to upgrade the suspension on the pinto. I'm talking bushings, shocks, spring, etc. I am not really looking for a cushy ride, just very responsive.
I'm guessing from your screen name you have a '72. Suspension parts for these are a little hard to find. I lowered my car 2", added poly bushings and good shocks. You can get Koni's and others from some of the mini-stock racing sites, speedway motors has some stuff, also check e-bay. Also, these cars just love wide tires! I have 195/50/15's on the front, 205/50/15" rears on custom made wheels with a lot of the offset to the outside to increase the track width. ;D
HAY there, So your saying you found a-arm poly bushings for the 71-72(73) front end??!!
I put a full poly setup on the rear by modifiing a early mustang set. The front bushing slides right in, the rear 8 however had to be sanded down (carefully) from 1 1/4 to 1", so theyd fit the 1" holes in the leafs. However i went with stockers for the front as it was all i could find.
Dont forget a good swaybar setup with poly bushings also. You can still find them here and there on ebay and across the net.
I actaully have a '78 Bobcat. My '72 comes from my first car a '72 Cutlass Supreme (which I still have).
This past weekend I started work on a coil over conversion for the front end- it should be done sometime this week (depending on when I can find time). I'm looking at a full polygraphite bushing kit, but that costs a considerable amount of money and I still need to finish the turbo engine I'm building and I'm half way through sanding it down for paint.
I'm running mustang "10 hole" rims with some pretty wide tires (had to use half inch wheel spacers to get them to not rub).
I also need to know what years of mustangs I can source a 8.8 rear end from, and which come with traction lock.
Keeping an eye out for a T5 too... So a lot is on my plate. I just puled this car from the weeds and got it running two weeks ago- plan on doing a thorough resto-mod. I'm going with a nice metallic blue with a white vinyl top and black interior to match my '72 Cutlass. You can put that combo on virtually any car and it looks good.
Most people get the early 8" from the Mustang II's or certain Pinto's (typically wagons, but not always, and V-6 cars ). My understanding is that the 8.8 may have a width issue. The bolt pattern and spring mount can also change depending on the source car. My recollection was that the Ranger 8.8 might have been the closest fit width wise.
The 8" is a straight bolt in. Also, don't assume if you have a 6-3/4" rear that the brake drums will transfer. While the friction surface is the correct size the center hole is too small. So, get a drum to drum 8" rear.
As far as the T-5 make sure it is for the 2.3. The other Ford T-5's will not fit.
Tom
Seeing as you have a 78, check out Speedway and others for Mustang II suspension stuff, since that is what you have in the front. There is lots and lots of stuff since these are so popular with street rods.
hth,
Russ
Quote from: ap72 on August 30, 2010, 07:47:02 AM
My '72 comes from my first car a '72 Cutlass Supreme (which I still have).
Nice choice of car, in addition to your '78!
I have one also.
Are you on the classicoldsmobile.com forum?
I have bought a few complete Polygraphite kits from Performance Suspension Tech. and have had excelent results. They have front and rear sway bars as well.
I just put ten holes on my Bobcat and had to add spacers and longer studs on the front, but it was worth it.
I have also been toying with the idea of making a panhard rod that would atach to the hole that is cast into the top of the rear end housing.
p
In concur, speedwaymotors.con is the way to go. I bought the whole set up and rebuilt my original upper and lower control arms. In hindsight I will redue the wifes with the new upper and lower control arms the sell all set up. Wider tires I agree with as well, i am sporting P215/60-R14 in the front and P245/60-R15 in the rear. A slight rake and lots of grip.