Suspension upgrade Qs for '65 coupe

[DeltaMustang65]

YAY! Everything is installed now. Putting this shit back is SO much easier that ripping it apart.

All that's left is to relocate the upper arms. However, before that, I'm going to clean up and paint the strut rods and replace their bushings with poly. The struts are the last weathered-looking pieces left up front, so it'll be nice to have them looking like they belong.

I almost bought new strut rods when I picked the bushings up, but guess how much they wanted for them...$59.99 each! WTF, that's almost as much as my lower arms cost each...for a freakin' ROD. What is the world coming to?

Anyway, just a couple more small steps and it'll be time for an alignment and test drive...then onto front disks.

Two quick (and possibly final) questions, though. Would castor, camber, and toe-in be thrown off if I removed and reinstalled these parts properly? I'm going to take it straight to get realigned when I'm done, but I don't want to hurt anything on the way.

The other thing is about shims. Do I have them and how do I spot them? The book I'm reading says that I should mark any shims for later use, and that I may have to adjust their thickness to compensate for additional camber from relocating the upper control arms. This is new to me, I don't even think my shop manual explains it. How do I make sure that everything is relatively in order so I don't show up at the alignment shop looking like a total noob?

[DeltaMustang65]

Well, I found the shims when I pulled the driver's side upper arm. There were 5 shims per bolt, 4 big shims & 1 smaller shim on the forwardmost bolt, and 3 big shims & 2 smallers shims on the rearward(?)most bolt.

Does anyone know if this is the correct # and size of shims for a stock suspension? Also, should I add or remove shims to better suit my current setup or just let the alignment shop handle that? If I can do it, how would I go about figuring out the correct # and size of shims to use?

Sadly, I might have been done today if the template I printed out was accurate. A very important dimension was off by 1/4", others possibly were too but I didn't see the point in checking after that. "Actual size", my ass.

MP has paper templates that they use in their shop, which I'll probably pick up if I can't get my hands on some metal templates.

[DeltaMustang65]

Hmmm...

I'm unable to start the holes for the Shelby drop, so I think I'm just going to let MP do it in their shop. MP seems to think I should get a bumpsteer kit, but I'm not convinced. I'd rather wait until the drop is done and check to see if there's even a need for it. I'm not spending $200+ unless I'm sure. Anyone have any thoughts/experience with this?

...Hopefully they do alignments, too, so I won't have to make 2 stops.

Other than that, MY work on the suspension is done. I think I'll rebuild the steering next, instead of installing front disks. It didn't look too good under there.

[DeltaMustang65]

I'd like to give a big thank-you to Alex, Mr. White, Stanger66, Mr. Rudis, and MDJay. You guys are a great help.

I hope this topic has helped other suspension newbies like myself realize that this CAN be done relatively easily yourself. I'm very happy that I was able to complete this project, as it not only has greatly increased the handling of my Mustang, but it also feels much safer to drive, as well.

Thanks again.

Matt

[DeltaMustang65]

I finally got around to getting a quote from Mustangs Plus' "Restomod Shop" on getting the Shelby Drop, but they want around $750.00 for it. It includes an alignment that they don't do, but send the car out for. Still, this seems rather steep.

I pressed them on it, asking why it was so much for punching a few holes. They said it's not just that, but removing the upper arms and all that. I replied that I know that because I rebuilt the whole suspension myself (and removed and reinstalled the upper arms, springs, shocks TWICE) and the hours they were quoting just didn't seem to add up to how long it took ME, a newbie. They didn't really have much to say at that point, and I felt like they were just trying to screw me or something.

Also worrisome, I called them in the morning with questions on that and getting subframes welded in and they said they'd call back later, which they never did. Both guys I talked to seemed kinda shady, and not too knowledgeable. Honestly, I don't know if I'd have the work done there even IF the price was right...

Has anyone else had this done at a shop, and what was the cost? Thanks in advance.

Matt