Put the C-kits in and the ride improved..

[Chuck W]

:lol:

I finally got some time to swap some C-Kit front springs into the Z-7 over the weekend.
The old springs were of course "original" and the lower 3/4 coil was rusted off in the control arm. After cleaning all that up, I also swapped in some low-mileage SN-95 ball joints I had (since I have SN-95 spindles in there).

I'm still letting things settle in, but the ride is actually improved over what was in there. I'm using 99+ take-off struts as well which I already installed when I did the 5-lug swap.

I can't comment on ride height really since the old springs were broken, but these look like they will settle in at about the same height (if not a touch taller) than what was in there, which is fine w/ me.

[Evil86lx]

Hey Chuck I have a bunch of Tbird/Cougar question's for you.

Do you mind if I send a PM or two your way.

kyle

[LTDScott]

Good deal. The springs probably will settle a bit to get lower.

[zak]

On my LTD LX (which comes stock with the same rate springs as C) I used the '03 Mach I struts, which are designed by Ford to work with 600 lb/in springs that came on those year cars. The ride quality improvement was phenomenal (why buy a new car? type effect)

I did need to run Caster PLus plates (or some other caster camber plates) as these struts are intermediate in ride height/travel range between 87-93 FOX and regular SN95.

zak

[Chuck W]

Hey Chuck I have a bunch of Tbird/Cougar question's for you.

Do you mind if I send a PM or two your way.

kyle

Hell NO! :lol:

Not a problem. That's what they're there for. PM away.

[Chuck W]

On my LTD LX (which comes stock with the same rate springs as C) I used the '03 Mach I struts, which are designed by Ford to work with 600 lb/in springs that came on those year cars. The ride quality improvement was phenomenal (why buy a new car? type effect)

I did need to run Caster PLus plates (or some other caster camber plates) as these struts are intermediate in ride height/travel range between 87-93 FOX and regular SN95.

zak

I did some checking when I put the struts in the car to begin with and I have plenty of travel at the ride height I have. I doubt I'll ever have an issue. Right now I really don't "need" CC plates as the K-member that was installed with the I6 is pushed all the way forward, so I have a bit of + caster.

[Evil86lx]

Hey Chuck I have a bunch of Tbird/Cougar question's for you.

Do you mind if I send a PM or two your way.

kyle

Hell NO! :lol:

Not a problem. That's what they're there for. PM away.

Sweet.

kyle

[nitroracer]

I didnt know those springs were busted!

I still like that olde' zeph, its ugly but never gave me any trouble.

[Chuck W]

They've probably been broken for a while. Kind of a common thing for water to collect in the control arms and rot the bottom of the springs out.

[quarterstang86]

Chuck W - Post up some pics of the ride height when you can, curious to see how much the car settles if at all. Do you have any plans for the rear of the car spring/shock wise?

Is it just the 85 LTD/LX's that have the same spring rate/height of the Motorsport C-spring kit?

Richard -

[Chuck W]

Richard-
Well I did the back of the car when I swapped out the 6-3/4" rear axle.

What I put in were some 99+ take-off shocks and I had some rear springs in the garage that were identical to what came out (not sure what they were, I'd have to look at the tag on them). The car actually has a list to the pass side and it bugs the piss out of me. The lower arms are still stock, but I swapped in some new uppers (again 99+). I'm wanting to get some arms with height adjustment on them to correct the lean a bit.

If I can I'll get a couple pics this weekend.

[quarterstang86]

Richard-
Well I did the back of the car when I swapped out the 6-3/4" rear axle.

What I put in were some 99+ take-off shocks and I had some rear springs in the garage that were identical to what came out (not sure what they were, I'd have to look at the tag on them). The car actually has a list to the pass side and it bugs the piss out of me. The lower arms are still stock, but I swapped in some new uppers (again 99+). I'm wanting to get some arms with height adjustment on them to correct the lean a bit.

If I can I'll get a couple pics this weekend.

Interesting; Sounds like one spring might be shorter than the other. You do know that putting the pigtail of the spring toward the front or back of the car will change the way the vehicle sits right? Perhaps you have them the opposite which is causing the "lean".

I suppose it's the additional weight over the rear axle in these cars, I've been told that a standard mustang type spring (for instance V8, Bullit etc) won't have enough spring height and the car will really sit down over the tire more. Haven't tried it to find out yet. :D

I know you do things on the cheap, or hand-me-down with your Z, but putting adjustable spring perch style arms on the car and correcting the height issue seems band-aid ish. At that point wouldn't you have a stiffer rate effectively on one side vs. the other?

pics man, pics. :lol:

[Chuck W]

Nah, the springs are installed the same way (been installing springs in these for a while now ;) ) so it's not that.

The springs I put in were almost new and were exactly the same (height, # coils, coil thickness) as the ones that were in there. I actually have a spacer (1/2") on top of the spring on the low side, and it still leans.

This is an '80..so it's a pre-"Job-1" car and I expect some quality issues like this. I know all Foxes have this issue, but this is worse than any I have had.
The height adjusters shouldn't cause much change in spring rates since it's just raising the mounting point...kind of like what coil-overs do.

The lean was also in the front as well, and I'm going to wait and see what happens when the springs settle (I'll check heights again this weekend) and see what I need to do. I might need to shim up one side of the front.

Here is a pic after I did the brakes/wheels. Height is pretty much the same
http://www.turbochuck.com/images/80Z7/Z-7_1.jpg

[quarterstang86]

Cool deal Chuck. I think sometime soon I'm going to put some Maximum Motorsports CC plates on my mont and get the Bullit spring / shock package from PPI, I guess I'll come up with something for the rear bullit springs unless I run a adjustable perch lower arm myself. Since I've been driving the car daily I would really like to freshen everything up front with new up to date stuff, even though it gets the DD commute done with no hassle.

Not poking, but I can't stand the high ride height. My mont sits right whre yours does if not alittle lower in the back (could be the 225/55 tires on pony's doing it).

It needs to be dropped in the front, if not give the car a little rake. :lol:

[Chuck W]

I just found the pic I took of the rear springs.
http://www.turbochuck.com/images/80Z7/rear%20springs.jpg

The left is the spring I took out, the middle is what I put in and the right is another set I had.

I'm thinking if I remember correctly, the middle springs are 00+ V-6 springs.
They have the post 00 part number (after the change). The others are 94 GT rears I think.

Maybe this weekend I'll sort more things out on it. I need to work on the Tbird though ;)