Saggy & droopy

[LINCSTER]

Hey there, this is Lincster in Vegas. This month's adventure is about saggy & droopy Christine she 86 ..... 1986 that is(bad suspension) she had a coil spring transplant about 2 years ago. I should have gone with a better supplier, real mickey mouse parts that didn't hold up. Struts-r-us has since gone out of business. I noticed that the drivers side of the car was a good 1 and half inch lower that the pass side. So I took off springs & struts. Then noticed that the upper spring mounting point/place was terribly distorted, pryed back to somewhat ok appearance, metal felt very weak & wont standup to much stress, dropping car once again. Short of replacing K member any thoughts? Oh do you think a K member from 87..88 Tbird/Cougar would do? In the tech sect it says Mustang K member/ Tbird A arm, Why not go Tbird all the way?Thanks .......Cruise on.

[pro-five-oh]

You can go T-bird front suspension all the way, the Mustang K-member is either lighter or has more aggressive suspension geometry. Not sure why the tech section says that.

[Nick]

This is exactly why I advise against aftermarket conversions that "drop in". The spring perches were never designed to see the loads of a coil spring. You really need to weld in new perches if you decide to convert. I would consider doing that now if the perch is as bad as it sounds.

The Mustang K member is narrower than the Mark's. Early years were even narrower and the geometry is not better. The '87-'88 Turbo Coupe/Cougar K member and arms are the upgrade part for Fox Mustangs. I would just use those parts and V8 Thunderbird springs. The other possibility is to use SN95 Mustang stuff, but that is more money and not necessary unless you are looking for brake and suspension upgrades for better handling.

Because of the size difference, I might believe the K member is slightly lighter in a Mustang. I would bet it isn't much though. If you have it out, weld all the seams to the K member.

[demonswede]

Go back to air if you have all the electrical stuff or buy Arnotts coil conversion - looks really good

[LINCSTER]

Hey there it's Lincster in Vegas...... my compressor was shot amongst other things. Clipped a bunch of then useless wires, hoses and now at the point of no return.....so I decided to push ahead with the K-member transplant from a 1987 Thunderbird. I'll get the part this Monday from a local parts yard. It's a pick and pull place so it will only cost a $100. Hey Swede if you can't get a suitable K-member in your country have you thought of ordering it from a U.S.A. parts yard? The shipping cost might make you crap in your pants but you'll have a sturdy part that won't break. Check out "CAR-PARTS.COM" CRUISE ON.

[Nick]

I forgot to mention, '82-'83 Continental/SVO Mustang control arms with their tubular design shaves unsprung weight and increases rigidity if you go with coils.

[LINCSTER]

Hey there... this is Lincster in you know where. O.K. so I spent about 4 hours wrestling a K member/subframe out of a '88 tbird. Being such a old piece, 'was wondering about replacing A arm/lower control arm bushings. Rubber or Poly? Thoughts anyone. Was told by numerous "expert mechanics" that if said bushings were to be replaced, that it would need to be preloaded. What is preloading? tell me if this is correct.... before tightning, set car on ground, torque to proper specs then jack up, crank about 10 more foot lbs. Does that sound right? Thanks everyone....Cruise on.

[pro-five-oh]

Nick, they are cast...not tubular. Seriously solid ride with those boogers. Heavy, but I like them. :)

Lincster: I'd replace with rubber bushings, no clue about preloading them. A simple Haynes or Chiltons manual for a Fox Body Ford will have the correct info.

[Nick]

Nick, they are cast...not tubular. Seriously solid ride with those boogers. Heavy, but I like them. :)

Lincster: I'd replace with rubber bushings, no clue about preloading them. A simple Haynes or Chiltons manual for a Fox Body Ford will have the correct info.

They really look to be tubular. Hmm... If I ever find and horde a set, I'll know then. As it stands, I've got to find and horde some SVO pedal sets for stick shift conversions. :D

What should I do for my grille color (other post)? I can't decide.

New bushings are the way to go. Rubber will probably suit your needs fine.

[pro-five-oh]

They really look to be tubular. Hmm... If I ever find and horde a set, I'll know then. As it stands, I've got to find and horde some SVO pedal sets for stick shift conversions. :D

They aren't tubular, I know that for a fact.

If the SVO had a hydraulic clutch, the pedals might be a little different. I donno for sure, just throwing that out.

[Nick]

How goes your foxy Conti? I just managed to open my driver's door today. A frozen door lock motor kept it shut for months.

[pro-five-oh]

Its sitting at a friend's ranch in central Texas and rusting away. I can't even get in the car anymore, the driver's door is stuck (I think) and the passengers side has three wasp nests in it.

I'm working on the restoration plan...in the meantime I got a set of Thunderbird handling package springs and a Mustang rear swaybar for it. The suspension's almost ready to go!

[Danvers88]

My '86 Continental has original air-ride suspension and works as it should partly because the car only has 36,000 documented miles. Last year I sold a sweet '87 because the after market spring job was botched up. I couldn't even take one passenger because it would bottom out at the slightest bump.
My mechanic tried spacers but the coils were so tight we couldn't force them in, anything to improve the problem. I ended up selling the car at least broke even. Danvers MA here, anyone close by? Bob

[Nick]

I'm in West Springfield. You should have converted back to air springs. It's doable in your driveway with hand tools. What's your problem(s)?

[LINCSTER]

Hey you monkeys this is Lincster. From the above title you can imagine what it's like to under take a transplant such as swapping a K member for a fox car. I got a K member from a '88 Tbird V-8 and just finished placing in my '86 Continental. The 2 subframes are quite similar with a few diffs....... completely differing engine mounts, Tbird has smaller cross bar, Connie has big hefty bar placed further back on subframe. O.K. off to the shop to have it aligned. CRUISE ON.

[LINCSTER]

Hey there you monkeys I got a prob that you might know of. I replaced the K member with a unit from a 88 Tbird. My mechanic tells me that the ball joints from the Tbird won't work with the spindels that came with the 86 Continental. Also Connie BJs wont work with Tbird A arms. Maybe Tbird spindels might work, some of the inner/outer wheel bearings interchange. Any info would be fantastic. The tech article doesn't mention anything about it. Do you think my mechanic is trying to jack me around? Thanks & cruise on.

[LINCSTER]

Hey there... I'm not out of the woods yet.... but getting kinda close. The tech sec says something about T bird turbo lower A arm, so I did a little research. It seems that a 87/88 Tbird/Cougar Lower A arm would work with the following components....ball joint for a Tbird/Cougar 80/88...... spindle from a 87/88 turbo coupe.....Why? it has 2 important factors A ...the same wheel bearings as the lincs.....B ... it came with anti lock brakes, so we can hook up our sensors. To finish it all off a pair of struts for a 87/88 Tbird/cougar. I think the strut mount should be a Tbird/coug unit, somewhere on this site it says something about cutting the rubber off the top to make more threads to tighten the strut......I'm not to sure about doing that..... hopefully the next installment will be my last. Cruise on.

[LINCSTER]

Hey there campers..... finally finished the job. O.K. here's what happened the lower A arm from a 87/88 Tbird/cougar will work, it needn't be a turbo coupe A arm. Next a ball joint for Tbird/coug should do. The all important spindles from a 87/88 turbo coupe, see preceding entry for the whys and where abouts. Now for the struts..... for the standard Tbird/coug uses a wide spread ( how the strut fits over the spindle) Our Lincolns Continentals & Mark VII's along with most Mustangs uses a narrow spread. Guess what? the Turbo coupe 87/88 spindles has a narrow spread. It's a very unusal spindle, part Tbird---partMustang---part Lincoln. Mustang struts work fine. I haven't researched using 82/83 Connie K member but if everything bolts up ok that would be the easiest, but the problem is finding one in the wrecking yard. In my experiences at the bone yard 87/88 turbo coupes are more common than the 82/83 Connies. Age and the crusher are rapidly depleting our supplies so if you see a 87/88 Turbo coupe grab the spindles...... the rest of the parts are easy to get. I know my insipid banter may not be the most technical, but at least it works. Cruise on.

[demonswede]

My 1984 M7 is converted to coils by using front lower control arms & coils from a 1982-1983 Continental.

The guy who did this conversion also heated the springs with a torch to lower the car.

I want new coils.

Q: If I buy the Arnotts conversion for the front & use these parts on the on my Mark Vii with the Connie parts - what will happen to the height (upper parts are exactly the right)

[Nick]

My 1984 M7 is converted to coils by using front lower control arms & coils from a 1982-1983 Continental.

The guy who did this conversion also heated the springs with a torch to lower the car.

I want new coils.

Q: If I buy the Arnotts conversion for the front & use these parts on the on my Mark Vii with the Connie parts - what will happen to the height (upper parts are exactly the right)

No one to my memory has tried it. I would guess it would be about the same height, if not a little higher. Can't you just order springs for a 1982 Continental?

[demonswede]

Front (pr rear) Spings from Conti. No

Because I want the upper conversion plates from Arnotts, which looks the best.

Conversion to coils are done by using Conti lower armes front - its springs & nothing more.

In the rear only Conti springs are used on bottom plates from air springs (I thing).

Both front & rears are heated & car is lowered.