well i think i got the first part done today. im upgrading the front end because i swapped an i6 for 302. this is the first car ive built. i think i did pretty well getting the front end ripped apart just hope it is as easy to put back together...should i do any prep work before putting the new suspension back on? also should i go ahead and order new steering parts while i got this all ripped out?

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Make sure there are no cracks in the shock tower, particularly where the upper control arm bolts to the tower. If your not replacing the entire control arm (A-arm), make sure there are no cracks in the upper A-arm, particularly where the spring seat bolts to the A-arm. You'll need to clean these parts down to the metal if you expect to see any damage. I then painted mine a semi-gloss black for appearances sake along with the strut rod. If you have the Shop Manual you'll see a brace that they tell you to install between the upper A-arm and the frame rail before putting everything back together. A local guy used a large socket, ~2" high, and I just used a piece of 2x4 that I had lieing around. It was able to maintain some seperation between the upper A-Arm and the frame until I put it all back together. I was told this makes life a lot easier when you're attaching the sway bar and strut bars, as it maintains something close to the position of the A-Arms when the car is on the ground. And, if you plan on coating the outside of the inner fender it's obviously easier with everything removed.

Didn't work on the steering so I have no advice there.

 

Shelby Drop

 

+1 and dont forget to align to the new specs. Shelby drop by itself isnt worth much if you dont use new alignment specs.

Caster:
+2.0* - +2.75*

Camber:
0* - -0.5*

Toe:
1/8"

 

I didn't think to tell the alignment place that my stang has the shelby drop. Good to know, ill right down the specs for next time!

 

My 67 had a crack where the white line is inside the shock tower, I couldnt see it untill I had it clean. The 71 has a rust issue at the other arrow, since Ford trap dirt and gravel in that spot it tends to rust out there. There is a ledge that keeps stuf from leaving the area, so it can fester and rust reall yeasily.


I would recomend cleaning the entire area really well, wire wheel or media blasting to make sure there are no cracks in it and also to allow you to paint it, it makes it much nicer to work on..

X2 on the shelby drop..

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If you have the cash, do all the steering parts as well. You don't want to take things apart twice. Also, as mentioned, now is the time to paint. If you are going to go through the trouble of stripping the old arms, in my oinion, cheeper just to replace whole arm. By the time you buy the ball joints, shafts and spray paint, plus your time, cheeper to go with new arms.
Good luck.

 

POR 15 the crap out of the entire area after you get it stripped where you can check for cracks. Then hit it with some color.

 

i dont need to repaint the parts because they are all being replaced...i dont understand what is meant by alignment specs...dont i just take it down to an alignment shop after doing the shelby drop. i have not yet done the shelby drop. im waiting to find someone that has a power drill to get through that shock tower. all i have is a cordless. how do i go about using por15. do i need to strip all the old undercoating off?

 

If you want the surface to look smooth, then you need to take it down to metal. That can be accomplished several ways, but the POR 15 will stop any further rust. I opted to leave mine original, so there is some slop from undercoating stuff left from the factory install. We have shims on our old cars to help align them. If the alignment shop doesn't have an alignment person available who understands the procedures for aligning these old cars, then take it to one who does.