Hey, welcome to the group! Looks like you are the type to do a lot of reading and research. You should do well here.

Just a rule of thumb, when the word 'crap' is used in a post (especially when followed by a ! ) usually means that the thing that is 'crap' is what that person did not choose for their car. I have X, so Y is crap! Just a rule of thumb for 'Opinion coming!'

As for the M2 setup, I would agree with many comments here, just not needed. The stock setup, properly refurbed and maintained works fine, MBDiagMan is right. That reasoning goes for a lot of things you'll want to address with your car. See what you got before you lay out $$$ for stuff. I guess, just kinda make sure you need it. A way to find out about some of this is to join a Mustang club in your area and see if someone will let you try the setup they have, be it stock or M2, that'll give you a good feel for where you are at.

As for 'Granada crap' ending up as expensive as the kits...HUH?!? More work maybe, but no way near as pricey. the setup I am putting together will cost me about $450 with new discs and new calipers. The kits I have seen for sale are anywhere from $850 to $1500. Plus my car is a I6 so I am buying spindles as well! Still under $500, you just have to do your homework. Some would rather buy off a rack than have to put stuff together and figure stuff out.

Try to avoid trendy stuff unless you have a bunch of dough, talk to the guys who have been working on cars for years (not just Mustangs) and you will learn why things work, not just how much they cost.

Enjoy the car and get your hands dirty doing it!

 

That's the route I took, improve/upgrade the stock stuff and it's a lot less headache trying to figure out how to make stuff fit and work correctly, changing the entire front suspension to II or other can introduce bump steer, etc. giving you new problems after you've spent a couple $$$$ on the swap stuff.

Here's a good starter article on Mustang front suspensions:
http://home.bresnan.net/~dazed/suspension101

Info. on the drop, be sure to have it aligned to the new specs or it'll drive like crap:
http://dazed.home.bresnan.net/drop

Be sure to get qualilty stuff when you replace the front end steering and suspension parts, look for Moog or McQuay Norris if you can find it, Viginia Classic mustangs has the moog lower control arms for $50ea. right now, cheaper than the china repops for example.

For the rear new leafs will be fine, you need to decide what stance you want- stock 'high', level or lowered and even front/rear or raked then we can suggest springs (480/550/620, 1" drop, etc.) and leafs (4, 4 1/2 leaf, standard, mideye, etc.)

What kind of ride do you want? soft cruiser, sporty street car, taught track car ride?
It all comes together as a package when you're done if you choose parts right.
Jon

 

Thanks for the replies guys, they are very helpful.

I want my car to be even, i dont want the front or back to be taller. Maybe a little lower (front & rear) than stock to give it a nice looking stance. im not going into the track, i will only drive this car on the city and i might let my dad drive it. Im planning on 400 hp max if i ever get there, but more likely the car will have 300 hp or so for a while before i do significant upgrades to the engine.

i dont want the suspension to feel too soft, i want it to feel sporty if that makes sense.

What kind of suspension set up would you suggest. (Coil Springs, leaf springs and shock absorbers?) I plan on keeping as much of the suspension stock.
im def going to buy the roller bearing spring perches, do the cobra drop and rebuild my steering box, while replacing the worn out parts of the stock manual steering, my friend can hook me up with 8pc steering kit for $100 or so (inner/outer rods, idler arm etc.)

oh, and what about those prothane bushing kits? are they worth it? i did read somewhere that there is a specific place where the bushings have to be rubber or the parts they are on might brake. is that true? who has one of those kits.

Im also putting a 5 speed manual on the summer, i currently have a 3 speed manual. Any suggestion on which car to get transmission out of? my dad has a friend that owns a huge junk yard, so pretty much i have may options to choose from.

Thanks again guys.

 

I just replaced my entire front suspension on my '67 with a kit from mustangpartshouse.com. It came with new upper and lower control arms and all the bushings (rubber). Once I took apart all my suspension components, I realized I should have gotten new tie-rod ends too, so I picked up a set locally from carquest. Once I got it all back together with the Shelby drop and aligned the car handles great. My car will handle more than I will ever push it in corners and turns. Everything is really tight and not squeeking, and my total cost for the front suspension was about $600. My advice would be to replace everything on the front suspension at one time so you don't have to take it all apart later when something else wears out. Every time you break it down and take apart things you will have to get it re-aligned.

The only thing I didn't replace on mine was the steering components, because they are still nice and tight. I can always do that later and just have my toe-in adjusted. Changing that won't mess up my camber or caster.

I can't help you on the 5-speed question since I'm running a stock C4.

 

And on the bushings, according to most people you don't want to use polyurethane bushings on the strut rods, that can cause them to break. I just went back with rubber bushings all the way around. I've head that poly will help the car handle better and won't wear out, but the poly squeak is just something I didn't want to have to deal with, even though I've read that if properly lubricated they won't squeak. I drive my car less than 2000 miles a year so my rubber bushings should last quite a while.

 

Rubber bushings deteriorate over time due to atmospheric/environmental exposure. Even if they're not ever driven on.