390 underdrive pulleys

[stubbie]

I don't think there is anything out there for suspension but air bags. You could do what a couple of others have done and cut the front end out and drop in a whole new front end from a Lincoln. RRS suspension used to have coil overs for Galaxies but haven't looked there lately. Don't think they would be strong enough though.

[RedBird64]

Jtschug mentioned a bigger sway bar and that is a good investment. Made a real nice change to my car.
There's also a rear SB available but I suggest you skip it. I noticed no difference with it and it was ill-fitting. I could never keep it from banging on the sub frame. I finally cut it off and tossed it in the recycling bin. Expensive lesson learned.

[sseebart]

You could do what a couple of others have done and cut the front end out and drop in a whole new front end from a Lincoln.

Is there someone out there that has done this mod and completed it? There was a thread in this forum documenting a mod like this a while back that ended with the discovery that the spring rates in the Lincoln suspension were all wrong. If there's a finished project out there, I would love to see it (and hear how it drives).

~Steve

[jtschug]

I have a convertible, so I'm not sure how much this is true of the coupes and Landaus, mine is a solid, rust-free car and the body flexes quite a bit. I always jack it up on hard points, but I can clearly see the body flex under its own weight. Body stiffness is a key component to great handling. In Mustangs they often weld in subframe connectors to stiffen the car up (bolt-in are not worth the effort). Given how heavy these cars are, and where the subframes are, I am not sure how well this would work for T-birds. Galaxies are full-frame cars, so this isn't an issue with them. If you were planning to race the car, you could design the cage to stiffen up the bridge a bit, and weld the doors shut General Lee style, but that will detract from the cruisabilty.

[64ZCODE]

Hi there. I have a '69 Galaxie 500 convertible and I can tell you it has a lot of body flex, despite having a frame. It's actually more striking now that I have the '64 tbird hardtop, which is very stiff by comparison since it's unibody.

Doug

[stubbie]

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=13636

[sseebart]

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=13636

I've been following that build closely. The last update was about a year and a half ago, not long after he discovered the issue with the spring rates. I think there are a couple of professionally built show cars out there with a motor swap like this, but I haven't seen a nice driver done by an owner/builder.

~Steve

[jtschug]

I think this front axle swap could be done with the Grand Marquis/Crown Victoria instead of the Lincoln which has air ride. It may require custom springs to get the ride just right, but there are places that will make them for the right price. There is another build on the 64-65-66 Facebook group where the owner is attempting to weld a '64 T-bird shell on a full Crown Victoria chassis

[64ZCODE]

So to swap an axle onto a flairbird, would it be necessary to start by putting a frame under the car? Or would the donor axle attach directly to the unibody?

Last year at the Eagle Field drag race in central California, there was a car called the "Poison Dart". It was a '63 unibody Dodge Dart with a 392 Hemi that the guy had attached a sub-frame to to withstand the rigors of drag racing.

[RedBird64]

I think that sort of thing falls under the heading of "If you have enough money (or ability) you can do anything".
One thing is for certain, it would be the furthest thing from a simple bolt-on!

Scott

[sseebart]

So to swap an axle onto a flairbird, would it be necessary to start by putting a frame under the car? Or would the donor axle attach directly to the unibody?

Last year at the Eagle Field drag race in central California, there was a car called the "Poison Dart". It was a '63 unibody Dodge Dart with a 392 Hemi that the guy had attached a sub-frame to to withstand the rigors of drag racing.

Hitman has a thread right here in this forum where he swapped in the front axle assembly from a Lincoln donor. It required the removal of the existing suspension and the shock towers. He also welded in new bracing to make it all work. He stopped updating the project about a year ago. Looks like he got about 70-80% done, though he did show how it could be done.

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=13636

~Steve

[paulr]

Back in the day, Ford had an ad for the T Bird that said "you're not driving, you're Thunderbirding". Need we say more?

EDIT: Kinda late on this, sorry.

Concur with above remarks about HD front anti-sway and front-end rebuild. I did all this using Rare Parts components and Carolina Sway Bar maybe 4 years ago (..?). The sense of overall competence and security was vastly improved at once; the sway bar made a noticeable change for the better cornering. But, at expressway speeds, it still feels best to remain steady. My alignment shop has much experience with the Lincoln/Tbird crowd in Seattle; I'd say their experience agrees with Redbird64's caster comments about the general unmodified Tbird.

There's this: a lot of Birds out there likely had random front end parts swapped mid-80s mid-90s; bent lower control arms from bottoming teenagers, etc. That's a lot of rickety junk plus aging stock parts that could all stand a full replacement. However, I no longer think the front coils absolutely should be exchanged--just moved out of the way to get at the upper control arm shafts and bushings, a necessity on a '64.
JMHO.

[64ZCODE]

I read through the Hitman thread. Very impressive. I was totally put off at first by the amount of body rot but he sure seemed to handle it well. Wonder what happened to him? Hopefully the car is on the road or still headed that way.

Anyway, even without all the body work, swapping in more modern suspension is not for the feint of heart!