i removed the front suspension last night
and unfortunately did not preserve the
correct shim count for the upper arms.
is this a major problem on reassembly?
thanks
iowa
If I remember right, the Osobrn chassis assembly manual gives a starting point based on body style. Don't think it will be a problem.
It is a major pain in the wrench for the party doing your alignment that will result in "words". In the 64 Chassis Assembly Manual, the starting point is "As Required". I got an alignment on my "K" yesterday and did not require shim adjustments. The service guy did comment that is was a pain anyway. If you have the old shims, try and match them to each other if multiple ones were used and then put them in with the thicker ones to the rear, and bring a six pack to the alignment shop.
Jim
Say, that Jim is talking beer now, it was scotch the other day - I bet that he's a tough guy to keep up with in a bar. 
When I got my K home and drove it for the first time I had a job to keep it in between the hedges at the side of the road. This despite it being advertised by the dealer as being the tightest straightest driving mustang he had driven in 20 odd years !.
My point is dont lose any sleep over your shims. I had to redo it all anyhow. I now have 3 deg positive caster, 1/2 deg negative camber, 1/16" toe in - with a straight monte carlo bar and a heavy duty export brace, the old girl is a pleasure to drive.
Its a job for later, good luck.
Any shim is better than none, and the beer was for the guy doing the work.
Jim
do many of you on this site use more modern suspension systems
or stay with the original parts?
Just depends on what folks use their cars for. I think most on this forum would generally try to use OEM or aftermarket that appears and functions like original. For my personal K fastback, I actually plan to use roller perches and a few other minor suspension mods. The car already had the 1" drop done before I got it and has under ride traction bars on the rear. Don't get this one confused with the K convertible I'm doing, which is an nth degree concours restoration!
You live dangerously. I've heard about coils coming unglued and doing major damage to people. I used one that was sold by Snap-On Tools so I made up a compressor based on that. It is similar to the Ford type in the service manual, a strong threaded rod up the center of the coil.
Jim
Looking at Iowa's spring removal tool made me cringe a little as I thought about my spring replacement experience. When I replaced the spings in my K-GT I used what was supposed to be a quality spring compressor manufactured by KD. it was an internal unit with the hooks that grab the coils both top and bottom and has a threaded center rod. Removing the springs was fairly easy, however installing new GT springs with their higher rates turned out to be a small nightmare. The KD compressor would slip on the coils and if I hadn't been very careful to stay out of the line of fire, I could have been hurt when the compressor slipped an the spring came flying out. (when it let lose it sounded like an explosion) not an experience I ever care to repeat.... but as many of you have probably already discovered there are few manufacturers of internal coil spring compressors that can be used easily on early Mustang suspension systems. I ended up using a similar unit made by snap-on. The first spring went in great but when I tried the second side the center threaded bolt threads stripped, leaving me with no way to either compress or release the spring. Lucky for me the spring was in place and I was able to use a floor jack under the lower control arm to compress the spring enough to allow me to remove the compressor. I wish that someone a lot smarter than me could come up with a better system and design. Even the one pictured in the Ford manual looks like it would be difficult to use. After my little adventure I don't envy anyone who has to replace the front suspension in a Mustang especially the coils.
Dave, You need to post a picture of the exhaust if you want a correct answer.
-Fred-
In regards to spring compressors, Ford uses one that sits on top of the shock tower after the shock and bracket are removed. The threaded rod goes through a plate that is placed in the lower part of the spring. It has the same diameter as the spring with ridges to keep it from slipping. The spring is compressed from the top and then the spring saddle is removed from the control arm to extract the spring. These are really good at retaining the spring without slippage. I have seen these other than Ford but I do not know whether it was Snap On or some other company.
-Fred-
Dave, If you are trying to actually replicate the original, this is not it.
-Fred-
Isn't your car a Fall of '64 Dearborn car? If so, yours may be in that time period that the Arvindoe exhaust was used on hi-po's.
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