"El Mongrel" '65 Formula S Restomod

Part 14

Let's finish up the suspension. As previously discussed the stock Formula S suspension was a nice package from the factory and with some updating, thanks to modern shock and tire technology, it can be made even better. The remaining mods consist mostly of replacing all the old worn out rubber bushings with new polygraphite bushings: rear spring eyes and shackles, lower control arms, shorter bump stops, strut rods, Moog 7103 offset upper control arm bushings (for more camber adjustment, only available in rubber), new sway bar mounts and end links/hardware. Edelbrock IAS shocks at all four corners (poly bushed) and new, wider, lower profile radial tires round out the package. Everything in the steering system with a bearing was replaced with new Moog parts: idler arm, upper & lower ball joints, inner & outer tie rods and sleeves (should have gone with the heavier duty C body parts here for a slightly costlier upgrade). A newer aluminium manual steering box replaced the worn out power setup and the K member was completely re-welded with gussets added to the steering box mount. I have a set of .890 torsion bars (.870 stock) and a rear sway bar setup to play with at a later date. The torsion bar adjusters were cranked down to lower the front ride height about an inch to match the inch or so drop in the rear from flipping the spring hangers. Gusset plates were welded on the bottom of the lower control arms to kept them from flexing and twisting under hard cornering loads. I built new front sway bar mounts to accept modern greaseable poly bushings as the original rubber mounts were gone and not rebuildable. Can't give first hand knowledge yet on the results of all this work as I still haven't found a good alignment tech locally who knows his old Mopars to get this all sorted out and adjusted correctly.

Part 15

Getting her to stop. I'm throwing in the brake upgrades now as they share the same photos as above. Standard fair '73-'76 A body disk brake swap. I specified '76 loaded calipers and used the old ones as cores. The '76 calipers have a slightly larger piston diameter than the '73-'75 calipers and will give a proportional increase in clamping force and improved stopping performance. I kept the standard 10 7/8" rotors as they are much lighter than the bigger B body rotors and on such a light car are more than enough unless your road racing or autocrossing. The rear brakes are 10 x 2.5 " and for the life of me I can't remember what the donor vehicle was. May have been the stock 4 door Valiant 8 1/4 axle or a junk yard B/C or truck. Of course all new rear shoes and hardware, brake cylinders, lines, hoses, ect. front to rear were installed. A disk/drum manual brake master cylinder and distribution bock, again specified for a '76 A body, topped off the system.