Topic: Need advice-opinions on suspension setup

[Glassman]

I want the wagon to have maximum straight-line traction while keeping good handling. Not great but good. This car will be a 3 season car. I also have a limited budget and fab experience. So I need simple too.

So far Im thinking about poly front bushings and possibly a stiffer sway bar. Im not going to disconnect the bar at the track. Im going to run in street trim. Stock coil springs cut to lower front about 1". Im not sure about shocks.

The front clip is going to be  fiberglass. Not a tilt one. The battery will be moved to the back. Im changing to a 71 or so front. The rear bumper will be a fiberglass one of the same year as the front.

Im not sure what trans I will end up with. I want a c-4 but Ill probably get a t-5.  The motor is going to be a turbo 2.3l.

For the rear I was thinking about stock springs with a leaf removed. Poly bushings. 1.5" lowering blocks. An adjustable pinion snubber. Shocks? Rear will be an 8".

Any Ideas or experiences??

[TurboPintoDude]

On my Wagon, as far as the suspension went, in the front I replaced all the bushings with poly, used the stock swaybar, Monroe Gas shocks, and got a set of 1" lowered spindles. In the back,  8" rear, high durometer rubber front eyelet bushings, aluminum spacer blocks, re-arched leafs, none removed, front segments clamped, load handling gas shocks (all I could find for it) with the springs removed, and a homemade set of slapper bars. 60' time: 1.32, no nitrous with a C4 and 4:10 gears.

[Glassman]

Sounds good, thanks.
How did you get the springs re-arched? New springs or had a shop do it. How much did the rear drop?  
Did you make the slapper bars because none were available?
What stall speed is the converter?

[TurboPintoDude]

I had a shop re-arch the springs for me, they also clamped the front segments for me. The rear actually didn't drop any from re-arching the springs, but with the aluminum blocks, it sits about 1/2" lower than stock, you can still get a set of 15" rims under the fenders with no problems. The only reason I made the slapper bars, was because I had some 2X2 square lying around and nothing to do with it. Boredom is the real mother of invention... LOL! The converter is a stock 1980 Pinto 2.3 C4 converter, I'm running a 2 step on the MSD to flash it, but I figure that the stall is probally around 2200 to 2300... Hope that helps