Adjustable coilovers. For the front!

[Grand Marquis GT]

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/148_0208_coilover_front_shock_conversion/index.html

These look like they would work well. Spring rates are a little wimpy though!

[Pirate]

Gasp!

That's a chevy article....

[1987cp]

Interesting!

Is there any particular risk to having a heavy vehicle's weight resting on those teeny rods that go through the end of the shock, or are those made of something more along the lines of chromoly for coilover applications?

Looks like the middle of a Panther LCA might need to be reinforced .....

[DuceAnAHalf]

i noticed these a long time ago, you would need the ones for a 67-69 camaro. just need to find out the OD of the spring at the top

[interceptor1985]

If only those A-Arms would fit

[Blaze86Vic]

The top of the spring is too small. Converting to coild over will require changing the upper and lower mounts of the shock, to accomidate the stresses of the vehicles weight.

[Grand Marquis GT]

That's no problem. A little welding isn't too bad.

I'm seriously considering doing this. Front and rear. So I could start out with it being a little lower than stock, to slammed on it's nights, with the turn of a spanner.

I like it. I have a fetish for having a really low-slung panther, but functionally low!

See photoshops:

[DuceAnAHalf]

better have a lateral location device in the rear. and good luck trying to turn with that front so low

[Grand Marquis GT]

I'll roll the fenders if need be...

[DuceAnAHalf]

good luck trying to roll a panthers fenders. i had an eastwood fender roller and it is about useless for our fenders. they are too flat across the top, you have to re-adjust the roller every 3-4". also there is so much material in the rears that the roller cannot physically move the fenders out.

and in the front in that bottom picture, look how high up the tire is, imagine what it will do when you turn the wheel

[interceptor1985]

Thats what a torch and hammer and Dolly's is for if the easy way wont work do it the hard way

[CheeseSteakJim]

There is truth in what DuceAnAHalf says. I was forced to change my front springs when the front end began sagging so much that when I took a turn and hit anything taller than a small branch (like the lip of a driveway, or a speed bump), it would chew up the inside of my fender lip. The inside of the fender lip is pretty majorly fucked up (peeled down) now, to the point that once in a while it'll interfere with the tire even at the new ride height. Mine wasn't even sitting half as low as yours is in those Photoshops.

Don't get me wrong, I agree it looks badass, and I encourage you to figure out a way to make it work. Then I'll know what I'd have to do to slam the car with 255/50R17s.

[P72Ford]

What about taking the fenders off, and cutting/ grinding the lip right off? It'd be nearly impossible to do an acceptable job with the fenders on the car, but I think you could do pretty well with them removed. Lay it up on the bench, and get out a cutoff wheel, a steady hand, and plenty of replacement wheels, and go to town. It might be a good idea to practice first, and maybe tape a line as well. I wouldn't try to cut it totally off, but I would cut it down to where the rest of the lip could be finish ground. I understand that the lip adds integrity to the fender (probably more than we can imagine), so it might be a good idea to leave some, and dress the edge appropriately.

My Dad did this to his second sportsman car (a Chevy II), and it looked damn good. The rear is a different animal, but you may be able to clearance crucial areas nonetheless.

Of course, for front clearance, you could always toss in an Econoline straight axle, and go with the old school "weight transfer" look of a gasser. But then, that'd ruin your whole rake, etc...

As an aside: Tom, you of all people should be looking at parts for a Chivvy... whether they are going on a Ford or not. J/K... its all part of real hot rodding...

[mrltd]

the chevelle application ones use a reinforcement on the lower spring perch and the spring is like the newer vics, it's tapered and uses the stock upper perch.

a big block application still seemed to have low rates for our cars due the poor geometry. and with a BBF it'd make matters even worse. You would need to redesign the whole control arm and upper mounting point to get decent leverage. Johnnie and I discussed it awhile ago.

I had looked at these a while back also.

[turbo2256b]

I looked into them talked to the president of QA1. He actualy ran a CV in street stock at one time. I believe the spring would fit but the lack of spring options might be an issue. The front of our cars is heaverier than the old chevys even with a big block. Since the springs are not closer to the spindle/ balljoint the spring stiffness needed wont channge. Dont remember but the shok might be too long. Strenght of the lowere mount is the issue. I have nutted creamys lower shock bolts perty much takes care of that. The mtg points actually have less stress on them with a coil ovver than a standard spring.