Hi, guys. I'm helping my dad with his 73 Comet GT rotisserie rebuild, and I'm working on the suspension. I have new front springs and rear leaf springs, and working on the shock selection now. Is there a preferred brand/type of shock for this application? I noticed AutoKrafters sells Gabriel shocks, but the options seem endless from other vendors. Also, what else needs to be replaced in the front end while the engine and suspension is out?
As far as shocks go, a lot of guys use the KYB’s. There is also a rebate available on them until the end of the month. Rockauto has great prices on suspension parts for our cars.
Your car’s rubber suspension bushings are all 46 years old, so I would suggest replacing all of them.
Rubber spring insulator on top of spring, spring perches, A new upper control arm will have new bushings and ball joint plus nice finish, same with lower, idler arm bushing, tie rod ends, sway bar end links, possibly strut rod bushings (get rubber, not urethane). If the springs are not cut, re-use if the ride height was good. Lots of people have had to cut new springs to bring the front end back down...check condition of the eccentric bolts that adjust camber; I bought new ones but re-used the old ones as they seemed more stout.
I used Mustang 620 1" drop front springs on my 73 but as stuman says, the ride height was a little high. I cut one coil off which dropped it about 2 inches. I used four leafs on the rear which brought the rear up some but not too much. The car now sits fairly level.
