[B0B N Weave]

I think it sits really low in the front. Other than that, if you guys could take a quick look and see if everything looks okay I would appreciate it.

Can you see the crack just inside the fender? Is it something I should worry about?

A quick shot at the engine.

the intermediate shaft. I kept seeing you guys talking about the repair kit and it comes with rubber. This one has no rubber on it at all. The shiny metal there is a little clamp I put on there to keep it from completely falling apart while driving it home.

[ITLRUN]

As far as the dip in the nose, that's just probably weak struts. The crack in the fender, I would fix with the pot holes and bumps in the roads today. If your planning on restoring it, when it's time for the paint who ever does the body work could straighten that crack out and tig weld it. You'll never know it was there. Good luck with it, Mike. SCT Tuner.

[TOM RENZO]

Where exactly is the cracks?? Are they on the towers???? Post some photos please. If the tower is cracked you have a problem. I repaired many a coupe and mustang with cracked towers. Let me know TOM. The springs are probably shot and the struts are also gone. The car is a little LOW. I bet the springs are broken. I see a lot of broken springs in those cars. TOM

[B0B N Weave]

You can see the crack in the third pic. It is in line with the washer fluid cap. Its not very big. Im thinking the suspension is still holding up just based on the fact that it doesn't bottom out pulling in driveways or hitting big bumps. Then again the car is pretty old .

[TOM RENZO]

Ok i see it. Believe it or not that is a problem. I have seen this before and it worrys me. I lost a strut tower on the MIDNIGHTER (TC) It's not cracked where yours is but this means the area is under STRESS. Hopefully it wont spread. I have seen a lot of mustangs and coupes do this. I have a special way of repairing the frame in that area. Keep an eye on the strut towers. If they start to crack its time to reinforce the area. I will take photos of the mod i do in this area. The strut towers are real week on those cars. Check the front springs. If they are broken that will cause it. TOM

[SM90Stanger]

Nice Find! How much did you pick that beautiful lady up for?

Yeah, a crack in a frame member anywhere tells you that you really need to support it more. Take the front clip off to get a better look at the damage. As far as the front end being low, I have to agree with Tommy; my front end was sitting a little low when I got my coupe (not close to as low as yours is sitting) and when I dug into the suspension it turned out that one of the springs was cracked in 2 places and it was just sitting on itself and the other one was cracked at the base of the spring. I am guessing that a common area for these stock springs to crack is where it sits in the A arm... If anybody wants to chime in on this assumption, go ahead.

Do you know how to weld? It would make that crack in the frame a lot easier and cheaper to fix!

Steve

[TOM RENZO]

Hi Steeve You are 100% correct. I change many a spring on FOX bodies. They break at the lower controll arm approximately 1 coil from the bottom. Then they sit on themselves. I cant figure out why. I called my good friend Jim Wilson at moog about this condition and he explained to me it was HARMONICS. Hard to believe but he is the EXPERT. Every Fox that comes in i check the springs. I think that is what breaks the towers. I reweld all the seams in my cars and weld all the holes up. Their is to many holes in those cars on the fender APRONS. That weakens the mettal. I would suggest keeping an eye on the crack and replace those broken springs.

[B0B N Weave]

Well then. I guess ill get right on that.
I can MIG weld, but I dont have a welder. I have some friends at a body shop that put a quick weld on it.
Does anyone recommend a certain aftermarket spring? Im going for cheap and safe.
I paid 1300 for the car

[SM90Stanger]

Originally Posted by B0B N Weave

Well then. I guess ill get right on that.
I can MIG weld, but I dont have a welder. I have some friends at a body shop that put a quick weld on it.
Does anyone recommend a certain aftermarket spring? Im going for cheap and safe.
I paid 1300 for the car

Try to find a set of new "stock replacement" springs for a 2.3L Hatchback at any auto parts store... As I said before, they probably don't make anything specifically for the SVO.

If you wanna get into the nicer stuff, you should get springs with a variable spring rate.

Steve

[PhoenixSheriden]

Originally Posted by TOM RENZO

Hi Steeve You are 100% correct. I change many a spring on FOX bodies. They break at the lower controll arm approximately 1 coil from the bottom. Then they sit on themselves.

i'm no expert, but at least out here it's not uncommon for the same thing to happen to a lot of the newer (like the 2000-current) focuses. my bro had the spring on his focus break exactly the same position as you describe, and so did his brother in law on his focus. i wonder if this is a ford in general prob rather than a mustang speciffic one.

[TOM RENZO]

Originally Posted by PhoenixSheriden

i'm no expert, but at least out here it's not uncommon for the same thing to happen to a lot of the newer (like the 2000-current) focuses. my bro had the spring on his focus break exactly the same position as you describe, and so did his brother in law on his focus. i wonder if this is a ford in general prob rather than a mustang speciffic one.

The springs are made by vendors such as MOOG ETC. According to Jim Wilson Head spring engineer for moog it is very common in some cars. It could be stress a bad design or just a run of bad springs. I change many springs in my shop and its not just fords. Springs are a strange animal. One never knows why they break on certain models. In the case of most of our cars it could be fatigue. After all we are dealing with 20 year old rides or older. The springs have gone through many cycles in that length of time. With fuel economy a big problem today everything in the car is getting lighter including the springs. Like everything in life they also wear out. And fail. TOM

[B0B N Weave]

Well I know both rear springs are broke for sure. When I jacked up the rear end I could of pulled the springs out with just my hands Not to mention the strange popping noise I heard when I lowered it back down.I guess ill go ahead and put new springs all the way around.

Its like crap I gotta fix this stuff and then YAY I get new stuff

[B0B N Weave]

I found these springs on ebay. Good price, but they are for a V8. Since they are lowering springs do you think they will put me at stock height or will it still be like installing a lift kit I think this is the longest link in the history of links lol
79-93 FORD MUSTANG V8 5.0L LOWERING SPRINGS 84 85 86 87:eBay Motors (item 110444038871 end time Nov-08-09 17:56:57 PST)

[TOM RENZO]

Sometimes those springs are a little low. If you dont know the rates or the drop percentace its a roll of the dice. Check out local part stores befor making a decision. Their really isn't much difference between springs on a V8 compaired to a 4 cylinder. Very little height differencs at best

[SM90Stanger]

Originally Posted by TOM RENZO

Sometimes those springs are a little low. If you dont know the rates or the drop percentace its a roll of the dice. Check out local part stores befor making a decision. Their really isn't much difference between springs on a V8 compaired to a 4 cylinder. Very little height differencs at best

hmmm, sorry for the bad info then... I woulda thought because the 5.0 weighs so much more than the 2.3, the front would sit a lot higher. But if the spring rates are similiar, then go for it!

Steve