I am changing my inline 6 1966 mustang into an 8 cylinder car. In fact it has a 289 2 barrel engine in it already. I am working on changing the suspension and steering. I have the 5 lug spindles and hubs, lower control arms complete with ball joint, new 1 inch lowering springs with the 1 inch poly spring spacer. I am trying to find out which manufacturer of upper control arms to use. The are many such as Scott Drake, moog, Dorman etc. I am trying to locate the best one for my car. This mustang is not a race car it will be a weekend driver classic so muscle performance for racing is not an issue. I just want to replace these items back to as close to original as possible. I have seen many different upper control arm shafts and have heard some negative feed back based on the upper control arm shaft thread design. So, the question is "if I purchase a complete upper control arm, which is the best to purcahse, install and add the grease to get me back to as close to original as possible". I appreciate everyones input and opinion.
1966 Mustang aftermarket upper control arms
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My feeling is Moog is always going to be best. With that being said, i did have a reproduction UCA for my 67 (I didn't end up using it) as I rebuilt both of my originals and became very familiar with them inside and out. There was nothing about the reproduction that made me think it would be inferior to the original. But my originals were 4-bolt upper ball joint rather than the 3 bolt as most are and I wanted to keep with that. I didn't want 3-bolt on one side and 4-bolt on the other.
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I believe Moog still makes the UCA shaft kit and BJ, if the arm is not oblong shaped (worn out) where the shaft mounts you could rebuild your originals, that would be as close to original as possible.
If the car is not going to be bone stock concours original (6>8 conversion) I'm not sure why you want the arms to be identical to stock even if they will be lower quality than original?
If you want the best replacement arms that will last another 40yrs. and you can mount them straight out the box with no fiddlin' I get John's standard UCA:
Opentracker Racing Products - Upper Control Arms
They are ~$40-$50 more than the repops but again you won't have to change them for another 40yrs., the repops won't last that long.
I could kick myself for not buying these the first time, instead I got a 'kit' and the UCA nuts began to unscrew with use (marked with a welding chalk) so I had to fab a screw to hold them in place. John cleans up the burrs, centers them and welds a tab so they can't loosen. I will be swapping these out next time the suspension is apart. I take it you don't plan to do the Shelby 1" drop either? It's an improvement with radial tires, puts the tires flatter to the road, improves handling and alignment settings.
Jon
If the car is not going to be bone stock concours original (6>8 conversion) I'm not sure why you want the arms to be identical to stock even if they will be lower quality than original?
If you want the best replacement arms that will last another 40yrs. and you can mount them straight out the box with no fiddlin' I get John's standard UCA:
Opentracker Racing Products - Upper Control Arms
They are ~$40-$50 more than the repops but again you won't have to change them for another 40yrs., the repops won't last that long.
I could kick myself for not buying these the first time, instead I got a 'kit' and the UCA nuts began to unscrew with use (marked with a welding chalk) so I had to fab a screw to hold them in place. John cleans up the burrs, centers them and welds a tab so they can't loosen. I will be swapping these out next time the suspension is apart. I take it you don't plan to do the Shelby 1" drop either? It's an improvement with radial tires, puts the tires flatter to the road, improves handling and alignment settings.
Jon
I went with all new suspension, front and back, even roller spring perches from Opentracker Racing products for my 66 Fastback. I kept the suspension pretty close to stock looking. but with a much better performance.
They are a great to deal with too. :bigthumbsup
They are a great to deal with too. :bigthumbsup
I checked out Johns as was recommended. For the extra few bucks, they sound like the ones to get. I like it that they have gone the extra mile to help the purchaser resolve a potential issue. As soon as I get better from this right hip replacement, I'll be patronizing Johns Upper control arms. Thanks to all for the information This sure does help.:kooky:
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