I think that some of you guys are confusing spring rates and loaded ride height rating here, which are two different things. You can certainly have two or more different springs with the same rate but different ride height. When Ford specs out the springs for a certain model of car, there can be 5+ different springs as mentioned, all with the same spring rate. However, the weight needed to compress it to the ride height spec is different ... that's what they use to tune the height when there is added weight from extra options, etc.
Up until the 1970s, on the Ford parts microfiche catalogue cards, the various part numbers of springs would be listed in charts showing the spring rate, and the weight spec to compress the spring to ride height. Even through the 80s, the info would be published sometimes, but I haven't seen anything like that from Ford for many years, unless it's in a technical service bulletin for ride heights on a truck.
Here's an example ... the 87-93 Fox 5.0L Mustangs all had the same spring rate (except the 93 Cobra), but there were about 7 different OEM front springs, and 5 or 6 for the rear. This was to make up for the range of weight variations from a stripper no A/C 5-speed coupe, to a hatchback, to a GT hatchback with a bit more weight, all the way to a loaded up AOD ragtop car with A/C. This is typically done by adding a bit more free height to the springs. The old Ford Motorsport M-5300-C spring kit for the Mustangs were just LX coupe base rear springs, and 5.0L Fox LTD police package no A/C springs. I remember looking at the tag IDs on them in the late 80s when I had my 87 LX hatch and was starting with the mods on it.
So the long and short of it, comparing spring rates between various springs isn't going to give you a direct indication of how the ride height will come out.
The 94-98 Mustang axles should be the same length as your originals, so that dimension would be unaffected. A note about those Sumitomo 315/35R17, lots of the Mustang guys use them because the pricing is very attractive, and they will fit where other 315s wouldn't ... of you compare the actual dimensions on them to other manufacturers' 315/35R17 rubber, you will see that they are definitely smaller. Which works out well in this case, looks great!
How much more clearance would there be to the inside, exhaust, brake cables, inner wheelwell? Just wondering for myself for later, if I wanted to go with 10 to 11" wide wheels with some more backspacing to tuck them in a bit further.
Front lower control arms from 03-04 Cobra, the best of the factory SN95 arms. You would have to swap out the ball joints, or use a spacer on the originals, to mount them with Fox spindles.
They are 5/8" coarse thread, you can use some short bolts in that diameter with exhaust cement on them, a bit less ghetto than busting off spark plugs. LOL
Haven't tried it in a Fox Birdcat, but from my Mustang forum and Ford parts experience I'm going to say that the control arm mounting points are the same for 79-04 Mustangs.
I'd take the first one in the non-puke colour! LOL
My father had a 78 brand new, dove grey with a red pinstripe. 351M car IIRC, no issues at all in the 2 years he had it. During the 70s & 80s he was getting a new vehicle every 2 or 3 years because of the mileage he would put on for work. After that he got an 80 T-Bird with a 255 in a similar colour combo to the second car posted above. That car was an unabated POS, he didn't get another Ford for 10 years after that! LOL
I'm heading down with my new acquisition 88 TC after an absence of about 5 years! Used to go down all the time with some local guys when I had my 95 SC Bird.
I'm a new guy here, but not to auto-related Internet forums in general. People on any vBulletin boards should remember they have the option of using that little exclamation point in the triangle to the bottom left of every post to report something to the mods / admins that they feel is an issue. They also have the option of utilizing the "ignore user" feature to not see the posts from that person.
But I certainly agree, anyone who is rude and condescending to other forum members should be dealt with, regardless of their knowledge and helpfulness otherwise.
Links to some photobucket before, during, and after pics, using Duplicolor flat black dye. I think they look pretty good, so even if I can get a couple of years out of refreshing them using this method, that's fine by me. The car won't be a daily driver, and I'll be trying to park it inside when not in use to keep it out of the sun.
Later heads just had a 5/8" coarse threaded hole. So tapping and threading them to that size should work fine, along with some short 5/8" bolts with a bit of exhaust sealer smeared on.
