1967 Barracuda Convertible - A Solid Foundation On Suspension - Tech

Also included in our suspension kit is a new steering box. Since we feel a true performance car shouldn't have power-robbing accessories like power steering, we're converting our car to a manual steering box.

Along with the new torsion bars, new torsion-bar adjustors are included with the kit. This is a big convenience as decades old factory adjustors can be rusty and hard to turn.

Rather than replacing our rusty original strut-rods with factory units, we decided to upgrade to new, lighter aluminum strut-rods.

Like most Mopars with original suspension components, our lower control-arm bushings were shot. Luckily, new ones are included with the kit, and they're easily pressed into place with one of the tools in our suspension tool kit.

Upper ball-joint threads are cut with a slight interference so it's easiest to bolt the control arm in place before installing the ball joint. Alternatively, the upper control arm can be placed in a vice to accomplish this task.

When all the new front suspension components are in place and tightened to the proper torque, don't forget to install the cotter pins.

Now that our front suspension is installed, we can concentrate on our disc-brake conversion. The Wilwood brakes included in our Works kit bolt right to the factory drum brake spindles and will greatly reduce the stopping distance of our Barracuda.

We're updating our car with new rear axles and changing to the larger Mopar lug bolt pattern. If you plan to stay with the standard 4-inch pattern, however, the front rotors are drilled to accommodate either.

Front rotors must be bolted together, and the bolts are kept from backing out with aviation safety wire. Safety wire and safety wire pliers can be found at most aviation supply stores and some automotive performance stores.

The key to properly installing aviation safety wire is to make sure that if the bolt tries to back out, the wire will get tighter.

With the rotors assembled, the front brakes can now be installed on the car. While actually designed for racing, the Wilwood brakes are a dramatic improvement over the 9-inch drums our car came with and will be a major improvement to our street car.

Though our kit came with all new stainless steel brake lines, we're only installing the flexible lines at this time. The rest of the brake lines will go in place after our car gets back from the paint shop.

Though we're eager to feel the handling, ride, braking, and drivability improvements that our new suspension will give us, we'll have to wait until the car is finished. We're sure, however, that the difference will be dramatic. For now, we'll just bolt some old wheels on it and take it to the paint shop with confidence that when this project hits the road, it will be riding on the solid foundation of a great suspension and brake package from Just Suspension.