Just got back from a local mechanic. I had my tranny fluid changed and also wanted to get a look see under the car while it was on a lift.

I have been leaning towards a near if not complete resto of the suspension system. The car has 56k and was driven in California, so winters were never an issue (nor will they be as long as I own it)

I asked the mechanic that I was thinking about adding sfc's and he said. These cars pretty much suck anyway and adding sfc's won't help. I smelled BS.

I also asked him about new sway bars, springs, struts and he said... It won't matter, the car only has 56k miles you really don't need that...again, I smelled BS

I need to find a good speed shop.....
So I came across these guys,they are only 10 minutes away.
http://schwartzperformance.com/

I plan on a visit soon... I really do not know enough about this hobby to go about it as smart as I would like, so hooking up with some hot rod pros seems logical...

 

If the car rides good then i can agree on not needing shocks springs sway bars, now you could replace the sway bar bushings and from what everyone says on here sfc work miracles.

 

SFC......The mechanic knows nothing about these cars and their suspension.

My car has 55,000 miles right now and it's 5 years newer than your car. My original struts/shocks seemed "fine" when they were in the car. But putting new ones in made a huge difference.

When the original struts/shocks came out, I could compress them by hand fairly easily. The new ones took putting a towel over the end of the bar and then putting all my weight on them to make them budge.

 

I think I should have been more clear about my intentions.... I do want the car to handle better than it does now, not just be good enough. It just doesn't seem to have that "ride on the rails" feeling that I remember from my S/E 20+ years ago.

Kind of surprised to hear the mechanic say that SFC's wouldn't make a difference when there are so many testimonies on this site about its actual effectiveness..

 

IMO you want to know the 28 year old suspension is still reliable / performing then go for the add ons like SFC and wonderbar. Bushings still intact / not deformed? Rust/wear inside the ball joints? Holds an alignment? Susp rebuilds are not expensive and a great DIY project. There is a lot of good advice here to help.

 

Thanks!

 

wonderbar is an add on. Moog is a trusted brand here w/ lifetime warranty. Ebay has a suspiciously cheap complete set but scary to me. I did Moog across the board. I don't think sway bars need replacing unless rusted out or damaged. However the end links will rust together and the bushings deform. In bad cases it will elongate the hole in the LCA which you don't see until disassembly.

 

Replacing suspension parts is quite easy and can be done at home in one day if you have a floor jack and two safety stands. If you are using sport lowering springs then I don't think you'll even need a spring compressor to put the springs in place. Subframe connectors should be welded in place. That is more advanced work that maybe you want a shop to do. An offroad truck builder probably has the best mad-welding skills for a professional looking job. You need to find a shop that can support your car totally level and stressless before welding the subframes in place. Sway bar is held on with two brackets, and the "Wonder Bar" (steering brace) just goes in place beneath those brackets, so do both at the same time.

If your lowering springs are like mine, then the back springs go in by hand just by putting the back of the car on safety stands and allowing the axle to go to full droop. You might have to go a little ape on the old spring to get it out. The front springs can be installed by putting a floor jack under the control arm. Just put the spring in the pocket and jack up the arm until you can bolt the shock in place.

My long travel drag springs are pure hell to install. The installation instructions for those include cuss words.

 

Yeah, talk the Schwartz, he's the man!