New tools don't work on old suspension...

Alot of people rebuilding classic Ford Mustangs like mine are likely to go through the same process of repairs to the front of the car. When you're going back together with it you're likely to end up at this page and figure out what drove you totally insane for a few hours. You're having a hard time getting the coil spring compression tool you purchased from the local store to pull up the coil spring high enough to get it installed and if you get past that you're having a hard time getting the shock, shock tower bracket and spring seat at the bottom to line up and install the shock if the engine isn't in. Thats what this page is about

Mustang Coil Springs

You're never going to get that spring high enough to seat it with that $10 all-thread tool that hooks on the outside that you picked up at the auto store. You're going to have to make a tool that pulls the damn spring up through the center in order to get that s.o.b. up there. Check out the Mustang Coil Spring Vlog entry I made for a video of my father pulling it up with a tool he made to get an idea.

Installing Front Shocks without Engine

If you want to get your shocks in so that they help hold your front end straight and you don't have an engine in you're going to need to pull those shocks tighter or they aren't long enough. What do you do? Well that compressor tool is useless for seating the springs but can pull them up enough after seating so that you can get the shocks installed in the front. So easy that even I could figure it out in a reasonable amount of time but if you're irritated after fighting with the coil springs it might not be so obvious. Here it is though so now you know and will get to avoid that little "freak out" that I enjoyed for about 5 minutes this evening.