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Front Suspension & Power Steering
These are shots of the front suspension assembly and the Heidt power steering kit I installed. I kept the original rack and added the kit to adjust the steering response. I used AN6 hose and fittings supplied with the kit and a few extra feet of hose for routing. I modified one end of the return line to the pump to connect with rubber hose. I used my die grinder to cut off the nut portion of the fitting to slip a piece of hose over and then to the pump return port.
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February 2002
Installation of Vintage Performance Motorcars front sway bar.
After trying to decide which setup to install, VP came out with their product and I quickly snatched one up. The rear was the first to get installed and then the front followed. The front installation was a breeze! All the brackets fit nicely and the rest was just welding up the sway bar mount to the frame. After everything was fitted and test driven for a month, I removed the sway bar and had it powdercoated to help protect it from getting blasted.
I'm running the front bar on the lowest setting (7/8" bar and 174 lbs/in) with 500# Eibach springs after doing some testing with different spring rates. I get a very slight push in corners, only when really attacking them, which I really don't mind. With the setup my car has and how it handles, this is more than adequate for street or track driving. I run a 550# Eibach spring on the rear suspension which is IRS and also use the VP rear sway bar.
By no means is this information intended for everyone's setup. I believe it is a very good solution to the body roll characteristics of the F5 roadster with IRS.
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The above pictures show the bar and brackets being positioned and how it connects to the lower control arm shock assembly.
February 2014
Changed out the power steering pump from the Ford stock one to a GM Type II pump. I have a plastic black reservoir but you can also opt for aluminum or external mount. Much nicer look and feel along with having good AN fittings on all hose connections. I installed a 5" Jones Racing serpentine pulley to slow down the feed. I still use the Heidts steering valve and adjustment hadn't changed from the stock pump. I mounted the pump with a KRC mounting kit and made one piece spacers to keep the belt lined up. The top two spacers are actually a two-piece so I could sandwich the coil bracket in the spot I like. The KRC mount allows you to position the pump in a good orientation to keep the reservoir level. There are many out there that say you can't mount a GM Type II on a MKI/MKII chassis, but they are not correct!
Below are a couple of pictures on how mine is mounted. The upper two spacers for the KRC bracket were machined into two each so I could put my coil mounting plate in between. I made new spacers because I wanted one spacer instead of two for the bottom. As mentioned, I machined the top two to accommodate my coil plate.
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