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There is an internal impeller that can break.

The rear springs can be re-arched to make them equal.

Personally, I have my '68 since 1972. I have the original rear springs in the car.

I always found them to be inadequate. They would bottom out too easily and in the days when it was my everyday car, putting anyone brave enough to venture to sit in the back seat, the car would ride on the bump stops.



The original rear springs are described by Ford as "competition springs". The natural pose the car would take was to have the nose up because of the arch of the rear springs.

At some point I experimented with solutions and the one that is still installed in the car is what many of the R models used, i.e., they installed an extra long leaf in the rear, taking off the clamps.



It does disable the "ass down" stance and makes the car look level. It ends the bottoming out. It does not make the ride harsh. In fact it softens the ride.



The other thing that works well with this solution is switching to Cure Ride rear shocks.

If you do your research you will at some point come across the fact that SA did a project with Cure ride and that rear shock valving was a result of it.

Of course none of this is Concourse correct but neither are radial tires so at some point you need to make a decision on which way to go? Either it can look original or you can make the car a lot more enjoyable to drive?

When you are running out of gas and need to come home, try to get the camber set at -1/2°. Toe in, which is always just an "approximation", so no need to use a digital computer to set it to within .001", set at 3/16" total.

Positive caster is better the more that you can get but I think about 1-1/2°+ is all you will be able to get without the tires hitting the front fender lips when turning.

You can get up to about 2-1/2°+ but the tires will definitely hook on the fender opening moldings.

With power steering you can live with only the 1-1/2° but the car probably will start to wonder at around 130mph. Considering you will also start to get lift there, that is probably the practical top cruising speed you should consider?

The '65 R models dialed in as much castor as they could get but the fender lips were already trimmed back. It gets tough to steer with no PS with 2-1/2° and more. It only wants to go straight, so with those cars you can't be afraid to steer with the gas pedal as well.

I wasn't following this thread so if this was said already, I apologize.

You won't see the actual ride height of the car until you put some mileage on it.

Sometimes just going around the block a couple of times will do it but suspensions need to settle into their ride heights.

When you disassemble the suspensions completely and just reassemble them, they won't be at the actual final ride heights.

Had a friend come over who knows Mustangs and said the equalizer bar is bent and the lower connection rod does not engage straight but off at an angle.  It is also touching the header very closely.  I am inclined to get a fortified bar this time around and he will install or I will install under his watchful eyes.
Was looking into this...
https://opentrackerracing.com/shop/mustang-roller-z-bar-and-clutch-rods-289-302-hi-po-small-block-v8-1965-1966/

In my experience the stock z-bar can be repaired and reinforced.

What I do is double up the top s portion. You do that by welding the new piece on and in the process you temper the metal by squelching it in a bucket of water. Everything else stays the same.


As Bob said, if you can't do the work yourself, a simpler solution would be to purchase a reinforced bar but I'm not sure that simply adding gusset plates (the triangular piece added) will clear everything there so I question the design of the reinforcements shown in those pictures.

I am surprised that Cobra Automotive can't supply one? This is a common failure. Mine is a simple and obvious solution.

Frankly hydraulic clutches present issues in the Mustang mounting them since they get mounted to the sheetmetal firewall which really is inadequate for supporting the mechanism. I do know of one person here that tried them on a '67 GT350 and had to remove it.


I did "roller bearing" everything in the system and although it works, it isn't an improvement in operating effort but it is an improvement in longevity over the original bushings. Those will have to be replaced eventually anyway so using bearings is a good solution.

What unit did you use? I would like to combine it with some sort of a "smart" rear view mirror that records front and back views as well but it is all confusing to me so far.

ASk Cobra Automotive what is different about their z-bar. They will tell you.

The most likely and most common cause of this situation is that the z-bar has twisted.


If you read through the original Ford specs, the original specs on the clutch rates it at 2,600 pounds.

To my knowledge, the Ford service part for the clutch pressure plate was a "Ford rebuilt" and rated at 2,800 pounds. Considering the general dependability of the original z-bars, those two must have been within the capacity of the original components?


If you read through the specs on seemingly every aftermarket pressure plate, they start at 3,200 pounds and some are as high as 3,400 pounds.It is very unlikely that your car has an original equipment pressure plate installed?

The original z-bar was never intended to work with the pressure of current aftermarket pressure plates.



If you attempt to use an original equipment z-bar, what will happen to it is the long leg, the one that curves around the steering column will also bend to the point that you can no longer move the throw out bearing/clutch pedal far enough to release the clutch.


The fix generally is simple. Replace the z-bar with a stronger z-bar. Sounds simple right? Typically the after market z-bars are not tempered enough to use without them also twisting like cooked spaghetti.

You are going to need a replacement that can handle the pressure of the current replacement clutches.That means that even if you found an original Ford Service part, which I doubt, you are going to need one that is reinforced in some way. In addition, there are at least two types.



The 289hp, because of it's unique cast iron exhaust manifolds uses a unique part to clear that driver side exhaust manifold.

My suggestion is that regardless whom or where you purchase it from, that it is certified for use with higher aftermarket pressure plate assemblies otherwise you will be in the same situation within a very short period of time?



You may also need to replace the plastic balls (bearings) on the z-bar mounting brackets with something better then the original brackets.

You need to be an educated consumer on this and make sure that you are dealing with someone who understands the issue and has the correct reinforced pats. You might want to ask the folks at Cobra Automotive for help on getting the necessary reinforced parts for this repair?

This is something that is very common for them to deal with and they can save you a lot of time in supplying the right parts the first time through?


You certainly can choose to go further in replacing or reinforcing other components in the clutch release system but what you are experiencing is a z-bar issue. You could find other components seriously worn when you disassemble and it would be a good time to consider upgrading them but that may not be absolutely necessary.

Anyone who can recreate that on the bell is...um...very talented. 

Sold. Thank you.

I already voted against it. The moderator here uses his own preferences. It makes it look like there is more activity going on here then there really is.

There is obviously a change in the procedure with the new software? I'm not seeing it?

This is an original 69-70 Assembly line Boss 429 battery tray.

It has been glass beaded and repainted.

It isn't perfect but it is very nice AND an original Ford part. Not a reproduction.

PM me here if interested.

$595 plus shipping.

I hold no personal animosity towards him. The subject of the OP just reminded me of the original articles that he wrote back then, whenever that actually was.

As with anyone in the public eye, I would expect there always to be a degree of dislike.

My experience with "celebrities" that I have met or known either professionally or personally is that their public persona rarely matches the reality accurately.

Identifying exactly what motivates them has always been somewhat of a challenge to understand. I'm passed the point of even being interested in that at all. To me it seems apparent that is very much just a sophomoric point of view or opinion.

Personally I have always been a person that is always "too". "Too tall. Too short. Too smart. Too stupid. Too ugly...etc." So I try not to offer "paybacks" when given the opportunities and just leave it at that.

Being a native New Yorker, I think we learn that very quickly. In NY, it is beyond showing a sign of weakness to be kind, it is a sign that you are, to state it politely, "seriously screwed up".

I don't care that he was only 5'5" tall. Only he does. I would just need to be careful that I don't fall over him because he is down there somewhere? 

I thought that Tyre was a city in Lebanon?