Steering/Suspension

When I had the fenders removed for engine bay paint I notice the rubber coil spring pad was deteriorating and upon closer inspection I notice the upper spring seat was missing on the driver's side. A quick trip to the junkyard I was able to get the missing part from a 61 Falcon that I removed the coil spring perch from years earlier when getting parts for my Maverick.

Idler arm and tie rods were replaced hoping to get rid of the play in the steering wheel although it helped very little it didn't get enough of the play. I ended up rebuilding the steering box that was originally in my '60 Falcon to replace the one in the '63. The condition of the '60 steering box was in much better shape parts wise. The '60 mounting bolts holes needed to be drilled/tapped from 3/8" to 7/16".

NOS strut rod and bushings were found on the internet and the factory greasable spring perches were disassembled, bead blasted and repainted. I replaced the upper/lower control arms, coil springs, and spindle bearings and seals.

I wasn't happy with the stance with the new coil springs. They were way too stiff and I had to compress the spring to get the shocks bolted to the spring perch. The old springs were bead blasted/painted and reinstalled.

New leaf springs were purchased from McVeigh and new U-bolts and shackles replaced the old rusty hardware. I had to drill the front spring eye bushings out another 1/8" to fit the shoulder bolt. I didn't have this problem with the spring swap on my '60. Maybe '63 was a odd year on shoulder bolts. The new U-bolts having a few extra threads worked out great with new leaf springs that had a 1/4" thinner spring pack than the original spring pack. After the swap I measured a 2-1/4" difference in the center of the wheel opening.