HappySalesman

iTrader: (3)

After I finish my motor I plan on tackling my suspension. My goal is to make a solid handling car but still be able to take it on long trips with the wife. On top of that, I'd like to do this as cheap as possible since most of my budget is going towards the motor.

Up front I'm replacing all of the old worn bushings and ball joints with new Moog parts.

For springs/shocks I was looking at Strano's springs and a set of Koni Str.t shocks.

In the rear, I have a set of Founders LCAs with the 3 piece bushings. To save on cost I was going to go with UMI's new Panhard bar lowering kit over a watts link. On top of that I'm going with Founders adjustable torque arm to keep my pinion angle correct.

What I've got left is swaybar selection. What I'm seeing done most commonly is a 35/22 front and rear, but I'm worried about making the ride too harsh. Lastly, what end links do most people run? Rubber, poly? Adjustable?

JD_AMG

If you want you don't have to lower the car you can stay on your stock springs and with good shocks and swaybars still have excellent handling and not have to worry about ground clearance and will have a better ride than with lowering springs too. If thats the route you want to take Id suggest Koni sports with stock springs and if you want to lower a little you can use the lower perch on the front shocks and do the heater hose mod on the rear.
I was on stock springs and just koni SAs at stock height and it was unreal how much better the car drove, rode and handled. Added strano front swaybar then later strano rear swaybar and handling was even futher improved, then added his springs later and further improved handling. However Id bet you'd be more than satisfied with the performance of just koni sports and strano swaybars. The main reason I ended up lowering is i just couldn't stand the super high stock ride height, the added handling gain was just a benefit to it.
If you want to lower you can certainly take the route you are taking now but I would still suggest running the sports over the STR.Ts as you will get better handling and they shouldn't ride any worse.
For a torque arm I would wait until you get everything together and see if you need it then, most don't and I certainly did not but ended up buying an adjustable one anyway later down the road only to be a little disappointed with very little overall difference felt.
As far as the swaybar question, going with the bigger 35mm front bar (from the stock 32mm WS6 bar) didn't effect ride quality at all, while going with the larger 22mm rear bar did hurt ride a little but nothing to complain about, Ive been in a car with a larger 25mm rear drag bar and that thing did get harsh.
For endlinks whatever bars you buy should come with them, most of them are the poly endlinks and D bushings which is totally fine, the endlinks wont effect ride either.
EDIT: ADD ONE PART AT A TIME! That way you will know what effect each part has, what you like and don't like specifically and if something is installed incorrectly you know what it is and don't have to check every part again.

HappySalesman

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for the input. I'm currently lowered on some crappy fleabay springs and I'm hating it. I was leaning towards the stranos because the rates are better and I hoped it would raise the car a bit over what I'm at now. I think in following with your advice of one part at a time I'll go back to the stock springs, then do the heater hose/lower perch and see how it sits. If I'm still unhappy with ride height I'll look into the strano springs.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

There are a lot of ways to skin this cat. A LOT. I'll be honest and say I can't, with 100% confidence just rubber stamp that even if they are my springs, etc. I'd always like to talk to the customer to make sure things are fitting the need and the want.

Now, I'm a pretty picky guy with shocks as they are kind of the lynch-pin to making the car work and work well.

The ABSOLUTE worst thing to do is run crappy springs, with crappy shocks. So don't let the springs scare you away. Maybe we discuss it and agree it's not the way to go, but you really couldn't do worse than what you have right now. And that's just as much about lacking good shocks as it is the springs if I'm honest.

Remember that using the approach JD put out requires a Koni Sport, which is a killer shock and maybe what I'd recommend anyway (can't know until we talk). But it's a consideration that has to be gone through.