68 Front End Rebuild

I'll be diving in to my first front end rebuild this winter, just want to think out loud and ask a few questions.
Coronet, driver, cruiser, 318, likely swap a big block someday. I already have a Hotchkiss front sway bar (probably 1 3/8", not yet installed), I will likely get a Hotchiss rear sway to match.
Likely will go with Hotchkiss 1.1" torsion bars. My LCA's don't have tabs, so I will also order their tab kit to weld in.
Is there any chance this rig will be too stiff with just the smallblock weight?
PST has an LCA stiffening kit, worth it? Seems I might as well...
Adjustable strut rods: Am I really going to notice anything there?
Steering box is already in, Firm Feel.
Thanks for any input!

A small rear sway bar on a B-body would probably be OK - at least for street speeds - when used with the front sway bar and larger t-bars you've mentioned.
I would try it without first and see how you liked it.

Definately go with tabs from the same people you bought the sway bar from.

It will not be too stiff. Use either regular parts store shocks or really decent shocks like bilstiens or whatever Hotchkis is selling. NO KYBs.

LCA stiffening. For what you're doing, IMO its a waste. If you really want to weld a plate a cross the bottom - go ahead, it won't hurt other than a little weight.

Adjustable strut rods. No, They were an answer to poly strut bushings that were the wrong thickness. Now people use (and mis-use) them for other reasons.

Replacing worn parts, adding the front sway bar, and slightly bigger t-bars and you've done a lot.

Set ride hieght per shop manual, or a drop lower. Then align in the proper sequence. Camber, Caster, toe. Use the most negative camber in the specs, the most positive caster, and the factory toe.
(The rt to left difference isn't needed as much with the virtual disappearance of high crowned roadways.) See how you like it and make adjustments from there.
Assuming here you will be using crusing type tires, not some super sticky ultra performance summer only shoes.

My opinion is that the spherical rod end strut rods are one of the best upgrades you can do to one of these cars. Doesn't matter which set to me. That helps a lot with the wandering feeling.

My experience is hotchkis sends tabs in the sway bar kit, at least they did for the 67-72 A-body kit. You might want to call.

The LCA thing, its more important that they are tight at the back where the torsion bar pivot is. If they are loose you need to pinch them together and you may as well put a piece of bar across and/or the stiffening plates while you're at it. The photos show what I did, the front end is very precise.

I went pretty big on caster on my Duster and like it a lot. +7 caster, 3/4 degree camber and 1/16" toe, drives great, even with 275 width front tires.

Thanks Mattax! Great info. Lack of love for the KYB's seems like a common theme.

GD318, I see what you did there! Thanks for the tips.

KYBs were popular for awhile before better shocks became available at a better price. People sometimes used KYBs with stock sized torsion bars and leaf springs and noticed that their cars seemed to ride firmer. This was because the KYBs are really stiff in their first few inches of travel but then become softer as the suspension travel increased. This results in a stiffer ride that may be okay on perfectly smooth roads.

The main problem was and is the high frequency damping. That was true with 1.03 bars in close to stock weight front end.
Correct. In the late 80s and much of the '90s next step up was double adjustible Koni's recalibrated by Koni.
That's what Mitch used in his ESP Challenger, as did Beckman in the Rally 'cuda, and most if not all road racers.
That's why a bunch of us went to SPAX for Australian Valiants.
About the same time Tim Werner put together Bilstiens (he had access to select the components needed) for his Project Valiant (now called by some the Red Brick).
We're fortunate now that there are some really decent off the shelf shocks available in North America for a cost less than Koni adjustables.
Still need to be carefull as compressed lengths are not always sufficent for cars running with cut down bump stops etc.
I just like people to be aware of KYBs faults because they at the price they sell for, they look like a bargain.