Volare Frontend - Volare Survival Kit

In the mid '80s there were three prime candidates available for an Effie owner interested in dumping his Ford's stock straight-axle suspension in favor of an IFS unit. Starting alphabetically, there was the Camaro, Mustang II, and the Volare. Each frontend had its own attributes, but the Volare was the only one that offered torsion bar suspension with an adjustable ride height as standard equipment. Other features that made the Volare graft attractive for Effie fans was a 4 1/2 on 5-inch lug pattern that was easily matched on the truck's rear with a Ford passenger car differential sporting the same bolt pattern.

With the passing of two decades, the Volare has been long forgotten by the masses, but for many an Effie owner with a Volare clip grafted on their truck, the out-of-production frontend is still a key player. Unfortunately, it is the Volare's status as an out-of-production item that has put the front suspension system on the endangered list for most Effie folks.

That is, of course, unless you're aware of one of the Volare frontend's faithful followers since the earliest days, Bob's F-100 Parts in Riverside, California. On a recent visit to Bob's F-100 Parts, Bob told us that in the last 20 or so years his shop has performed well over 500 Volare conversions, and matched that number in the amount of Volare template kits they have sold. The only problem Bob noted about a Volare frontend was that some of the parts essential to rebuild or service them have been starting to become unattainable. Now, for some this might be a roadblock, but since Bob's F-100 Parts continues to offer anything from the smallest part for Volare front suspensions right up to equipping one of their rolling chassis packages with one, the obvious solution was to manufacture or source everything needed to market a Volare survival kit.

This is good news for anyone running a Volare frontend, but, of course, locating the necessary parts is only half the battle; the other half is installing the survival kit. We figured that since Bob's handles anything to do with a Volare, the next logical step would be to ask Bob if he could take us through the steps to rebuild one. Bob agreed and said that not only would he show us how to do the installation, but he would do it using common tools that the average guy would have at home. As the Volare rebuild progressed, Bob revealed a few methods to illustrate how these common tools could be utilized in place of expensive shop equipment, such as a hydraulic press.

All in all, the rebuild was a pretty easy project to take on, so what are you waiting for? Bob's F-100 Parts stocks everything you need to rebuild a Volare frontend, so get out in your garages and get those Effies up in the air, on jackstands, and ready to run another 100,000 miles! CCT