I did everything to that car except replace the drums with discs. I even went to the lenght of getting front and rear sway bars(there was never one on the rear)from a '66 Mustang. I also used the Mustang A-Arms and ball joints, and replaced the steering box with an upgraded one. It really didn't make any difference becasue the suspension and steering geometry was so poorly designed. To prove this point, put the car up on jacks in front and turn the steering wheel and watch where the wheels end up. The spindles are pointing to the sky when the wheel is about 1/2 turn!!! It makes the front end 'snowplow' on turns. I don't thing anything could've helped the car, but I didn't try the McPhereson rack, so I wish you luck!

Make sure you instal a couple of airbags.

I did, however, put in a nice set of '71 El Camino black leather bucket seats. That was the best part of the whole car. Not made by Ford, or course!
--
'89 245 Sportwagon, '04 V70 2.5T Sportwagon