Lots of great input, thanks guys! Handling upgrade is a must for me. I know its a muscle car, but where I live the roads are narrow and twisty with lots of blind corners and hairpins. This is as much for safety as it is driving enjoyment. My ego needs protecting as well. Yesterday I took the car on the blue ridge parkway, having the time of my life driving the car at the ragged edge of grip and going as fast as my courage will allow, only to look in the mirror and find I'm being savagely tailgated by an elderly woman in a 20 year old Subaru outback....
I've been getting a plan together for what I wanna do to the car over the winter. I've got some work to do in the interior and top and door seals to replace. I just noticed today my exhaust manifold has a big ass crack in it too, so I may as well do exhaust and suspension together. I'm a filthy poor person so this has to be done on the cheap. I can afford the parts if I get em like Johnny Cash, but I'll have to do as much of the work as possible myself. I have basic hand tools, air impact, and air ratchet.
So my plan is at the end of November, putting the car on jack stands and do the following:
1: Polyurethane Suspension bushings and body mounts (do I need any special equipment for this? never done it)
2: New motor and transmission mounts.
3: Bilstien Shocks all around. (Airbags make me skeered, they seem to add a layer of complexity that I don't need in my life.)
4: Replacing all ball joints, end links and other wear items in the suspension. (open to recommendations on brands)
5: Front and rear sway bars (Looked at the H&R rear, its awfully expensive. How does it compare to something like UMI or summit or whatever?)
6: Frame Braces
7: Oem replacement exhaust manifold. (I'd prefer to just put headers on since i'll have lots of access during this project, however its not a priority and cost will be the deciding factor)
8: Oil pan gasket while i'm down there, Transmission filter, gasket, and fluid ( still have the factory cork gasket on there and its starting to weep)
This should keep me busy this winter, is there any other maintenance I should do while I have all this apart? Brakes are good for now, I wanna upgrade them too, maybe next year.