Great info! Thanks. I was leaning towards the coil-overs for a couple of reasons. One, if I decide to get more into racing, they are already there and wont have to be upgraded - granted I choose the correct set up. Second, I'm sure its a mental thing, but I didn't want to have the "I shoulda's" after I finish building the car. Now I will be totally honest, after all of these years of building cars, I have only done stock resto's, mild resto-mods and drag cars (way back). as far as a handling car, I really don't know what to expect from any of the parts I select (coils vs coil overs, 3 link vs 4 link vs lowered leafs). All I currently know is that the original set up is pretty much a death trap
I guess in the grand scheme of things, I assumed coil overs were just the best way to go from the majority of cars running them.
Budget is definitely huge on this, but if there is a major improvement in feel and performance by spending $1-2K more on the build, I figure I should go for it. Thanks for your help!