lOOKS LIKE FULL SUSPENSION WORK IS REQUIRED. WANT TO ENJOY DRIVING THE CAR ON CURVY ROADS. QUESTION IS RUBBER, POLY, OR SOMETHING CRAZY LIKE GLOBAL SYSTEMS. ANY THOUGHTS ON THIS APPRECIATED.
whatever you choose, just having stiff front springs, a lowered stance, and wide low profile tires will make a huge difference on the street and mountain roads.
To jusride, the thought has crossed my mind about doing something crazy. I am leaning towards stock, even rubber. Local tire store says poly real stiff and will transmit a lot of road. We have poor roads in Oregon already. Nice pic on your car.
You want a smooth ride, but good steering response?
-Factory coils (reuse existing) -Soft gas shocks (such as KYB GR2 or Monroe replacements) -GlobalWest (GW) Delrin control arm bushings on stock arms (upper and lower). Also check Detroit Speed (DSE) or SpeedTech Performance. -Hotchkis 1.125 hollow sway bar -GW, DSE or SpeedTech solid tie rod adjusters (as opposed to factory) -Fast ratio pitman arm -Aluminum body bushings -Whatever is left can be rubber (bumpstops, etc.) -Radial tires - Alignment (radial tires only) 3-4° Caster 1/4 to 1/2° negative camber 1/16 to 1/8" toe-in
I've heard from others who have used them, that solid control arm bushings with nylon inserts actually make the ride smoother since the "zero deflection" allows the spring and shocks to provide more of the damping (which is why they are there).
In my own experience solid body bushings with a stock suspension did not degrade ride quality (but oh what a difference in handling).
The larger sway bar will stiffen the ride a little but no where near as much as stiffer springs would have.
Stock tie-rods (look at them as you'll see why) tend to deflect more, making the steering feel sloppy.
Radial tires were fairly new on the scene when these cars were built, so the factory settings are designed around bias-ply. Not optimal for radials.
Fast ratio arm is slightly longer thus making the effective steering ratio slightly faster without changing the box.
I'm no expert, just collecting information from several sources over the past couple years. I'm in the process of doing all of the above to mine, but it's not finished yet.
harleydiesel, I have a 67 with herb Adams front and rear sway bars, KYB shocks newer springs, PolyGraphite bushings with Rubber Body Bushings 15" Rally II's with BFG Euro TA's and it all handles great with out too much road noise or vibration (due in part to the Rubber body bushings) and the roads up here in Seattle are not any better than down your way...
I'd at least go with the Rubber Body Bushings and PolyGraphite suspension bushings. But the components outlined by FirebirdMike would make for a sweet handeling package!
In addition to G.J's suggestions, there is Wayne Due up here just North of Seattle who makes custom front sub frames, and then Art Morrison is also up here for more suspension goodies... http://www.waynedue.com/ http://www.artmorrison.com/
If you are going to do it a little at a time, do one mod, and then see how it reacts and feels, then the next, it's a good way to know wich components make the biggest difference. Or, if you have to do it all at once, then you'll have a completely different car from when you started... either way, I think you'll like the changes you make!
thx for great details, I was looking for real life examples on what others recommend. Thx. As a note was planning on installing the 69 style Ram Air exhaust manifold for d port heads and doing the oil filter adapter. Will this effect the steering arm on that side?
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