I'm planning a disc conversion this Spring on my 65 GS convertible. I'm debating on whether or not to go with the stock or 2" dropped spindles and was wondering if anyone had any feedback from a previous project or pictures to share so I can get a better idea of what this physically looks like? Pictures of any 64 - 65 A-Bodies would be helpful. I'm concearned about tire clearance issues with larger rims and wider tires and how the drop affects the handling of the car overall. Pictures of my car as she sits now: Wheel and tire sizes: Rear Rims - 18" - 7" - 4.25 back space General Tires Exclaim UHP P235 50 Front Rims - 17" - 7" - 4.25 back space General Tires Exclaim UHP P225 50 Thanks in advance,
Here's a picture of my '64 with SSBC 2" drop spindles. In hindsight I should have stayed with stock height spindles. The tires rub when the wheel is turned hard right or left when the suspension is under compression (angled driveway transitioning to a level street, for example). That's with a 215/70/14 tire on Buick Rally wheels. Also, I can't fit a floor jack under the front crossmember without first driving onto a couple 2 x 4's to get the car up an inch and a half. It's possible that my front springs are old and tired and sag but I won't know until I try some new ones. If you decide to go with an aftermarket suspension most of them include springs designed to lower a stock height car an inch. If you combine that with 2" drop spindles you're now 3" lower than stock. Personally, I think your car sits fine just as it is. Nice ride.
I'm eventually going to change my whole front end to a lower stance.. I spoke with the tech guys at Hotchkis and there system is based on using stock spindles with a shorter coil spring and shocks, there reasoning is that if you use 2" drop spindle it effects the car geometry and you'll will need to use an adjustable coil over shocks hence giving you a much harder ride.. I'll take there word on it for what its worth..
Thanks Bill, this is exactly what I was looking for and you've convinced me to stick to stock. You've got a really nice ride also, any chance we can talk you into joining our little 64 - 66 A Body group over at www.65GS.com? I have a section set up in the Gallery section just for 64's if you'd like to post some pictures there and get our 64 collection off to a great start. Just curious if you decided to convert all four wheels to disc's or if you just done the fronts? If you only did the fronts, is this seeming to work out ok for you or if you had to do it over again, would you have sprung for all four? Thanks again! :beers2:
I've got stock spindles on mine with Hotchkis 1" drop springs and 215/70-15 tires on 15x6" wheels with 3 1/2" backspace. The tires do rub a little when turned all the way but they don't rub on anything sharp so I've just gotten used to it and usually try not to turn it that hard. It's little worse since I put the disc brakes on it. I don't have any really good straight side shots stored except the one at the dragstrip but that was taken from an elevated platform so it might look a little lower than it actually is.
My fenders are still stock and it's wierd how I had rubbing problems with my 14" Keystones that were on the car when I bought it but have only had rubbing in the front twice since I moved to the 17" wheels with a much wider tire. Both times was due to having the wheels turned sharply with four people in the car while pulling out of my driveway.. go figure. o No: I think it mainly has to do with the backspacing of the rim as it allows for much more tire and rim inward where it should be.
I went disc all around. Big improvement over the manual drums. I've visited that site but don't recall seeing any '64's.
I might need to really consider the disc's on all four now. :idea2: We have a lot of 64 users on the site now (the Forum) and I've recently set up the area in the Gallery for 64 and 66 owners to add pictures of their cars. Would you like to be one of the first to add pictures of your car in the 64 section? Thanks for the disc brake information.. these help a lot.
