I have an 86 Regal Limited, Olds 307, mostly stock. Its time for new suspension and why not upgrade? I'm thinking GN shocks, springs, sway bars, new bushings. I've been told bits from other performance G-Bodies (Monte Carlo SS) will work as well. I'm not going for hardcore anything, I go to the drag strip sometimes, and I tend to corner hard so I figure GN suspension will stiffen it up without punishing my kidneys. I have 16" crosslaced wheels from a Trans Am with 245/50/16 tires with a pretty stiff sidewall. Any advice would be much appreciated.
*Now anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here, I'm still learning* If I'm not mistaken, the GN didn't really have anything special over the Monte SS or Hurst/442 Olds. I think it was called the F-41 package, maybe? But basically it was a rear sway bar, a bigger front sway bar, and a quicker ratio steering box. Come to think of it, I think my buddy had Bilstein shocks on his Aerocoupe, but I'm not positive. Basically I'd guess it depends on how much you wanna spend, whether you wanna find used sway bars or spring for new aftermarket ones. There's a huge aftermarket for suspension goodies for the G-bodies, so you can go as far as you want.
I've heard the same about W41 suspension. I don't have a rear sway bar, so I'll add one and I think I'll find a bigger front bar. I need new springs, so I'll get stock GN springs and shocks. I think that will give me a firmer ride, better handling, and still not punish my kidneys while keeping me within my budget.
Besides the rear sway bar, I think the best upgrade has to be the rear seat braces, G-Body front braces (GN didn't have these to start with) You can get them from Monte's from certain years or aftermarket. Kirbins carries them. I got mine off Ebay. You want both uppers (Fender) and lowers. This tightened my car up and well worth the money.:TU: https://secure.mysuperpageshosting.com/kirbanperformance.com/index1.htm
Just get heavy duty sway bars for a G body. The GN springs will not be right because the V6 was lighter than your V8. Get some good gas shocks and skip the springs unless yours are sagging.
:gp: Another cheap trick is to find some 1le F body bushing for the rear control arms. Get all of the body bushings too.
Front frame braces off many GM A & G body cars (even 4 doors) to triangulate frame Rear sway bars (3/4") on many A/G body, especially 78-82 olds cutlass Replace 6 of 8 rear suspension bushings with polyurethane (leave 2 on axle at differential rubber: need suspension to be able to move; all poly binds it too much) Get front sway bar from cop caprice SURPRIZE! same size as GN (1 1/4) Replace front suspension bushings with polyurethane Progressive springs Prformance shocks
Wow, thanks guys, I definitely need new springs, the fronts are sagging pretty bad. I don't really want the normal Regal springs because they will be too soft, but is the difference in weight between my 307 and the turbo v6 going to make that much difference? Won't the stiffer rate of GN springs make up for it and then some? I don't really want to get lowering springs, which is the only performance stuff I've seen for the V8. I'm sure the GN springs will lower it a little, and that's fine, but I don't want to drop a whole inch. I was planning to keep rubber bushings (or should I definitely get poly?) all around but I will get new ones. I've got a friend visiting some junkyards tomorrow, so I'll give him a shopping list of possible donors. Will I have to fabricate anything to bolt a sway bar on to my non-swaybar rear end? I assume all the mounting holes are already there, right?
Whenever you replace springs, you should take into account weight from the engine as well as A/C. There is a difference between the weight of a V6 and a V8. One of the reasons the GN will feel better in a corner is because of the lighter engine. I don't think the GN's got a stiffer spring than a V8 Regal. Stiffness and spring length are 2 different things, and both affect ride height. The bigger sway bar in the front will give you a slightly harder ride by itself. If you go too stiff on a spring, you will destroy the naturally good ride of the G body. Go bigger on the sway bar in the front, and that will go a long way towards improving the handling. Look into the HR Parts n Stuff rear sway bar. It is much more effective than the stock rear bar which only connects the 2 lower control arms in the back. The HR bar is sold mostly for it's benefit at the track launching a car straight, but it has some great handling improvements also. It is expensive though. In any case, I would talk to a Spring manufacturer about what you are trying to accomplish. Go with what they suggest. The GN springs may not get you what you want, and the car may not sit right. http://www.hrpartsandstuff.com/
I see your point, there are different part numbers for the springs between V8 and V6 Regals, and the part numbers are the same between n/a (the HD v6 springs are T-Type stock) and turbo v6. So I will get the V8 springs. They have a normal spring with a/c normal without a/c and heavy duty without a/c. I do want to stiffen it up, so I want to get the HD springs. My car had a/c, but I've removed the compressor, the hard lines, the accumulator, and I can remove the condenser fairly easily (obviously there is no refigerant left in there). Would you agree that I've removed enough of the a/c weight to justify the HD non a/c springs? Opinions on constant vs. variable rate rear springs? Do the spring insulators go on the top, bottom or both of the spring? I.E. do I need to buy 4 or 8?
If you have removed the A/C components, than yes, go non A/C springs. As far as the insulators go, on the A body, they only go on top of the rear springs, not on the front springs. Not sure about the G body, maybe someone else will know.
Eaton spring in Detroit Michigan is where I got my A body springs. I told them what I wanted and they made them up. I think stock are about 100 bucks a pair and custom were an extra 50 bucks. They have all the stock specs and can add or subtrtact to get the springs to do what you want. Give them a call and see what they have to offer. I was impressed with the service. Heres a link. http://www.eatonsprings.com/index.html
