Has anyone converted to a rack on their 65? I see multiple A body kits out there but the Skylark is never mentioned (Chevy, Olds, and Pontiac all get a shout out). I seem to remember when rebuilding my front end many moons ago that I had to order some special parts outside a normal A body suspension kit. My memory is not great though lol. I am unsure if the Skylark needed anything special to convert to a rack. If anyone has any experience doing this swap, I wouldon't appreciate any advice. Thank you, Joe
64-72 A-body kits will work. I got mine from AutoFab,and comes with Flaming River parts. They make 3 different widths of rack cradles,do you just need to measure between your frame rails. I started a topic for this in Chassis Tech.
Awesome Brian. Thank you for the reply. I searched the forum prior to posting but did not find anything solid. I will check out your thread. I was checking out the Autofab racks. I am glad to hear someone is using one. Joe
Hi Joe, I put the Auto Fab unit on my 65. Fairly simple job. Note: as Brian mentioned, they come in 3 different lengths. 2 of them were too wide. The one I had to go with was about 1/2" too narrow. I asked Auto Fab what they recommend, they said they just use washers to take up the space. I didn't care for that, so I cut out some 1/4" aluminum matching the ends of the cradle. One side needed a little hammer love to go into place, but it's a nice fit. Dave
Dave, Thank you for the info. Great looking car! I spoke with Autofab and because I did the B body spindle swap they said the kit would not work with my set up. This is due to the steering arms being attached. They said I would need to swap back to the stock style spindles. I measured between the frame rails and got exactly what you said. I was ready to do the same thing you did. Brian mentioned he also did the B body spindle swap. I am waiting for him to reply to see if his plan to install on that set up works. Until then I am looking for a quick ratio manual steering box. Joe
For those of you who have done this converstion did you notice any reduced turning radius? Also what width did you end up using? Thanks
My 72 uses the widest cradle. I think it is 28.5". That would be for 68-72 A-body. The 64-67 would be a different width,and then you have the Monte Carlos and GP's that have a slightly different frame in the front. Yes,I run the B-body spindles with 12" rotors in the front. I do not plan on swapping back. I need to do some mocking,but my guess is that since the rack is mounted farther forward,the AutoFab steering arms are longer. Global West was supposed to make their own style of B-body spindle,and I think it had removable arms. More research to do. I learned long ago that there is no such thing as a direct bolt-on. I have to hand-pick everything,and make my own kits or setups. I already run manual steering,and I love it. My problem is my new engine has a big oil pan,which will require notching the crossmember,and the factory steering link is still in the way. I did make a dropped link,with a U-shape in the middle,but my inner tie rods still might hit the pan when I turn. I need to get it all in there and find out. I could also make another link,with a wider "U",and move the inner tie rods outboard more. Basicly turn the inner & outer tie rods on the adjusters so they are closer together.
OK,I did some researching yesterday,and so far,this is what I found. The steering arms that are supplied with my kit are indeed longer,to reach farther forward to line up with the rack better. However,my B-body spindles have the steering arms cast into the spindle,so they are not removable. I called Global West and asked about their new aluminum spindles.They do have detachable arms,BUT they will not work with the GM style rotors & calipers.They are made to use with Corvette brakes,Willwood,Baer,and other kits like that,so as of right now,thise are out for me. If I was starting from scratch,with a bare frame,then yes,I could plan and pick parts accordingly. Right now,I am considering welding some extensions onto the B-body steering arms,or possibly moving the rack back towards the engine,but not too far that it interferes with the oil pan,and I am still able to fab some nice steering linkage. I will not put the factory A-body spindles back on.I like the better braking and stability with my B-body setup. I'll keep you posted. Yes,I could simply put a stock style oil pan back on,and keep everything as-is,but I like a good challenge.
FYI........I ordered the AutoFab unit for mine. It was the 27.5" width. Have not installed it or even tried the fitment yet. I'll be using 2" drop spindles so the arms I received from AutoFab should work fine for my application.
I have the TRZ kit on my '65, did loose a lot of turning radius.. My front end is all TRZ stuff, and I think the disc spindles I used were from a 68-72 A body, that was a long time ago converting to discs... Gary G
I did re-fab the cross member because it was bent from wheelies, and the TRZ Is a custom kit... I have some pics, I could post later, or they my be in the "Chassis" thread, but you'll have to search..., Gary G
Thanka for the info....i think TRZ uses a new style rack that improves turning radius but they say it is still not great. Maybe someone will get the auto fab unit installed and chime in. I really would love to install a rack but i don't want to lost 30-40% turning radius.
Great info all around. For me, it is going to be too much modding or swapping to get the rack to fit right. I am not going to swap out my B body spindles. The 12" brakes work well and manual steering is fine. I need a new manual steering box. Any suggestions? I was thinking a 16:1 ratio. Chris Alston seems to have a good one. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks! Joe
