On a 69 has anyone came out with modernized control arms to make handling better or does anyone have the specs on allignment to make her handle better? Im going to go with scarebird for 4 wheel but I would like the handling way better. For some reason it wont handle like dads stage 1
If you want to spend some money you can go to Global West. They make GM A body 64-72 and they tell you what settings to have for camber and caster. There are also a places like Hotchiks and BMR that make upper and lower A Arms. I have the Global West Negative Roll system and it handles a ton better than the original. I would also consider having the gearing changed in the steering box for a quick ratio steering. It make a big difference. Mark
Lok at some old hot rod mags I have a picture of a 66 chevelle going thru a turn with one wheel up and sticking like glue with all aluminum BBC. ALso a 64 GTO road racer. Its out there just find the level you want . A good upgrade is the global west uppers and lowers . These would allow you to go to a much bigger brake system . They sell arms so you can install the big disc brakes from either a Impala or other big GM car . They also have a line that will allow the use of monster discs. If I remember correctly the ones for Impala alllows the use if 12 inch rotors and cost about 800.00
Your dads Stage-1 probably has just less wear and tear. rebuild it the smae way and it should handle same. It also may have thicker front sway bar and also rear. Does your have rear? This makes big difference in lean. I just used urethane bushings in fron sway bar only which made a huge difference in lean and stock rubber in other areas.
His Stage one has a ton more miles and usage. Mine front end has been rebuilt and upgraded steering. I just found out years ago he put in a offset type of a arm or somethin that put his geometry different. Dont know what. That is kind of expensive on the a arms though. I was looking at maybe a home solution?
One of the home solutions is to put stiffer springs in the front and bigger sway bar off a firebird or trans am or get the hotchkis sway bar for $200. You can also put a little more camber in the car but I would not get too excessive with it because it will cause the tires to wear faster on the inside than out. Mark
So there is no other series of buicks or larger that I could get A arms off of. What would happen if I put the taller Spindles in for bigger brakes. Am I going to throw off the castor and camber so bad that it would look pigeon toed or handle like a junker? I dont know, maybe I wont worry about it and stay with scarebird.
Years ago, HO Enterprises marketed a kit to fit the taller F body spindles into the 68-72 A body. The kit included lower and upper ball joints and outer tie rod ends. The taller spindles alter the front end camber change when the suspension goes into compression and rebound. In a stock A body front end, the outer tire suspension is compressed causing the camber on that tire to go positive (lean out at top). The tire rolls over onto it's sidewall and slips. That is why our cars understeer when really pushed into a corner. Bigger sway bars help the situation by reducing lean and therefore outer suspension compression. Less compression, less + camber change, better grip on that outside tire. When you convert over to the taller spindles, the opposite happens. Suspension compression causes camber to go negative, the tire stands up straight and front end grip is enhanced greatly. The downside of the old HO kit was that the upper ball joint stud ended up at an extreme angle, and the front end needed a lot of shims(1" or more) to correctly align the front end. The Global West upper and lower arms address these issues. This conversion will make a HUGE difference in the handling capability of the stock A body
