I Want To Drop It!

[ubushaus]

My '65 GS frame is now bare and almost ready to go off to be straightened, blasted, and painted. I'll be putting it under my '67 Skylark convertible - eventually. I have been collecting parts to rebuild the front end, and I am ready to figure out how to do it with a 2" drop and disc brakes. I am wanting to build a safe and attractive looking (with 17" wheels), near original appearing, family "top-down" cruiser - not a high performance drag car. (Maybe this shouldn't be posted in the "Race Car Chassis Tech area?)

I have read the threads regarding foreign part safety, so US made parts are a must!

OK, so now I am SO confused!

There is a guy near me selling a set of Heidt's tall drop spindles at a pretty good price. There is a lot of web chatter (chevy sites mainly) that the tall spindles fix camber but create bumpsteer and possibly decrease ball joint life with stock upper control arms (I intend to keep the stock arms).

I think I want to lower using a spindle rather than springs to keep the suspension travel that would be lost to shorter springs. I see that McGaughy's and CPP now have drop spindles with no geometry changes. Maybe that's what I should go with?

Below are some of the references I have used:
http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/47055_suspension_lowering_guide/index.html
http://www.superchevy.com/technical/chassis/brakes/0602sc_heidts/index.html
http://www.chevelles.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-140652.html
http://www.fatmanfab.com/catalogpage.php?page=29
http://www.classicperform.com/NewProducts/2006/NewFiles/DropSpindles.htm
http://www.heidts.com/heiCatalog%20Download.html (PDF shortcut: http://www.heidts.com/Catalog/HEIDTS%20V21%2031-40.pdf go to pg 9 of the pdf)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/64-72-Chevelle-GTO-67-69-Camaro-Firebird-Drop-Spindles_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742Q2em153Q2e l1262QQcategoryZ33586QQihZ019QQitemZ290194872498QQ tcZphoto

Any thoughts would be helpful. Please help me decide!

Thanks all,

[pro tour gsx]

hey check out pro-touring.com lots of good info on this subject. i have b body spindles and global west lowering springs and all the tubular arms. its a pretty good set up. but there are better options these days

[ubushaus]

Wow! What an awesome site! Thanks for your response "pro tour gsx". I was kinda' hoping for a bit more discussion from this board, but I guess this story has been played out already on "pro-touring".

Of course, I am still confused!

Best Wishes,

[TuBBeD]

Joe,

Checkout Eaton Springs of Detroit...www.eatonsprings.com

[ubushaus]

Hey Rob,

Thanks! I plan on contacting Eaton. My current thinking is to go with the new McGauhy's standard geometry 2" dropped spindle and see if Eaton has a stock height progressive rate spring.

I see you are in Boca. Any recomendations on an engine builder for a 300v8?

Best Wishes,

[Hector]

Joe,there was a discussion here about defective imported spindles,you may want to look into that.There's some reputable manufacturers out there and I would suggest to use the best part that fits the budget,there's a lot riding on that spindle.I think that the look that you're after would be a good one for that car,there's a lot of merit(in my opinion) to the "pro touring" movement.Good luck!

[TuBBeD]

Hi Joe,

I wouldn't know who in the area to trust your Buick to. I moved down last spring and have to change my signature, as I live in Coconut Creek now. Jim Haas may know of someone in the South Florida area. I believe his username is Buick528.

The Eaton springs are made from scratch from original blueprints. They offered me a stock to 3" drop for my '70 LeSabre. The ride was a lot better than I thought it would be for a 2" drop spring. Personally, I'd go with an air bag setup, or with eaton springs depending on the amount of $$ you want to spend.

[Krypson]

Do it.. Thats sexy

[fourfiftyfive]

hey check out pro-touring.com lots of good info on this subject. i have b body spindles and global west lowering springs and all the tubular arms. its a pretty good set up. but there are better options these days

b-body spindles work with our a-cars? I had a chevy caprice once with big front discs (police package car) and, long story short, it was parked for about a year, and I eventually sold it for a parts car since it had no title... I often thought about seeing if the factory discs in that would work on the front of my '69 skylark...:Do No: since those factory discs stopped that old cop car on a dime with 9 cents change... :Do No: