Looking for upgrades aka help me spend my stimulus check

I’m going with UMI tubular control arms. Although they can get a bit pricey, they’re made in the USA. They have many options and a phone call away. I did their sway bars front and rear stock location and was quite pleased. Going with their control arms with the .9 upper and .5 upper ball joints. Just my opinion, but the last thing I’d bargain hunt for is suspension and brakes.

 

Understandable and thx for the input. My lack of knowledge on brands vs bargains is exactly why im here. I know for sure AutoZone and everything in there is trash, for instance, but i also know theres a fine line between trash and overpriced and/or race ready gear which is where im finding myself. Its also why i asked about the ability to do something akin to half of a project now w good parts vs an entire project of chinese crap.

Thanks again for responses guys. Ill look into these UMI parts. I have heard of them before thru my "research" on the subjects

 

Just to be different, if money is tight go with the factory parts. Unless you are into autocross, drifting, or road racing the factory A-arms are fine. Just rebuild them.

 

You can also buy offset upper control arm shafts when you replace the bushings to make up for any frame sag and gain some caster. Longer ball joints will help as well. The money saved can be spent elsewhere. It’s just a matter of the goals you want to achieve. I will admit the tubular arms do look nice, but only if you can see them through your wheels. Lol

 

Yeah like eventually i may upgrade to bigger wheels and im sure a bit of lowering would look better stance wise for sure. Just not sure yet about... Well how big a wheel/tire vs all the potential new necessary parts. Like sure a giant wide tire in the rear is nice... Maybe eventually. So yeah guess im stuck between what i want and what i can afford but eventually i do like a bit of a protouring look even if i never actually race it... The ability to drive it like a bat out of hell would be nice.

Ill continue to weigh the options you guys have shared. Thanks again.

 

Reread some of what you guys have written here and... Holy smokes id never even heard of caster angle before. I knew of camber and toe and etc but that's a new one.

Now i really dont know what to do! Sheesh. Hahah. I suck.

 

Caster is the angle of the two ball joints. If they were straight on top of each other when viewed from the side, it would be 0°. If the top ball joint is ahead of the bottom, it is negative caster. Top behind bottom is positive caster.

The only reason to have negative caster is if it is manual steering to reduce steering effort.

This is a pretty good explanation of the various variables.

 

Appreciate the insight. Did some googling as well. Ive got power steering so guess im in good shape haha

 

Death Metal - thanks for asking the question(s)
Gary, Greg, et. al. - GREATLY appreciate the responses. It's being HEAVILY leveraged for sure. I've been dealing with the same issues: floaty feel when driving the car and not knowing where to start to address it.

I have a '66 Skylark that I've been tinkering with for a couple of years.
I got it started - replaced the Buick 301 with a GM 350. Edelbrock 4 barrel carburetor, aluminum intake, headers w/Magniflow exhaust (runs/sounds great)
I got it stopping - drum brakes all around
Now I'm trying to get it to ride better on a limited project budget.

Three issues I'm trying to address.
1) The car feels like a boat on the water when driving. Floats all over the place and don't go over a speed bump.
2) The front end sit's up 2.75 inches above the tire (at the rim of the fender). I imagine this might be due to the lighter engine weight.
3) The passenger rear is 1.5 inches below the driver side.

I changed the shocks all around - KYB. Made no difference in ride which leaves me believe the springs are shot. My original plan was to cut the front springs to lower the front end and replace the rear springs with 1" lowering springs (I actually like the ride height on the lower passenger side). I'm thinking now that it might be best to spend $1,000 - $1,500 and do the brake conversion with the drop spindles and sway bars- front and back.

Appreciate any thoughts on the matter.

Thanks,

 

Floaty ride is a combination usually. Is your front end tight without any play in the steering box and idler arm?

What tires are you running? Springs won't make it floaty alone. I like a soft spring. I usually think shocks for floaty.

My plan has always been along the lines of soft/stock springs with firmer shocks and big sway bars to control the side to side. Our roads aren't that great so stiff springs are murder.

 

Buick 301? Isn't that the Pontiac engine from the 80's?

 

Found an OLD photo. It was a 66 Buick 310 Wildcat.

The steering is pretty tight. I did change the shocks and rear springs and the ride seems much tighter. The 1" lowering springs leveled out the rear, only 3/4" difference between the driver and passenger side. But the ride height actually increased on the higher side which tells me that the old springs were shot.

Running BF Goodrich Radial T/A's - 235/60r15's

In the image of the car, you'll see how high the front sits. The rear sits about 1" higher after the shock and spring replacement.

 

I believe that is a 300 cu in. They used torque for the rating on the air cleaner decal. 310 FT LBS. From the net:

In 1964, Buick replaced the 215 with an iron-block engine of very similar architecture. The new "small block" engine had a bore of 3.75 in (95.3 mm) and a stroke of 3.4 in (86.4 mm) for a displacement of 300-cubic-inch (4.9 L). It retained the aluminum cylinder heads, intake manifold, and accessories of the 215 for a dry weight of 405 lb (184 kg). The 300 was offered in two-barrel form, with 9.0:1 compression, making 210 hp (157 kW) at 4600 rpm and 310 lb⋅ft (420 N⋅m) at 2400 rpm, and four-barrel form, with 11.0:1 compression, making 250 hp (186 kW) at 4800 rpm and 355 lb⋅ft (481 N⋅m) at 3000 rpm.

For 1965, the 300 switched to cast-iron heads, raising dry weight to 467 lb (212 kg), still quite light for a V8 engine of its era. The four-barrel option was cancelled for 1966, and the 300 was replaced entirely by the 350 in 1968.

In 1964, while nearly all Buick engines were painted "Buick Late Green", the 300ci V8s were painted Silver instead. In 1966 Buick engines switched to "Buick Late Red", but until 1967 at least, the 300 V8 (and the 225) were still painted Buick Late Green.[13] The Apollo 5000 GT sports car, (also sold as the Vetta Ventura) used this engine.

 

You can add some spacers between the rear spring and the mounting pad on the rear to even it out. Easy to make or buy some on eBay.
If you want to lower the front with springs, ESPO, aka Springs'n'Things, is top notch for custom height springs at a great price.
I like the rear of my 66's to sit higher for the old school look, can't give you too much advice on lowering since I go the other way!

 

Bill, thanks for the coaching. Lot of good info. Everything that I'm reading says that a GM 350 should weigh more than the Buick engines notes so I'm not sure why the car is riding so high. Shorter springs will have to get me there.

Walt, thanks for the Springs'n'Things rec. I want to replace the springs all around so I'll be ordering a set. My plan is to remove and cut the from to confirm that I like the look before I order the replacement set. Save some money and confirm the desired ride height.

Unfortunately, I have to deal with a more immediate problem. I have to figure out why my NEW wiper motor and switch aren't working. Worked fine when I first installed them. After I get the cowl painted, reinstalled and wiper arms reinstalled, THEN the problem wants to appear. Maybe the recent rain found it's way into the motor.

Thanks again,

Theo

 

Have the front springs been out of the car during your various efforts? If so, they may not be settled into the spring pockets. Also, check to see if there are any twist-in spacers or are spacers under the front spring in the lower control arm pocket. You should be able to feel it through the spring at full droop or through the shock hole in the bottom.

 

I haven't had the front springs out of the car so I can't take too much credit for any incorrect installation (I own plenty of others). I checked, no spacers. I didn't check spring orientation; that could be adding to the problem.