Changing G-body to B-body spindles [Archive]

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Shonuff_Chevy

01-31-2006, 04:42 PM

I have a 80 Malibu and want to use tublar control arms, but I read I will have to use B-body spindle. Is that a tough conversion? Can I use some off a donor car or do I have to buy a kit?

Thanks

white79bu

01-31-2006, 04:52 PM

You need to look for 78-95 (I think) caprice wagon or cop car spindles and calipers. They will have a 12" rotor. Then buy a set of 91 Camaro 1LE rotors. Along with the right upper control arm and thats it. It's very straight forward.

CRCRFT78

01-31-2006, 05:06 PM

Can you use the spindles off of the 94-96 Impala/Caprice. I noticed you went up to 95 and that was it. Aren't they the same for 94-96.

Shonuff_Chevy

01-31-2006, 05:07 PM

Thanks again fellow Malibuer. lol
Is it a take off/put on deal or will I have to fab.

white79bu

01-31-2006, 05:20 PM

Shonuff_Chevy

01-31-2006, 05:23 PM

Cool very helpful. What about changing the rears to disc. would I be better off buying kit or is there a donor year? What kind of fabs.

white79bu

01-31-2006, 05:31 PM

I just installed a rear disc set up off of an 95 trans am. You can use a set from a 93-97 f-body. Or there are some guys are using a set from a 98-2002 f-body. My set up seems like it will work ok once I get all of the bugs worked out. I think I have $180 in the whole thing. Andy

79_GBody

01-31-2006, 05:43 PM

Here's an old article from car craft where they used camaro/firebird 1LE rotors and b-body spindles with the hotchkis tubular arms, you might want to check it out... :twothumbs http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/57098/

Shonuff_Chevy

01-31-2006, 05:47 PM

I printed that article I will read it 3 or 4 times to let it soak in.

CRCRFT78

01-31-2006, 05:52 PM

Does the same apply for an 86 Monte Carlo SS. I have the same setup on my 78 Malibu and would like to put it on an 86MCSS. Does it interchange with "ALL" G-bodies as long as you go with the same parts?

white79bu

01-31-2006, 06:05 PM

Carcraft78 isn't that your car in the car craft article? Andy yes the b-body swap will work on all g-bodys. Andy

Shonuff_Chevy

01-31-2006, 06:53 PM

I read that article it is very very helpful. Now I just have to figure out doing the rear!!!

CRCRFT78

01-31-2006, 07:27 PM

Yes thats my car. Or should I say, their car that I now own. I wasn't sure whether or not the swap worked on all G-bodies or not. Cousin has 86MCSS and her brother has a 78 Cutlass. wasn't sure if there were minor differences or not. Thanks, Joe.

sinned

01-31-2006, 07:43 PM

CRCRFT78

01-31-2006, 09:16 PM

Why in the world would anyone want to ruin the geometry of the G body (not that it’s great) by bolting on "B" spindles so you can run tubular arms which offer no performance advantage. You will completely ruin the handling of the car for no reason.
__________________
Denny

I beg to differ with your comment, its almost as if you were to ask why any of us add bolt-ons to our stock vehicles. There is obviously some advantage in doing so otherwise we wouldn't have any of these companies supplying us with parts to enjoy this hobby. Not only are the braking capabilites of my car greatly enhanced over stock. But it also handles alot better than my other "STOCK" 78 Malibu with "STOCK" suspension. I'm no suspension expert but I don't believe these parts would exist if there wasn't some sort of an advantage over stock components. I have a modified 78 Malibu and a stock 78 Malibu to compare each other with. And I would almost guarantee that you would not go with my stock Malibu after riding in the two and seeing the difference for yourself. I don't mean to sound a little heated, just giving my opinion after experiencing both stock & modified for myself.
Joe

sinned

01-31-2006, 10:01 PM

Well I'll tell from a suspension experts POV that the ""B" spindles do ruin the geometry. The only advantage to running tall spindles on that platform is the negative camber gain....of course the side effect is increased steering radius, big time increase in bump steer, and slower steering response. Not too mention RC disadvantages and RC migration issues.

Adding performance enhancing products is one thing but adding a donor part that hurts performance is totally different. The logic that lots of manufactures supply support, well....by that logic the "Tornado" air filter device is probably a good idea too. There are lots of parts that don't work, that doesn't people won't buy them.

I’m sure your modified “G” body runs good, I’m also sure it is all nice and fresh. I guarantee I can take your stocker and with very limited parts run circles around your modified one in under a week’s time. It’s not about how much or how many parts you can throw at it, it’s about maximizing the vehicles performance capabilities.

McssGmachine

01-31-2006, 10:06 PM

I have the b-body spindle swap, and yes it does handle better than stock, but it has alot of bumpsteer. If I were to do it over again I would go with Marcus's G5 setup. Maybe Marus will Chime in here and tell you about it.

CRCRFT78

01-31-2006, 11:10 PM

Once again, I'm NO expert and I'm not trying to turn this into a pissing match. I can only make my opinion based on what I know and what I have to compare it to. After driving my stock Malibu the other one feels like a dream. Maybe I should just wakeup now. One reason I joined this site was to gain the knowledge I lack by communicating with other members who are willing to share it with me. Being the "SUSPENSION EXPERT", you probably could do alot more with my car in a weeks time than I could at this point. Thats why I'm the novice builder and your the expert, and that is also why I joined this site. Please feel free to educate me and correct me when I'm wrong. Thats why I'm here.

sinned

02-01-2006, 06:06 AM

2turbo71

02-01-2006, 06:28 AM

If you are looking to just upgrade to a tubular style a-arm and save a little weight this company (a sponsor) offers a direct replacemnt upper and lower a-arm set and are priced very reasonable. Here is the link http://www.bmrfabrication.com/A-arms/G-body.jpg
The guy I talked to was Lee.

sinned

02-01-2006, 06:38 AM

Actually there is no weight savings, the tubular arms are a little heavier. They do however look cool, and are a little bit stronger (not that stock arms break all that often).

TPI Monte SS

02-01-2006, 09:26 AM

94-96 are the same. Aslong as you buy a set off of a cop car or wagon. Everything is very straight forward. You will not have to fabricate anything. I had that set up on my malibu for 3 years. This winter I steped up to the C5 brakes. Andy'

Just to clarify, '91-'96 Caprice and '94-'96 Impala SS spindles are the same. In '96, most taxi/limo/cop cars got a larger lower balljoint, so you can't use those with stock G-body LCAs. You'll need a civilian '96 Caprice to get the smaller lower balljoint.

Good luck with your swap, whatever you decide!

rocket468

02-01-2006, 10:45 AM

This is the best mod i have done to my car.

Shonuff_Chevy

02-02-2006, 07:47 PM

Why in the world would anyone want to ruin the geometry of the G body (not that it’s great) by bolting on "B" spindles so you can run tubular arms which offer no performance advantage. You will completely ruin the handling of the car for no reason.

When ever you make power you must be able to stop it. I plan on making 700-950 street blown 12-15lbs of boost easy. Not to sound insulting, but if you have ever been behind the wheel of a beast you should understand. Bigger rotors if the key.

Shonuff_Chevy

02-02-2006, 07:51 PM

The SC&C G5 set-up is obviously a nice kit but it comes with a nice price tag. You could accomplish silmiliar results just running the extened length upper and lower ball joints, the upper control arm, a set of Teflon lower bushings, and some nice springs/shocks.

The main reason is to use bigger rotors w/o blowing your budget, plus removing weight and yes they are stronger and that's what mod's are all about improvement.

Shonuff_Chevy

02-02-2006, 08:18 PM

Do anyone know if I can change the rear drums to disc on my 80 G-Body with a donor w/o welding mods. Should I buy a kit or find a rear end with disc(if I find a rear with disc; what mods is necessary.

PTAddict

02-05-2006, 01:52 PM

You can get much better suspension geometry than the B-body spindle/tubular A-arm swap, for not as much money, with functionally cool looking a-arms to boot. Check out:

http://www.scandc.com/suspensions.htm

Look at the sport comp 1 and 2 packages. These use stock spindles with stock-car style upper control arms and longer ball joints, as Dennis suggests.

Then check out the major improvements these bring to the stock geometry:

http://www.scandc.com/suspensionspecs.htm

87SS

02-12-2006, 05:33 PM

As someone who has done the "1LE" swap using B-body spindles.

My advice would be DON'T.

I've just finished my "LS1" swap. I prefer the LS1 to the B-body swap.