what "smooths" out a muscle car the most

[yellow1098Greg]

ok well i hope i dont sound to much like an amateur but i am, First off let me say iv had my 77 trans am for about 2 years and i drive it alot and i absolutley love it. Its one of the happiest things in my life. I was driving all day today. Its the first muscle car i have ever had or for that matter riden in, when i say muscle car i mean older than 20 years old carburated muscle car. I love the "mechanincal" feel of driving the car. Now keep in mind it is almost all original, except for the motor warm ups, aluminum e-heads and headers and forged aftermarket internals,performer rpm cam and intake, some cheap aftermarket shocks. TH-350 built trans, original brakes. Now obviously i would love to fuel inject, heck drop a new motor in, vintage AC, suspension, after market disc brake the car all at once but iv been in college and dont have the high dolllars to do a build like that yet. My question is to make the car the most streetable/ usable what would be the best thing to start with to "smooth" it out. I know these cars are suppose to run rough and maybe it could as simple as buying new nice tires (which it needs) but its almost like i can feel crankshaft turning while i drive and the floor boards shaking (The car also needs heat protection/insulation under the carpet. Is that normal for driving classic muscle cars? for those of you that have driven them for years and had many of them(Like i said its the first and only i ever driven) to start achieving that pro-touring modern drivable feel what should i focus on doing first? I love what this scene is all about and want my car one day to be like alot of guys on this site and im doing it one step at time and tryin to hear some feed back and learn alittle something.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/02/20100716144001-1.jpg

(Nick, no jokes haha)

[mikedc]

Well, if you wanna TRULY smooth it out . . . then give it EFI, independent rear suspension, a big rollcage to stiffen it up, and about 200 more lbs of sound deadening & insulation & weatherstripping.

But I don't think that's what you had in mind when you posted the question.



If I was in your shoes I would look into some thermal & accoustic insulation for the floors and maybe some other sound deadening additions throughout the interior surfaces of the cabin sheetmetal. I don't know 2nd-gen F-bodies well enough to know exactly where the uninsulated spots are, but everything from that era had lots of chinks in the armor.

Another relatively easy/cheap thing would be to check and maybe replace the rubber bushings all over the undercarriage. The subframe-to-body bushings in particular. Even if they don't look "all that bad" the rubber may still be decayed enough to rattle the car up. Same with engine and suspension mounts. The bushings cost very little in raw cash.


One more thing - if the car is like most old cars, even a ton of pretty well restored ones . . . it would be a lot more fun to live with if you sorted out those 15 little electrical problems once and for all. Same with the door & window alignment and weatherstripping seals.

---------

[LeighP]

2nd gen F-bodies are notorious for heat conducting into the cabin. If you're serious about it, pull all interior and Dynamat the floor and the toeboard area up to the firewall...most of the heat is from the exhaust, if you've got headers, the floor can get so hot you can't drive in bare feet.

Personally, I'd add solid alloy body bushes and subframe connectors. If you are looking at more HP, and sharper handling, then connectors are a must. Try Dave @ www.pro-touringf-body.com for these parts. I have them on mine and they fit well.

[yellow1098Greg]

The cabin heat is definitely a problem. I do have a set of hooker headers and they cause major heat on the floor panels and up the firewall.....so that 200 lbs of sound deadening and insulation absolultey will make a huge differnace right there. what are the absolute best layer options and products for that?

The body bushing situation for sure needs to be adressed as well...Leigh, you say soild alloy is the best way to go? 100% gonna do that subframe connectors to because i do plan adding alot more hp and handling in the future.

[Tom Welch]

I second the solid body bushings, I have done this mod to my 78 T/A, makes a huge difference. I replaced all the bushings on the car that were rubber with poly. They did squeak but man what a difference in the ride and handling. I suggest the 1/2 height body bushings on your car, gives the nose a slight rake. Make sure you go solid (aluminum) here the other bushings should be Global West style delrin and aluminum. Are your door hinges worn out? Replacing them will make the car feel different as well, a lot tighter, less noise. Weatherstripping helps this, too. I found that the door glass gets realyy loose feeling and that the window lift and door latch mechanisms rattle against each other alot more that I ever realized. once I fixed that the car was pretty quiet. As for heat, I went with a ceramic fiberglass padding. Its light and it wont coduct heat at all into the cabin, expensive though. I also recommend front end structure stiffening like Herb Adams used to sell for the 2nd gen f body. You will be amazed at the difference all of this stuff makes. Once you get it handling better be careful on fast right hand turns, your oil pressure will go away, all of it. You will be ready for a Canton roadrace pan then.

[yellow1098Greg]

i will definitley use the bushing advice as a blueprint and save this thread as well as ideas for and types of insulation. I really like the sound of the of the ride height and more importantly the ride improvment and performance of those bushings....is global west the best way to go to get the right ones? and for ceramic fiber glass..where do i get that?

[damannhw]

2nd gen F-bodies are notorious for heat conducting into the cabin. If you're serious about it, pull all interior and Dynamat the floor and the toeboard area up to the firewall...most of the heat is from the exhaust, if you've got headers, the floor can get so hot you can't drive in bare feet.

Personally, I'd add solid alloy body bushes and subframe connectors. If you are looking at more HP, and sharper handling, then connectors are a must. Try Dave @ www.pro-touringf-body.com for these parts. I have them on mine and they fit well.

+1 all he said.... And nice looking car you have there !