Need some suspension/brake advise...

[Ole Rusty]

Hello all, this is my first project car and am looking for some advise from all of you. Couple of days ago I bought a 70 Chevelle that my wife and daughters picked out while I was in Iraq. It's in good shape overall and we immediately set to stripping it down to nothing. 6 work hours into the project now and my wife and I have the front end off and my daughters have the interior completely stripped out. How much more fun can you get??? This weekend we're hoping to get the body off the frame and start the build up instead of the tear down. Problem is, this is my very first project car and am slightly nervous about the ways to go from here. Truth is, I've got more money than time for the project (but both aren't unlimited) but I still want to do everything with my family. Learning together as we go.

We're gonna have the body off and are starting the frame up. My dream is to build an all around driving p/t car, not a show car, so that is the approach I am taking. I want to start with suspension and brakes, so I'm concentrating completely on those two areas for research right now. Here's where my questions begin.



Suspension--I'm looking for advise on the best kits for good performance. I like the idea of Heidt's/DSE/Hotchkis/something like that. Is it worth getting dropped spindles and new tubular A-arms? In all of your experiences, what would you all say is a good kit to get?

Brakes--Many friends are suggesting to just get a swap from another car. Our Chevelle has 4-wheel drum brakes. I'd like to go 4-wheel disc, but is it worth it? Anybody try anything other than vaccuum-powered? Is it worth it to swap out of another car? $600 sounds much better than $2000 but I don't even know how to start.

Any advice would be appreciated. Sorry for the length of the question, just so excited. Thanks--Mike