69 Chevelle SS396 "Grizelda"

[GenPac]

Purchased this Fremont plant built 'velle from a friend of the family that needed some dough...
Several (10+) years and a long-extended tour overseas later, I am getting the bug again.

A few changes made to this old gal since I bought it. Factory 4spd and tall gears were removed in favor of a TH-400 w/ (haven't verified) 3.56 gears (Posi removed :bsjerk and the factory bench front is gone.
My tech ability is pretty limited, compared to some of you guys, so you can imagine the learning curve I'd been dealing with when getting interested in Pro Touring.

About 5 years ago, I replaced all electrical... headlights to taillights and everything inbetween. Ditched points for a MSD 6 / HEI ignition and finally threw away the long-tube competition hooker headers that had been beaten to death by curbs, bumps and potholes. Sandersons had what I needed with some square-port 'shorty' style headers.

This summer, the front suspension was slated to be replaced/reworked. I contacted Mark @ SC&C and discussed my options. I went with SC&C due to their reputation and expertise for A Bodies.
I picked up the Stage 2+ kit which is SPC adjustable uppers (pro-lite) Tall upper and Tall lower BJs.
In retrospect, I should have just purchased the ATS spindles and adjustable SPC uppers but hey, hindsight is always 20/20, right?


Here they are, torqued and ready.



I decided to clean up and install new bushings in the lower control arm (which I will most likely replace with SPC lowers) and press in the new Howe Tall BJ... Now, don't forget my n00bness and look at what my first experence pressing in a BJ ended up in...

Yeah, that's what happens when you use a press and you have no idea of what to watch for. Apparently the large socket I was using didn't quite have the depth I should have looked for. Thank baby Jesus that I didn't destroy the threads on the balljoint or, the BJ itself.

[GenPac]

For springs, I decided to take a leap of faith and go with the semi-popular 5" x 9.5" circle track springs with adjustable spring spacers from SouthWestSpeed.com. I had decided to go with 750# for the front. 4 Days shipping from Arkansas and I was ready to set ride hight.


Yeah... front crossmember to ground clearance? Well, the tapmeasure body is 2.25" and it's showing another 1.25" on the tape. 3.5" crossmember to ground clearance! Atleast I was entertained by the fact that I felt like a giant standing over the engine compartment compared to before with the stock BB springs. Needless to say, I will be raising it at a minimum another inch.

Tires -- 215/70-14 fronts, 265/50-15 rears.


The measurements I have, after the front suspension work. Distance measured from ground to fender-well center:

Front Driver: 23.5
Front Passenger: 23.125
Rear Driver: 24
Rear Passenger:23.875

Not bad for a first timer... 3/8" higher on the drivers side and rear is damn close too. Rear suspension, BTW is all stock... Ya think my rear coils are worn?

Took a quick test drive... Not aligned yet but it looked pretty close and didn't drive too dodgy. WAY too LOW. scraped coming out of my own driveway... lol. Thankfully it was only the exhaust pipe and was just a scrape, not a smash. Front felt a little loose, no doubt the alignment needs adjusting and the baloon front tires could use some replacing.

I'll get some daytime, open air pics later... Right now I need a beer.

[shortrack]

'69 chevelle......

[GenPac]

My back is telling me I should have either gone with coilovers or SPC lowers...
Next up is fitting my planned wheels and tire sizes and seeing how I need to adjust the ride hight in the front to compensate for wider and slightly taller overall rubber.
Then it's on to revamping the rear suspension!

[GenPac]

Daytime pic of how low this thing sits now. I'm thinking it needs to come up another 1.5" to make it somewhat driveable.




On my short test drive yesterday, I felt the front could be bounced a little too easy... Looks like I should think about a higher rate and some better shocks...

[1971CHEVELLE]

Car looks solid keep us posted

[Roadbuster]

Daytime pic of how low this thing sits now. I'm thinking it needs to come up another 1.5" to make it somewhat driveable.




On my short test drive yesterday, I felt the front could be bounced a little too easy... Looks like I should think about a higher rate and some better shocks...

Looking good!

Try changing the shocks first. More spring with bad shocks will make it worse! I run 3 inches from the ground to the front crossmember and a spring rate similar to yours and it does not bounce. The ride is firm and controlled.

Jon

[Dougs67camaro]

Looking great! Gotta love a big block Chevelle!

[GenPac]

Looking good!
Try changing the shocks first. More spring with bad shocks will make it worse! I run 3 inches from the ground to the front crossmember and a spring rate similar to yours and it does not bounce. The ride is firm and controlled.

Jon

I thought about your comments, Roadbuster... Indeed, I shouldn't be able to hit my LCA bump stops with little effort when bouncing the front end, I would think.
Do you recall the make/rebound on your shocks? I need to get an idea of what level of damping I should look for. I've been looking at the QA1 and the Varishock coilover setups but unsure if I could benefit from additional adjustability.

New wheels are on the way and tires are in the not too distant horizon also. More pics to come when they arrive!

[claytonisbob]

750# springs are not soft by any means. Definitly need shocks before anything, crappy shocks allow the springs to bounce all over the place. I had the same issue with the stock setup I was running with old cheap shocks. I am running 575# front springs with some fresh bilsteins and it feels really firm when pushing on the front end/driving the car. I'd also say the ride height is a contributing factor. If you bring it up an inch like you said with new shocks, I bet you wouldn't have an issue.

BTW, thats a bitchin stance ;)

[Roadbuster]

I thought about your comments, Roadbuster... Indeed, I shouldn't be able to hit my LCA bump stops with little effort when bouncing the front end, I would think.
Do you recall the make/rebound on your shocks? I need to get an idea of what level of damping I should look for. I've been looking at the QA1 and the Varishock coilover setups but unsure if I could benefit from additional adjustability.

New wheels are on the way and tires are in the not too distant horizon also. More pics to come when they arrive!

You would be surprised. When I changed my rear springs and shocks I left the shocks out just to see what the springs alone would do. I could bounce it like a basketball! Put in the shocks and it is solid. The shocks make an amazing difference!

Up front I have Varishock single adjustable coilovers and single adjustable Varishocks out back. They have plenty of adjustment. I can go firmer or softer. Talk to Mark about the varishocks, he can match them to your springs and ride height.

The coil overs take time to setup. The advantage is how adjustable they are but that is also why it takes a while. The range of adjustment is not infinite!

Which ever shock or coil over you go with make sure it is set up in it's spec range. If the shock is too long, it will bottom out and destroy itself. Likewise if it is too short it will over extend and turn itself into junk. This is especially true with your low ride hight.

Jon

[GenPac]

Thanks for the words of wisdom, Clayton and Roadbuster. New shocks are definetly on the shopping list.

[GenPac]

Scared up some tires...

275/40 on the left, 315/35 on the right...

[claytonisbob]

Those Sumi's are good to get started with, but you'll want some better tires after a while.

I chose them I'm sure for the same reason you did: only reasonably priced 315/35-17 tires you can get without spending $300... Especially on TireRack. Nitto 555's would be nice if you could find 315's in stock anywhere.

[GenPac]

Those Sumi's are good to get started with, but you'll want some better tires after a while.

I chose them I'm sure for the same reason you did: only reasonably priced 315/35-17 tires you can get without spending $300... Especially on TireRack. Nitto 555's would be nice if you could find 315's in stock anywhere.

Exactly! After searching around for some nice adjustable shocks... let's just say 'I' was the one shocked. These tires will do 90% sitting and will give me an idea on what I want to do with the Front and rear suspension for final* adjustments. I want to make perfectly sure I have no clearance issues with these sizes, even though some of the posts on here about the Sumis say they run narrower than a true 315.

Fortunately, Online Tires is located in Cerritos, CA so shipping to me was just one day, FedEx, no tax.

*note: nothing is final.

[GenPac]

Well, the wheels are here in Vegas... I had NO IDEA when they would be here, I was told from the vendor the lead time for them was 1-2 weeks... I was not forwarded the tracking information so, OF COURSE they attempted delivery while no one was home, I mean, why would anyone be home at 11:20AM in a working household, especially when I was not notified on when to expect them, and when I say WHEN I mean, I wasn't even given a DAY, let alone a time frame -- If you are going to ship a package with a signature required delivery to a customer, the ABSOLUTE LEAST you can do is tell your customer when to expect the package.
I don't know what pissed me off more... not being notified of the shipment or, when I called to talk about it, not being given a tracking number for ANOTHER package I inquired about... just a simple, it's on the way... I shouldn't have to ask, it should be offered, FFS. I should have vented to the vendor but I got the distinct impression that he could not care, one way or another... he already got the cash.

Coincidentally, I am away for the weekend and won't be able to pick them up until Monday.
I'm sure most of you have run into this problem so I'll save the cussing and disgust I have for this situation for my wife.

Ok, Rant over... looks like next week will be mounted wheel pics.

[GenPac]

Mmm... I'll be getting the tires mounted soon

[GenPac]

So I weighed these wheels, first with myself and the wheel, then just the wheel... it was 2lbs difference either way -- on a bathroom scale (incredibly exact analog readout! )
20lbs for the 17x11
18lbs for the 19x9.5

[CruizinKev]

nice project and wow nice wheels!

[GenPac]

Wheels are mounted... If you care to leave a comment, please let me know what you think.


Before...


After...




Don't mind the fuzzy pics, it was dusk. Just to recap, they are Billet Specialties Street Lite 17, fronts are 17x9.5 275/40s - rears are 17x11 315/35s.