1963 Rambler "Sugar" Resto-Track-Travel-AutoX-Mod

[Rod]

Hard to tell from the pics but it looks like you have the same brand wheels I have. Mine are 17x9.5 all around with 5.5" bs, MB Old Schools from Discount tire. Is that what's on the Camaro too?

my first ones were from Coys (now discontinued C-55) then they became MB olds schools, and I found now that Voxx imports them also in more sizes, yep 17x9.5 all around with 5.5" bs is the very same thing on the Camaro and they all came from the same factory because 2 of them are coys and 2 are Voxx and 2 spares from MB

[Suzy-Homemaker]

in order to get a Camaro frame into a 1963 unibody rambler



the outer frame skin and lower factory arm mount needed to be removed after careful measurements



heres the aftermath and some rough cutting done with a plasma





basic test fit and then its time to clean up the fit and all the edges of the cuts and slices



time to assemble the basic parts to get angles and clearances









more later!!!

[Suzy-Homemaker]

OK, now that the basics are done and the frame is just tacked in, its time to add some coil-overs and see if the ride height is good. It was determined after trying to fit the coil-over into the frame, that the upper part of the frame had to be cut out.



back to the plasma cutter



then fit the ridetech coil-over shock and Hyperco springs



Trial fitting the Hotchkis swaybar, fits like a glove right under the 1963 rambler motor as if it was made for the car!




After adding wheels and getting the car down on the ground... the ride height looks great!




Just for the fun of it can you guys name all the different companies' components on the front suspension? I've given you a few hints, but see if you can figure out the rest.

I'll figure out something to send to the first person who gets every single brand shown - a vendor t-shirt or some kinda swag that I've got in my arsenal.
I need to confess (and give credit, where credit is due) that this work has not been done by me, my Mister Rod has been generous enough to spend long hours with the plasma cutter I gave him for his birthday to get this front end worked out. (Don't even tell me that you've never given your other half a gift that worked to your benefit...) I will be heading out to finish up electrical and some interior work this weekend.

[rjsjea]

Very cool build!! Makes me excited to get my 66 Classic Wagon finished.

The Camaro sub will be cool when it's all done

[Rod]

Just for the fun of it can you guys name all the different companies' components on the front suspension? I've given you a few hints, but see if you can figure out the rest.

I'll figure out something to send to the first person who gets every single brand shown - a vendor t-shirt or some kinda swag that I've got in my arsenal.
I need to confess (and give credit, where credit is due) that this work has not been done by me, my Mister Rod has been generous enough to spend long hours with the plasma cutter I gave him for his birthday to get this front end worked out. (Don't even tell me that you've never given your other half a gift that worked to your benefit...) I will be heading out to finish up electrical and some interior work this weekend.

can I guess all the parts? hee hee thats cheating right

[Tomswheels]

Suzy and Rod it's looking great, can't wait to see this thing at Del Mar. I think the LS is a no-brainier, triple-digit horsepower is a win-win. The only thing Im bummed about is the choice of a Camaro front subframe, was a late sixties Barracuda torsion-bar setup not available?

[MCMLXIX]

what ever happened to this? any progress?

[davidomilligan]

suzy whats the update on your beast?

[Ben@SpeedTech]

No Rod you can't guess! Nobody else has tried?

DSE lowers, Global West uppers, Hotchkis sway, ridetech shocks with Hyperco springs, CPP spindles, C5 hubs, Coys/MB wheels, and Falken tires. There are too many options for tall ball joints and hard to compare different features so I'll just say they're one of the many options for tall ball joints available. Does that count? You mentioned Wilwood brakes earlier but they're not there so I won't say nuttin. ...and you need a Speedtech key chain.

That's some fancy Frankensteining you guys are doing. Can't wait to see video of this thing on the track! Just might whoop up on the Camaro!

[Peanut1959]

Any updates on this project? Inquiring minds want to know!

[Rod]

Any updates on this project? Inquiring minds want to know!

Updates!!!!

[Rod]

well the car is back on track !!

I scrapped the suspension almost completely (front and rear) and changed the four link design in the back closer to a computer model....built around the 100 inch wheel base car and the current akerman, and control arms anti-dive



in the real world.....you can see the lower and upper arms now match the model exactly



for the front suspension!! I kept the camaro sub frame but couldn't get the akerman correct for the wheel base, and couldn't get the desired camber curve with the cpp spindle even after adding a tall ball joint ..... so I switched spindles

standard steering arm, and a short z28 arm also tried the chevelle arm
custom billet steering arm reduced bump steer and correct akerman



looks great on mock up and on the suspension cycle test

[Peanut1959]

Great to see progress! Keep it coming.

[goofybowler277]

glad to see your back on it. love the progress. can't wait to see my old goofmobile finished.

[64G-lark]

Glad to see you back. Love the car.

[migg400]

"Sugar" looks like a really Awesome ride!! Great build.....

[Rod]

not much this weekend, I just test fitted Suzy's LS.....so next is some firewall reworking!

[Suzy-Homemaker]

suspension is IN! .....next up FLARES! to hold 10inch wide rims, first a few glamour shots and then back to the garage, pull the engine and cut out the firewall to get the car balance better





spy the custom made Flares!!

[Godbolt]

This is exceptionally cool. Awesome work.

[19,69camaro]

Those flares look really good!