>*** Front Suspension:
>At least a set of new poly bushings. As I understand it, I can get these
>from AMC performance people. Any sources?
Do you really want that harsh and noisy a ride? Check out Super Shops. We
just did a '69 Z28, ruined it for the street.
>
>I'm thinking that getting some springs to give a lower ride height and a
>progressive rate might be a good idea. Would I have to custom-order these
>kind of springs? Either way I'd be appreciative of some pointers to
>sources.
The wheel wells won't allow much lowering without reducing tire size. Not a
good tradeoff. Again, check with Super Shops.
>
>At the extreme, I might also want to go for rack & pinion steering gear.
> Does this make any sense? How feasable is it? How good/bad is the stock
>recirculating ball? Has anyone done this? I'm thinking that a
>Pinto/Mustang II unit is likely the way to go if I decide to go this route,
>just because it's what everybody uses. Any thoughts?
Rack and pinion is nice and weighs less, but may not fit without redesigning
the entire front end. Is the P/M unit heavy duty enough for the Bricklin's
weight and compatible with the existing pump?
>
>*** Rear Suspension:
>At least a posi unit with disc brakes (like the 9" unit from a Lincoln
>Versailes).
Disc brakes would be nice, but be sure and add an adjustable proportioning
valve since you want very little rear braking force.
>
>Again, I think some lowering and stiffening may be in order. Can I just
>add leaves & spacers to the orignal springs, or is there another solution
>out there?
Again, the front limits how much you can lower. Stiffening will make the
rear end slide/bounce even more since there's no weight in the rear. An
anti-roll bar and watts linkage is the ticket here.
>
>I'm also considering going to an independant rear suspension, either a
>Vette or Jag rear end. I believe that this would be the most expensive of
>any of the chassis/suspension mods I'm thinking about, so I'd really like
>to hear some feedback. Has anyone done this kind of conversion? Was it
>worth it? Has anyone considered this and decided against it? Why?
I helped put a Cobra kit together years ago with a Jag rear. It cost about
$5500 for parts and refurbishing. It would definitely be a big improvement
over a solid rear in both ride and handling with the proper shock/spring
combo.
>
>*** General Chassis:
>A few months ago when I posted about this, I got a nice, detailed response
>from Gregory Monfort. He suggested the following:
>
> 1) Gusseting all joints.
> 2) A hoop in front of the firewall with other braces running from the two
>bends in the hoop, to the towers, then down to the frame.
> 3) A cross brace across the towers.
> 4) Make channel braces to effect 'X' frame bracing in the center portion
>to tie the four corners to the existing cross brace. *
>
>* That one is a quote - I'm not sure I get it. Is there room under the car
>to weld up an 'X' frame brace? With the passenger compartment hanging down
>below the frame, wouldn't this be awfully difficult? If Gregory or someone
>else could email me some kind of diagram I'd really appreciate it.
I'll get back to you when I have more time.
>
>I'm also curious about the "torque boxes" at the 4 corners of the main
>perimeter frame. we were told by Terry that they were engineered for a
>certain amount or type of flex, and that this is important. Can that
>really be true? Why wouldn't I want that chassis as stiff as I can get it?
Beats me. Sprint cars , dragsters, go-carts, motorcycles can be too stiff,
but road racers? The only guess I can make is that because the chassis is
very weak, these boxes are designed to damp some of the suspension induced
harmonics.
>
>Any advice, info, insight, flames, or encouragement would be very much
>appreciated.
>
If you're really serious about a street racer, it would probably be cheaper
and less headache to buy a used Trans-Am racer and adapt a Bricklin body to
it. :^))
A buddy of mine bought an old short track Winston Cup Thunderbird less motor
for next to nothing and dropped in a 500 in3 to play with.
GM
|