Hello everyone.
As I mentioned in my introductory mail yesterday, I am in the early
stages of restoring my '75 SV-1. The car is stripped down to the
frame, and the frame is almost totally pooched.
The torque boxes are rusted out so badly that the frame is
effectively hinged at the rear subframe - you can move the back
bumper about 8-10" above or below the spot it's supposed to be.
As it turns out, the cheapest solution seems to be to have a new
frame manufactured (I managed to find a couple of guys who build
their own race car chassis, and run a metal fabricating shop on
the side). What I'm interested in doing is bringing the suspension
up to date while we're at it, if it can be done reasonably and
will pay off in increased driving enjoyment.
I'm thinking about replacing the stock rear suspension with an
independent setup out of a Vette from the same era, and changing
the front suspension over to a Pinto or Mustang II setup, including
the rack & pinion steering.
Now I've never driven one of these cars, all of my knowledge about
their handling characteristics come from the reviews I read in
"Bricklin Gold Portfolio", so I'm not sure how much I could expect
these mods to help. My understanding of the handling is that it's
numb-feeling, and weak in the transitions. Now, I'd expect modern
(ie: 17-18", low profile) wheels and tires to make a big difference,
but if I go to the Vette rear and Pinto front, there are _loads_
of aftermarket parts to improve the handling and braking.
Since I'm having a frame built anyhow, it seems to me that if I
do want to make these kinds of drastic changes, this is the time
to do it.
Of course, I don't know what kind of performance mods can be made
to the stock front suspension - can I get things like lowering coils,
polyurethane or teflon bushings, tubular control arms, etc. for it?
Is there an easier replacement for the steering box to improve
response? If so, let me know. I don't have my heart set on getting
rid of the AMC front suspension, but I would like a well-handling,
responsive car when I'm done to make this project feel really
worthwhile.
As for the rear, I have a hard time imagining there's anything
that you can do with a live rear axle hung across leaf springs.
Has anyone else done a conversion to IRS? Any info or suggestions
(pro or con) would be much appreciated. Again, I don't have my
heart set on the Vette unit - I'm happy to hear other suggestions
(of course, a Jag rear would be really trick, but I want to keep
cost down as much as possible).
My daily driver is an 88 RX-7, and I've become quite accustomed to
a car that's nimble, responsive, can deal with rough roads, and
rock-solid above 130 mph ;) I realize that might be a tall order
for a 22 year old car, but I'm interested in doing almost anything
I can do to close the gap.
Thanks in advance for any info/advice,
Phil.
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