[JoePapa]

I've got a '69 Firebird thats a factory weight car, all steel, and basically stock suspension. Non-stock suspension components are:

- QA-1 R coil overs with 450lb springs set on the softest (90/10) setting.
- Hotchkis leaf springs
- CE rear shocks set on 50/50
- Cal-Trac bars

The car dyno'd 414 at the back tires n/a and 540 on spray.

Ususal ET's were 11.9-12.0 at 115-116 mph n/a and 10.89-11.0 at 126-7 on spray.

60' times are 1.75 ish on motor and 1.59-1.69 on nitrous.

I called Calvert Racing and he said my front end doesn't have enough travel and said I'd need to increase front end travel to get good and consistent 60' times.

I'd like to be in the 1.5-1.6 range on motor.


So with respect to front end travel. What are my options and what should I expect? Is there a tall spindle I can use with my factory rear steer components? Would it be better to convert to front steer and use S10 spindles? This is an all steel dual purpose street / strip car weighing in at 3750-3800 lbs race weight. What kind of improvements have others seen by making similar improvements?

[guccieng]

the only tall spindles out there are the 2 inch drop kind and they suck on our (first gen) cars. if you need more downward travel, scandc.com (savitske classic and custom in pa)has a tall upper ball joint/adjustable a-arm kit that will let the front come down quite a bit, and correct the horrible camber curves these cars initially had. call marcus and tell him what you need, but be prepared to talk for awhile!

[JoePapa]

Well the taller spindle would be to give the car more front end travel not really to change ride height. I was wondering what folks did to increase travel. According to Calvert racing we only have about 4" max on a first gen. Another option is to use a balljoint spacer but I've never been too fond of that idea.

[guccieng]

that's what i meant about the taller spindles: you won't find them for our cars without changing everything. the tall ball joint does the same thing that the 'non-existent' tall spindle would: makes the upper a-arm able to travel more, so the front wheels go down farther than stock with the wheels off the ground. the camber curve correction for lateral handling is the main reason people use that setup, though.