OK ladies and gents, I've had the car for 2 weeks now and have decided to mod what can't be seen. I do not plan on racing it. But, I want a car that has power, handles well (for an antique model) and, I trust. Here's what is in the car currently: 302 (stock everything) w/ 2bbl carb, C-4? auto trans, 8 in stock rear end, power steering & brakes, A/C, single exhaust. Here's what I'm thinking of adding: Done by a shop/ my trusted mechanic - New exhaust headers/manifold w/ dual exhaust - He knows what else I'm adding so I trust him... I plan on adding - Holly Street Avenger 570 cfm 4 bbl, Weiland Action Plus intake manifold, Edelbrock 4bbl EGR adaper plate, Global West Coil springs for the front, JC Whitney 4-Leaves Feaf springs for the back, Local NAPA store for bushings and shackles, Addco 7/8 sway bar for the front, Addco 3/4 sway bar for the back, KYB GR-2 shocks front and back Comments? Concerns? Snide remarks? I know I need cams. This must be the day I played hookey from shade tree machanic school. Any help here is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Matt Richmond Va.
your going to need some work on the rear to get up and go. new gears and track lok or posi. i'd go with either a 600 or 650 holley. depending on what cam you choose, you may need a little more carb. also the engine needs to breath. might think about heads too. a lot of this depends on what you want to do with the car. plan for the future. hate to buy a 570, then 6 months later need a 650. that means your paying for it twice. good luck.
Think I'd put some gears in next. I like 3:89s unless it will see a lot of highway use. 3:89s will put you around 3000 rpm at 60 mph depending on tire height. I'm guessing with the suspension mods your planning, you want it to corner well also. You need to lighten the front or shift more weight to the rear. I would move the battery to the trunk. I've read this can shift your weight distribution as much as 2%. If the factory air dont work and you dont plan on getting it to work, all the ac stuff is a lot of weight on the nose of your car. Get rid of it. Same with power steering. Keep the ps box but convert the linkage to manual. Aluminum heads will also trim a bunch of weight off the nose. The weight distribution on my car is 52/48. Thats pretty good and it handles really great through turns.
Here's my comments. Eliminate the EGR. You don't need it. You also don't need KYB shocks. Standard replacment shocks work great for these cars, especially on the rear. Definitely get dual exhausts, and a set of 3.40 or 3.55 rear gear ratio (don't forget to get the proper speedo driven-gear when you do this). Sway-bars are a good idea. Make sure you don't already have a 7/8" front bar, as these were factory options from '75-'77. be forwarned that the 4-leaf rear springs make the car ride like a brick $#!t-house. The Holley Street Avenger runs excellent on my Mav (the 570 is plenty). Edelbrocks run good too. A new cam can wait (unless you can't) until your engine needs a rebuild. You'd be amazed at the performance increase from just a 4-barrel carb, dual exhaust, and lower gears. I like my power steering. The "bigger/more is better" mentality will only result in worse fuel ecconomy and marginal performance increase unless the objective is to build a race car...
You mentioned a bunch of suspension stuff and mods. You also said that you wanted to "trust" it, are you concerned about the condition of the ball joints? Hardly anyone thinks of those (it seems) and they can leave you in a world of hurt when they break. New shorties will be available soon by 69 ina 1/2, I would wait to get those. Keep the power steering, it's mo betta when using fatter tires up front. I have 50s up front and it can be a bear, when sitting anyway. Oh, and one more thing... Have fun!
Okay, I'll jump in. For handling, add Sub-Frame Connectors to your list. It stiffens these cars up tremendously and are relatively easy to fab (use search button top right of page). Good luck with the mods. You're going to have a fun car!
Thanks to everyone for the advice. Please keep it comming. I'm a fairly confidant wrench turner for standard stuff. But I've never done mods before and appreciate the ideas/input! T.L. - How would I eleminate the EGR? Do I just block off the existing hoses? Don Graham - Replacing the gears / converting to posi - Can that be done with the existing diff and axles?
