Looking for some help here from those more knowledgable then me. I just picked up a 71 Comet 6 Cyl. Car has 4 lugs and manual brakes. So basically none of the running gear is useful to me. I am going to be running a 351C with CHI heads, C-4 with probably a 3500 or 4000 stall and possible trans brake. before I get the engine in I wanted to sort out the suspension. What do you guys recomemend for rear ends and brake sourcing. I was planning on a Versailles 9inch, but considered just putting in a 5 lug 8 inch and getting a posi unit for that. Probably won't last to long though. Would you recommend getting a rearend built from a company and just doing it that route? I don't have a crap ton of money, but I can budget to get some purpose built parts. The car is mainly going to be a street car with the occasional trip to Fontana and Famoso. Front brakes I was going to source from a Granada and get out of it that way. I really want to keep the car stock appearing but get the best possible traction out of it. hate to use the term sleeper cause it really won't be one, but I do want stock appearing. Hope someone can help me here. Thanks for any and all advice. I am trying to post pics of the car but don't know how. Can someone help me out? Thanks Robert
Alot depends on your budget, if you don't mind cutting on the car, your best bet for consistent traction would be install a ladder bar setup. If you want to stick with a stock leaf spring setup you need to get some good leaf springs and some good shocks. A mono leaf is the preferred leaf spring design but I have known guys to have good luck with a multi leaf spring. You need a set of cal tracs, they are hands down the best bolt on traction device available right now. You need a good hydraulic shock in the rear, a lakewood 50/50 would be the most economical choice (will need modifications to fit), the next choice would be a Rancho adjustable shock. The 8" rear ends are tuff but since you're gonna be running a Cleveland you may want to go ahead and go with a 9". You could get most of the parts you need from this board probably. I've got a 9" out of an old truck that i'd be willing to sell, it would need to be cut down and all that. You should be able to upload pics off of your computer using the manage attachments tab, if they are too big you need to re-size them or crop them......
Thanks for the info. I've got a 9" housing from my Ranchero so I will look into cutting that down. Is a ladder bar setup worth the effort an is it that hard to install? Not a great craftsmen, but I have friends that can help. Also with the narrowed 9" what should I shoot for as far as width to fit the widest tire in back without tubbing? Oh and the car is an automatic. Sorry not manual parts.
Not sure about keeping the stock look with a cleveland. May not fit under the stock hood etc. One of the fellows on here has a simliar setup and will probably answer that one. Get a store bought 9in for simplicity of installation. A bit pricey but worth it in the long run, 10.5 wide tires will barely fit in the stock wheel wells but depends on the wheel used. Cal-Tracs are definately the way to go. Make sure the c4 is built for dual purpose use, lots of torque with the 351c.
As far as a hood goes I am going to run a fiberglass cowl on a steel hood and graft the two together. The CHI manifold is way to big to fit underneeth the stock one. Does anyone have the web site for Cal-Tracs. Did a search and turned up nothing. C-4 will be built for dual purpose. Thanks.
Ladders work great. Problem is, if you have to do all the work required to put 'em in, you might as well do a 4 link. Besides, the 4 link will allow more adjustability for any and every conceiveable traction condition, is more streetable (if you plan on any street miles), requires less of the floor to be removed, and best of all will increase the car's value in the long run. As far as getting the widest tire w/o tubbing, I don't see the reasoning in putting ladder bars on a car if it's not going to be tubbed in the first place. If you want big tires you can move the springs inboard and put 11.5's in there pretty easily. I had 10.5s on mine with the stock rear suspension....went into the very low 1.40's consistently with that set up in the 60' and 6.60's in the 1/8....and it'd do it all day long. it all boils down to what your plans for it are. Heads up race car, bracket car, street/strip car, or driver.....OR you can make a pro-street type car, but that's basically the same as building a bracket car except the rear tires will have treads.
nice looking car. where are you located. what is the purpose of the car? if you are going to race at fontana or famosa are you going to race in the summit ponts series or are you just trying to go as fast as you can? class rules may dictate what you can and cant do. if you go faster than 13.99 you must have a helmet and driveshaft loop. faster than 11.99 with slicks and you need a roll bar and 5 point harness. with dot tires as of 1-1-2005you can go as fast as 11.49 before you need the bar and harness. check with the track where you plan on running to see what they require. many have there rules on their websites. some times for classes are going to change this year after the track managers meeting in january. p.s. if you're going to run at famosa take along a gas mask. phew.
What do you need?I've got a 70 6/3spd car thats all still there.Gonna keep the pedals but don't really need the rest.Gimme a PM. Tim
The car is going to be more a street/strip car. I want it to be streeteable, but definetly not a daily driver work type car. I think I am going to try a spring relocator kit and cal tracs first. If I can get 10.5's in the back that should be enough of a footprint to hook up a clevelnad. "I HOPE". Thanks for everyones advice and I am sure I will be asking questions along the way. So far the plan is to narrow my 9" and go monoleaf in the rear and QA1 shocks. Need to find a spring relocator kit. Any ideas? I live part time in Rancho Cucamonga about 2 miles from California Speedway and the rest of the time in San Diego. The commute to work sucks!!!
