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But I do agree that the A-body market is huge.



You would think, but our sales say otherwise. We sell over 5 times as much B&E as we do A body. The bosses are really hard to convince that we should do more for the A's when they look at the numbers. I have to have ammo to take to the bosses so that it makes sense.



I have always preferred the A body Barracuda. B&E cars are too big. It is not a money thing. I just believe the A body was a better thought out design than the E-body platform and I like the way my '68 looks better than the '70-'74 boats. I feel the E was driven more by marketing and my impression was that the design (under the sheet metal) was rushed to market. Not to knock it, I once bought a '70 Challenger and gave it to my brother (he wanted one - guy had a complete non running one in his backyard he wanted $300 for), I wouldn't toss it out with the bath water, I just prefer A bodies.

I just bought a set of A body torsion bars... from someone else obviously. Your A-body UCA is priced much higher than competitor's products with no clear distinction. I called and asked, and was told the only difference was moving the UBJ rearward to increase Caster. Money is not the issue, value and performance are what I am looking for.

Currently I have a welded K frame, 1.12" T-bars, 1-1/8" solid front swaybar ('73-'76 style), '73-'76 spindles, aluminum Dr Diff hubs, Baer 13" two piece rotors, Dr Diff caliper mounts w/ his "Brembo" style calipers, Dr Diff rear brake kit. Rear has 225lb mono leaf rear springs w/ Caltracs. Tires are Falken RT615k. 255/40-18 front, 295/40-18 rear. 18x9 front, 18x10 rear. I have a custom made front radiator support brace; it started out XV, but we had to section it, shorten it, and notch it to fit the car and clear my radiator, so I would not call it the XV brace anymore. The car has sub frame connectors and torque boxes welded in. Rear frame rails are also tied together with 1x2 square tube that makes up the fuel tank mount. Suspension is not complete. I still need to finalize my steering box, the LCAs, and a few other details. Probably go with the Borg box, but need to figure out exhaust as well. I will drive it before I make the rear bar decision. My rear spring rate is high, but the axle is narrowed (springs brought in, thus reducing roll rate). This is mostly a street car, but I would like it to be track capable and a good driving and handling street car. Rear I can go as big as 325/30-19, maybe even 345/30-19. I may go 275/35-18 front w/ the wider 19" rear tire for a street set up, and the existing wheels and tires for track use. With the 295/40-18 I have a lot of room left over. With that much tire in the rear I am curious if the rear bar will be needed. Not that I know much on the subject of suspension design. I have a Masters in Mechanical Engineering and I specialize in dynamic systems and controls. I have dealt mostly with robotics and process control systems in my career, not vehicle suspension design. The car is currently under assembly, so nothing is yet final. I am not married to the 1-1/8" bar, I just happened to buy it for the car 21 years ago (not even sure who made it). How do I figure out the correct bar for the front? How about the rear? On the rear I just about have to go with something custom since my springs are relocated. Based on rates and geometry is it possible to figure out bar sizes without testing? Do I just go to a big 1-1/2" bar or a custom splined front bar, then make a 1" splined bar for the rear with variable mounting positions to tune the rear rate - even so, how do I go about discovering the proper setting or rear rate? Skid pad? Slalom?

On shocks: I have a set of Spax adjustable shocks new in the box that have not yet been installed. I like the idea of the Viking "Beserker" system. I used to work at a research lab that was doing active suspension development, it would be interesting to see where this product line goes. If I decide to go with fixed valve or manually adjustable valved shocks what information is needed to get a set properly configured? Corner weights? Spring rates? Un-sprung component weights? How wide a range are the adjustable shocks? Are they a sort of one size fits all fix that is soft enough or stiff enough that you can just turn the knob until you get the response you want? Do I just toss an accelerometer on the hub and adjust the damping to get something critically damped... tell me the response curve to shoot for and I can manage that part! I'm sure it is not that simple, but maybe I am overthinking it.

Engine in the car is a little 440 waiting on my aluminum heads to ship. Solid cam, EFI six pack tunnel ram, T56 six speed, twin disc clutch, MW aluminum driveshaft. It should put down more than 350rwhp... it was running 90mph in the 1/8th mile with iron heads, an automatic, a carburetor, and two burned plug wires. Car has an aluminum radiator and fiberglass hood. Between the radiator, hood, and heads it may be close to small block weight. Nothing fancy new like the Gen3 Hemi in the "uhcoog1" Duster, so my weight distribution may not be quite so favorable. Need to finish the car and scale it to find out.


-Michael

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Michael 1968 Barracuda Notchback Coupe 440 EFI 6-pack, T56 Magnum 6-spd