Thinking about picking up a C-barge or maybe a B-body for nice day 'daily driving' type duty. I spend a lot of time highway driving to get to work. I have driven 100K miles over the last 4 years in an '08 Mazdaspeed 3.
It's been a decent and fun car with the turbo, 6 speed manual and handling package. The turbo makes torque at any rpm and the 6 speed keeps it in the power band really easily. The suspension is really stiff though and after a long drive in traffic, it gets tiring.
Going from a sport-tuned turbo 4 import to a C barge or B body would certainly be a huge leap. I can't help but think I would miss the ability and responsiveness of the Mazda.
That being said, can you make one of these larger cars handle reasonably? I'm not going to autocross it or anything so no serious G Machine type stuff. Maybe some pieces here and there but whatever platform I end up with would likely stay 'stock'.
Not really into the rubber band tires on huge wheels but I might consider 16" steelies if I can find some that look OK.
I'm thinking rebuilt front suspension with 'good' parts/bushings, sway bars, t bars, lower a tad but not scraping the ground. I would like it to be easy to drive but be responsive and as agile as a larger car could be. I'm not an overly aggressive driver but I don't drive like an old lady either. I have gotten used to be able to whip my car around and it always does what I want it to predictably.
I know there is a lot of body roll, big mass and generally little road feel on '60s-'70s Chrysler products.
The one thing I am be undecided about is an engine. Big blocks make cars nose heavy but larger cars kind of 'need' it and don't really look right with small blocks. Maybe a small block stroker is a viable option? Whatever it winds up being it could very well be fuel injected and overdriven.
Sound like a decent plan or would it be an uphill battle with stock oriented parts?
Thanks for any input.
- Greg
Hey Greg,
Pick a single direction with the car, get the c-body idea out of your mind if you're imagining a nimble, quick performance car (c-body is a boat, literally, a b-body is near 17' long already). Look for a nice 68-70 b-body project car that someone has laying around in their garage, you're not going to find anything relatively nice for under 20k if you look for drivers (at least not here in FL). You can pick up a nice a-body for 10-15k however, that would be an even better performance/handling application, but those are a dime-a-dozen.
Hotchkis is your friend, I would look into their TVS kit or purchase components individually. Biggest impact is front/rear swaybars, don't go for the knockoffs, buy your parts from the guys that actually test-tune-race these cars on the road course. Next step would be shocks and torsion bars. You'll have $1,400 in suspension work if you go with the non-adjustable shocks, and the car will blow you away in regards to your current thoughts on a b-body handling.
Next stop is braking, don't even waste your time anywhere else, go to Dr. Diff. Pick up his STAGE 3 or 4 kit for the front, and let him set you up with a rear set with 15/16" master cylinder/brake lines. You'll need 17-18" wheels to clear the 13" front rotors, so get the idea of 16" steelies out of your brain if you want to actually handle, brake, and have good lateral stability in the corner. If you have a 68-70 b-body, you can look into 94-04 mustang rear wheels, and 05-16 fronts to have a w-i-d-e selection of inexpensive 18" wheels that will clear large brake calipers. Stick with 255/45 fronts and 295-305/45 rears (28.5-28.8x11.6-12.0), that will give you a slight rake and a fair amount of sidewall (no rubber bands!!!!). No modifications are necessary to run this size on a b-body (don't even have to roll the fender lips), other than choosing a wheel with the appropriate backspacing/offset. Mustang wheels are $150 vs. $500+ ea. for a custom setup. For the savings, you could pick up a set specifically for the track as well.
As far as the engine goes, 440 all the way or 400 low-deck. We're talking about a car that's nearly 17' long, weighing 3,500-3,800, you'll need the additional torque. It's so easy to make 500HP out of a 100% street wedge, you'll be kicking yourself for not going with a big-block. With aluminum heads, water pump, manifold, etc. You'll probably figure out that the big-block weighs nearly the same or even less than a factory small-block.
Gearing, well, if you run an 8 3/4 it's pretty simple, toss in a 2.76-3.23 ratio for your daily commute. There is no reason to chase a few 1/10th's and deal with a 4.10-4.30 every day. You could easily get by with a 440/727 combo if you run higher gearing, that's what torque is for.. You'll have no problem getting up to speed at the light. Also, invest in a good wideband setup, tune it for 14-14.5:1 while cruising to save some fuel, nearly the same ratio at idle.
BTW:
My first car was an L98/z51 C4 corvette, and last three daily drivers were a 15' SRT M6 Challenger, C5 Z06, and S/C Saleen Mustang with a road racing suspension setup; so I'm used to corner carvers.
Good luck!
