converting...well, for this one anyway!

Well, this is different and certainly should be interesting! I've been around the MOPARTS forums since the very early days but have been (so-to-speak) stuck in the drag racing 'groove'. Having been a drag racer (stock & super stock since '71), and not being able to sell this car as it was, it's being converted to street-duty, and up-to-this-point has been an intersting and somewhat disappointing adventure, but that seems to be changing. All of the hard-core racing parts and suspension have been removed/sold and the 'tamer' street-type components have begun to appear, BUT...the competitive spirit seems to have raised it's ugly little head once again; you know, the one that wants to twist the wheel under power, so I could be in a heap a trouble here too!

So wheel-twisters, here's what I've got and here's what I need from this 'handlers' forum: a good handling package for this old 1971 B-body. As it sits, the car's a former stock eliminator drag car, frames tied (quite well), 8 pt roll bar (a new mild steel cage in the basement, oh oh!), new 1.03" torsion bars, LCA stiffener plates, torque boxes, removed the D60 and am currently building an 8-3/4 w/powr-lok and after-market axles, looking at 16x8 steel wheels and Z-rated Falken 255-50-16 tires. Since this will be a 'street car' I opted to NOT go the 'pro street' route as I want good handling not insanity with the real 450-475 hp 440/4 spd that should give adaquate performance. You may have noticed I didn't fill in the suspension blanks, that's where y'all come in. BTW being as I DO like to lean on the loud pedal, there's a good possibility this old girl will see the likes of Thunder Hill and maybe some autocross action, so by-all-means, add your .02! Thanks...wb

Nice Car I think that you can start out with the basics and then change things as you test and tune. I would have left the 60 and just put in a power lock, I perfer the stoutness of it. Good luck with your project. Tim

The 8pt cage ---it's a NOT roll bar--- would be fine if you take out a bar or two, and put in the proper bars for corners. How many attach points on the new cage?

1 1/4 tubular front sway bar
adjustable rear sway bar

offset upper control arm bushings for 3-5 degrees caster or tubular control arms. Depending on budget.

Brake upgrades on that heavy car. Budget and objective dependent. I'd think 11.75 big rotors at minimum.

Bilsein shocks.

some type of rear spring that will bring the rear down and have a strong front segment: like a Firm Feel circle track or Hotchkis setup.

...just off top of my head.

My car was initially a street/strip bracket car with everything that went with that except a cage. My first couple upgrades were some RMS control arms and a fat Hotchkis swaybar along with swapping drag shocks for some Monroes. I have been hooked ever since, which was only last year. I have done a ton of other stuff since then as well and it keeps getting better and better.

Thanks for responding guys. As for the 'roll bar', yes it IS a roll bar w/hoop, side bars and 2 rear bars intersecting in the trunk and 2 more extending from the cross bar of the hoop diagonally to the frame connectors=8 pt. The new cage is a 12 pt with bars connecting to the front longitudinals to the A-pillars, the A-pillar bars, an under-dash bar and one tube connecting the overhead to the A-pillars, side bars, the rear 'X' from the hoop to the rear shock towers and trunk bars so it should make the triangulation substantial.

The D60 IS stronger but the reality is sprung/un-sprung weight and since the car's not really needing that much additional strength (from the brute force of a 6500 rpm static launch in a drag car), the 8-3/4 should do well and have the added bonus of quick gear changing at the track, if needed. I am planning on poly bushings and some Firm Feel components but am not sure which direction to go with shocks?! Being a little 'overkill' oriented, I admit I must be a little more conservative but that balance point is new to me...HA!

To bring the rear end down go with a Mopar XHD leaf spring. (Get two left side springs) as to have the same spring rate on both the left and right side. Just like the T bars have with the same diameter.

To help lower the car get the front leaf hangers from Firm Feel they have a factory attachment point for stock height and the Higher bolt hole location to lower the car approx. 1" maybe more.

Here is a picture of my 72 RR with the same rear leaf spring set up above mounted in the lowering location, 16 x 8" wheels with 0 offset and 4.5" backspace from Vintage Wheel Works and the same size tires you mentioned 255/50R16 from BF Goodrich G Force Comp 2 ($136 each from tire rack)

We dumped the 4:30 gears in favor of a 2.94 sure grip center in the 8 3/4" out back.

The simples, easiest, best bang for the buck would be to pick up the XV Level 1 kit. It is $2250 for new t-bars, springs, front and rear sway bars and rate matched shocks.

If you want to build it in sections as time/money are available and retaining some of your current parts, then the Hotchkis TVS set up is a nice package that can be purchased individually with an end goal that they will acheive. Overall will run you around $2500, give or take depending on your source for buys.

Either of these get you in the game without the need to dig into analysis of what works well together, what are good mods vs great mods vs incremental mods, or the headache of parts that don't play well together.

Thanks for the heads-up Tony. While browsing the XV page I noticed some interesting tid-bits which opened up enough of my thinking skills to ask a ton of questions so some phone calls to Firm Feel, XV and Hotchkis are in order. THANKS again, much appreciate! BTW, nice stance on your RR, Paul, looks great!

Since you already have some parts like the 1.03" T bars I would just keep those and concentrate on the other parts you might like.

Don't overlook Firm Feel for their comprehensive list of parts and steering boxes etc etc. They might not have a kit listed like XV and Hotchkis but they have been in the Mopar handling business many years. Call Dick at FF excellent guy to bounce your ideas off of and get his opinion.

You might want to read this before spending any money with XV

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/show...part=1&vc=1

Thanks for THAT heads-up Randy, I sure don't need to be dealing with some mfg or vender that produces shoddy parts or get caught-up in some stinking drama, got too much of that...'elsewhere'! HA! Looks as if the straight-ahead method is the simplest and the best...I'll call Firm Feel and Hotchkis and leave the over-priced/glorified trinkets alone. Since the drag race chassis parts have been removed and sold I'm all ears for particular parts combinations, springs/shocks/sway bars/etc. I'd actually like to drop the car another 1-2" from the ride height of Paul's '72 runner, make it level and sling through the turns like the yellow Hotchkis '70 Challenger, I like that! Thanks again for the info guys, much appreciate...wb

if you want a great deal on tubular adjustable sway bars for our runners - this is what i found, you can't beat the price!

http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=16954
http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=10105

Quote:

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if you want a great deal on tubular adjustable sway bars for our runners - this is what i found, you can't beat the price!

http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=16954
http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=10105

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Thanks for the tip, Just ordered the tubular 1 1/4 for $150, ($161.20 shipped). I wanted a Hotchkis, but this should do until I'm rich. I contacted them again and they lowered the shipping $10 or so. So that should make it $151.20 to match or beat Amazon.