Thank god this car is still in primmer. I pulled the front wheels about a foot of the ground at the track this weekend and got scarred and let off, so I came crashing down and tweeked the fenders and possibly the passenger door.

I guess it is time for new springs :)

I bought this car from a guy that died and was told it has a 78' malibu front clip. But I am not sure on that. It is back halved with ladder bars.

Do I need to pull the springs and measure them to find out what new ones I need?

Also the car hooks and runs straight but the steering is a little loose, and 120 mph plus is to fast to be farm truck steering back and forth at the end of the quarter.

I don't car about cornering, should I just get new tie rod ends and ball joints etc.. to tighten up the steering, or are tube A arms worth the money for the strip?

How do I find the right tie rod ends and such if I don't know for sure what this front clip is out of?

Anybody?
I looked at the QA1 coilover setups for the front on Summit today, is that the way I should go?

A couple of pics of the parts and front clip would help someone ID it.

Post some pics of your setup and i can tell you which shocks you will need. The QA1 pro coil setup is ok for a street car but they do not have enough travel for drag racing. You could go with a QA1 or Strange bolt in style shock. They would be a better choice for drag racing. Post up some pics.

I would TEST the front suspension and joints for wear/looseness. Replace only what's loose or obviously defective/worn.

Then add a quick-ratio/firm effort power steering box.

You'll gain nothing by replacing "decent" parts with "new" parts; especially with the questionable quality of the import chassis parts that are now altogether too common.

I'm NOT saying you should keep parts that are loose--but not so loose that they fail based on "factory specs". You DO want joints with no free play; you want bushings that aren't rotted out--you get the idea.

You'll want to check those control arms, too. Could be bent from the stress of the fall back to Earth.

Leave the coil overs on the shelf, along with the power steering!

invest in a limiter strap for the front suspension or a set of adjustable drag shocks.

You can set the shocks stiff to limit wheelie height, and then if that is not enough limit the front end travel with the limiters. That will allow adjustability on loose tracks as well as tight tracks.

As for the loose steering, check all your joints and replace whats is bad, have a race shop or someone that understands front end alignment that has drag raced align the front end.

I talked to a buddy that recomended the limiter straps, I already have CE drag shocks up front.

I need to research what other guys have done to keep from coming down too hard. I love the wheels up launch, I just don't want to have the front fenders move on me especially after I paint the car this winter.

Nobody recomends converting to coil overs for drag racing?

Then add a quick-ratio/firm effort power steering box.

.

I'd like to find one of those. I understand quick ratio but where does one find both qualities? Jeep? Monte Carlo? What year(s)?

Thanks

Bill

I'd like to find one of those. I understand quick ratio but where does one find both qualities? Jeep? Monte Carlo? What year(s)?

Thanks

Bill

If you want to get a new steering box Flaming River has one. They are not cheap but they work very well.