[KyalOliver]

I recommend restoring to FULLY FUNCTIONAL OEM. That will yield a nice diving car that YOU (with your inexperience) can easily research the parts required and the alignment specs. Save any 'upgrades' until after you get it back on the road in drivable condition (and can save up the $).

Oh, those 'spacers' in the springs are propping them up. You NEED new springs at a minimum.

Do you have the GM Manuals for your car? ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL.

Pete

OK BECAUSE I WAS THINKING TO MY SELF "THOSE LOOK SKEPTICAL" but i think thats what ill go ahead and do. im really working on a highschool minimum wage budget so im trying to be as cheap as possible and i figured the cheap china stuff will atleast last for a year or two and by then ill have a better job and the car wont be one of two transportation vehicles.

 

[KyalOliver]

With a $1000 budget, get yourself a set of UMI upper A-arms (link below), and replace the rest of your front suspension parts like the lower ball joints, tie rod ends, bushings, ect. with a good factory-equivalent like Moog. And finally, a new set of shocks.

You'll go over budget if you pay a shop to do this. You'll need a couple of specialty tools for this job: a coil spring compressor, and a pickle fork to separate the ball joints. You should be able to rent both of these at any local auto parts store.

When you're done, you'll need to get an alignment.

You could get away with keeping the stock upper A-arms if that pushes your budget too much. But the shape and geometry of the stock arms limits your positive caster. You can get more positive caster by switching to the UMI arms, and more positive caster is going to help make your steering feel snappier and it'll make your car feel like it's on rails when you're driving at highway speeds. They are well worth the investment.

1964-1972 GM A-Body Tubular Upper A-Arms, 1/2" Taller Ball Joints - UMI Performance Inc.

driving on rails. thats exactly how i want my car to feel! ill look into these.

 

[KyalOliver]

As I have mentioned in one of your Other Threads
the Back of your Car is way to High and or the Diameter of your Wheels/Tires are to Low

the wheels are 215/70/15s and i just put in new shocks, i know the car has aftermarket rear control arms, im not sure about the springs.... maybe the springs have been upgraded to big block springs and the front are still factory small block springs? im not sure but i do know only the left spring has a boot in it

 

[KyalOliver]

Do be careful if you're taking apart the front suspension!

Those springs have a lot of stored energy even with the front lifted completely off the ground - they can shoot out of there really violently if you lose control of them, and people have gotten badly injured that way.

Using the right tools (like the spring compressor) is a good idea. I've seen some videos of people doing it with just a floor jack, but that seems really unsafe...

ive seen that as well and for some reason ive never trusted jacks.... or even jack stands.... maybe together but even just working on my car with only jack stands is od, i couldnt imagine only a jack.... ill see if my local orielys has a spring compressor i can use

 

[KyalOliver]

Does your $1000 budget include paying someone to do this work for you? If so, you're not going to have enough to spend on quality aftermarket control arms, etc.

The alignment specs that have been posted are spot on for aftermarket arms, but there's no chance you're going to see 6˚ of positive caster on stock upper control arms. The best you could hope to get would be 2.5-3˚.

This is a great project for you to learn how the suspension of your car works, if you decide to tear into it yourself, but be aware that any work involving front coil springs can be very dangerous. You can get seriously hurt if that spring gets loose while you're removing or installing it.

i plan on tackling this by myself, and ill be very cautious of the front springs, ill try and do it early in the morning that way if the spring does go flying, hopefully, everyone's still in bed.

 

[KyalOliver]

A kit like this and properly sized springs. Then a front end alignment.

Polygraphite Performance Super Front End Kit

Dramatically improve the cornering and handling of your car with a PST Front End Kit! Kits are available in rubber or Polygraphite for most vehicles. Standard kits contain upper and lower ball joints,

p-s-t.com

this is what I was looking at earlier, i feel like all those pieces will freshen up the front end, then add some front shocks and springs, and maybe wait a little for a front sway bar. the only thing is all those pieces are somewhat over whelming and I'm not sure where each one goes and what ill need for each one and if i take one off then will the spring go crazy and turn into tasmanian devil

 

[Kirk's67SS]

the wheels are 215/70/15s and i just put in new shocks, i know the car has aftermarket rear control arms, im not sure about the springs.... maybe the springs have been upgraded to big block springs and the front are still factory small block springs? im not sure but i do know only the left spring has a boot in it

Can you get us some Pics of the Rear Suspension, Both Sides and this Boot ?

What Type & Part # did you use to Replace the Old Springs with ??

Maybe the New Shocks are too Long ???

 

[Kirk's67SS]

this is what I was looking at earlier, i feel like all those pieces will freshen up the front end, then add some front shocks and springs, and maybe wait a little for a front sway bar. the only thing is all those pieces are somewhat over whelming and I'm not sure where each one goes and what ill need for each one and if i take one off then will the spring go crazy and turn into tasmanian devil

Take one old piece off and find it's New one to Replace using the Same Length etc.

 

[Kirk's67SS]

i plan on tackling this by myself, and ill be very cautious of the front springs, ill try and do it early in the morning that way if the spring does go flying, hopefully, everyone's still in bed.

The Hardest Part to take Off and Replace are only the Front Springs
as if you are not careful you could hurt yourself or the Car

 

[LeoP]

I have used kits from www.p-s-t.com for many cars and trucks. I used the complete standard suspension kit. It returns the front suspension to stock feel and ride. Good luck with your car!! Original Performance Super Front End Kit is what I've used!

 

[oldcutlass]

How did I become the thread starter?