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Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

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  • I wouldn't doubt it for a second that your old battery was the cause of a lot of problems. I think $350 is a screaming deal.
    Tom
    Overdrive is overrated


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    • Looks like my suspension problems are continuing. The car felt a little wonky today on the freeway so I took a look at it today. Turns out the right front shock is broke and the outer right tie rod is bent up a bit. Not sure how this happened. Going to have to look closer at things tomorrow.


      I will be getting more into it tomorrow.
      BS'er formally known as Rebeldryver

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      • Dude , that sucks ! I have Airride on my truck and I'm always playing with it . But what would cause this to happen ? .

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        • Originally posted by langleylad View Post
          Dude , that sucks ! I have Airride on my truck and I'm always playing with it . But what would cause this to happen ? .
          Not sure yet.
          BS'er formally known as Rebeldryver

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          • Originally posted by Scott Liggett View Post
            I can't help wondering if the weak battery was part of my electrical issues and the backfires. The battery had gotten discharged a few times over the last year due to different issues. The good news is that before the battery croaked, the alternator wasn't working as hard as when the fans were running. Before, when the fans kicked on, the amp gauge jumped way into the charge side. Now, it's just barely above the center charge/no charge line when they are running.

            The alternator is strong enough to power everything.

            The wiring needs replacing. The old problem I had when I bought the car, the dome light wire melted into the wiper, heater fan, and turn signal wires, which meant they ran with the ignition off. I replaced all that wiring when I had the dash cluster out of the car. That problem has come back. It's obvious that I need to rewire the whole car, but I wanted to do this at a later date. It's obvious that I need to move this up the priority list.
            Got all your ground straps in place?
            Thom

            "The object is to keep your balls on the table and knock everybody else's off..."

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            • Originally posted by Monk View Post
              Got all your ground straps in place?
              All four between engine and frame and body.
              BS'er formally known as Rebeldryver

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              • Turns out the shock broke because of my mechanical screw up. I was wondering why the ride was so harsh up front. Even with the big block springs, I thought the ride was too stiff. I had set the shocks at full tilt for my heavy car and thinking I needed to back it up a bit. Wrong.

                Here's my shock. The beveled edge on the right is the reason for the hard ride. It was catching on the spring's top coil.


                And, you can see in shot looking up through the spring coil to the top shock mount hole, the small hole in the distance; the coil was not in it's pocket. It was off to the side. Not a good thing for shocks. An expensive mistake.


                I ran down to Autozone to rent the coil spring compressor again. Removed the broken shock. Then used the coil spring compressor to shorten the spring and move it into it's proper position.

                One other note. I realized that the my giant sway bar's end link bolts are 5/16th grade 5 bolts. All the washers and rubbers are designed for 3/8th bolts. They will be replaced tomorrow.
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                • Damn. Yeah I've had front springs not seat proper and ended up screwing with them for 20 minutes to get them to sit where they are supposed to in the perch. Fortunately nothing more serious than an busted pricey shock happened.
                  Escaped on a technicality.

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                  • Crap like this makes me wonder why we bother to drive Hot Rods . Frustration seams to out weight joy most of the time . At times you just want to cry but when every thing comes together and onlookers say nice ride it does feel nice .

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                    • Originally posted by langleylad View Post
                      Crap like this makes me wonder why we bother to drive Hot Rods . Frustration seams to out weight joy most of the time . At times you just want to cry but when every thing comes together and onlookers say nice ride it does feel nice .
                      It's just a pricey live and learn instance. It just shows I need to double check things like this.
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                      • I need to buy front springs for my car one day - to get the Moroso trick springs out of it, and because it sits too low - about a half inch from the rubber snubbers.

                        Could you take a minute to explain to me why you did, or why I should perhaps use big block springs?

                        I do want my car to still be lower than stock, and I read that cutting small block springs to lower the car takes some of the energy from them... Is cutting a big block spring in a small block car a budget (cheaper) way to lower it while still having good performance? - as opposed to buying a brand name lowering "performance" spring.

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                        • It depends what you want the car to do. Do you want it to launch well, or go around corners? Soft springs will help it launch, stiff springs will help it go around corners. The more coils it has, the softer it will be. The thicker the wire, the stiffer it will be. The Moroso springs are long, with lots of coils of small wire. The cut down big block springs are short, with few turns of thick wire.
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                          "If it don't go, chrome it!" --Stroker McGurk

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                          • Originally posted by yellomalibu View Post
                            I need to buy front springs for my car one day - to get the Moroso trick springs out of it, and because it sits too low - about a half inch from the rubber snubbers.

                            Could you take a minute to explain to me why you did, or why I should perhaps use big block springs?

                            I do want my car to still be lower than stock, and I read that cutting small block springs to lower the car takes some of the energy from them... Is cutting a big block spring in a small block car a budget (cheaper) way to lower it while still having good performance? - as opposed to buying a brand name lowering "performance" spring.
                            These were big block springs that were ordered by mistake. They were supposed to be drop springs but the car had a gasser look. So, I cut full coil off of them to get the ride height I wanted.

                            Ever seen a restored car that looks a bit 4x4-ish? It's the replacement springs ride height.


                            Personally, I would buy small block springs for your car and control the ride with good shocks. Coil springs are only $ 80 pr, so it is not the end of the world to have to order a second pair if you don't like the results. That was my plan if I didn't like the results of the springs I had. I did for the rear of the car. I have a set of 2" drop springs that were too low for me to run with my headers and scattershield.
                            Last edited by Scott Liggett; January 21, 2013, 11:16 AM.
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                            • I've got the large sway bars on the car (front and rear) because I want to make the car more of a fun street driver than a drag car. They were a Christmas or birthday present a year or so ago.

                              Budget is very low on this. Let's just assume I'm going to remain on a junk yard budget for a while, and would like the car to handle a little better than stock on the street.

                              Stiff springs (cut big block) and stock replacement shocks, or small block springs (probably still cut) and an inexpensive performance shock?

                              Suggestions? Is there an "inexpensive" performance shock?

                              Sorry for the hi-jack.

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                              • KYB gas a justs are about $40 each. They rode nice on my big car, but they don't control rebound as well as the Koni's.

                                I have Koni adjustables that are $125 each.
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