Getting my car to handle, What is my next step ?

[Kamloops cutlass]

Hello gents , I’m trying to get my cutlass to handle properly , not trying to make a race but a good street/road car that I can confidently hit corners with
So far I have partly rebuilt steering linkage and suspension
New drop spindles ball joints and tie rods
New springs uncut 5660 in front and bmr 1.5” drop springs in rear with bilstein shocks all around
Stock front sway bar with new links ,and a 442 steering box
I have a stock alignment done , and the tech told me I could get a kit that would allow for more shims to dial it in better ?
Anyway , I had a chance to punch the car through some corners this weekend and while it is better than before , it is still fear inducing when charging a flat corner at any speed
The suspension is stiffer but I feel the unloaded side of the car “lift up” in corners where it used to sway to the side , not much better .
Anyway I hope I have described this in a way one can understand lol
What is my next step to get this car planted in the corners ?
Thank you for your consideration , pics because everyone likes pics

 

[doood]

looks awesome.

I have standard suspension geometry all around (v6 springs in front) with Bilstein shocks all around and the big UMI sway bars front and back. Some people think it should be lower, but I like it not bottoming out at 70 MPH with 5 people in the car. Car stays very flat taking exit ramps at twice the recommended speed. My chassis has less than 30,000 miles on it. I'll eventually do the body bushings in original rubber when I get a garage. lol.

 

[Longroof79]

I would think that the mods and upgrades that you've already performed would make it handle quite nicely. You may want to look into a set of factory body braces to help stiffen the body up. For instance, fender to core support braces, GP brace and jounce bars to help tie in the frame horns.. You can actually makes these yourself depending how handy you are. Do a search on the forum and you should find a good deal of information covering this topic.
Also, how is the condition of your body mount bushings? They can also help tighten up your car. A few things to consider.
Nice Cutlass, btw.

 

[81cutlass]

Does the car understeer or oversteer in corners? Trying to understand if 'feeling light' in corners means poor steering feel like understeer or something is flopping around.

How are your bushings? Body mounts? Steering shaft?

Z28/WS6 3rd gen front sway bar and Hellwig, CPPP or 2dr 98+ S10 blazer rear axle mounted rear bar will help further reduce roll

Add camber to front tires in turns

 

[Kamloops cutlass]

I’ve never really looked at the body bushings
The car does feel stiffer with the mods done already but definitely not confidence inspiring
This was a well taken care off 90,000 mile car when I got it , other rubber bushings were worn but not destroyed
is there a test or a way to know if body bushings are done ?

 

[Kamloops cutlass]

Does the car understeer or oversteer in corners? Trying to understand if 'feeling light' in corners means poor steering feel like understeer or something is flopping around.

How are your bushings? Body mounts? Steering shaft?

Z28/WS6 3rd gen front sway bar and Hellwig, CPPP or 2dr 98+ S10 blazer rear axle mounted rear bar will help further reduce roll

Add camber to front tires in turns

I didn’t push it enough to induce any slides but felt like understeer
The car felt like it was lifting upward on unloaded side when going into a corner rather than swaying sideways
The road I was on had embankments on the corners I didn’t want to push too hard

 

[Kamloops cutlass]

I didn’t push it enough to induce any slides but felt like understeer
The car felt like it was lifting upward on unloaded side when going into a corner rather than swaying sideways
The road I was on had embankments on the corners I didn’t want to push too hard

Also this feels like suspension rather than steering imput

 

[Longroof79]

I’ve never really looked at the body bushings
The car does feel stiffer with the mods done already but definitely not confidence inspiring
This was a well taken care off 90,000 mile car when I got it , other rubber bushings were worn but not destroyed
is there a test or a way to know if body bushings are done ?

Concerning the body bushings, I think you would have to physically inspect them. There's no way of telling until you have visual access to them.
When I did mine, I was unaware of the overall condition until I was able to see them, and they were pretty beat up and some fell apart in my hands.

Good sway bars are another essential component regarding handling. .

 

[Kamloops cutlass]

Concerning the body bushings, I think you would have to physically inspect them. There's no way of telling until you have visual access to them.
When I did mine, I was unaware of the overall condition until I was able to see them, and they were pretty beat up and some fell apart in my hands.

Good sway bars are another essential component regarding handling. .

I will start looking for a thicker front bar , and exploring the body bushings idea
I had a 1980 lemans back when they were still fairly new , I used to throw that thing around like a rally car , it had bad body roll but I don’t remember it handling THIS bad

 

[81cutlass]

Most if not all body bushings at this point are bad. Both my 81 cutlass and 86 GP, both under 100k mile mostly rust free cars had the bushing that mounts under the front floor panel by the firewall basically crumble after it was removed.

35-45yr old rubber tires look bad and these bushings hold hundreds of pounds, absorb lots of bumps and are subject to wet/dry cycles.

The bushing can be seen right by the where the door, floor, and firewall all come together, that's usually the worst, If it looks bulged out like a big whiskey barrel it's shot.