BUILD THREAD Sweet Johnny & Gina: A Love "Two Large" To Fail

[Sweet_Johnny]

I missed why you were replacing the spindles and all...? I have those parts laying around (low miles).

I had to clearance the hole on the brake booster plunger to get the brake pedal pinned. I hope you have better luck with that. I was quite frustrated installing booster in the '78.

Multiple factors influenced my choice to replace everything at once. I hope you don't mind if I list them:

• Replacing the spindles is required to mount the budget friendly drilled & slotted rotors for G Body/ Camaro since '78 was a special case for spindle shaft and wheel bearing diameter. Nobody offers upgraded rotors for a '78. Opinions on D/S rotors on a daily driver vary, with most saying they're unnecessary, though I disagree when it comes to my personal vehicle- I occasionally flog the hell out of them and can't be having brake fade due to heat buildup.

• This approach also allows me to continue driving the ol' girl while piecing together a new set of parts that I can paint up real purrty like without needing to strip away layers of grime. I can also test fit everything to avoid finding myself in a pickle on the magical day. Hopefully. Any time I've used this approach it's gone much, much smoother with assembly being almost a joy.

• I wanted to upgrade the braking system while retaining the 14" wheels but plan on running some 15x7 2nd gen Z28 wheels by mid-summer. I have them but they need powder coated and lack rubber. These rotors and oversized calipers will fit and should work so long as the master cylinder has a large enough bore. After reading things again I'm afraid that GNVAIR is onto something concerning my selection and I may need to bump up to a bore of 1.125", though I'm on the fence about it.

• I'm not ready to mess with swapping to 1LE, LS1, or Corvette brakes, and have absolutely 0 interest in the Blazer spindle setup- I much prefer tapered wheel bearings. The newer dust shield I grafted to the old just plain looks better, will accommodate 12" rotors, and lends the appearance of having done the Blazer swap.

• The drilled rotors will serve until which point they become nothing more than a hub to mount bigger brakes in the distant future.

• I could not install tubular control arms, braided lines, new shocks/ springs, etc. without going all the way. I just couldn't.

All of this should garner a brake and suspension setup that looks and performs much better than before while maintaining an air of simplicity. It comes with the benefit of being able to clean and possibly paint parts of the frame while performing the complete swap in under 48 hours, which is absolutely necessary. I've also personally lost a considerable amount of weight by starving myself to afford car parts, so it was easy for me to rationalize replacing everything.

I appreciate the blessing and hope I don't run into unforseen issues.

 

[Sweet_Johnny]

Your ball joint heights really come down to what you want to do with the car and how low you want it to sit. See if you can get in touch with Mack from South Side Machine and discuss it with him, he’s an incredibly helpful guy.

I want the car to sit low and transfer weight well, and I'm looking for good steering response throughout the entire range of motion- bumpsteer is such a drag. This is my current daily driver but my requirements for that seem to be different than "normal" folks. I have no problem driving a fully stripped race car on the street every day regardless of the weather but am enjoying having a full interior car with all the amenities, though I went all winter with no heat. A little NVH is fine since I like a car to communicate with me. I don't want or need this car to ride like a living room couch but won't be doing any stoplight racing in it any time soon because the 305 is a 305. All bets are off when this engine blows, and I'm kind of setting up for the future where my truck will be the daily. The truck is an '04 Sierra with O.D. & lockup, stiff suspension, and wide tires so I've technically got a vehicle for touring the highway and don't need another.

I've seen quite a few posts from Macguyver and he does indeed seem helpful but I was hoping the G Body Consortium could be of assistance. I've spoken to people in person, on the phone, and in written form all to nearly no avail since they don't seem to truly understand what they're talking about and certainly don't know G Bodies worth a darn. I either hear "I need to see it in person", "I'm not familiar with those parts", "That person is wrong but I can't explain why", "You can't do that but I can't explain why", "No, ya wanna do it exactly like my friend did even though your setup is totally different", or something to that effect. I've not contacted anyone important in the industry, just locals.

I originally did the front suspension math for my El Camino, though it seems to work similarly for a car that retains A/C but rocks an aluminum hood and core support. Both cars sport an SBC with aluminum parts and headers with future plans including fiberglass bumpers which were factored into the El Camino math as well. I believe by using 6310 front springs (330#) in conjunction with 1/2" taller LBJs I'll achieve a 1.75" drop from stock without cutting coils. A 5006 (355#) spring should be about 1" taller than the selected 6310. I hoped knowing the spring rate, wheel size, intended use, and control arms being used would be enough for someone to say how tall is too tall, as I'm in deeper than I've delved before. All I really need to know is if the 1" upper joints are too much for the Speedway arms.

 

[78Delta88]

I richened the primary side for today's gas. The carb was originally set lean from factory and the apt is set at 2.5 so might need turned down a bit.

I'm going to send you the tool and a jet kit. The pickup tube I opened it another .004 should be ok but maybe to much??

The original core was very dirty, I rodded all the ports and pickups and bleeds, sprayed each one for patency. All lines were patent with none blocked. Could be maybe piece of dirt hidden loosened up and now partial blockage.

Also going to send 2 new mix screws, just to rule out the one on the right that had slight damage to screw head. The tips are good but didn't have replacement when buttoned up. Meant to send already but got busy with other stuff.

"Quadrajet"
https://www.hotrodders.com/threads/...odding Basics-,Quadrajet,-APT adjustments and