Front suspension
 

With my IAII block and TKX, my car is sitting a little lower in the front. It's pretty mild. Doesn't look bad, but I really don't want or need the car any lower. I don't know if this is something I will want to pursue but if I did what's the best approach? Coilovers with adjustable height? I would not want to change the control arms.

My GTO is a little low up front and I didn't want to pour more money into it so I bought some aluminum spacers.

https://www.summitracing.com/search/...erial/aluminum

I'm thinking the only way out for you is to change the front springs. Checkout Global west videos that Doug has posted on you-tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHPosx2oStU He talks about cutting the spring coils if ride height is too high. I realize that is not you problem, but chances are if you put new springs in it could be an issue.
Only other way is spacers like mentioned. I'm not really a fan of them. Your in the same situation as us. We put an IA2 in our 68 Firebird and the front is too low. I decided to go with Global west upper an lower control arms with coil overs. Other little helper would be shocks with coil springs on the outside. Slows the bounce down. The one thing I find is when the front end gets heavier the springs don't do as good a job at controlling bounce at high speeds. Other nice thing about dual adjustable shocks is you can tune the front movement. There is lots more too this obviously but that's where suspension techs come in.

I would opt for the spacers if you need to increase height, but otherwise like how the car rides and drives.

Coil overs are not really meant as ride adjusting options. You can adjust preload which does incrementally change vehicle height, but there's a very limited range that the coil-over has to be in to work properly. Otherwise you get bad ride quality and handling characteristics.

The quality units available from places like RideTech, Verishock and Viking are actually designed to place the car at or near stock ride height. Any lowering typically comes from changes to the spindle pin height, or a dropped mount lower control arm. This allows a longer shock which provides better ride quality by being able to run a lower rate spring.

Spacers look like the way to go. Now I wish I had thought to measure the car before the swap. Oh well. Not a big deal.

Really, I actually don't mind the way it looks but the ground clearance is what bothers me. The combination of the heavier weight and the new Pypes exhaust which also hangs down a bit lower than the old system which I think was Gardner.

Anyway, thanks for the help.

There isn't much difference in total weight of an IA block with Ali heads than a stock block with iron heads. The iron IA blocks weigh about 47-50 lb more than a stock block, but that should be offset by the weight savings of an Ali head compared to a cast iron head.

it's the whole package. I replaced more than just the block. I'm pretty sure the TKX weighs more than the M20, not sure how much. Also I have a Quicktime bellhousing and a Hayes billet flywheel that I'm pretty sure also weight more. When I put the car on the scale I have near my place, it weighed about 120 pounds more. The heads do help offset the weight some, but it's definitely sitting lower. I noticed it immediately when I saw the car on the ground. The spacers sound like a good place to start. Although, with more weight up front would a heavier rate spring be a good idea too?

at 120 lbs over the nose with factory rate springs, I would guestimate your car is sitting roughly 3/4 to a full inch lower than it was.

With the motion ratio of an F-body front suspension being nominally 2:1, a half inch spacer would lift the car between 3/4 to 1" from where it currently sits.

Does anyone have a measurement of the height to the crest of the front fender flare on a stock 70 TA, along with their tire size??

Unfortunately, the hybrid coilovers aren't an option unless you change your lower control arms. You'll need to but new springs. I will be using the hybrid coilovers with tubular uppers and lowers, but I'm not concerned with a stock appearance.

How are you liking the new powertrain? It has to be substantially faster than it was before. Any complaints with the TKX?

Yeah the coilovers don't seem like a good option for me.

I only have about 200 miles on the new powertrain so I can't comment fully. But, the motor is silky smooth in the powerband. Feels very strong. no leaks. The Ray Klemm built qjet seems excellent so far. Starts right up. Great throttle response. The TKX is great. Shifts nice. Fairly quiet. The best thing is it gives e the equivalent of a 3.77 rear in 1st and a 2.68 in 5th. Which is just awesome.

I have a Dragy that I haven't used yet. We all know basically what a stock RA III does. Once driving season comes around, I'll get it out and do some runs to see what I have.

Ride height info for 1970 F-body.....

Here are the dimensions from the AMA Specifications for a 1970 ride height. These are height dimensions from the rocker panel to the ground in two places. The forward point on the rocker panel is located 36.3 inches from the front wheel centerline and it is supposed to be 6.5 inches off the ground. The rear point is 16.1 inches from the rear wheel centerline and is supposed to be 5.5 inches off the ground.



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Thanks for that. What does AMA stand for and where did you find that?

AMA/MVMA Specification forms were provided by all the U.S. manufacturers from 1955 to 1984. These multi-page forms were submitted each year for each model produced and included detailed technical information of every component that made up that specific car or truck. Forms typically were from 10-30 pages in length.

I got a copy of the AMA Specifications for my car through Pontiac Historic Services. I also got a copy of the original factory build sheet for my car under its VIN number.


Keep in mind that AMA information is supposed to be the factory ride height. Personally a original car to me were a little nose high in appearance.
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Very cool. Thanks!

If interested keep in mind with replacement front coil springs there are obviously different part numbers. Differences can vary for all 6 cylinders, 400 or 455 V-8, with or without air conditioning. Variables can be different wire diameter, load height, load, rate at load height and approximate free height.


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Automobile Manufacturers Association (1934-1972)
Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association (1972-1992)
American Automobile Manufacturers Association (1992-1999)

Not sure if they ever did any good for the industry, they were the ones that banned factory sponsored racing back in 57.

This is a more expensive option but Eaton makes springs in various heights above and below stock.

https://www.eatondetroitspring.com/findmyvehicle/