[TedRamAirII]

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

I'm late to the party, but what b-man said. Your car is already modified to the current trend. Easier to start with an original car and mod it Day Two style. In the '70's, my '66 GTO had Ansen Sprint slot mags, N-50's in the back, Hi-Jacker air shocks, traction bars (needed because the car was so jacked up in the back), a SUN super tach on the column and plenty of stickers on the 1/4 window. It handled like a truck, but was fast in a straight line and totally 'cool' at the time.

Traction bars?

[MarkS57]

Oh hell, what about fiberglass bodied Dune Buggies? Built on VW chassis (shortened 12" or was it 14"?) Decked out conversion vans with beds, black lights, etc?

[Formulajones]

I have one of those, Built in the 70's with a candy color paint scheme built on a Chenoweth chassis and lots of chrome suspension, centerline wheels etc.... Very retro early 70's stuff. Draws attention everywhere it goes.

["QUICK-SILVER"]

Originally Posted by TedRamAirII

Traction bars?

They might have been called 'lift bars' for coil spring rear ends.
Almost a miniature ladder bar type deal.

[AdamIsAdam]

This whole "Day 2" thing is news to me before reading this thread. I just read that there's a Day-Two Concours class. I had no idea before I started doing what like to call "tasteful and period correct mods" to my car (ie, the aforementioned Cragar S/S wheels circa 1964 on my car, an open element air filter, etc. OK, Granted, the Viper Blue metalilc paint was not around 52 years ago, but I like it).

Oh, and I had to post this pic I just saw... SHACKLES!!! For those of us who couldn't afford air shocks!

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/...psdudv6tzd.jpg

[TedRamAirII]

Originally Posted by "QUICK-SILVER"

They might have been called 'lift bars' for coil spring rear ends.
Almost a miniature ladder bar type deal.

We always called them Ladder bars. I wondered how a "traction" bar would work on a coil spring rear end? or maybe thought he got different cars mixed up. ; )

I need something on my car, but I dont want anything hanging down. I think I will just take it easy.

["QUICK-SILVER"]

Originally Posted by "QUICK-SILVER"

Almost a miniature ladder bar type deal.

I should have said miniature 4-link setup.

Originally Posted by TedRamAirII

We always called them Ladder bars.

These weren't like ladder bars. They U-bolted to the rearend and both front and rear lower control arm bolts. The rod on bottom was adjustable so you could set some preload on the rear end.

Originally Posted by TedRamAirII

I need something on my car, but I dont want anything hanging down. I think I will just take it easy.

Add some clamps to the front half of the leaf springs. Unless it's mono..on them I've clamped a cut off piece of an old spring to stiffen it up and stop spring wrap.

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by TedRamAirII

I need something on my car, but I dont want anything hanging down. I think I will just take it easy.

Lots of sneaky things you can do on a leaf spring car.

Like quick silver mentioned, clamping the front springs. Even if multi leaf springs I still sometimes add an extra spring on top of the spring pack, and then clamp it all together for a little more rigidity.

On top of that, I also like to make the pinion snubber mounted to the floor adjustable. With the car at ride height, I make a bracket and spacers and set it pretty close to the pinion on the rearend housing. Leaving a little room for up and down movement for driving, but under acceleration when the pinion comes up, it makes contact and effectively acts like slapper bars, it helps to plant the rear tires. Chrysler has been doing it for years, just takes a little fab work on a GM car. With these 2 things done, wheel hop is gone and the car should also plant the tires better. Car still looks stock from the outside.

Something else I'll do if the car needs it is dial in some negative pinion, usually 4 degrees on a leaf spring car, with some shims between the spring pack and leaf spring perches.

[STEELCITYFIREBIRD]

I'm not sure the intent on the traction bars in the photo you posted Adam. Never have seen them mounted that direction. Anyone know the intent there?

Shackles, I had a set, only because the car I bought had them on it. Removed for stock asap. They may have made room for big tires, but the raised CGH (center of gravity height) and decrease in positve caster in the front end making most cars downright dangerous at high speeds and any type of cornering above grandma speed.
"Slapper Bars",forward mounted,were meant to hit or plant the rear tires with axle wrap when you launched. They worked very well on leaf cars when snubber gap/position was adjusted properly. I still run a set with slicks.
When I added them, my 60' times dropped dramatically to 1.6~'s. 1.58 on my last timed pass... stock converter.

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by AdamIsAdam

Oh, and I had to post this pic I just saw... SHACKLES!!! For those of us who couldn't afford air shocks!

You could only put shackles on the '74 GTO - as it was the only one that had rear leaf springs.

Always thought that shackles looked like chit anyway...

[GRX]

Primer driver side door & torn vinyl top. Oh, wait. That was my first car.

Agree with others that your car looks great already. Pro touring is a more modern thing. Adding aspects from an older era to that would seem mismatched.

[Hikin Mike]

Originally Posted by AdamIsAdam

Oh, and I had to post this pic I just saw... SHACKLES!!! For those of us who couldn't afford air shocks!

I remember adding shackles on my friends Dodge Dart. My parents where away and instead of partying, we were working on the car.

Confession time...My Firebird has "shackles" on them now. When I bought the rims I needed air shocks. They eventually leaked one day and damaged one of the tires. I ended up making larger shackles to clear the tires and put regular shocks on.

['ol Pinion head]

Originally Posted by TedRamAirII

We always called them Ladder bars. I wondered how a "traction" bar would work on a coil spring rear end? or maybe thought he got different cars mixed up. ; )

I need something on my car, but I dont want anything hanging down. I think I will just take it easy.

my gutted '68 Chevelle 468 street/strip car had tow bar tabs coming through the front bumper, also early ladder bars, that was over 35 years ago. few stickers on the quarter windows...Crane, Harwood, Hooker, Moroso, Monroe...Hated the ride when would took the Chevelle for a spin in town.

my GT-37 had hop stop bars & headers installed when original owner was racing it in the mid 70's. Had a CB antenna on the trunk & cheepee Rocket mags when I bought it. Have several pair of hop stop bars, as webbing is different between 12 bolt & 8.5 10 bolts. Had the GT-37's original 12 bolt webbing holes welded up with high nickel rod, as rear will be used in show mode. Have a disguised 8.5 A-body housing ready to reassemble. A10 housing ends jig welded on an A9 8.5 housing, with cover area machined & tapped accepting a stock 12 bolt Chevy cover. if one didnt know what to look at, would think its a 12 bolt... that's the idea

['ol Pinion head]

Originally Posted by Hikin Mike

I remember adding shackles on my friends Dodge Dart. My parents where away and instead of partying, we were working on the car.

Confession time...My Firebird has "shackles" on them now. When I bought the rims I needed air shocks. They eventually leaked one day and damaged one of the tires. I ended up making larger shackles to clear the tires and put regular shocks on.

my '80 TT/A had Herb Adams shackles, raised the rear back up after mods. lot beefier & only an 1" taller than stock. never was a fan of thin strap like MrGasket shackles.

[Hikin Mike]

Originally Posted by 'ol Pinion head

my '80 TT/A had Herb Adams shackles, raised the rear back up after mods. lot beefier & only an 1" taller than stock. never was a fan of thin strap like MrGasket shackles.

I went to the local iron supply shop and had them cut/drill them. I think mine is about an inch. Looks factory, just a bit longer.

[Hikin Mike]

Originally Posted by PAUL K

Royal Bobcat stickers on the quarter windows.

Yep, I had racing stickers on my quarter windows on my 72 Nova, circa 1982.

Car was a 6-cyl though...lol!

[AdamIsAdam]

Pioneer Super Tuner and Jensen Triaxles is the one thing I read here that made me say "oh yeah!" And yes, I had both!

[STEELCITYFIREBIRD]

Fairbanks shift kit and converters....and FM converters!

Air shocks, shock mounts were not designed/intended to bear continuous unsprung weight loads, only to dampen them. I did it, but I know better now.
If you grew up Italian you had one of these the RV Mirror...I still do.

[grrrrregg!!!]

shop here

http://www.mooneyesusa.com/

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by 'ol Pinion head

my gutted '68 Chevelle 468 street/strip car had tow bar tabs coming through the front bumper, also early ladder bars, that was over 35 years ago. few stickers on the quarter windows...Crane, Harwood, Hooker, Moroso, Monroe...Hated the ride when would took the Chevelle for a spin in town.

my GT-37 had hop stop bars & headers installed when original owner was racing it in the mid 70's. Had a CB antenna on the trunk & cheepee Rocket mags when I bought it. Have several pair of hop stop bars, as webbing is different between 12 bolt & 8.5 10 bolts. Had the GT-37's original 12 bolt webbing holes welded up with high nickel rod, as rear will be used in show mode. Have a disguised 8.5 A-body housing ready to reassemble. A10 housing ends jig welded on an A9 8.5 housing, with cover area machined & tapped accepting a stock 12 bolt Chevy cover. if one didnt know what to look at, would think its a 12 bolt... that's the idea

Why do that? Wouldn't it have been a whole lot easier to just start with another A-body 12 bolt? They are still fairly plentiful. I have 3 of them here in the stock pile.