Hi:
Since I've got my 66 coupe with inline 6 up and running and with brakes, I want to tackle some other items like steering and suspension. for example... my steering is very loose and sloppy. I think I can turn and inch or so before the steering starts. And on highway speed I have that floating feeling. I have the manual steering, not powered, P195/75R14 tires and the stock 4-lug steel rims. Think maybe it's alignment?... the guy who fixed my brakes checked the steering linkages and bushing and even greased them. Said they look fine. He thinks its the steering box... he tried adjusting it but it did not do much help. I did some research... and was thinking of a quick ratio steering box... like the 16:1 (as opposed to the stock 19:1)... like the ones from the power steering option they had for these cars. Can those be used for manual steering? Is it a bolt on? can I just use the existing pitman and linkages and replace the box/steering shaft? And how hard is it to change out/take out the steering box on a inline 6? Other than that, I don't know what else to do about the steering. On a side note, how would I check of the linkages are sound, besides taking my mech's word...? Again, I am a newbie on fixing cars... but this has been so much fun learning I want to do more.
What about suspension? I want to keep the 4-lug setup... I don't have the desire to go V8 or 5-lug... I'm not racing or anything... I just like the inline 6 the way it is... I'd like to upgrade and modify a little to make the 6cyl more reliable and modernize it a bit... try to get as much as I can from the little cylinders. I know... people are drawn to V8's and stuff... I like them, don't get me wrong... but I want to start small and this inline6 is just the ticket.
In terms of suspension, not sure exactly what we can do here... I don't want to do anything too radical... I saw a nice set of 16x7 wheels with 0 offset and was thinking of wrapping them with P215/55R16 tires. If I want it to be a little stock looking with those larger wheels, what can I do to make it handle better? Change out the shocks and springs? The car as is doesn't really bounce much... the shocks on it now is working like it's suppose to I guess. Is it hard to change out the front shocks and springs? Would you change out to larger sway bar underneath? what about the rear?, for some reason the previous owner put really long shackles in the back so you can see the shackles sticking pass the rear valence... kind of strange. The leaf springs don't really look like they are super sagging, but I can't really tell, so not sure why he did that. The car came with the black export braces... at least it looks like it... attaches to the shock towers and attaches separately to the middle below the front windshield hood edge, I don't think they are one piece though.
I see people lowering the car... how do they do this?... are there increments of lowering?... like.,.. 1/2 inch lower or 1 inch lower... what's the next increment, 1.5" or 2". Not sure if I want to lower by a lot... need to read up on that. Any info would help.
I thought about disc brakes... but then I would have to change to 5-lug... and then I would need to change the rear to 5-lug... seems too much work. The drums work ok... so I think I'll leave it for now.
Thanks, I've written a novel... thanks for reading...
-JC
Since I've got my 66 coupe with inline 6 up and running and with brakes, I want to tackle some other items like steering and suspension. for example... my steering is very loose and sloppy. I think I can turn and inch or so before the steering starts. And on highway speed I have that floating feeling. I have the manual steering, not powered, P195/75R14 tires and the stock 4-lug steel rims. Think maybe it's alignment?... the guy who fixed my brakes checked the steering linkages and bushing and even greased them. Said they look fine. He thinks its the steering box... he tried adjusting it but it did not do much help. I did some research... and was thinking of a quick ratio steering box... like the 16:1 (as opposed to the stock 19:1)... like the ones from the power steering option they had for these cars. Can those be used for manual steering? Is it a bolt on? can I just use the existing pitman and linkages and replace the box/steering shaft? And how hard is it to change out/take out the steering box on a inline 6? Other than that, I don't know what else to do about the steering. On a side note, how would I check of the linkages are sound, besides taking my mech's word...? Again, I am a newbie on fixing cars... but this has been so much fun learning I want to do more.
What about suspension? I want to keep the 4-lug setup... I don't have the desire to go V8 or 5-lug... I'm not racing or anything... I just like the inline 6 the way it is... I'd like to upgrade and modify a little to make the 6cyl more reliable and modernize it a bit... try to get as much as I can from the little cylinders. I know... people are drawn to V8's and stuff... I like them, don't get me wrong... but I want to start small and this inline6 is just the ticket.
In terms of suspension, not sure exactly what we can do here... I don't want to do anything too radical... I saw a nice set of 16x7 wheels with 0 offset and was thinking of wrapping them with P215/55R16 tires. If I want it to be a little stock looking with those larger wheels, what can I do to make it handle better? Change out the shocks and springs? The car as is doesn't really bounce much... the shocks on it now is working like it's suppose to I guess. Is it hard to change out the front shocks and springs? Would you change out to larger sway bar underneath? what about the rear?, for some reason the previous owner put really long shackles in the back so you can see the shackles sticking pass the rear valence... kind of strange. The leaf springs don't really look like they are super sagging, but I can't really tell, so not sure why he did that. The car came with the black export braces... at least it looks like it... attaches to the shock towers and attaches separately to the middle below the front windshield hood edge, I don't think they are one piece though.
I see people lowering the car... how do they do this?... are there increments of lowering?... like.,.. 1/2 inch lower or 1 inch lower... what's the next increment, 1.5" or 2". Not sure if I want to lower by a lot... need to read up on that. Any info would help.
I thought about disc brakes... but then I would have to change to 5-lug... and then I would need to change the rear to 5-lug... seems too much work. The drums work ok... so I think I'll leave it for now.
Thanks, I've written a novel... thanks for reading...
-JC