Re: 76 Laguna progress

by fasrnur Thu May 10, 2018 11:14 pm

I thought I was in heaven when I put 2" drop springs all the way around on mine. I was told they were 2" springs, but in defense of the person that I got them from, I don't think he ever had them in his car and was told that they were only a 2" drop. It looked great when I finished, but when I took it for it's first test drive I couldn't even go over a small pebble without bottoming out. Bummer! Had to replace the rear springs so that I could drive it to work this week. Different springs to bring it up will be going in this weekend.
76 Laguna progress - Page 2 Kimg0312

This is with drop springs up front and Impala SS springs in the rear. SS springs will go up front.

by thatfnthing Fri May 11, 2018 9:18 am

I think the stance looks great, but I'm biased. Smile

by bigredlaguna Fri May 11, 2018 9:41 am

I don't want to put down that low, just reduce the gap between the tire and the wheel well and perhaps bring the back up a bit. The original springs gave it a nose up look that I don't care for.

I got some springs for the front that start out at 500 lbs/inch. If I need to trim those, they will get a higher rate as a result so that should mitigate the problem of clearance a bit. I also got some rear springs that are 198 lbs/inch to try out for the back.

The fronts are moog 5534, the rear are moog 6381. The front springs are for a 1973 Buick Regal/Century with a 455 and the rear are for a similar year station wagon or sedan.

by bigredlaguna Sun May 27, 2018 11:30 pm

Well, here is a pic of the springs I got for the front. The original ones are on the left and have had a half coil cut. The new ones on the right haven't been cut in this picture.

76 Laguna progress - Page 2 Img_2018

I have since cut one coil off the new springs and installed them. The car still leans to the passenger side. It is about a 3/4" difference with the rear jacked up under center just enough to lift the tires off the ground. With the tires on the ground, the difference is reduced by only 1/8".

The good news is that I shouldn't have to cut the springs any more. The high side is at 26 1/2". Exactly the height of the tire.

I think I am going to take the low side apart one more time and install a new isolator or a simple spacer on just that side. 1/4" should be about 1/2" at the body.

by bigredlaguna Tue Jun 05, 2018 12:10 am

I ordered a spacer last week from Eckler's that was advertised as being a 3/8" spacer that the factory used to correct the leaning. Got it in time to see if it works this past weekend. It is designed to fit in the a-arm pocket and is a flexible plastic.

76 Laguna progress - Page 2 Img_2019

However, I am concerned about the thickness of this product. Here it is test fitted to the coil I cut off.

76 Laguna progress - Page 2 Img_2020

I didn't take any pictures of the install, but what I did was put the spring compressor bolt through the shock absorber hole in the frame, and hold it in the frame pocket while simply lowering the a-arm. No need to undo the spindle. The only problem with this approach is that when the spring clears the pocket, it straightens out and is still very close to the side of the pocket. Since I was concerned about the thickness of this piece anyway, I cut the spacer to just a half circle. I installed the half circle piece in the outboard half of the pocket.

This is the left over piece.

76 Laguna progress - Page 2 Img_2021

I got lucky with that move because the ride height is perfectly even from side to side. Here are some before/after pics of the right side.

76 Laguna progress - Page 2 Img_2023

Some before/after of the left side.

76 Laguna progress - Page 2 Img_2025

by bigredlaguna Tue Jun 05, 2018 12:14 am

Before I get some profile pics, I have to fix the crank pulley. The car slipped off the jack while in the air and landed on the pulley. It looks fixable, I just have to pull it off the engine to fix it right.

by thatfnthing Tue Jun 05, 2018 9:32 am

bigredlaguna wrote:Before I get some profile pics, I have to fix the crank pulley. The car slipped off the jack while in the air and landed on the pulley. It looks fixable, I just have to pull it off the engine to fix it right.

Wow, you okay? I hope no one was near it!

by bigredlaguna Tue Jun 05, 2018 7:48 pm

I'm good. The accident actually happened when I started the front suspension. I had just bought a new jack and I wasn't familiar with how it felt when it has a good hold along with low light so I didn't really see where exactly the pad was at. I just hope the front engine bearing is still ok with all 2000+ lbs landing on it, because the tires were still suspended after the shift. I do think I am going to have a jack pad welded onto the crossmember so it is more secure in this situation. My new jack doesn't have the lugs around the perimeter of the lift pad like my old one does.

by bigredlaguna Sat Sep 29, 2018 8:00 pm

Well, I got another pulley installed and finally got the leaning issue fixed. The spring spacer fixed whatever was causing the lean due to the differences between spring pockets in the frame and a-arm. Then I bolted on the sway bar and the lean was back. That was weird because the sway bar didn't look like it was bent enough to do that. Maybe it is a little or the mount points are unequal enough to cause an issue. My solution to this was to shorten the driver side link.

I didn't cut the original spacer, I had some rolled tubing laying around so I just cut a piece to the length needed. Then stacked a bunch of washers to match the difference between the nut and the bushing washer.

by bigredlaguna Sat Sep 29, 2018 8:06 pm

Then we went for a cruise to one of the coffee shops in town. I think the stance is much better now, and the ride quality is very nice.

by Limey SE Sun Sep 30, 2018 9:53 pm

Looks great sir looks like the stance is figured out now

by NOMOREWORK Mon Oct 01, 2018 11:16 am

Car looks really good ! Great job !

by bigredlaguna Thu Apr 18, 2019 11:39 pm

Worked on my ratchet shifter a bit today. Found a worn, bent rod that kept it from operating correctly.

by bigredlaguna Thu Apr 18, 2019 11:42 pm

That notch worn into it is probably because no one ever used the ratchet function. The original owner was a middle aged woman that passed it down to her daughter.

by bigredlaguna Thu Apr 18, 2019 11:46 pm

Luckily, I have a spare shifter that I was able to rob that rod from. It is in better shape.

I still squeezed it together a bit more to make sure it was in the detents properly.

by bigredlaguna Thu Apr 18, 2019 11:55 pm

Now it operates correctly, except it still has a bunch of slop when changing gears. I can't get it into first gear because while the handle is moving, the cable is not. I may try swapping the plastic slides from the other shifter, but it also feels a bit sloppy. It is impossible to find those slides for sale on the net, so I may try something to tighten it up.

by bigredlaguna Wed Apr 29, 2020 12:56 am

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Finally ready to do something with this car. It runs good, but it doesn't make any power.

by bigredlaguna Wed Apr 29, 2020 12:59 am

Somewhere along the way I lost a sway bar end link. I was wondering why it was wallowing around lately.

by Limey SE Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:00 am

Whats your Plans ? New Motor or Just upgrades ?

by bigredlaguna Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:04 am

Finally!

by bigredlaguna Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:06 am

Limey SE wrote:Whats your Plans ? New Motor or Just upgrades ?

I have a sbc 383 in the corner ready to install.

by bigredlaguna Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:08 am

I was planning on rebuilding the transmission, except for one thing.

by Limey SE Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:09 am

UFF Nice cant wait to see how she turns out Red

by bigredlaguna Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:12 am

The trans mount was disintegrated, and two bolts were missing from the passenger side of the bellhousing. I suspect that is what caused the bellhousing to crack.

by Limey SE Wed Apr 29, 2020 11:32 am

Man that prob shuddered like Crazy I bet like that

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