MudEye

Rebuilt the whole front end including a fast ratio steering box. Hoping it would decrease the " Boat " symptom... I feel like I'm driving a boat down the road...drifting left and right especially in the front. Question...Would sway bars help this? If so..front? .. Back?.......anyone have experience in your Boat Mobile? Or is Rack and Pinion a better option?....

oldcutlass

You should already have a front sway bar. What alignment settings is your car set at? How good are your shocks? What air pressure are you running in your tires?

MudEye

Alignment settings? All new shocks...All new springs.......Tie Rods , control arms, Ball Joints etc...It was a front end kit for 67 Supreme ..Air pressure in front 35 ....As far as front end alignment ..( and don't laugh at me ) but i took it to Pep boys ( I said don't laugh ) And they made it worse.. said there alignment machine didn't go back that far. So I took it to a guy who actually straightened it out and now it drives straight but He didn't use a alignment machine. So maybe it still needs to be tweaked? Also I put taller tires on back ( like yours ? )

marxjunk

springs shock and sway bars and tires work together...if you used stock replacement stuff..well..you got what GM designed...and they do float down the road..

old cars will never drive or handle like a modern car, unless you spend a lot of money..

Greg Rogers

I don't know if the 67 has a front sway bar but the 68-72 does. I would think yours does. I have heard about guys adding a lot of caster to these older cars. You might want to check into that.

steverw

And you did take it to an alignment shop...right?

oldcutlass

Did you get the car aligned? As stated above, the stock parts and alignment settings made the car ride smooth and enabled the blue hairs to steer easily. How does the 330 engine or any engine have an effect on how the car rides or steers?

tbdragon

sounds like it might be base cutlass... just because your car didn't come with better suspension doesn't mean it has to stay that way... just be careful and ask your experienced pals here about your options... I don't think bases cutlass' came with rear sway bars and boxed lower control arms which was better for handling like on my 442 so I know that is something you could get ... does it have power steering that makes a difference too, again a power steering pump and steering box could be added... and as far as the engine goes the small blocks (260's, 305's, your 330, 350's and even 403's) had different springs than the big blocks (400's, 425's and 455's) because engines were heavier and if the big block springs got on there when you changed them it would probably give it a little "float" feel especially brand new big block springs... what kind of shock absorbers did you get these can make a difference too... the other guys here do have a point about comparisons to newer cars too... also oldsmobiles in general are notorious for ball joints wearing out and giving you sloppy road manners... did you replace all the suspension bushings they wear out too... point is many things contribute to how it feels on road... I would have ball joints and bushings checked at earliest convenience Midas usually does a free inspection of suspension and list what they consider needing replacement... don't write them a blank check though tell them you want their opinion before you approve any work... that way you take the car out and find other estimates at reputable shops before making changes and paying for them... and even after you know those bushings and ball joints are good you want to keep the chassis greased... unlike the sealed stuff that most cars have now your car's fittings were more open to dirt and drying out than todays cars... get a grease gun... anyhow these cars handled better than most cars in their day so checking it out may be best thing... maybe find an olds guy near you with lots of olds driving experience to drive it and see how it compares to rides they have had... okay soapbox is back in the closet ... give us some pics of suspension and maybe we can see something...

66luvr

Your car can be much better. My sons blue car pictured here rides and drives great, corners pretty flat and is really fun to drive. But I have been working on it for 23 years, although it hasn't changed much in the last 10 years. I don't type well enough to lay it all out on here, but if you want to discuss it on the phone sometime send me a PM and we can try to find time to do it.
Or you can come take a ride and look at what I have done. Time, work, and money is required to improve whatever you want to be better, your car, or your wife's kitchen.

tbdragon

actually just checked pics and that is sitting very high and its not a base it is a supreme
so pics of suspension would tell me more... oh I am going through Chatanooga sometime in next couple weeks... picking up an engine in Florida and I live in Georgetown Kentucky... so maybe could check it out

cjsdad

Lots of good info listed above and I'm gonna throw a little bit in too. The base model '67 Cutlass does come with a front anti-sway bar. Mine is as base as it gets, 330 2-barrel engine, drum brakes, two-speed automatic. The only thing not base about mine is the convertible top and it has a sway bar. You mentioned that you have replaced everything that should be replaced in a front-end rebuild so that should remove all of the free play in your suspension. Something that needs to be done when you replace all of the parts is to leave the a-arm bushing bolts loose until the vehicle is setting on the ground. If you tighten them before you set the car down the bushings will be preloaded. Set the car on the ground and bounce it up and down a few times to make sure the bushings are settled in before you tighten them. Since all of the '67 Cutlass vehicles have the same basic suspension parts but not necessarily the same settings, have your front end adjusted with 442 settings for a more positive feel. You may need to have the front end tweaked a little to compensate for radial tires too. Someone else may know for sure but the base model probably used bias ply tires in 1967. Last thing to consider is the rear bushings. If the rear is loose it will make the front feel loose too. My first '67 was a Supreme convertible and I bolted a rear sway bar to it off some random GM vehicle, I think it was a Monte Carlo. It made a HUGE difference! It reduced body roll and that squishy "boat" feeling more than any other thing I did. Something designed for the Cutlass should make a significant improvement as well.

edzolz

I only scanned through the post but did not see anything about your tires. Are they bias ply or radial? Bias ply WILL make a difference in driving. Also sounds to me like your toe in is not set correctly. I always set mine to 1/16" toe in with radial tires. I never run bias ply.

joe_padavano

First step: Ensure every wear part in the front AND rear suspension is in good shape. That means bushings, ball joints, tie rod ends, center link, idler arm, wheel bearings, sway bar links and bushings.

Second step: Find a COMPETENT alignment shop. It is not physically possible to align the car without using alignment equipment. Making it "better" doesn't make it correct.

Third step: During the alignment, have the shop crank in as much POSITIVE wheel caster as possible. Stock setting is probably around 1.5 degrees positive. If you can get 4 degrees, so much the better. Additional positive caster increases the self-centering and tracking stability of the car, but it also increases steering force. Since these cars were available with manual steering, lowering the steering force was important and required smaller caster angles. I assume you have power steering, so you won't really notice the higher force from the increased caster (assuming you don't have an 8" diameter lowrider steering wheel...).

Fourth step: Get quality gas shocks. KYB, GasMatic, whatever.

Fifth step: Get the front and rear sway bars from a 442.

young olds

I did all new rubber bushings front and rear, bilstien shocks, jeep gc steering box and I had a shop set my alignment to some specs I found on protouring. I think the most noticeable improvement to rid the car of the boat feel was shocks. I started out with a full set of monroes that really didn't feel any different than the old shocks then I went to bilstiens and I'd say the floaty feel is gone or nearly gone. This was on my 66

oldcutlass

The alignment settings I use are 0-0.5 Negative Camber, as much Positive Caster as I can get, and 1/10 - 1/16 Toe-In. I like the same settings on both sides. These seem to work well with most A body cars. Lower your tire air pressure to 30.

MudEye

Only took 2 pictures ..... Stock Sway?... As Joe said ..442 sway bars...( Anyone have these laying around? )

tbdragon

ok you can see from pics it looks like any cutlass/442 front end pieces attached to front sway bar but the shocks look pretty much stock type so extra lift is probably springs or shocks... what did they replace exactly in front end because those bushings/rod parts in there don't exactly look freshly rebuilt... only new looking pieces are springs... also I see no grease anywhere... lots of dry fittings too gotta put couple squeezes of grease at each fitting on regular basis or what is there will deteriorate fast... springs look new but shocks are muddled in pic... also the rear suspension not shown so can't tell if you got the rear anti-sway/boxed lower control arms... these underbody photos plus the way car sits plus what you are saying about floating is leaning towards no rear anti sway and definitely way too high on ride height maybe air or gas shocks pumped too high or as mentioned big block springs installed or both... the first 442 I had in 82 had air shocks in the back and you could pump them up at a fitting that was installed at rear next to gas fill... but air shocks have a fill fitting on them to fill or deflate them... all the parts for rear sway set-ups including the rear control arms are available online if you don't have that already it will make huge difference... pics of frame rails right in front of rear wheel/axel will tell me if you have one installed... they came stock on 442's and turnpike cruisers along with the 400 engines but not sure about other Supremes...

tbdragon

I replaced ball joints about 2 yrs ago and maybe more and they stick out as new-looking from the rest so not so sure about how new front end is on yours... wish I was close enough to drive my 442 over and we could do some direct comparisons...

RetroRanger

Sway bars can be had relatively inexpensively at parts suppliers like the parts place

https://www.thepartsplaceinc.com/old...ID=4&year=1967

Good shocks like kyb or bilstein will help tame that float, an alignment will help cure that wander

If adding a rear sway bar you may need to Box your rear trailing arms or use spacers to keep from crushing the arm

joe_padavano

No way of telling from those photos. It would be more useful if you measured the diameter of that bar. If you don't have calipers, use an adjustable wrench and just measure between the jaws.

cjsdad

Looks a lot like mine but like Joe says, the only way to be sure is to measure it. Pretty sure mine has never been tampered with. If it isn't raining, I can measure mine in the morning and take a picture of it.