brian060901

Suggestions Please

I have owned this 71 Cutlass Supreme for 25 years and am the second owner. 20 years ago I replaced the leaf springs. It is a summer driver and I have just over 106,000 miles on it since new. The car is Stock except for disc brakes (still have original components)..
Anyway, I want to upgrade the suspension this spring. Suggestions that I have had are for spring over shocks and a new stearing box.
I could not find a thread on this though I'm sure it is there.

Suggestions Please
Brian

joe_padavano

Welcome. Be aware that no Cutlass was ever built with leaf springs - all came with coils at all four corners.

As for suspension mods, the first question is, what do you want and what do you plan to do with the car. A car that's set up primarily for the drag strip will want a different suspension system than one set up for the track or the street. Also, if your suspension is untouched in 45 years, simply rebuilding it to stock will make a world of difference. New bushings and ball joints will do wonders for handling. Coilover suspension is trendy but an unnecessary expense. Your money, your call, but you can get the same handling benefits without them. Once the suspension is known to be in good shape (with either stock rubber bushings or poly), the next step is good aftermarket gas shocks and larger front and rear sway bars. The A-body cars are understeering pigs, and back in the day, Herb Adams (former GM suspension engineer) set them up with a 1.5" rear bar and a 1.375" front bar - yes, larger in the rear. These are available today but pricey. Get your stock steering box rebuilt with quick ratio gears and that will also make a dramatic improvement. Beyond that, you can spend a ton of money on tubular control arms and tall spindles, all with diminishing returns for a street car.

oldcutlass

Welcome to the site Brian. X2 on what you will use the car for? Application will dictate suggestions for a suspension upgrade.

Fun71

I agree with the above. I replaced the factory springs on my '71 Supreme with FE2 (442 suspension) equivalent springs and it made the car handle much better while retaining a smooth ride that these cars are famous for.