MDchanic

For the cheap money, Monroes are smooth and fine, KYBs are a bit tighter and a bit rougher.

For the big money, you can't beat Bilsteins - smooth and tight.

- Eric

coppercutlass

My .02 cents. if you want to get it driving buy the cheapest autozone shocks the gabriels. I ran them in my cutlass and the ride was not bad at all. If it aint broke do not fix it. I bought my cutlass in 2007 it was my coworkers daily driver for 5 years then it sat for 5 more years and before he got it it sat for 15 years. I did the suspension this past summer finally. What I removed was all original stuff springs , ball joints. back in 2007 all I changed was the shoes on all 4 drums , and shocks. I did all new brake lines and master cylinder drove it like that until 2013. I did new drums in the front, along with hubs I bought , all new steering components , 90/10 shocks , moroso trick springs , upper /lower ball joints , end links , wheel bearings , It drives so nice now ! But for years what I had worked and I raced it like that and drove it all over the place.


I'll keep it sweet and simple imho do shocks , brakes/lines , wheel bearings , the small stuff and once you start driving it you will know if you need new ball joints. they will make this pop and jump motion around turns specially slow turns while parking.

billmerbach

thanks copper that helps I'm just wanting to make sure what I can and cannoot get away with. I havent bought anything yet I'm just seeing what I should do and what's safe to reuse and if I get shocks now will they still be good when its driveable

MDchanic

Honestly, shocks are easy to change, and do not necessarily deteriorate with age.

If yours are aftermarket (Gabriel or Monroe or Sears or similar label on them, or white, yellow, orange, green, or blue paint), they may have been replaced not long before the car was laid up and be fine.

I'd do the old "car lot" shock test: Grab hold of the bumper at each corner and give the car a real good bounce up and down a few times and let go. If it just bounces back to level and stops, your shocks are good. If it bounces up and down, they're shot.

If they're good, then drive with them and upgrade when you have decided which ones to get and saved for them.

If you're working under the car and you want to, you can loosen all the fasteners on the shocks and retighten them, to make it easier to replace them later on. Remember, the top "spindle" threaded shafts on the front shocks have a special oval socket that holds the end of the shaft to keep it from spinning, but it's only helpful if they aren't completely rusted on. If they are, sometimes you have to pretty much destroy them to get them off.

- Eric

billmerbach

well it does kinda bounce up and down backs look all rusty to you know what I'm gonna get a cheap pair off rock auto for front and back. and I'll upload some pics of my early morning gas tank drop in a little bit lol the muffler was almost completely covered in dirt dinner nests. lol

billmerbach

http://s758.photobucket.com/user/16o...day%201%20work

MDchanic

Those look like Monroe shocks, so they've been replaced, but if it bounces when you jump on it, you should get new ones.

Lots of surface rust under there from sitting on dirt, but surprisingly little rot.

- Eric

billmerbach

Yea it actually saint in the woods for 8 years with trees growing under and they made a jail around it

billmerbach

Another question what do I need specifically brake line wise I need the hoses to the calipers and the line but where should I get the line eBay has a kit but should I trust it?

coppercutlass

Do that stuff from autozone. You will need to bend your own lines and you will need fittings and the hoses for the calipers . With the hoses you should not be more than 100 bucks. I did all new lines on my cutlass and rubber hoses for the front wheels cylinders. I think I had 80 bucks into it all. The rubber hoses cost me like 15 bucks at the time.

MDchanic

If eBay has a kit with all brake lines, prebent, for Nova, Ventura, Ωmega, and Apollo in your year, and it's not too expensive, grab it.
Don't pay extra for stainless - that car won't be around long enough for it to matter, plus, you're down south with no salt.

Otherwise, just remove the old lines (easy to say), stop by your local auto parts store with them, and pick up enough line to make them up, along with whatever connector barrels you may need to join the segments. To do it right, you'll also have to pick up a 45° flare tool kit, so you can cut them to the proper length and reflare them. Then, slowly bend the new lines to match the old lines and reinstall (this will be a learning experience and a test of your patience and self-control).

When it's all said and done, the cost of materials and a flare kit may be the same as buying a cheap set off of eBay (somewhere just under a hundred bucks for everything).

- Eric

billmerbach

the ebay kit has different lengths and they can be pieced together it says its compatible and I can get it for about people if I find the right seller all I have to do is bend and connect

oldcutlass

If the metal lines are not leaking they may be fine. Maybe you can get away with just the rubber lines up front. Use line wrenches where they connect to wheel cylinders and such.

billmerbach

I was thinking bout that but with the amount of rust on them can I really trust that when the build pressure that they won't explode on me?

oldcutlass

You can test them when you install your brake parts and then go to bleed the system.

billmerbach

ok sounds fair enough I'll just get the rubber hoses

MDchanic

If you have to bend it, don't get it on eBay, get it at the local store - if you've never done this before, you WILL kink a few before you get the hang of it, and you'll need to drive down the road and get more. Start with the longest runs, so that if you kink a piece, you can use the smaller parts of it for your shorter runs.

As far as whether to change the lines, I agree that if they're just surface rusted, you don't need to change them, but if they're crunchy or shaggy, like a hickory tree, you'll need to change them. Also, like a chain, a brake line is only as strong as its weakest part. Post up shots of the nastiest looking segments of brake line, and we'll tell you our opinion on whether they need changing.

I just bent up, cut, flared, and changed out a rusty brake line on my wife's car, in the dark, that I found while working on other stuff earlier today. No big deal after you've done a few, but, as they say, there's a learning curve.

- Eric

billmerbach

ok next weekend I'll be able to get back under there. is it safe to go ahead and order the rubber hose shocks and pads off rock auto

MDchanic

Sure. As I say, if you need to do the lines, you're better off getting them locally anyway.

- Eric

billmerbach

ok cool what about calipers should I get them local as well

coppercutlass

Get it all local. If something is wrong you can return and exchange on the spot.

billmerbach

Ahh I'm so confused lol

MDchanic

I agree with Copper, but you seem to want to order them, so I'm not going to try to change your mind.

Bottom line, do a cold price comparison: Price + shipping (or gasoline) + tax (if any), and see which is cheaper.
If it's a toss-up, then you're way ahead buying local, because if there's a problem, you can just roll by and swap the bad part for a good one.
If RockAuto is WAY cheaper, then go for it.

Personally, I will buy auto parts locally whenever i can, which is almost always, because sometimes things do not fit, even though the computer says it's the right part, and sometimes you realize you forgot that you need one little thing.
Just tonight I was swapping out that brake line. I had bought a piece of line yesterday, and expected to be using it, but I realized that the line in the car had a 45° flare on one end and a bubble flare on the other end. I've only got a 45° flare tool, so I drove ten minutes, took back the 45° flared line I had bought, and bought one with bubble flares, so I could use one bubble end and make one 45° end. That would have been a PIA if it had been a part I'd bought by mail.

Also, in the greater scheme of things, look what happened to bookstores after Amazon showed up. I'd hate to see that happen to auto parts stores because I wanted to save $2 on a $30 part.

- Eric

billmerbach

True I'm always about trying to save here and there esp if its by a good margin like 20 bucks for a pair of shocks online vs 40 in stores I use advance when I can and then I use a discount code to get 75 bucks off but yea I'll price compare

coppercutlass

Eric the problem with parts stores now is lack of knowledge. I have dwindled my choices of parts stores to 2 now. Carquest and bumper to bumper. I only use autozone when I know what I need is there cheap. The last 3 times I went to napa not only did they not know wtf I was talking about but they didn't even stock it. This was a diff cover gaskets , pinion bearing and. Crushsleeve .

MDchanic

$20 for a pair of shocks is nothing to sneeze at. Just make sure you've got the shipping figured in.

Also, note that RockAuto often has to ship from several different warehouses, and will charge separate shiping from each one.

- Eric

MDchanic

Copper, I understand completely. I seldom go to buy any significant part without having compared and priced out every possible source on line first, and then I bring the store's stock number, and just ask for that.
Once they start trying to find it themselves, you never know what's going to happen.

I miss the old days when I could just walk in and say, "I need Blue Streak points, condenser, cap and rotor for a Chevy V8" and have the guy turn around, reach into a few bins, and lay it all on the counter in front of me without a word.

- Eric

billmerbach

Ah yes I too actually remember them faintly and yea I'll do shocks from rock auto I can get a pair for the price of one actually less but yes I understand that shipping and tax part lol IRS a hassel

oldstata

Hey bill have you got it running yet ? I realize some time we see the finished product, but I would hate to see you dump cash on stuff and not have a running car just yet not to discourage you.

billmerbach

well almost have everything for the engine I just want to get the suspension and braking done because I still need to weld the core support and get my header panel from a guy but I know where you're coming from I'm afraid tbh to put the engine back together for fear it doesn't work. that's why I'm putting it on the back burner till my jitters go away. I guess you could say I'm building up my confidence before I do mechanical work.

billmerbach

Would it be in my best interest to build the engine nowor wait till everything else is done so if when its built and if it runs I can slap it in ad go?

oldcutlass

Me, I would get the engine installed and running first.

billmerbach

Ok I guess that's what I will do

MDchanic

The most logical thing to do, regardless of other things, like skill and comfort levels, would be to build the engine first, because any money that you put into a rusty old Nova without an engine can be considered money thrown away, until it has a running motor in it, and you could encounter a huge number of problems along the way that could cause you to switch course and change the project to something else.

That being said, the idea of getting some mechanical experience from working on less-critical parts of the car first, and then tackling the engine, is a sound one, and I would say that only you know which way is best for you.

- Eric

billmerbach

I know what needs to be done but the fact that it may not work is what scares me

coppercutlass

As long as you check your work and do it right no issues should come up to avoid it running. I slapped m first small block chevy together when I was 16 and. It ran fine for what it was. Didn't know wtf I was doing but I learned a lot. Stil learning and no matter how manh engines I have fired up or put together there is always an uneasy feel that something can go wrong.

oldstata

X2

If you need to do any mods to fit headers or anything that the motor out would be easier like fire wall clean up wiring ect..
By all means get it done first. Other wise I would get it running than safety items

billmerbach

thanks guys I'll complete the engine all I believe I need is piston rings main bearings oil pump and timing chain and carb

Boiler_81

Take a look at Summit Racing for parts. I have found them to be cheaper than Rock on a lot of items. They are also extremely fast on shipping.

billmerbach

Thanks I'll do that