Corvette Suspension on a '57 Buick?

Many times that is true, but lets face it there have been significant strides made in suspension, steering, and brakes in the last 50 years and when done properly the improvement can be drastic - it can also be horrible when people Don't know what they are doing.

It boils down to what the owner is looking for out of his car. If it is just to lower it and "Cruise" then a swap of any type is overkill. If he wants to get more modern handling and better performance, a properly designed and installed swap can be very rewarding.

 

I know this isn't a 57,
but this would probably be more doable with a corvette suspension installed correctly,
than the stock suspension super tweaked.
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Yeah you say you want it for cruising,
but how many of us actually cruise on the freeway going to a show.
One of the coolest things is a custom hauling ass.

If you have some help in the fab part and are good at completing projects,
I wouldn't rule out the corvette.

TP

 

Strange Agent, besides the ball joints what else needs to be replaced? Have you priced out everything that would need to be replaced to get the suspension safe and usable? I agree that those prices are outrages for parts, but when you add everything up how does it compare to the kits you've been looking at? Have you included the down-time for the kits as well as the extra material, parts, and tools that you will need to complete it? You may find that it might actually be better to save up, buy the stock parts, install them and drive the car as is. I know many times I've done steps on my projects to save time and money, only to find out later if I had stuck with the original idea I would have been better in the long run.

Please don't take this as me trying to discourage you from purchasing a kit, just another way to approach the project.

 

pull a balljoint and lets see if we can come up with something to adapt. I heard of someone taking the 58 stuff and adapting it including the spindles and such.

 

i understand both sides.. now i for one wanted my olds low very low in fact.. once i bought the 1500$ ball joints. i would still have a front end i cant get dropped spindles for, and am a little sick of cut coils!! yes i could have probly made chevy truck ball joints work, but then i still would sit to high.. i dont understand the problem with clipping a big ol barge to make it low, disc brakes, better handling, and keeping stock geometry(for a camaro) that cost almost nothing to do and now i can use this shitbox!! and no one could ever tell.. am i missing something here??

 

stiff springs and a sway bar, should do it. Mabey newer buick aluminum drums too

 

What year corvette ?? Before you think MII go look at a complete car , then look at your buick I think you will get the picture. I know they are used a lot in our hobby, mass use doesn't mean good or ok, I just had one removed from my 46 chevy coupe and went with a 2007 vette/cad xlr. But for your buick my last choice would be a mustang and next to last would be a vette. Roger

 

i had 86 vette front end in this truck.. drove awesome and handled like it was on rails!! upwards of 40 thousand miles on it now trouble free!!

 

Well I never - I guess you learn something new every day - and to think I wasted all that money on late model 'Vette suspension thinking it was significantly more advanced and better engineered than the Pinto, er I mean Mustang II...

 

just to add my 2 cents, i have a 50 pontiac and i drove the car 5 years as my daily driver, (from my experience there isnt many everyday driver cars in this site) i drove it from here Fl to Ga a few times on the original suspension, i re build it and it was fine for a few years after a while i wanted more comforts like disk brakes and p/s so i put a 78 T/A smokey and the bandit edition, best thing i have ever done the car handles better than ever the weight distribution is amazing dosent feel like a boat no more. im not knocking the og suspension but it like previous post mention is all about what you want from the car. me personally want the readability and comforts to be able to get from home to work and etc

 

I guess one more won't hurt the conversation...The price of rebuild parts is crazy money. For a couple of hundred bux you can buy a donor car that has the appropriate front and rear suspension and you might even make some money selling the sheetmetal.
In the last twenty years there has to have been plenty of gm cars with similar curb weight, track width to choose from. The bonus will be better brakes and likely better steering.
As someone said earlier, the later repair parts are cheap and easy to source.

And, as has been said, you really need to have some idea of what you are planning to do, and hopefully, have someone available to answer questions if you get into trouble. But, everyone on this board had to start somewhere, and until a few years ago, we did not have the internet to help. Some of us made mistakes, and some of us learned from them.

As long as you have appropriate tools, work space and attitude, the physical (work) part will be easy.


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Ok for bit of untraditional stuff. Take a look at the crossmember from the late model crown vic or merc marqius/lincoln. Its a self contained bolt off deal with everyting bolted to or integral with a cast aluminum cross member, and easily upgraded with police car stuff. And I think you can use your stock wheels if you want. 5x5.


From a similar weight car, has disc brakes, power R & P, cheap and plentiful, might even get one off a police vehicle from the bone yard.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gallery/displayimage.php?&photoid=183849&width=2

http://www.tomorrowstechnician.com/...suspension_into_67_f100_1_stiefels_class.aspx

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/716058-buildup-06-crown-vic-front-suspension-into-67-f100-47.html

For the rear end why not do the nascar style chevy pickup coil deal.

 

X2 If you are looking for the most cost effective way to make your 57 buick drive better than it did new and plan to add air suspension clip it with a 76/81 camaro. The track with is right for your car and can easily handle the weigth plus you can totally rebuild every part including the brakes & steering box for about $500. Air bags are also easily adapted. You can usally get a doner car for free if you put the word out.

These pics are of a 53 olds frame with a camaro clip with air ride. I can tell you from alot of experince that if a camaro clip is installed correctly and with good parts it will handle as good but probally better than any high dollar M11 kit in a heavy car like your 57 buick and if you throw in air suspension the camaro clip is by far the better choice no matter how big the budget is.

 

Hey I know, put it on an S-10 chassis. All you have to do is cut it into 4 pieces, make it wider and longer, built angle iron body supports, hack up a radiator to fit, and wammo you've got it done in no time!

 

61' was the first open drive for Buicks, the 57 front end looks like the old front end [bak to 1940], but with tube shocks and ball joints. might try to adapt/modify, to go to different ball joints/spindles. stock it can be made to ride good with some work.

 

For what it's worth, '58 Buick A-arms will fit the '57 frame if you mod the frame - might be a low-buck option though. IIRC the '57 shock is in the middle and there's like an ear above the spring pocket on top of the frame that probably should just be lopped off completely. The '58 shock mounts behind the A-arm, you'll need to lop off donor brackets or make them.

When I did the swap I was just trying to make a car with a torched off spindle into a roller using what I had handy. The upper mount may need some reworking to align the car right when you're done. But the lower side is identical. I don't know if they used that suspension on the 59-60s or not.

Question: If you think a Fatman stub is pricey, why consider a Corvette? Unless it's a mid-80s wreck those aren't usually cheap either.

 

I got the front section of a '75 vette frame for a couple hundred bucs, from a buddy. Cut the frame and added the vette to my '41 Caddy. It matched up pretty good. Looking at it you can't tell. Now I have power 4 piston discs, power assist steering, sway bar. I also bagged it. Took a while to figure out the bag mounting. Added new shock mounts. Of course, the front end needed rebuilding. The parts aren't cheap. But, the handling and stopping are well worth it to me. Been driving it for 6 years. The car has a 500 in. Caddy in it. With your budget, costs would probably be too much.

 

I was considering an '83+ Corvette suspension. Maybe to do the whole swap it would be really expensive, due to nickel and time costs, but the raw stuff is obtainable.

Isn't '83 when they reworked the 'Vette suspension?

 

The suspension looks complicated,
but since its a self contained unit,
the install shouldn't be too difficult.

The front is a clip, so the hardest part after aligning is mounting all the sheetmetal back on.
The clip should have motormounts, steering and brakes.
The rear only needs 4 brackets.


http://www.customclassictrucks.com/howto/corvette_suspension_ford_truck/index.html

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290363031999&viewitem=#ht_651wt_1167

Supposedly there are many aftermarket springs since the corvette suspension is so common,
which should help any weight change issues,
even though there are both coil-overs and airbag kits as well.

TP

 

They probably did most the work before 1983. There was no '83 model, the '84 Corvette was released in April of '83 or something like that.

Those cars are relatively cheap right now, I would not be surprised to pick up rough ones that don't run for under $1000.

 

As I said, there's nothing wrong with a Camaro clip on the right car, and I suspect your car is probably a good candidate since it should be wide enough and long enough. Fitting the sheet metal shouldn't be hard since there should be plenty of room to play with. Do a lot of measuring first, and if you can find a good Camaro clip (they're getting scarce) go for it, as I said, I have no complaints about mine.
One more thing, compare the size and strength of one of these to the typical mustang II, I think the Camaro is actually better suited to a car your size.
I took the suspension out of the car in my avatar and replaced it with a used Jim Meyers racing setup for the same reasons you point out. Too much $ to rebuild and try to lower, only to end up with a lot of compromises in ride, handling, stopping, and height.
But please do it right, you don't need these guys coming back and telling you " I told you so".

 

Didn't mean to upset anybody's apple cart by saying Corvette IFS = MII. Before I am burned at the stake as a heretic, yes, I'm sure it will handle better than an MII if properly done, comes with bigger brakes that you would't get on MII without upgrading and spending a lot more $, looks great, etc. Just pointing out that the factory engineering is compromised by ditching the transverse leaf, changing rack position, or narrowing track width in some cases.

 

im on your side my cars done and im driving it.. i posted pics on page 2 i think.. dave

 

Sometimes a sub makes good sense, no problem if its done right. Any later heavy model sub would work, and give ya everthing you want.

 

By the way, the 80s Jag sedans have a front end that completely unbolts from the car. A lot of times you can buy the whole thing for close to scrap, pull that, part a few other pieces and junk it and have zero invested. You'll need to do some research, the XJ6 up to about 1986 works well in 49-54 Chevy and other narrow cars, there is another one that's a tad wider that may work better in a Buick. The parts for them aren't too bad other than the rack - and they do give you discs and R&P steering.

I still see plenty of Camaros in the junkyards here, those clips aren't that bad to find.

 

It's actually the right width for a 57 and seems to be a little wide for the 49-54 Chevy's...

 

I have hear of folks using the 90s caprices frames under these cars

 

It depends on your skills as a welder,and your overall budget constraints. I would reccommend buying a wrecked 84' vette. The differences in 4-piston calipers, and the IRS. rear end will make your baby handle very well. It will take a bit of time, but well worth the money. (Measure twice/three times, cut once...)

 

I would skip the air bags though...

 

I'd rather see a clip or other IFS.

reasoning?