Did ALL 60's g***ers use some sort of straight axle front end (either parallel or transverse leafs) or were there some that used original suspension, just raised. I am ***uming the raised fronts were for weight distribution when coming off the line. Just wondering if STRAIGHT AXLES were a must.
Not all g***ers ran straight axles, but the current thought by most is its only a g***er if it has a straight axle which is ********. Get a old rule book.
My '57 Chevy used to race in northern California in the gas cl***es back in the late '60s and '70s. The front suspension is stock stuff cranked up high.
I don't reckon straight axles are a must. I've seen heaps of pictures of 'g***ers' from the day with dropped axles and chebby's with jacked up stock front ends. As I understand it though, for a period of time nose bleed was 'in' i.e. stock height rear with cut rear gaurds for bigger than stock rims/tires and way up in the front for weight transfer due to **** tire technology at the time. Something like that ...
I'm building my '57 g***er with no front sheetmetal, no front bumper, stock control arms and 6cyl. coil springs to raise the nose. I think straight axles stood out at the time, because of the amount of work it took to convert them, but the majority of cars were running stock front ends with ball joint spacers or coil spring spacers. Brad
another reason for the straight axles was for engine clearance. When trying to shoehorn some of the engines that were popular at the time it made sense from an installation/maintenance standpoint to ditch all of the IFS components and go with a straight axle. They could solve all of the clearance problems, get the front end up, lose weight and make it easier to maintain. The down side was that most of the cars were really scary to drive and the aerodynamics were awful. Remember, when the g***ers were in their heyday, race drivers were fearless and thought that race cars were supposed to be scary.
Al Tschida's C/Gas '55 Chev. was a serious player and had original front suspension. The next step was to a '40 Willys; short wheelbase, light car, high center of gravity, add weight in the rear, equals the hot set up in the '60's
Sorry...I've got a cold and can't think straight. I should have followed that up with "fibergl*** fenders and a fibergl*** hood." Brad
Heres a pic of my car back in the 60s, im not saying it was a g***er or not but look at the spring spacers! Also heres the car now, I just added 2 inch ball joint spacers and 409 impala coil springs. Duke
While straight axle conversions were fairly common, I think they used all types of front suspension-stock, modified, straight axles, etc. . Basically they were trying anything that might work.
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