Good handling and suspension

[deez]

Hey Folks, I'm new to the forum and new to Studebakers. I am thinking of finding a 1964-65 Lark and building it as I prefer. After seeing Adrian Willmott’s Lark Daytona racing successfully at Goodwood, I am curious how he got the car to handle so well. Has anyone looked into this? Here is the article for reference.

https://www.goodwood.com/grr/event-c...hnny%20Herbert.

[Dwight FitzSimons]

Hey Folks, I'm new to the forum and new to Studebakers. I am thinking of finding a 1964-65 Lark and building it as I prefer. After seeing Adrian Willmott’s Lark Daytona racing successfully at Goodwood, I am curious how he got the car to handle so well. Has anyone looked into this? Here is the article for reference.

https://www.goodwood.com/grr/event-c...hnny%20Herbert.

Those Lark-types were available with front and rear anti-roll bars (sometimes incorrectly called sway bars) from the factory. But, the aftermarket has manufactured much larger anti-roll bars (available from Studebaker vendors). Also, obviously, better handling tires (oops, tyres) and wheels. Plus it's lowered, probably has better springs and shocks, and maybe modifications to the front suspension. Beyond that I don't know. Others can probably elaborate further.

--Dwight (whose Avanti has the best handling 15" tires available -- BF Goodrich Radial TA)

[PackardV8]

The conventional wisdom in building a vintage saloon racer:

"Any suspension design can be made to work on a race course, if you don't let it."

That means limiting suspension travel and limiting body roll so the tire tread stays flat on the pavement.

1. Solid suspension bushings.
2. Lower, stiffer springs.
3. Stiff front and rear anti-roll bars
4. Larger, stiffer shocks.
5. Wider wheels and tires.
6. Increased kinpin caster and camber.
7. Re-weld all frame joints and add a center X-member.

The better the race car, the worse the street car.

jack vines

[StudeRich]

The Road Course fastest Studebaker's all have heavily modified front Suspension from aftermarket or other makes.

[64Avanti]

Jack made some good points. The objective is to keep the tires perpendicular to the ground or even have a little negative camber. There are 4 ways to help achieve this. One is to prevent the car from leaning very much which is what a large roll bar will help. That has the disadvantage of increasing weight transfer is not a good thing will be the best first option. The second thing is to modify the suspension to have some negative camber. This could be done for example by moving the upper A-arm pivot inboard a little or move the lower A-arm outboard (you wouldn't want to do that on a car that is mostly driven on the street as it would wear the tires on the inside.) Increased caster will help as when you turn the wheels they take on some negative camber. Quite a few cars today have a lot of caster to improve handling. The other thing that can be done is to improve the suspension geometry to increase the camber gain when the car rolls in a corner. This can be done by lowering the upper A-arm inner pivot point or having a taller spindle or both. The later is something that Studebaker did on some of the R3 cars and perhaps all of the ones that ran at Bonneville.

Of course all of this is quite a bit of work. So changes to the roll bars and better tires are the quickest way to improve handling.

[Mark L]

Welcome to the Forum, deez.

So changes to the roll bars and better tires are the quickest way to improve handling.

And replacing the shock absorbers. That's relatively easy, too.

[Flashback]

Suspension is like what we learned in economics. There is a point of diminishing returns.

[sweetolbob]

As Jack alluded to - It depends on what you mean by improved handling and how much you have to spend. The ultimate would be to go to Morrison or others and commission a new frame and handling package. But being I own a couple of Avanti's which have the same Lark frame, I've have found that rebuilding the entire suspension system and the included sway bars has made them a decent handling vehicle. The bushing are upgraded to Delrin and the roll bar mounts are polyurethane. Other upgrades including good gas shocks and a bit of lowering the cars ride height.

Also don't forget the large chassis cross member that the convertibles have added to the frame that is also standard on the Avanti's will stiffen the chassis up a fair bit.

Keep us in the loop.

Bob

[PackardV8]

As Jack alluded to - It depends on what you mean by improved handling and how much you have to spend. The ultimate would be to go to Morrison or others and commission a new frame and handling package.

The Road Course fastest Studebaker's all have heavily modified front Suspension from aftermarket or other makes.

The fastest road course Studebakers are Studebaker in tin only.

jack vines

[deez]

Great advice everyone, thank you. Now to find a 1964-65 Daytona. A barn find popped up about a year ago, but I was still committed to my 1960 AH Bugeye Sprite. While I still enjoy that car, a nice handling Daytona will be a fine addition.

[deez]

I forgot to ask, but is anyone familiar with this? Slick Street Stuff front end conversions? http://www.alpha-omegaclothingco.com...FRONTENDS.html

[PackardV8]

I forgot to ask, but is anyone familiar with this? Slick Street Stuff front end conversions? http://www.alpha-omegaclothingco.com...FRONTENDS.html

That question has been asked here about a dozen different times, but few answers from reliable sources with enough street miles.

jack vines

[deez]

Got it, thanks Jack

[Dick Steinkamp]

The fastest road course Studebakers are Studebaker in tin only.

jack vines

The best example of this are the Carrera Panamericana Studebakers. They are essentially all NASCAR underneath (and 600+ HP doesn't hurt any either )

[PackardV8]

Since OP used a road race car as his point of reference, he gets suggestions pertainent to that application.

However, we need to always define our terms and our goals. I'm reminded of another question I got a while back asking "how to make a Studebaker ride and handle better?" I spent quite a bit of time detailing suggestions similar to above and the costs for each. He came back with essentially, "I meant how do I add power steering and front disc brakes and lower the front to get the hot rod stance?"

jack vines