Consulting For Speed
In the process of doing the upgrade in this story, we reached out to the owner of one of the quickest streetable Buick Skylarks in the country. Steve Cagle has gone 9.49 seconds at 146 mph with a 1.36 60-foot time in a 3,500-pound '71 Buick.
When asked about getting the car to launch, Cagle said, "We spent a lot of time with the stock rear suspension and eventually installed a fully fabricated racing suspension. The Dick Miller pieces and Strange shocks are great with the stock suspension and can be installed by someone in his driveway. We ran the rebound in the rears set at seven clicks toward stiff and the fronts at halfway to stiff. I'd set the pinion angle at 3 degrees down with the Dick Miller suspension. We put a lot of pressure in the slicks compared to a lighter car, like 1111/42 to 13 psi, and with the vehicle weight, I think that would help you-we also ran tubes in our slicks. My car worked well with Moroso big-block drag springs up front, but with the front-end weight of your vehicle, I don't think they'll work."
We did try the Moroso front drag springs, which were very difficult to install as they're very long. Unfortunately, the nose weight was too much-the springs were in full coil-bind with the car at rest, so the stock front springs were reinstalled for all the runs.
Cagle went on to add, "Any weight you can get out of the front of the vehicle will help a bunch at the launch." We looked at removing weight, but decided to just focus on the suspension for this story.
Cagle's advice helped a lot. One example was his recommended optimal front-suspension alignment-which saved time for us. We suggest finding someone who has gone fast with the same type or a similar-type vehicle to give you speed tips. Don't be a pest: You'll need to make it a win-win somehow-and we're sure they are as busy as everyone else. Basic recommendations for alignment are to set the alignment with the car raised 1 inch from ride hieght. Shoot for 3-4 degrees of positive caster and 0 camber, and a total of 11/416-inch toe-in. The positive caster helps with high-speed stability.
One important caution: You will need to make sure the vehicle is similar enough to yours to translate. If the package is dramatically different from what you have, there is little to learn-but what do you have to lose in asking?
 The Moran Motorsports crew...  The Moran Motorsports crew says it's easier to install the DMR kit with the rearend out of the vehicle. |  To install the two DMR upper-link...  To install the two DMR upper-link relocation brackets, the stock rubber bushings and steel sleeves they ride in need to be removed from the upper rearend bracket. The rubber bushing was easily knocked out, but the metal sleeve was so tight that the best way the crew found to remove it was to fold over the edge of the sleeve with a cold chisel and hammer to make it easier. |  Moran's crew hit a large 1...  Moran's crew hit a large 1 11/44-inch impact socket (a similarly sized piece of tubing will work, too) with a hammer to knock the two metal bushings out of the rearend brackets. |
 This is where everything got...  This is where everything got interesting. Through no fault of DMR, the Moser rearend brackets and 9-inch housing shape were different from the stock 10-bolt, so the DMR brackets needed to be cut at the bottom to slide into the upper bushing hole. The DMR bracket on the left has been cut; the bracket on the right is unmodified. |  To get the DMR bracket to...  To get the DMR bracket to fit into the upper mount hole and seat tightly against the rearend housing, the new shape was determined with a cardboard template spaced 11/42 to 1 inch off the rearend bracket. The lower shape was scribed onto the mount (right) and cut with a bandsaw (left). |  With the bottom of the brackets...  With the bottom of the brackets cut to mate cleanly with the rearend shape, they were slid into the upper bushing holes and bolted on tight. The next step was to drill a 31/48-inch hole through each rearend upper bushing behind the bushing hole. This is for the DMR 31/48-inch anchor bolts. Since these upper brackets were aftermarket pieces, two spacers (arrows) were created from a 1-inch-diameter bar by drilling a hole through the center and then welding them to the rearend bracket. Whitey Brown at Wheel to Wheel Powertrain in Madison Heights, Michigan, did the work for us-again, this fab-work wouldn't be required on a GM 10- or 12-bolt. |