I wish to know everything there is to know about the suspension of my 83 cutlass supreme. Does anyone know a good information source online? Something down there is very angry.

If you were to start describing the anger of the beast, we might be able to point you in the right direction...

the clunking is just some bushings the little pieces of which are spread across ohio from the upper control arm. I'm going to fix it tomorrow. I wonder though....If the rod is bad and I have to replace it, should I use one with an offset.
I spotted this on a website somewhere and fail to understand the signifigance.

http://www.napaonline.com/masterpages/N ... Suspension

Thanks much

Mongo just pawn in game of life

unless you've got a special application with this car, replace the control arm with an OEM replacement.

I have no clue why a person would need an offset control rod, unless you were lowering or raising the ride height, and needed to overcome an obstacle, or if you had too much money in your pocket.

I certainly would have no interest in lowering a car. The website I went to said it increases the suspension's adjustability or somesuch. It does not explain what that means.
Most of my worry about the front suspension is based on the additional weight going from the 231-6 to a 400-8.
I plan to drive this car for the rest of my life, so I'm happy to look for any angle I can to increase my cost-benefit ratio. I would be perfectly happy to re-engineer the whole thing if it left me with more cash in my pocket two decades from now. I just need to learn as much as I can to make the best decisions.
By the way, Does anyone have experience sucessfully minimizing tire dry rot? I am a highly conservative driver and I wear the tread down slowly. The tires end up looking suspect due to all those tiny cracks that form in the rubber due to age. I do not know if it is something I should worry about.

Russ

Mongo just pawn in game of life.

Hi Mong0Lloyd, hello everyone,

Welcome to TOC.


The only difference should be the wire diameter of the front springs. V8 versions from any 78-88 "G" body, will work fine.


Reducing your MPG by 50% will not help much.

Regards, Norm

not to worry about fuel economy, I've been mixing my own gas out of industrial chemicals I scrounge for free
10% isopropyl, methyl or ethyl alcohol
30% toluene or xylene
30% iso-octane
20% heptane in summer, or pentane in winter
10% whatever else I scrounge
give or take

there is no point in mixing higher than 87 octane so I add pentane or hexane until the octane rating drops to 87. I use an excel formula to do the math.
Since I might have to use normal gas I keep my fuel air mix set to 10% alcohol..so I add 10% alcohol to my mix otherwise I am running rich.
Sometimes I run on just butanol but the milage is not as good. I'm collecting equipment to build a butanol fermenter distiller. It will use two types of bacteria rather than yeast.


Russ


Mongo just pawn in game of life

Interesting... Care to elaborate on your method of production? Thats very interesting. I have not heard of home-brew fuel worth burning in an automobile. Did you develop this method yourself?

I first read about butanol in the columbus dispatch. It was about a chem phd from westerville ohio named Ramzy (po box 15, 43004) who patented a two clostridium process and had built a small pilot plant. He is looking at dairy waste as a source of food for the bacteria. unlike yeast, the bacteria can digest complex carbohydrates and other stuff )from there I just happened to find out about approx 40 gal of butanol in a surplus depot.
It was a bit of a leap of faith. I first tried it in an old lawn mower. It worked perfectly. I tried it in a string trimmer but it would not mix in the 2-cycle oil until i put in some gasoline. it ran fine but butanol removed the softening agent in the vinyl fuel line and it needed replaced.
with no sensitive materials in the chevy system to worry about I let the car run down to empty and filled up on butanol and ran the rest of the fuel through it. no problems.
of all of the chemicals I can get for free, n-butanol is in the least supply. That is why I researched gasoline composition and learned how to mix my own from the other chemicals.

Wikipedia has info on butanol prod: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butanol_fuel
The bacteria can be ordered but I have not done so yet. Apparently there are genetically improved strains at superlative expense. I will eventually buy what I can afford and improve the strain myself. I work in a research lab with lots of people around to help me and every bit of the necessary bacteria culture equipment is available.

Rather than going into the process myself, I would rather send the powerpoint presentation that ramzy sent to me if I may. Also, if anyone wants to make ethyl, I can give lots of advice about that. There is a lot of good cheap technology that can go into improving the process of making ethyl fuel. Remember that making moonshine is illegal so add your denaturant at the beginning of the batch.
I'll gather the butanol process info and post on the appropriate forum asap.

Russ


Mongo just pawn in gamo of life

by the way.....the smell....the horrible smell...oh dear god the stench



Russ


Mongo only pawn in game of life

Very impressive, russ. I understand you running the fuel in an older carb'ed vehicles, but what would be the effects on a newer fuel injection system?

I've heard that ethanol, even in small amounts from select gas stations can ruin seals and generally wear fuel system parts out a lot faster, if the car wasnt meant for alcohol. They are making vehicles that are E85 ready from factory nowadays, but what can be done with an older fuel injected car?

If I had more free time, and $$, I would like to try a batch. Even in a small amount to try in a gas mower, like you said.

Damn, what a hijack! Lets start a new topic...