small block to big block T-bar starting point

[Virg464]

Working on a 66 coronet, originally a 318 car, now it has a B-Block installed. The torsion bars measure .885" on D/S and P/S. The adjusters are backed off to the point they are just making contact, and there's no weight on front end. My question is, can anyone offer a good starting point for the adjusters with this combo? Should I crank them to the mid point and just go from there, adjust accordingly? Thanks.

 

[Cranky]

Working on a 66 coronet, originally a 318 car, now it has a B-Block installed. The torsion bars measure .885" on D/S and P/S. The adjusters are backed off to the point they are just making contact, and there's no weight on front end. My question is, can anyone offer a good starting point for the adjusters with this combo? Should I crank them to the mid point and just go from there, adjust accordingly? Thanks.

When I dropped in a 383 into my 66 Belvedere with the poly teen, I left the original bars in and it did just fine. The car came with factory AC and PS.

 

[66 Sat]

There's no "starting point" as such - everyone's car will be slightly different, often dependent on wear in the LCA bushes.

You can't screw this up (pun unintended). It's just trial and error. Just crank them in a certain number of turns, maybe 5, 10 whatever, until you visually see the adjuster moving a decent amount. Jounce the suspension, roll the car back and forth, check the ride height. Adjust accordingly. I like to jack the front end up when cranking them in to take the load off the adjusted screw threads but some people don't bother.

For mine I look under the car once it's back on it's wheels and rolled back and forth and like to see maybe 1/2" gap between the LCA bump stop and the frame rail - that seems to be where the correct ride height is. There is a procedure in FSM for setting ride height, but you don't have to follow it.

 

[Don Frelier]

I would start with the bolt head where the threads start maybe an 1/8" below the lower edge of the arm.
But I do recommend a 1.03" bar.

 

[Runcharger]

Agree BB isn't that much different weight wise than a Poly so I would start wherever it was set before.