Finally, Driving Impressions

So, after filling up the car with gas, I finally got to drive the car.

It must be noted that so far, only the front suspension had been rebuilt, and further, it is completely out of alignment. So although I was hoping for an improved ride quality, I wasn't expecting much in the way of handling and ride. And sure enough, the car seemed very twitchy. Bad alignments do these kinds of things to cars.

Further, the rear end felt sloppy and very soft. Again, I had not worked on that side of the car, so the rear springs were still the very soft stock units, dampened by very tired and old shock absorbers.

But overall, the car felt better. The front end seemed much tighter, with less slop and play. And the spring rates were tighter but not jarring. The dampers seemed a bit stiff, due to the fact that I started with a bit stiffer adjustment than needed.

In addition, the coolant leaks were gone - woo hoo! At least that part of the repair was done with, and I would not have to worry about that.

The newly-installed fan shroud made the car ride a bit quieter. The fan noise does not drown the various other sounds emanating from the engine compartment, and so one can hear the intake noise, as well as the valve train softly clanging away. Very good sounds, if you ask me.

But even with the slightly quieter engine bay, the car was still very noisy. Wind noise at 60mph drowned out any attempts at a conversation at a normal volume. Rolling the window up or down did not make much of a difference, so it was better to roll it down a few inches to get some ventilation inside the car. The car transmited every imperfection to the driver, which considering the current state of suspension tune, proved a bit tricky and surprising at times.

Mashing on the gas pedal made the car swerve off line, probably due to lack of alignment on one or both ends. But it did accelerate willingly and strongly - the car loved riding at or above 70mph, although at this speed, the car needed constant steering inputs to maintain a fairly straight path.

Even with all this stuff going on, the car hinted some better potential in ride and handling quality. Bumps were easily absorbed, without upsetting the car too much. And the car communicated the road to the driver - the feedback on the steering wheel, the controlled dive during medium brake application, and the engine noise when opening up the throttle.

I really could not wait to get the car sorted out.

So, after all this, what comes next:
- align the front end.
- rebuild the rear suspension: this involves replacing the rear springs, shocks, bushings, and maybe painting the various suspension links and the such.
- rebuild the rear diff: the thing is loud, and wide open. It also leaks a bit of oil. Rebuilding it will make the car work better off the corners, quiet it down a bit, and keep fluids from leaking all over my garage.
- Then, the details: wiring, interiors, etc.

It did feel nice to put some closure onto this part of the job. From now on, things should march along nicely.


Next up: Alignment and rear end work. More driving impressions.