suspension issues related to engine torque are... let's say not present here. even in it's performance-modified state, this driveline in a more or less stock '63 American hardtop is in the 16 to 18 second quarter mile range... though i did beat a 1970 Superbeetle in some ill-advised street racing. drag racing does not appear to be in my future.
"canyon car" is more appealing to me, though i'm too old to want to die from rolling over the edge of Little Tejunga.
but overall "sports car" driving pleasure is the goal and the major limitation for me is the terrible rear unsprung weight ratio.
i'm running one leaf from the original set and the smallest air spring i could find:
http://www.ridetech.com/store/air-spring-267c-double-convoluted.html. even with 10 psi in it, it's too tall. the leaf preserves the subtleties of roll center and u-joint alignment.
for now, i'm just gonna drive and enjoy it. but i'm thinking about making a four-bar system; but instead of both bars running forward as you see in most american performance installs, i'm thinking of running one bar forward, one to the rear, like i've seen in some circle-track cars. or, a junkyard pull of a lightweight IRS setup like a Honda CRV. (low HP opens up vast inexpensive possibilities!).
the drive back from Tucson to Los Angeles i did at 75 - 80 mph, 2800 - 2900 rpm, 7.5 hours including three stops and a half hour delay due to an accident on the 10. at one point passing a big Volvo tractor-trailer at 75 mph up an incline, i had to "fight" the pile of air at the nose of the tractor for nearly a minute to get past... the coefficient of drag of this thing i think is (not joking) 1.0. so air dam and some method of spoiling the vacuum that hits the back of my head is probably worth more than adding power.
