[CTX-SLPR]

So a chance to reflect on where I'm headed with this car. Like most of us here, I want a car that has the visual and historical charm of an older car with something more modern in terms of power plant and ride quality. Chalk it up to improvements in tire technology as well as better understanding of how suspensions work together, there is something definitely to be gained. While you can get a little bit there by using good tires, new bushings, and newer alignment settings; it won't get me far enough there.

My plan is to do as much as I can for the suspension and brakes while keeping the frame side all GM so someone can bolt stock stuff back. That isn't stopping me from planning to replace the lower frame bushing with a spherical bearing or enlarging the frame hole for the brake reaction rod to put a ball joint in there. I've started to design via CAD a new spindle that helps invert the camber curve and reduce the aweful scrub radius. There isn't a whole lot of room for a wider track but I'll see what I can do there. Plan is to use Jeep WK1 SRT8 front hubs on a custom 3/4in steel plate spindle. Ball joint mounts will also be steel but bolted on. Hopefully I can quicken the steering ratio up a bit and eek out a bit more steering angle in the process. Most of the parts will be adjustable as to allow me to play with the settings as time allows. I know I'm going coil overs, it's just a a question of steel coils or air springs. Air would make me cut the frame but give me so much more real time adjustment in ride height and compliance. I do plan on keeping stock body mounts though to damp down the NVH, it is still a Riviera after all.

One big source of parts I see is the now 10yrs old category of UHP SUV. Stuff like the Cayenne, Grand Cherokee SRT8, and Q7 all are as heavy or heavier (I estimate the Riviera is now ~4000lbs). I plan on getting the Cayenne/Q7/Touareg SUV brakes and depending on if I spring for custom wheels at the same time, I might redrill the rotors for 5x5in but more likely I'll pickup a set of wheels from the same SUV family and redrill the hubs to 5x130mm. I did check, there isn't enough room to put a 1/2-20 wheel stud through the 14mm clearance hole in the rotor. It's close but doesn't quite fit.