12:05 Garage- ’70 Duster build

I took some time to educate myself on camber gain and roll center, then took a whole bunch of measurements and did more research on what it would take to either simulate a taller spindle or make another spindle work. Based on my math, I needed the upper ball joint to be approximately 1" taller than the 1" tall one Denny supplies. My spindles are drop in replacements for a M2, they are short. Wilwood make a M2 that they state is taller, but it's only 1/2 taller than mine. I found some 1.5" taller ball joints, but they ultimately weren't going to get the upper control arm where it needed to be. Of course the Wilwood spindle with the 1.5" ball joint would get me there, but that means buying brake hubs and discs also. I didn't want to go there. I had to dig to the depths of the internet, but I ultimately found a 2" taller upper ball joint with the same 1.5" per foot taper I needed. I quickly got them on order and hoped my math was correct.
In the meantime, we are trying a different lower control arm so I can widen the track width a touch, and also replaced the sway bar for some additional tire clearance. Before I took the original setup completely apart, I measured the camber gain so I have something to compare it to. The results are as follows:

Ride height +3 - 1.6 degrees
Ride height +2 - .7 degrees
Ride height +1 - .1 degrees
Ride height - 0 degrees
Ride height -1 - .3
Ride height -1.5 - .7

So this shows 1.6 degrees of total camber gain at full compression. Since the upper control arms are mounted on an angle and measuring the arms seems confusing, I measured the upper ball joint housing at 6.5 degree angle down toward the tire at ride height. I had assumed the ball joint housing angle was the best place to get the arm angle. I assumed the average angle of the arms would be the angle of the ball joint. Guess what, it was. I measured the front arm at 12.7 degrees and the rear arm at .3 degrees, which has a 6.5 degree average.
The goal was to get the upper ball joint angle higher at the tire (angled down toward the center of the car). Some preliminary measurements with the new 2" long ball joints are promising. I'll share the camber gain difference once I have it back on the ground and get the alignment done. I'll also calculate the roll center to see how high it is. Based on what I have read, since the angles of the arms with the 1" ball joint will never intersect, the roll center was in the ground, which puts lots of leverage to make the car roll. Getting the roll center above ground should make a huge impact on the handling. I'm getting anxious!