Front suspension conversion to coil over
 

Has anyone else done this on an A body? recommendations? suggestions?

Going to try going with QA1 tubular a arms and QA1 coil over shocks... hopefully no clearance problems with my headers..

I was always under the impression that coil overs were just good for people who like to change ride heights a lot. That they have no advantages other then that. My buddys 64 Chevelle had coil overs and they were bending the top of the spring pockets somehow.. Al that pressure at one small point..

SC&C sells a beautiful spring package that's 1" lower then stock. And that's REAL stock not what they call it today with all these jacked up springs they sell..

I am looking for some adjustment to be able to lower the whole car but am also planning to use the double dampning adjustment to be able to adjust for normal driving and also change for better weight transfer at the track. I did not think about the spring pockets bending. Will definitely keep an eye on that. Thanks for the reply.

Not to mention all that weight on four lower shock bolts...

when using the QA1 a arms shock crossbar on the bottom comes off and has a cross bolt that bolts to an additional flat plate that bolts on top of another plate on the lower a frame. 4 bolts keep it in place. Thanks for the reply. I had to look at the kit to see. If you use the stock a arms I see you still use the crossbar on the bottom with 2 bolts but the shock does sit on top of the a arm instead of the bottom like a stock shock.

I see the top of the shock bolts on one point like stock, top of the spring does still sit in the spring pocket. Don't see why this would be additional pressure to bend the spring pocket. I will watch it tho. Thanks

I don’t know much about these but I have heard good things. Check www.pro-touring.com I am sure there are some builds there you can research

This was on a 65 Chevelle. They guy sold the car so I don't know what ever happened to it...

I tried a set of QA-1’s with 550 lb springs for a short time and didn’t care for them. You have to run a stiff spring with a heavy car to keep the front end off of the ground and they limited front end travel compared to a stock spring/shock. The ride was too harsh for me no matter how they were adjusted and it didn’t transfer weight as well with the short stiff spring. My car is mostly straight line though so they may work better in a different application.

I hear the Vikings ride better and are a little less expensive. Their adjustment is suppose to be more sensitive also. I know someone with a 69 Chevelle that switched to the Vikings from the QA-1’s and likes them much better.

Not an A-body, but I did UMI upper and lower tubulars and 550 lb Viking Coil Overs (UMI sells the Viking) for my 76 F-Body. Extremely happy with my application, to lower car and improve handling. Ride is harder, as would be expected, but not a big deal if expected. But I also changed the wheels and rubber with less side wall than my previous 15 inch. I have a “modern” unmodified sports car that is just as harsh. It just doesn’t rattle as much, but hey, my car is approaching 44 years old. Rides like a rail now, and feels a lot safer when pushing corners. The coils over are double adjustable and easy to dial in. If you go this route, get the spanners and thrust bearing kit if not included.

How does the front end alignment work with these changes?

I went with Global West control arms and QA1 coil overs on my 67 Firebird and have zero complaints.

Has anyone changed the front sway bar as well? Parts have been sitting on my garage floor for a couple months... need to get everything installed here and aligned before long.