[chiphead]

So, all GW suspension parts ordered except for shocks. Onward to shocks!

So, Hotchkis Fox 1.5 monotube or Viking Warrior double adjustable twin-tube? Those seem to be the main contenders for my application, based on price point and performance. The gas monotubes are marketed as high end non adjustable street shocks, and the DAs are for high end adjustable. The online talking heads recommend monotube but the auto-x guys like the DAs. What am I to think?

If you're just joining us, the application is 67 LeMans, capable street car for comfortable cruising and spirited back highway carving.

[JLMounce]

If the spring rates of your GW springs are close to, or match the Hotchkis equivalent spring, I would lean in that direction. The Hotchkis shock is specifically valved for the updated spring rate.

I can’t really comment on Viking shocks, I’ve never run them.

[chiphead]

Good point. I checked and the Hotchkiss springs for SBC or Pontiac are 518 inch lbs and the GW A body springs are 500. So the rates are dead on. I think I'm gonna give the fox shocks a try.

[chiphead]

I've been reviewing the whole front end job and I think this is gonna be a sticking point. How do I get the upper control arm bolts out with the engine in place? Check out how close the bolts are to the headers, one pic for each side.

How would you guys get this loose?

[geeteeohguy]

Originally Posted by chiphead

I've been reviewing the whole front end job and I think this is gonna be a sticking point. How do I get the upper control arm bolts out with the engine in place? Check out how close the bolts are to the headers, one pic for each side.

How would you guys get this loose?

Loosen the nut, and install another nut or two to protect the threads and buzz it with an air chisel with a punch bit and the bolts will pop out easily. The splines are not that deep. Just did this on an original '66 GTO that had NEVER had the arms off since new. Piece of cake. You don't even need a straight shot. The vibration will buzz it out.

[chiphead]

OK, I'll give that a shot. Hopefully they give up the fight....

What about spring compressors? I've got the one shown below. Last time I used it, I ran it through the upper shock mount and compressed spring against the spring pocket in the frame to get it off the LCA. Is that still good shop practice?


https://www.powerbuilt.com/products/...rng-compressor

[JLMounce]

Yeah, that's going to suck. You're going to need to move the engine out of the way or unbolt and move the headers. Or you could possibly take a little bit off of the threads with a cutoff wheel. The problem with that solution is you lose real-estate on the bolt for your alignment shims.

[chiphead]

Are replacement upper bolts available? I could take the control arms loose, get behind them and cut the bolt with a cutoff wheel, sawzall, plasma cutter, thermonuclear warhead, whatever it took to not have to pull the headers. then I'd have enough room to pound out the stubs and drive new bolts in. If I've got to pull the headers I'm doing an engine swap. This is how it snowballs.

How tight are those in the frame? Could I weld a dent puller weld pin to the bolt heads, and pull them out with a slide hammer in the wheel well?

[JLMounce]

Yes they should be. Most times they are knurled, but they don't necessarily have to be.

I'm surprised yours are actually that close. Even on the passenger side of my bird, there's a solid inch to inch and a half of clearance on the worst bolt. The driver's side, there's a country mile of room.

[JLMounce]

Looks good! There's just something about new and shiny suspension pieces against the crusty weathering of an unrestored car!

[chiphead]

Got it all together and on the ground tonight. The static ride height looks almost the same as it was with the drag springs. GW did say they intend for the LCA to be parallel with the ground, and it is. Shocks look to be about 1/2" way in their travel, which is correct. As long as the ride isn't harsh I'll be happy.

The only thing I did special was I swapped to 1/2" taller upper balljoints and had them install the 702 offset shafts. The driver side had no shims and I couldn't tell what was going on. Can I use the recommended alignment specs or do you guys have modified specs? GW instructions say:

Caster driver side: 5 degrees positive
Caster pass side: 5.5 degrees positive
Camber: 1/2 degrees negative both sides
Toe 1/32 per side, up to 3/32 total

The sway bar ends have a bolt, collar, jam nut and heim joint at the bottom. How do you set those, there were no instructions?

[HWYSTR455]

My understanding is yes, you would still use the same specs.

The sway bar ends should be parallel to the ground like the lower control arms. In some cases, people like to load one side or the other, but parallel to the ground would still be the starting point.


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[JLMounce]

Use the GW alignment specs they gave you, that's a decent setup. If you want to, you can get rid of the road crown adjustment on the passenger side caster. You'll have to content with any road crowns you drive on, but turn in will be more even in each direction.

[HWYSTR455]

I too ignore the road crown settings as well. I prefer to steer to compensate for road irregularities.



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[JLMounce]

I had a new alignment done on my bird last summer and did remove the road crown adjustment. I didn't notice that much difference in day to day driving.

I was also able to achieve a bit more than 6* of caster each side at about 3/4 of a degree of negative camber. Turn in improved dramatically. Actually feels like about 75 lbs was taken off the nose of the car.

[chiphead]

How much steering angle is typically lost when converting to the tubular LCAs? The steering arm stops hit the LCAs and it looks like I've lost some turning radius. Do the GW steering arms give better turning radius? Can the stock pieces be modified?

And this may be a stupid question, but will the single piston disc brakes fit inside a 15" wheel? Looks like it's awful close to this weld pie cutter. Due to budget constraints, I'm likely going to go to wider 15" pro stars for the time being. I've got 3.5 inches from the bead lip to the outer tie rod. Everything else is farther away with this 205/75-15 on a 4 or 5 inch rim.

Check the pics. The first one shows the wheel cranked over to the stop. The second is the passenger side view from behind the wheel.

[HWYSTR455]

Hm, I guess it depends on the LCAs, but I've never found there was a loss in steering. Except a long time ago with Fatman Fab ones, and think maybe the CPP ones, but would have to check.

On the calipers, guess it depends on which 15" wheels you're using. If you have room, you could use a spacer.


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[JLMounce]

The A body steering stops are supposed to hit the lower control arms. Any difference there would be related to size difference of aftermarket lower arm to the factory lower arm. It's possible you may have gained or lost a tiny amount.

You can cut that steering stop off to gain some additional steer. You just have to know that you've done it and make sure you're not always cranking on the wheel past its limits.

I have a remanufactured box in my bird that does not have internal stops like the F-body boxes are supposed to. As a result there's no steering stop in the system. It hasn't caused any issues for me, other than the ability to put the tire on the frame rails and high steering angles.

[HWYSTR455]

As an example:

(pics attached)


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[kpbrown31]

I went with Rare Parts. Customer service was great as well when I had a question or two on install.