suspension recomendations

[c00nhunterjoe]

my goal for this winter is chassis work, i want a nice corner hugger. this is the parts i have picked out for now-

From firm feel-
front end rebuild kit with upgrade to 11/16 tie rods and sleeves, all bj's and bushings included and idler arm (all polyurethane)
tubular upper control arms
greasable lower control arm pins
road race rear leaf springs
adjustable strut rods
torsion bars (dont know diameter yet)

From mancini racing-
lower control arm box kit
subframe connectors

From summit
adco front sway bar kit- 1 1/8
adco rear sway bar kit- 7/8

my total is about 2000 in parts, what size torsion bars should i go with and isnt there a limit on the size before you have to upgrade the lca's? i have an iron headed 383 in the car. i was leaning towards the 1.06 or 1.18.

what other components for chassis and suspension should i be looking at? i was debating getting the reinforced k frame but i didnt want to drop another 450 down when i am a perfectly competent welder but i cant find the reinforcing kit's anywhere. anybody got any ideas or suggestions for changes in my parts list?

[c00nhunterjoe]

re-reading this i just relized i dont have shocks picked out!  firmfeel recomends bilsteins- your opinions on a road handling shock?

[autoxcuda]

The addco front  sway bars for 69 and earlier B-bodies suck. But you can fix that with the energy sway bar adapter kit. Hotchkis makes factory style LCA mounts that you can weld on if you car didn't originally have a front sway bar.
If you want a nice complete setup, get Hellwig tubular, Firm Feel, or Hotchkis tubular. The K-member to sway bar setup is way better. The Hotchkis and Hellwig adjustable rear bars are very cool.  

You don't really need the LCA reinforcement plates for the bigger T-bars. It's more of a thing for bigger sway bars that put more twist on the LCA because of the added force on the sway bar bracket.

If you feel you are running out of budget, there are some things that you can change around on your parts list to optimize you bang for your buck. The money saved from using factory upper control arms and strut rods can be put toward the shocks. Firm Feel Bilstein or QA1 single knob adjustables.

From firm feel-

front end rebuild kit with upgrade to 11/16 tie rods and sleeves, all bj's and bushings included and idler arm (all polyurethane)
**don't bother with poly LCA bushings. They don't fit that great and the stock rubbers are so thin they don't flex very much.

tubular upper control arms
**get better shocks FIRST. And run moog 7103 offset bushings to get up to 4 degrees positive caster with a stock arm

greasable lower control arm pins
**don't need them with rubber LCA bushings

road race rear leaf springs

adjustable strut rods
**factory strut rods are fine. Take you rear poly strut bushing and shave it and the metal tube 3/16" to give you added caster see http://users.erols.com/mathewg/bushings.html

subframe connectors

torsion bars (dont know diameter yet)
**1.16"

From mancini racing-
lower control arm box kit
**don't bother or just weld some 1"x2" strap across the gap in the LCA.


From summit
adco front sway bar kit- 1 1/8
adco rear sway bar kit- 7/8

[c00nhunterjoe]

my car has a factory front sway bar so what bar kit should i go with? which one welds to the k-member?

so you like the front end kit from firm feel with poly bushings EXCEPT for the lca's correct?

where do you get the moog offset bushings?

[autoxcuda]

my car has a factory front sway bar so what bar kit should i go with? which one welds to the k-member?

so you like the front end kit from firm feel with poly bushings EXCEPT for the lca's correct?

where do you get the moog offset bushings?

Actually the Firm Feel bushing are white nylon and they may fit better. They are nice. I just originally lubed my poly LCA's with that snotty grease they give you, after fitting them for hours and hours and they don't squeak. That was in 1998 and 30K miles ago or so. I'm just  it's not much bang for the buck and use that money on shocks.

Moog 7103 bushings are availible at the parts store or www.rockauto.com

Install per THIS diagram, not like the instruction say...

[autoxcuda]

my car has a factory front sway bar so what bar kit should i go with? which one welds to the k-member?

None weld to the K-member. Hotchkis just sell lower control arm sway bar tabs that are allready on your factory LCA's since it had a sway bar.

You can run an addco sway bar, but make sure it has an adapter bracket like this kit and then use the right diameter poly bushing that goes with your sway bar. http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=5%2E5134



If you buy a Hellwig, Hotchkis, or Firm Feel sway bar for factory sway bar cars you will get a nice version of this kit with the sway bar. I'd go 1 1/8 diameter sway bar.

[c00nhunterjoe]

what is wrong with the adco kits? and why do i need to buy the energy suspension adapter if i buy the adco bars?