All, I have just completed the rebuild of my front suspension on my 67 GS400 Vert. Breakdown: New inner and outer ties Eibach performance springs 77 Trans Am Sway Bar 1.25" LS1 Disc Brakes SPC Tubular upper control arms, 4 way adjustable Howe Tall Upper and Lower Ball Joints Monte Carlo SS quick ratio steering gear with Tom Lee conversion Here are the updated pics. let me know if anyone wants info on step-by-step http://picasaweb.google.com/tom.wolfinger/GS400FrontSuspension?feat=directlink Tom
Very nice. I am curious what hubs you used and where you got the brackets? Did you use a standard spindle? I have the hex aluminum upper arms and tall upper ball joints. I did not do the lower tall ball joints and wound up putting the ball joint under the bracket with spacers to get the clearance I needed. I am looking forward to seeing how it all turns out when you get it on the road. Mine handles like a slot car for the most part. Good luck!
I used drum brake hubs and spindles. I had the hub cut back to around 5.92" to allow the hub to sit in the rotor hat. I had the upper mounting boss of the spindle cut back about 3/16" so that the bracket would lay flush. The bracket is from Rich Hoag and is basically the same as the one on the Pozzi racing site. Glad to hear you are happy with your setup, I should see similar results. The power isn't hooked up to the steering obviously, but went in the car and confirmed 2.5 turns lock to lock. The conversion for the steering gear was a piece of cake.
Nice! I also did a GN box on mine with Lee's kit. If I had an overdrive and A/C, this would be my "most days" driver.
brphotrods.com offers front and rear brakcets for the ls1 brkae kit also...looks like it indeed require 17in rims i'm kind of up in the air with this now... how;s the hydroboost comming? did you go with the hydrotech kit? or some other brand?
Any prices on the Lee kit? I have an 87 GN box as well that I would like to install in my 64 Lark. Thanks.
I don't remember exactly but I believe it was around $70. My kit included the inserts that go in the GN steering gear box to allow old style hoses (non-o-ring) to connect and a new rag joint part that was GN on one end. It was a simple and quick upgrade.
It was $90 shipped to my house in NH. They are in Cali and you are as well, so shipping should be cheap. Easy 1 hour upgrade. Tom
Any additional hardware or parts needed(pitman arm, linkage, etc.)? I'm transplanting the turbo six in the Lark so I guess I'll keep the hoses, nuts, reservoir, etc. I need to get what I need off the GN roller before I let it go. Thanks.
If you are keeping the GN motor/pump and putting the GN box in, all you need is the rag joint parts. I am unsure about the pitman arm because I used my '70 pitman arm so no changes there. If the splines are the same on the pitman arm, then it should not be a problem. My brother put one on a '66 GS without any problems. You might be able to construct a rag joint out of the GN piece if that is available to you.
Must use the A-body pitman arm as the length is much different than the GN pitman arm. your regular resorvoir will work just fine. use the stock hoses and the tom lee kit. THe only thing needed is the kit.
I haven't done the hydroboost yet. Debating going manual with a smaller bore master cylinder and quality pads vs. the hydroboost. If I do the hydroboost, I will go with the setup that is in the Astro vans. THey make a bracket that the astro van setup fits in for mounting to the firewall, otherwise they all hook up the same to the power steering hoses. It is said that with the LS1 brakes and a 15/16" to 1" bore master cylinder, they give very good response and feel, so I am going that route first.
yea, this is the gripe i have, dont know if its the lack of sidewall or that no matter what size in 17s you get..the tire is the same diameter...which is practicly equal to a 225-60-15..but in different widths ou: maybe i'll look into a 18rear 17 combo haha and cool stuff on the astro van setup! i'll definatly be going hydro either way
Tom - In your pictures I do not see where the upper arms contact the bump stop. What stops the downward travel of the control arm? - Bill
Hi Bill, Short answer: The uppers can hit the frame, but the shock can do the job if carefully set up. Longer version: My set up is similar (SC&C uppers, SPC lowers, ATS spindles, C6 brakes, double adjustable Varishocks). I set it up so that when the front suspension is in full droop, with the shock at full extension, the upper control arm is approximately 1/4" above the frame. This yielded plenty of suspension droop travel and and about 5/8" extra compression travel with my shocks. What I had to be careful of is to not let the shock bottom out in compression, that kills shocks quickly. The SPC lowers have an extra deep spring pocket and the Varishock gets mounted to the TOP of LCA instead of the bottom like the original setup. I did a suspension pre-assembly minus the spring, ran the suspension in full compression (bump stop all smashed and tie-rod end touching the frame). That left 1-5/8" of unused stroke in the shock so I machined up some 1" long spacers to go between the shock crossbar and the LCA and re-ran the springless test to verify.
Mine is even worse. Not the ideal situation. I have just resigned myself to never let it get the front tires off the ground again. Supposedly, this all works much better on a lowered car but I can't go any lower and keep the front spoiler and M/T repro headers on it. I've got spacers between my ball joint and the mounting point that lower the ball joint about an inch to keep it from binding even sooner the arm on the frame even sooner.
Hi Greg, Check out post #4 in this thread. Looks like a pretty clean solution. I couldn't go that route because I have the screw in BJs, which is why I had to use the shock as the droop travel limiter. http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=295167
Interesting idea. I was seriously just thinking of wrapping the arms in inner tube that was tie wrapped to it.
