Turbo Look 3.2 with SSI's

Wil Ferch · 05-30-2003, 12:36 PM

I have a friend who has a 3.2 Wide Body and also has the SSI's installed.
Unlike other narrow body cars that I've seen with this set up, his car has the rear shock body touching and scraping the horizontal flange of the SSI's pretty severely, on their front edge.

Hmmmm...???

Then it hit me. Could this be it? Like a Turbo, the Wide body uses trailing arm pivot points that are mounted up and rearward to get a different geometry compared to a Normally Aspirated ( NA ) car. The set up would be like a Turbo, but no Turbo would ever have SSI's, and SSI's would not have to built to clear a Turbo's strut.

Is it possible that the relocated suspension ( compared to NA) is the problem? The "hit" and scraping is pretty bad. And for the longest time, we couldn't figure out why ...when so many other 3.2's had these installed without a problem.

---Wil Ferch

Bill Verburg · Bill Verburg's Garage

Quote:

Then it hit me. Could this be it? Like a Turbo, the Wide body uses trailing arm pivot points that are mounted up and rearward to get a different geometry compared to a Normally Aspirated ( NA ) car.

Yes, Yes it does

Wil Ferch · 05-31-2003, 05:43 AM

So.....
Any way to fix this ? Bend the SSI flanges, without breaking?

--Wil Ferch

89911 · 05-31-2003, 07:23 AM

Can you get a picture? If it is just the box itself and not a header pipe, any amount of bending of the metal won't harm the performance, as long as there still sealed. It won't look pretty either. Interesting conflict.

Wil Ferch · 05-31-2003, 09:38 AM

89911:
Thanks for the feedback.
Yes, it is indeed interesting in that this combination of parts is theroretically available for many many years....yet I've heard no one mention it.
Yeah... we could bend the heater box ( surrounding the header) flanges that make up the bottom and top halves of the heater boxes..., but they're very thin so I wondered if it was done before without breakage..

---Wil Ferch

89911 · 05-31-2003, 01:42 PM

Maybe most buyers of the "turbo look" expected the "turbo look exhaust" to be part of the package!

Wil Ferch · 05-31-2003, 05:53 PM

Fine...let's call it Wide-body instead of Turbo-Look ....
---Wil Ferch

VenezianBlau 87 · 05-31-2003, 06:21 PM

Hmm...

Get out your trusty rear ride height wrench and dial 'er up "Dukes of Hazzard" style.

It sure helps me obersteer on the dirt roads down here.

Cheers,

Bob Sauerteig