I have made mostly small changes to the car, things which all can easily be reversed. All stock parts are carefully stored away. However, what started as me just talking to a mechanic, (not the best thing for your wallet), about lowering my car a tad turned into a complete suspension build. But, it turned out, it was some of the best money spent when it came to hard (aka: fun) driving of the car. It drives completely different from before. I couldn’t believe the difference.
Suspension guru Steve Grosekemper at Black Forest in San Diego planned it and built it. Here is a short list of what we did.
Front: New A-arms (74-89 versions) with Elephant Racing poly bronze bearings/bushings. Transferred the ball joints, aligning the A-arm mounts to the chassis to preclude binding during travel. Installed new 21mm ER torsion bars. Installed a 22mm sway bar (scavenged from an SC), not thru body to minimize wear spots. All new bushings all around, front and rear.
Rear: Replaced the stock spring plates with adjustable ones (again, scavenged from an SC) with new ER poly bronze bushings. New ER 26mm torsion bars. Custom installation of a 18mm sway bar (again, from an SC) by welding on Wevo frame mounts and modified end links to fit early chassis.
We then adjusted the ride height at each corner to basically sit as low as possible without having any rubbing, paint burning issues even during an occasional Auto Cross. Steve considered all factors, wheel/tire size, suspension stiffness, while dialing in -1.4 camber for the front and -1.8 for the rear. The car was then aligned and corner balanced. (Car is at 2304 lbs.) The fronts are deep sixes and the rears standard sevens, all with 205/60/15’s. Steve also added 8mm spacers in the front for a wider track.
Again, I know that this set up is not everybody’s thing on a narrow bodied car. (And, I have another future plan for a set of stock 6X15’s). The polished finish may be a little too shiny for some, but it was the thing to do in the early 80’s…the car’s theme of sorts. I also put in 80mm wheel studs, as I like that look, and the open lugs are titanium, not steel.
