The front suspension recently came together...
Some info on what you see in the pics...
- The upper and lower control arms are part of Vette Brakes & Products Performance Plus System. It was a tough decision on which direction to go here... stock vs aftermarket, and then which aftermarket. I liked this system for its adjustable ride height and ride firmness, plus appreciated the experience of other users who reported better handling on the road. It utilizes a dual-mount transverse spring that does away with the coil springs between the control arms. Coil-overs were an aftermarket thought too, but far too expensive for my overall budget plans.
- Installation of the whole system went fairly smoothly following the directions and using the pictures I took during dis-assembly. Also having the original suspension partially mocked up immediately after it came off the frame served as another good visual reference. I did have to do some minor grinding on the bottom of the frame on a small area of the vertical lip where the RH side lower control arm cross shaft fits to get it mounted flush. These cross shafts are much wider than stock. Then I touched up the grinded area with POR15. (yes, the frame is dusty!)
- The system requires you to reuse some original fastening hardware. Rather than restore every nut/bolt/etc right away, I just tackled each one as I needed it. This helped me to not get things mixed up or misplaced. I just used a wire wheel on my bench top grinder to restore them.
- For the upper control arm shims, I cleaned up and put back what was initially there. This will have to be fine tuned later at an alignment shop.
- For front brakes, I'm using Wilwood 14" slotted rotors and 6-piston calipers fitted for C2 & C3's. The installation went smoothly just following the supplied directions which was nice since it was another first in a long list of firsts for me on this project. There is some trial & error built into the process in centering the caliper over the rotor and spacing it far enough way radially, but all the required shims were included in the kit. My research revealed that the stock C3 braking system is still pretty good even by today's standards, but I liked the reduction in unsprung weight these brakes offer that I read about and the aesthetic is pretty cool too. I did not get drilled and slotted rotors because some of the research I did showed that the holes can represent a weak spot in the rotor. Once installed, I measured the rotor runout at ~0.010" on each side after torquing them down with lug nuts. I'll have to use some shims between the hub and the rotor hat to get that in spec, but don't have any yet so perhaps I'll put that step in a future post.
- The sway bar is not attached because the end links don't quite fit nicely with the mounting points on the lower control arms yet since there is no weight on the suspension. I'll have to remember to attach those when I get to that point.
- I'm impressed with the overall sturdiness of the components and hopeful it helps improve handling on the road. The sway bar is 1 1/8" in diameter, 1/4" larger than what came off the car. The control arms are made from box tubing which should be sturdier than the stock stamped steel. The cross shafts for the lower control arms are much larger than stock as you can see in these pics...
- I cleaned up my stock spindles, hubs, and steering knuckles with a wire wheel and then gave them the POR15 treatment with a final coat of Seymour Cast Blast to get the color, being careful to not get any paint inside the hub or on the rotor mating surface. I put new Timken bearings and races in the hubs as well. I think the before/after pics are pretty obvious!
That wraps up where I'm at with the chassis as of this moment. Next post will talk about what's installed in the rear in the pic below along with some rear suspension work. Thanks for reading!
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