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Johnnyjr
10-25-2009, 03:42 PM
Hello all iam new from el paso and have a 78 trans am.

i am wanting to redo my suspension on my car i want it to handle like a modern day sports car and i want it alot lower.

iam new to this but this was what i had planned just need some help from you experts. thanks in advance for all your help. please throw in ur ideas and opinions on this.

here is what i have planned
FRONT
1. qa1 coil over kit
2.global west control arms both lower and upper
3.c6 corvette brake conversion
4.drop spindles
5.also wanna use a KORE3 billet hub kit
Back
1.allready have a nice drop with the hotchkis drop leaf springs
2.wanna put some slide a link traction bars
3.afco t2 double adjustable shocks

and i wanna run z06 rims on the car all around like these http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-29787441116698_2077_40229783

this car will be for my son so this car will just be a street car and a everday car wont be pushed all the time just every once and a while so i don't wanna spend a whole bunch of $ money either but don't wanna go cheap as he is my son. i will post pictures of the car in a while and me and my son just redid the suspension on the car but he wants it lower so we figured while at that might as well do it right.

formula
10-25-2009, 03:47 PM
I'll wait for the leaf specialists to speak on the rear, but the front setup sounds pretty good.

You'll also want to consider chassis stiffening, any way you can. The easiest ones are subframe connectors and g-braces and fender braces. Those are all bolt-in and make a pretty big difference.

Johnnyjr
10-25-2009, 04:09 PM
forgot to put in subframe connectors slipped my mind but i was checking out the g brake and the connectors at profbody and ill probably pick up a pair.

Johnnyjr
10-25-2009, 04:12 PM
let me post some pictures of how my car is and stands as of now
http://tinyurl.com/yfs4c8w
http://tinyurl.com/yk6n5sh
http://tinyurl.com/yza4r44
http://tinyurl.com/ykt6d3s
http://tinyurl.com/ylsfd7f

Johnnyjr
10-25-2009, 04:19 PM
here is some more
http://tinyurl.com/yfeqstj
http://tinyurl.com/ylqqmr9
http://tinyurl.com/yzbwx24

wedgehead
10-25-2009, 04:21 PM
nice car We are also building a 78 T/A for one of my twins first car. Yours looks to be further along than ours. We are looking at doing the same mods on his with a ls 6 liter for power.

Johnnyjr
10-25-2009, 04:27 PM
sounds cool and thank you and haha me and my son have changed our minds on alot of things thats probably why we are going kinda slow lol hope this thread helps you out then. we are probley gunna do a 455 in ours our goal is like between 450-550 hp

opnwide
10-25-2009, 04:55 PM
Try the photo links again.

Sounds pretty solid. Lots of camaros and firebirds ran fast with leafs back when that was all we had (ie Herb Adams et al). I'll be doing similar with my car (3" drop DSE leafs and speedtech control arms.
However, If I don't like the way the leafs work, and if I can't fix it, I'll pay the $2K and upgrade to prodigy's 4link. But that's $2K that I can use to get my car running right now.

Johnnyjr
10-26-2009, 05:40 PM
are u sure the links aren't working? and yeh i don't really see my self spending another 2k on suspension on top of about 4k

and suggestions or things i should consider or focus on?

93Polo
10-26-2009, 05:46 PM
Links are working for me. Looks like a very nice project.

formula
10-26-2009, 05:56 PM
are u sure the links aren't working? and yeh i don't really see my self spending another 2k on suspension on top of about 4k

and suggestions or things i should consider or focus on?

Only other thing I can think of is that drop spindles on top of coilovers may be too much drop...

Johnnyjr
10-26-2009, 06:01 PM
there is such a thing as to much drop :O ???
like if the spindles are 2 inch of a drop then the most of a drop could be like 4 ? or 3.5? or what you think?

formula
10-26-2009, 07:20 PM
this was my car when it had too much drop...wheels were sitting on the fenders :hammer:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

That was mostly because the wheels weren't what I'd ordered, though...

Since I've been on airride for years now, I honestly have no idea what stock height is anymore haha so 4" may be fine--I guess if worse comes to worst, you could always swap the spindles out if it was too low.

Johnnyjr
10-26-2009, 07:59 PM
that stance is so perfect though i really like it but i dont want to damage my car or do anything that will affect me in a bad way thanks for the info and yeh i could and it would just be a waste of 500 lol no biggie :P

Johnnyjr
10-26-2009, 08:04 PM
to me i think this is like a perfect stance and is probably way to hard to accomplished on a trans am though

http://tinyurl.com/yfuce8k

79T/Aman
10-27-2009, 04:12 AM
if this car is going to be driven I would not try to lower it too much, skip the drop spindles, honestly a set of conventional front springs and shocks, also consider our body bushings so that you can lower the body on the frame this will give the ower look without affecting the suspension.

formula
10-27-2009, 06:15 AM
to me i think this is like a perfect stance and is probably way to hard to accomplished on a trans am though

http://tinyurl.com/yfuce8k


Without airride, that's gonna be way tough...

With airride, you just push a button. That's pretty close to how mine sits when it's aired out. Might want to look into going that way--then you can ride tucked and slammed when you want to, but hit a button and still clear potholes etc.

Johnnyjr
10-27-2009, 01:59 PM
http://www.pro-touringf-body.com how would you go about getting the car lower i allready put eibach drop springs on the front and hotchkis drop leafs in the back i want to go a lil bit lower in the back but plently lower in the front but keep in mind that the car has no engine in it as of the pictures of the car. and i also want to run corvette rims like these on the car http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-2978744..._2077_40229783

Lowend
10-27-2009, 03:37 PM
I like everything but the QA1 shocks. QA1 has awful consistancy in their shocks. I would go with static springs and custom valved Bilstiens

79T/Aman
10-27-2009, 03:56 PM
well how much more do you want to go in the rear? the options are 1/2" lowering block or the HA mod to the front leaf perch that will give you about 1/2" as well, but in all honesty I think without having the engine in and no wheels you are getting ahead of yourself.

Johnnyjr
10-27-2009, 04:55 PM
i need to go look for the wheels here local this weekend and yeh i think a .5 to 1 inch drop in the back would be ok but on the front the engine wouldent lower it 3.5-4 inchs would it? and the mod to the front leaf perch would be what? and if i do a block and that modd i could gain 1 inch of a drop??

opnwide
10-27-2009, 05:20 PM
Links are working for me now. I don't know what was happening before.
I have to concur about spending too much thought on it now. You can make some adjustments after you get it running (drop blocks or cut the front coils). The shorter subframe bushings will still give you clearance issues with the inner fender, and the shaker hood will also be pushed up (not an issue for you).

My car with the shorter front and 3" drop springs sits WAY too high for me, but I am going to reeval after I get it running. Plus, as it sits now, its easier for me to sand the rockers:)

Johnnyjr
10-27-2009, 06:04 PM
pro fbody touring i have another question could i run these rims on the t/a or would there be a problem?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/18-Corvette-Wheels-and-Tires_W0QQitemZ250518018683QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMoto rs_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item3a54099a7b

79T/Aman
10-27-2009, 06:42 PM
no those wheels will not work, there is no offset listed but it is easy to tell that they have way too much back space to fit.

Johnnyjr
10-27-2009, 06:48 PM
as you can tell iam no wheel expert or know nothing but what can i put i wanted to put corvette rims like those or one like on a 01 zo6 but if i cant then i cant what should i be looking for?

Johnnyjr
10-27-2009, 07:14 PM
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/18-Black-Wheels-Rims-Corvette-Z06-ZO6-Firebird-C4-C5-C6_W0QQitemZ200397823234QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_ Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item2ea8a41d02

whats the most offset u can run in the car in the front and rear?

couldn't i run Size: 18x9.5 inch
Bolt Pattern : 5x120.65mm (Same as 5x4.75)
Offset/ET: 57 MM

rims with a spacer??? or even then it wont work?

Johnnyjr
02-01-2010, 09:26 PM
Competition Engineering say these Slide-A-Link traction bars
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CEE-2096/
Global West Suspension's G-Plus control arms uppers
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/GLS-CTA-71A/
Global West Suspension's G-Plus control arms lowers
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/GLS-CTA-71H/
QA1 Economy Pro Coil systems front
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HAL-GME1550-3/
QA1 Stocker Star rear shocks
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HAL-TC2109P/
Wilwood's Dynalite Pro series front disc brake kit
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WIL-140-3445-BD/
Year one 17x9 snowflake rims
http://www.yearone.com/serverfiles/fbshopmain2.asp?cat=4
Bf Goodrich g-force T/A KDW 2 275/40zr17 all around
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=g-Force+T%2FA+KDW+2&partnum=74YR7GFTAKDW2&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes
Ground force drop spindles 2in drop
http://www.jegs.com/i/Ground+Force/476/6009/10002/-1PRO-G-BRACES
http://www.pro-touringf-body.com/
Subframe connectors
http://www.pro-touringf-body.com/chassis_components.html
Cowl brace
http://www.pro-touringf-body.com/chassis_components.html

Please let me know what you guys think about this set up i really need your input on the parts and what you think about this list i will be putting this on my 78 trans am and pro fbody touring can you verify that the pro touring g braces work on my 78 trans am and the cowl brace still hooks up :) i will be placing the order on these parts really soon if you guys think its a good idea and everything looks good 2 go thanks in advance guys.

formula
02-01-2010, 10:15 PM
the g braces and cowl brace will work for your 78. I ran them in mine before I switched to LS power--now my alternator is right in the friggin' way, dangit.

Johnnyjr
02-01-2010, 10:50 PM
But do the pro g braces work? Tho ones on the mainsite with the cowl brace?