New parts came!

[mplecha]

My SC&C stage 2+ parts came friday. I started on the passenger side. I ran into a little trouble with the brake and the SPC LCA, but so far so good.

New SPC spring next to the Moog I put in a few years ago.


Can you tell which LCA is new? lol!


New UCA next to factory.


I got a set of Bilsteins to go all the way around, too. It seems like the LCAs were not made with drum brakes in mind. I had to do a little massaging to the backplate on the drums, but it all fits. I'm going to try to finish it up today.

[ROBS6T8]

Wow! That's one helluva spring! I see you went with the screw in style ball joint. Had to be different. lol
Looks like fun. I love it when the UPS/Fed Ex guy arrives!

[mplecha]

I put the passenger side together and dropped it on the ground to see how it looked. With the drop spring, spc upper and lower arms with howe tall ball joints in both - it was way too low! It looked badass, but it was way too low. I had one 1/4" spacer under the spring. I added another 1/4" spacer and the 1/2" spacer that came with the kit in and it's perfect! I got the other side apart, but it's time to light the grill and drink a brew. I'll finish tomorrow morning. Still have to do the rear, also.

[monteboy84]

Looks awesome!! My Stage II Plus kit will be on my doorstep when I get home from work, gotta love it, feels like being a kid at Christmas again.

-matt

[1red68]

nice! keep the pics and info coming.

[mplecha]

The front is finished. I ended up using all the spacers that came in the kit - one 1/5" and two 1/4" spacers per side. The after shot is an inch and a half higher than when I first put it together! The SPC lower control arms and the tall balljoints really dropped the nose. I still have to swap the rear shocks and springs.

Before

After


The picture is a cell phone shot. It's kind of hard to see the stance on grass.

[ROBS6T8]

Looks great!

[mplecha]

ok. here are just two more shots. I drove it onto the street to see it on flat pavement. You can really tell how much lower the front is now. All in all it wasn't a difficult swap. With disc brakes it would have been a breeze, but the backing plate on the drums had to come off to fit the lower arm on. That took me more time than anything else.




I'll probably have to wait until Friday to do the rear. My wife will be home soon which means it's time to do yard stuff.

[65BuickGS]

Sharp looking car!!! Good work!!!!
Nice to see green grass in the pics,,,can only dream of it in my neck of the woods right now!!!

[mplecha]

It was 81 degrees here today. Can't beat it!

[mplecha]

I feel like I'm coming down with the flu. I'm weak, sore and generally don't feel good. I did get the energy to finish the rear, though. The car now has SPC springs and Bilstein shocks all around. I saw that my rear control arm bushings are shot. I guess that's next. It looks like I'll be removing the drum brakes again. the front brakes are dragging. Ah well. Maybe I'll get to that tomorrow if I feel better. Then I'll need to have it aligned.





I think the stance is perfect. I honestly don't think it could get any better. Thanks SC&C!

[ROBS6T8]

That does look perfect. Great job.

[Blown73]

It looks good! Love the stance, sweet ride!

[65BuickGS]

The stance is perfect!!!!

[mplecha]

The fastrax I odered finally showed up yesterday, so I got the car aligned. I set it at +5* caster, -.5* camber and 1/8" toe in. I was going to redo it with more caster, but the brake kit I ordered showed up today. I had to massage the drum backing plate a bit to clear the lower ball joint. Due to that, the drum rubs on the backing plate in turns. SO, I'm swapping the 9" drums up front for 13" C4 rotors and C5 calipers. I have a 77 Malibu manual disc/drum master cylinder and a wilwood prop valve. I also found a set of 68 camaro spindles and hubs on fleabay for 99 cents. I cleaned and soda blasted those this evening. A few days ago, I added relays to the headlight system. What a difference! It raised the voltage at my highbeams 2 volts! Anyway, I hope to start the swap Friday. I'll take lots of pictures.

[mplecha]

During some down time at work last night, I got to clean up the Camaro spindles and hubs. When I got up this morning, I pulled the spindles and hubs off my car. Unfortunately, that's as far as I'm going to get today. I have to work tonight. At least I can clean up the steering arms and hit it hard tomorrow.

"new" hubs


"new" spindles. I painted them a gray color that turned out to be battleship gray. I repainted them black but didn't snap any shots. This was right after soda blasting.


C4HD rotor on top of a 17" torque thrust II


C5 Caliper


the hybrid bracket

[mplecha]

I'm halfway through. I got the wheels finished, today. I can't wait to see how well they stop. Until then, I'll just have to enjoy how awesome the 13" rotors look behind 17" rims. I still have to install the master cylinder and proportioning valve. I'm going to leave that for next time, though. I hate bending lines.

The repainted spindles.


The semi-finished product

[gearbanger]

Man you gotta love that!

[mplecha]

oh, I do! I can't stop staring!

[1red68]

It looks really good! keep up the good work!