Succesful Steps In Building a A-Body Suspension

[1nkred1ble]

After countless hours of searching the archives of pt.com, lateralg.net, ls1tech.com, google, and every other website that google pulled up i still find myself lost and i have not been able to move on from stage 1 of a good suspension build.
It seems like the more information ive soaked in the more confused i get as to what should be the appropriate steps into building a suspension for my 1970 chevelle.

Originally pre pro-protouring.com i was getting ready to dump all my money into my 496 bbc but know after reading post after post i have decided to work up my suspension giving me extra time to decide what to do underneath the hood.

Engines for me in my naiveness( is that even a word??) small block or bigblock are easy to figure it out. Stroke it out add a couple majical parts and hit the 500hp BOOM DONE!!!!

but this whole suspension thing goes wayyyyyy over my head.
theirs not alot of specific information out there when it comes to a good suspension set up for a 70 chevelle. In a perfect world i would just go with a air ride but thats alot of money for me.

my plans are to have a suspension that rides really nice thats my priority, being able to hug a curb at 100mph would be nice but not as important since i dont plan on road racing or auto x'ing my car.

thanks guys for the information i really appreciated.

[gearheads78]

Call Markus at SC&C, listen to him, give credit card number, install parts, enjoy.

AFX spindle is best but stageII+ is a close second thats what I did.

[1badchevelle]

no matter what you decide go with afx(ats) spindle. Give me a call when you get a chance,

Get off the computer and start working on the car. (at least get the part so we can try to get the car started)

[1badchevelle]

try this

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...3AIT&viewitem=

[6'9"Witha69]

I will second the recommendation for Marcus @ SC&C. For everyone who has ever gone his way has been happy.

http://www.scandc.com/

[1nkred1ble]

lol
i will call you tomorrow, maybe you can come with me so we can go get some parts together.
& i hope mark is ready form my million questions on monday!!!

[Roadbuster]

x3 on calling Mark!

Check out my build thread in my sig and you can see the setup Mark worked for my 68 GTO (same frame as your 1970 Chevelle)

It works very well and has no bump steer!

Jon

[MCMLXIX]

Mark will talk your ear off... but the Chevelle will be better off because of it...
For some Chevelle specific stuff... http://www.chevelles.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=56

[gearheads78]

lol
I hope mark is ready form my million questions on monday!!!

I hope you are ready for 2 million answers

[b-man]

Mark really knows his product and will gladly share plenty of additional product and setup info that you didn't even know to ask for.

You'll be glad you called SC&C.

[1nkred1ble]

hey guy thanks for the responses, i will call mark first thing monday.
Hey RoadBuster
if you dont mind me asking how much did that package run you?
Looks beautiful!!!

[bret]

I am obviously biased as hell, but this package does nothing wrong:

http://www.ridetech.com/products/68_...-1584-941.html

And if you want to upgrade to the Street Challenge level you get the double adjustable shocks, LevelPro right height sensors, and swaybars. You can expect your car to perform like this:

http://www.ridetechtv.com/featured_l...php?reset=true

with this result:

http://www.ridetech.com/more/2009/03...otout-results/

You'll see this Chevelle and our Velocity Camaro in action at the Motorstate Challenge in Michigan in June.

Come up and check it out!

[dhutton]

I am obviously biased as hell, but this package does nothing wrong:

http://www.ridetech.com/products/68_...-1584-941.html

And if you want to upgrade to the Street Challenge level you get the double adjustable shocks, LevelPro right height sensors, and swaybars. You can expect your car to perform like this:

http://www.ridetechtv.com/featured_l...php?reset=true

with this result:

http://www.ridetech.com/more/2009/03...otout-results/

You'll see this Chevelle and our Velocity Camaro in action at the Motorstate Challenge in Michigan in June.

Come up and check it out!

Bret, any news on an A body Street Challenge kit that uses Shockwaves instead of the double adjustable shocks?

Thanks,
Don

[bret]

I assume that you are talking about the rear of the A body? The reason we don't do a shockwave for the rear is...there is really no reason to. GM very thoughtfully located the shock separately from the spring, with both being in a good location and out of harms way. I looked at doing a shockwave system for the rear but I couldn't think of any performance or convenience advantage so we passed on it for the moment. We offer the CoolRide airspring [which is a drop in] and a double adjustable shock [also a drop in] and now the Titanium series monotube remote reservoir double adjustable shock. We also have prototypes of an adjustable upper control am with an articulating front joint that we just put on my GSX and our 66 Chevelle. Those should be available by the 1st of July.
We also just finished up on our new front modular swaybar for the 64-67 A bodies and the 68-72 A bodies. [yes, they are different] We'll be shipping on those by June 10.

[gizmo]

Define "nice"? Because plenty of cars that handle well but probably seem "harsh" to the average joe?

[bret]

Define "nice"? Because plenty of cars that handle well but probably seem "harsh" to the average joe?

You pose an excellent question, one that has been asked in various forms of us for the last 15 years. To answer it we are actually working on a device that will quantify ride quality performance much like you can already quantify cornering performance in terms of lap times and skidpad numbers. But for the moment, I have no definitive explanation for "nice". I will be gald to take anyone for a ride if we can meet up at a Goodguys show or other events. That is the ultimate confirmation of any ride quality level anyway. Even the oem engineers with all their data gathering equipments do thir final ride quality tuning with the time tested "assometer". No substitute for an analog evaluation of a digital problem!

[dhutton]

I assume that you are talking about the rear of the A body? The reason we don't do a shockwave for the rear is...there is really no reason to. GM very thoughtfully located the shock separately from the spring, with both being in a good location and out of harms way. I looked at doing a shockwave system for the rear but I couldn't think of any performance or convenience advantage so we passed on it for the moment. We offer the CoolRide airspring [which is a drop in] and a double adjustable shock [also a drop in] and now the Titanium series monotube remote reservoir double adjustable shock. We also have prototypes of an adjustable upper control am with an articulating front joint that we just put on my GSX and our 66 Chevelle. Those should be available by the 1st of July.
We also just finished up on our new front modular swaybar for the 64-67 A bodies and the 68-72 A bodies. [yes, they are different] We'll be shipping on those by June 10.

Thanks Bret. I remember reading here a few months ago that you were working on a Shockwave for the rear, hence my question.

[gizmo]

You pose an excellent question, one that has been asked in various forms of us for the last 15 years.

I was actually asking the OP what he meant by "nice" because I wasn't sure what exactly he was looking for when he asks for a "nice" ride.

My apologies, I should've overtly directed that response to the OP.

[Roadbuster]

hey guy thanks for the responses, i will call mark first thing monday.
Hey RoadBuster
if you dont mind me asking how much did that package run you?
Looks beautiful!!!

Price I paid was same as SC&Cs web site plus shipping. The parts came with lots of tech support too! Plenty of phone calls to Mark to make sure I got it right. The only front suspension part between the steering column and the road that I have not replaced is the pitman arm. It is a non wearing part so it just needed a new coat of paint. It is a PITA to get off the old box though.


Jon

[1nkred1ble]

I am obviously biased as hell, but this package does nothing wrong:

http://www.ridetech.com/products/68_...-1584-941.html

And if you want to upgrade to the Street Challenge level you get the double adjustable shocks, LevelPro right height sensors, and swaybars. You can expect your car to perform like this:

http://www.ridetechtv.com/featured_l...php?reset=true

with this result:

http://www.ridetech.com/more/2009/03...otout-results/

You'll see this Chevelle and our Velocity Camaro in action at the Motorstate Challenge in Michigan in June.

Come up and check it out!

i would love to upgrade to a aride somewhere in the future, but right now its a little over my budget. Im looking to spend around 2-3 thousand for my suspension