Watts link for first gen camaros

[Bryce]

that's beautiful. how much did it cost when it was all said and done?



granted that is pretty thick aluminum, are you not worried the tabs that hold the bell crank will bend after repeated use of hard cornering?

Tons of design time by me. Aluminum, about 60 bucks, aluminum Rod ends 40 each, aluminum links 10 each, bushings and fasteners around 20 total axle clamps 70. So about $280. Plus alot of fabrication time. I would say 80-120 hours of design and 40 hours of fab.

[Bryce]

No worries on thickness in that piece. It's plenty strong to hold a lot of force

Thanks and if you look through m build thread (see signature) you will see that it also attaches to the floor and it will have a back up plate inside the trunk.

[SIK02SS]

Thanks and if you look through m build thread (see signature) you will see that it also attaches to the floor and it will have a back up plate inside the trunk.

It really is a great looking piece! I saw the extra holes drilled and figured it was going to have a pretty rigid installation. Did you do this with a mill or do you have CAD/CNC capabilities?

[Bryce]

Sik02SS,

Take a look at my build thread. You might like some of the other things I have built. I used CATIA, a cad program to help with the design of this piece. But everything was cut at home on my bandsaw then hand finished with a die grinder.

[Bryce]

Wow Bryce, it's a shame that'll be hidden under the car!

Thanks 68Formula! I hope it will work as good as it looks!

[JRouche]

Jrouche
that is 10 pounds of suspension in a 5 pound bag lol is it a old prostreet car you ar converting? or are you keeping it a drag car? i can see in your case that a long PHB could be a bitt tricky. is that pic at ride height?

Hahaha.. I know. Too much right? It was in 95 that I decided to put a new rear end housing in the car and Art Morrison was the only company providing the needed parts I wanted. The 62 nova stock is a unibody car, no real frame. So I looked at, and bought their 4-link rear clip. http://www.artmorrison.com/2006cat/33.pdf

It is a lil over kill for this car. 2x4 rails, heavy brackets. Its a rear clip thats good for a 2500hp car that launches hard off the line, which mine is NOT. But I couldnt beat the cost at the time and it really has changed alot over the years.

And no, I didnt buy it to be set up as a pro street car, I always had intentions of making it handle, I just needed a nice set of frame rails to connect everything to. And I dont regret my purchase of the AM rear clip. I DO regret that it took me 15 years to get it on the road and that was because life happened (job change, babies on the way, new house).

Whats nice about having some solid metal back there is I can modify it without worry of stressing the frame rails or brackets.

Its still a parallel 4-link which hasent seemed to cause any problems. The rod ends did. They were large, nice stainless steel poly units and they would actually break free (the jamb nut) because I needed more "twist" than they could handle. So the spherical bearing rod ends went in. They dont come loose now.

It is a busy rear end, all the links. And yes, looks heavy. But the car is light. And the small block really moves the car out. I havent scaled it yet. Im gonna just take a stab and guess the weight is 2800-3000lbs. I have a set of digital race scales, I need to weigh the car just to see where its at. But with a small hp 350 it really takes off, so Im thinking she is pretty light.

And I showed two pics. You asked about if it was at ride height. The first pic is, the one with the solid struts in place for welding the shock mounts. The second pic is with the shockwaves in place but aired down and relaxed. JR

[JRouche]

by making this thread i am trying to seek out those that have actually made the switch to a watts link. there is no better comparison then a before and after on the same car. if all you ever had in your car was a pan hard bar, then how can you speak on what a watts link can do???

trying to keep it factual.

Im a lil lost. You got two examples of a switch. Do you want more or do you think the two examples are not what you were asking for?

You sound a lil perturbed like you arent getting the examples you were asking for. Can you clarify? JR

[Rod]

I'm liking this thread!!

[JRouche]

I run a watts link in my falcon. I design and built my own with a chassis mounted bell crank.








It is really easy to calculate the lateral translation of a PHB. A 32" PHB level at ride with 2" travel in either direction will move .063, thats 1/16"

If it moves 4" in either direction than you get .251" of lateral translation.

Ummm, once again Bryce, SUPER WORK!!!.. I wish I had the welding and design skills that you have. Even a fraction of it would be nice. Any pics of it in the Falcon? Buy the way, I love the old Falcons.

Crazy to see an engineer with great mechanical skills also. Very nice work, JR

[Bryce]

Ummm, once again Bryce, SUPER WORK!!!.. I wish I had the welding and design skills that you have. Even a fraction of it would be nice. Any pics of it in the Falcon? Buy the way, I love the old Falcons.

Crazy to see an engineer with great mechanical skills also. Very nice work, JR

Thanks JR! I wish I could weld that good. But I had a friend (professional welded) do the welding for me. I was a car guy before I was an engineer. An engineer with hands on skills makes a better engineer. Check my build thread in the next few days. Final assembly will happen soon.

[Rod]

ARRRGGGGG i want one!!!

[Bryce]

ARRRGGGGG i want one!!!

I dont think anyone would want to pay me to build one.

[Kenova]

That bracket and bell crank is seriously cool. It kind of throws the "it's heavier than a panhard setup" out the window.
All aluminum!? Dude!

Ken

[Gitter Dun]

I meant to take pic's of my Fays2 watts link and post them awhile back. At my last track day my rear tires were rubbing quarter panels and tail pipes due to rear differential shifting from side to side in the corners so I decided to install a watts link. I also narrowed my tank and re-routed my tail pipes inside of my leaf springs. I haven't had a chance to test this on the track yet but will let you know if if there is an improvement on lap times after my next track day.

[Bryce]

That bracket and bell crank is seriously cool. It kind of throws the "it's heavier than a panhard setup" out the window.
All aluminum!? Dude!

Ken

Thanks Ken. Yep almost all aluminum there are some stainless steel threaded backup plates. and steel fasteners.

[Bryce]

I meant to take pic's of my Fays2 watts link and post them awhile back. At my last track day my rear tires were rubbing quarter panels and tail pipes due to rear differential shifting from side to side in the corners so I decided to install a watts link. I also narrowed my tank and re-routed my tail pipes inside of my leaf springs. I haven't had a chance to test this on the track yet but will let you know if if there is an improvement on lap times after my next track day.

Looks good. I hope to see some lower lap times. I also like the low-profile lock nuts. Thats what I used as well.

[Gitter Dun]

Thanks Bryce. the packaging was really clean and came with a colored instructional booklet. Really top knotch!! Now lets hope it was worth it.

[Ron.in.SoCal]

^ Gae, I'll bet you a beer it was worth it! Before you psoted that I was about to reply saying it looks really stout. Nice job packaging it in there...

[clancj]

should'nt the bars reach from the frame on one side to the axle on the otherside? i dont see how the bars will pull/push when both bar ends are essentially on the axle?

i must be missing something? explain?

[The WidowMaker]

should'nt the bars reach from the frame on one side to the axle on the otherside? i dont see how the bars will pull/push when both bar ends are essentially on the axle?

on a panhard bar, yes. but this is a watts. on a chassis mounted watts, you have a crossmember that ties into the frame on both sides and allows the bellcrank to be mounted in the middle. that point is then stationary and takes the place of the frame rail mount. the two links then travel in either direction from there and mount to the axle. the bellcrank cancels out the lateral movement caused by the links arc.