Getting Started: Brakes and Suspension

[Phillip_L]

Hello,

It looks like I finally found a car. It’s a pretty clean 1969 Z/28 clone (Black with white stripes). It has most of the items I was looking for (Good paint, good glass, excellent chrome, excellent interior, 12-bolt rear end, and a clutch pedal). I will pick it Saturday.

Since the car seems to run pretty good and the A/C blows cold, I thought I would start with suspension, brakes, rear end, and any interior changes. That way, when I finally put in a real motor, I will already have a car that can stop and turn.

This brings up some question:

Brakes:

I am leaning towards SSBC’s Force 10 13” Tri-power kit in the front and Force 10 Single piston calipers in the rear. This is a little more than I wanted to spend, buy it looks like it is one of the better options. I have looked into Baer and Wilwood a little. Any opinions? I saw the earlier discussion about Baer service and supply problem. Is there any other systems I should consider?

Suspension:

I am looking at Global West and DSE. Global West looks easier with the packages already setup. I have hear that the Global West coil-over system may put too much stress up the upper control arm mounts since it was not designed to handle that kind of load. Is this true? DSE has a separate piece for coil overs.

Rear end:

This is pretty much a no brainer. I would go through it and change all the bearing, seals, and install an Eaton Posi with 3.73 gears.

Wheels and Tires:

I still need to do more research here. I saw the tire and wheel database. I need to see what will fit with what offset. I would like to use 17” wheels to give me more options. What is the best way to roll-in the rear finder lip? I am sure slowly and carefully. I am guessing I can use 17” x 8” on the front and maybe 17” x 10” in the rear. How much back spacing? 5” on the front and 5.5” in the rear? Will I be able to get 275/40/17 in the rear, and 245/40/17 on the front?

Subframe Spacer:

Global West offer two (800 and 801). The 801 lower the body a ½” on to the sub frame? Is this a good idea? Can you really see a difference?

Sorry for all this questions at once. Thanks for any help.

Phillip

[MrQuick]

Yes.

[vanzuuk1]

dse does have kits , call and speak to them or look at their site.

I think the smaller body bushings worked great.Check your clearance before you shut the hood.

[Nine Ball]

Don't get the body lowering frame spacers. They will throw your body panel alignment out. I did those first and ended up changing them.

15x10 rears with a 5.5 BS. 275/40/17 tires fit fine. I forget the fronts, but they are on my website. I didn't have to roll the fenders to fit those either, I only rolled them to fit the 28x10 drag slicks.

The SSBC kit was nice and very complete. Just have to order lines from Classic Tube. If you tell them which SSBC kit you have, they will make the lines for you to fit that kit.

Not sure on the Global West issue regarding upper control arms. Seems like all of the kits out there use the same mounts. The coil-overs on these cars just go where the factory shocks are, and they have their own mounting point on the subframe. GW and DSE both sell reinforced lower A-arms designed for coil overs. I'd recommend either setup, both should work well. A friend installed Heidt's uppers/lowers and those were nice as well.

Where did you find the car? I'm shopping around for the next one.

Tony

[Phillip_L]

Thanks Tony.

I just looked on your site and found this information:
Front Wheels - 17x8 (4.75" backspace)
Rear Wheels - 17x10 (5.50" backspace)
Bolt Pattern - 5x4.75" front and rear
Front Tires - 245/45-ZR17 Nitto NT555
Rear Tires - 275/40-ZR17 Nitto NT555R2

To find the car, I was checking these site daily:
Ebay (Not much help, most cars do not even hit the reserve)
http://www.camaros.net/classifieds/showcat.php?cat=7
http://www.collectorcartraderonline.com

I actuall found the car on Collector Car Traders. Z069 told me about the site (Thanks). The car was in Nacogdoches, Tx. There are tons of cars going for sale every day. The hard part is finding one close that has what you want.

Phillip

[vanzuuk1]

Tony If the body gets lowered equally on the frame, how does it affect the alignment? I did not notice a problem but my panel alignment was factory bad to start with.Could you use washers to shim the bushings?

[vanzuuk1]

Just so I am not misunderstood , the body gaps on my car were bad before and after the bushings but not much different.

[6'9"Witha69]

The brakes are good but I just don't like the look of their calipers. I think the world of Wilwood and the packages are very easy to install.

[Phillip_L]

The Wilwood kit is considerable cheaper from Precision Brakes Company compared to SSBC.

From Summit, SSBC was going to cost:
SSBC Force 10 13" Tri-Power big brake kit w/ master (A123-14) $1,809.95
SSBC Force 10 11 1/4" Single Piston rear kit (A125-30) $999.95

The entire Wilwood kit with 4 piston Superlite calipers on the front and 4 piston Dynolite calipers in the rear, drilled/slotted/2 piece rotors (13” F, 12” R), HV Master, proportioning valve, hardware, SS lines, etc. is less than $2100

Can this be right? Am I comparing apples to apples?

Phillip