First this rod need to be shorted by 1/2"
the trailing arm need to be shorted by 1 1/8" and grind the sleeve until it fit on the car
Now weld 4 "C" channel that you have grind the height because the j-body frame is uneven, so all the spacer are different, around 3/4" to 1 1/2"
This is where I mount the sub-frame
The brake line is from a Buick park avenue and you need alero e-brake cable (3 cables)
For now i cut 2 turn off the alero coil spring and about 1.6" alero strut rod (no money and no time to fit some koni) the car ride fine anyway
For the sway bay you need to modified the end-link
(stock one at left)
And this is why you need to cut about 1.25" each side off the sway bay
It's about all i think
Location: Montreal, Quebec
i wanna be the first to say..................freakin awesome
<img src="http://registry.gmenthusiast.com/images/snowman/thumbnail_sunfire.gif">
<img src="http://registry.gmenthusiast.com/images/snowman/thumbnail_personal_pic.jpg">
WOAH!
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sweet
now the other post can die
Friend that is the most amazing suspension mod that I have seen in this site since I am registered.
Excelent work. Just amazing.
Best Regards,
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MAKING MY DREAMS A REALITY
Visit my cardomain site !!!
ELIOT. Now.....boosted.
Wow, that looks like a lot of cutting and welding. Not much like a bolt on as said before (by others).
So you cut the strut shaft and welded that back together. How'd that go?
My Car
"First this rod need to be shorted by 1/2""
"the trailing arm need to be shorted by 1 1/8" and grind the sleeve until it fit on the car"
"For the sway bay you need to modified the end-link"
You say "this rod", do you mean both rods on each side (4 rods to be shortened total)?
For these cuts/welds, what exactly did you do? Where did you cut them, it's not apparent in the photos. Any particular reason you cut them where you did?
I assume you welded them back together; what method did you use? Arc, MIG, TIG, Braze? What kind of stick? If you were to do it again would you try something different?
Have you driven it yet? How does it drive (noticeable difference)?
"The brake line is from a Buick park avenue"
Why a Park Avenue? Did the Alero one not fit?
"grind the sleeve until it fit on the car"
About how much did you need to grind?
Did you have to change anything with the struts, or did they bolt right up to the cavy mounts? I said you cut the springs, without this cut would the back end ride higher than stock? What I mean is, if you already lowered the vehicle, would your current lowering springs work? Would they be too long/short; would they be wide enough for the strut?
Tom: "Not much like a bolt on as said before"
That's pretty frickin close to bolt on considering it came from a very different car.
McMoney, you are the man! I'd be calling the yards now if they weren't closed (almost midnight). I'm going to do this for certain.
Two questions, if I may:
(1) Why did you shorten the four lateral bars (two on each side) 1/2" as shown in the first picture? Was this to give the same width as the stock cavalier rear suspension, or did the rear wheels have poor camber due to the location of the upper strut mounts? After looking at my car, I was thinking that a little wider stance would make the rear tires fill the wheel wells better. Your reasoning?
(2) What did you do to the top of the strut rod? Cut it and reweld it? How much was your car lowered originally?
Thanks!
Travis
sweeeeeet........ now I just need to get that damn rear suspension.....
SPD RCR Z -
'02 Z24 420whp
SLO GOAT -
'04 GTO 305whp
W41 BOI -
'78 Buick Opel Isuzu W41 Swap
um...damn...that's probably the single best suspension upgrade you could do for our J's.
What about the annoying little problem w/ the N-body's bolt pattern being different though? (or is it the same and I just got some bad info?)
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Sleeper style, they don't see it coming that way.
Could you use the front shocks off our j-bodies on that rear spindle? Would that eliminate the need to cut down the strut, or are they too similar in height?
Squisher: If you look closely in the pics you can see he has rims with both 5x100 and 5x115 bolt patterns. I would swapout the front spindles too, go with 5x115 all around.
valving is different between front and rear struts
Im wondering on the cutting of the trailing arms and such. By not cutting them, it would fill out the rear wheel wells more and give it a wider stance while also limiting the amount of fabing done. Dont get me wrong i love to weld but for others this might be a bit much. The reason i ask is cause on
http://www.quad4forums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1798&perpage=15&pagenumber=3 the general idea is that the arms are left stock unmodified and the only fabing would be on the mount to the fram.
I really want to do this but in my area i cant seem to find any cars in the yards. I guess i ll have to travel to get it.
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94 Honda Del Sol
ZeroBurn: Just guessing: but I don't think the trailing arm will line up with the wheels pushed out that extra inch. Pushing the wheels out changes much more than just the distance between them. I suppose you could weld the trailing arms crooked, then you wouldn't have to weld as much...
C.T.S wrote:ZeroBurn: Just guessing: but I don't think the trailing arm will line up with the wheels pushed out that extra inch. Pushing the wheels out changes much more than just the distance between them. I suppose you could weld the trailing arms crooked, then you wouldn't have to weld as much...
Its just me, but I think thats why he cut the trailing arms 11/8th inch....... they are angled out, and cutting them would bring it back in to meet the wheels....... its hard to tell in his side pic, but it almost looks like the wheel is pushed a bit forward, instead of centered in the wheel well......... but cant tell w/o a direct side shot.
In either case, I plan on measuring center to center on the hubs, and aligning the rear suspension to that (using jack stands on under the hubs, to simulate the car sitting on the wheels)...... unless it sits a bit forward stock...... then I'll center it to the wheel well.
Once I get the parts for this, I'll post what I find out........ unless McMoney can shed some light on a few of these issues....... maybe a side pic of the rear wheel well....... and a down the side shot, to show the offset of the wheel (maybe also let us know if your running stock offset wheels)
McMoney....... again, great work!!!
SPD RCR Z -
'02 Z24 420whp
SLO GOAT -
'04 GTO 305whp
W41 BOI -
'78 Buick Opel Isuzu W41 Swap
Here's a really quick and crappy illustration:
The black thing is the trailing arm. The black circle is where the stock end is.
The red line is the center line, where the trailing arm attaches.
You need to cut the trailing arm back to where the blue circle is.
But in doing so you move the wheel inward, the green lines illustrate the difference.
With the wheel moved in for the trailing arm, you need to shorten the lower links.
Couse, this is all speculation until McMoney answers some questions. Anyone know what happened to him??
brian , you also need to cross measure to make sure you keep it square
i know gm never said anything about modifing the 2 foward links , but who knows
Please somebody sticky this so we can keep it at the top. I want to do this now. Way to go.
If you don't cut the trailing the wheel will hit the rear bumper thrust me I tried
here a side shot of the car
With all the cut and welding I have done, I have almost the same measure that before the swap
For the strut it's optional to cut the rod, I cut it to have a better ride slammed
Location: Montreal, Quebec
Did your Antilock Sensors hook backup, do they work correctly?
I would think so since I've only ever seen
Hall-Effect sensors used.
Good job.
