I just got my '70 Nova and want to build a simple budget pro-touring style car. The car is pretty much stock, but it's got a 388 in it with a th350, stock converter and stock rear. I want to lower the car and get the best handling I can. This car will probably get sold to get an older Nova, so I don't want to drop a ton of money into it. I don't want to have to do a lot of fab, don't want to mod the frame rails or cutup the floors. Looking for bolt in parts, but I don't mind having to weld in some simple brackets or minitubs.

Right now I'm looking at the Chassisworks G-bar 4-link rear with coil-overs. I'm planning control arms and swaybar in the front. Also going to do a power disc brake upgrade, but probably just something like the CPP factory 11" kit. Also want to do nice wheels and fat sticky tires.

What are some good suspension parts and companies to look at for my needs?

Should I do both upper and lower control arms?

How important is changing to coil-overs in the front?

Are the G-bar setups good from handling?

Anything else I should be looking at?

Any and all advice will be very helpful.

Here is the car how I got it, so you can see there is some work needed to get what I want from it. May also do a paint job, I think this color is more suited for a pro-street style car.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e92/groger1/nova/P1010019.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e92/groger1/nova/P1010020.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e92/groger1/nova/P1010017.jpg

Well Greg I would try CalTracs instead of a four link. You do not need coil over shocks on the front just good adjustable ones similar to the Competition Engineering twelve position ones. You will need similar shocks for the rear. Might have to move the shocks inboard to get some clearance for wider tires but there is a kit for that as well. Need some slicks to fit in the existing wheel wells. That should get you a consistent car that will be fun to drive.

Big Dave

I've also been thinking about just moving the shocks in with one of the weld in shock crossmembers and moving the rear of the springs in also. Last time I looked I thought I saw that my shocks were on the inboard side of the leaf springs already. That would get me some space to run bigger wheels. But how does a setup like this handle corners?

The guy I got my car from had it jacked up on air shocks, so some things were changed for that. I need to get under the car someplace warm and really see whats going on under there and what I have to work with.

What I want is a good handling street car, something that will be fun and responsive in the twisties. It may never even see a drag strip.

I thought the CalTracs were basically traction bars for drag cars?

They have settings for street and for drag racing. If you will never have a pair of gummy slicks on the back, swap out the stock rear springs for the Camaro 1967-'69 TransAm six leaf springs. That was as twisty and fast as race as any. You will also need a hollow large diameter front sway bar and the upper A-arms replaced with tube A-Arms that are longer and have the ball-joint moved aft for better camber, caster, and toe-in in reaction to suspension travel. You will need taller spindles as well to over come bump steer inherent in the 1968-'74 front suspension. Need to look at David Pozzi's site on Team Camaro to read what he has done with first gen Camaros and road racing.

http://www.pozziracing.com/first_gen_suspension.htm

Big Dave

That is exactly the info I was looking for, thanks Big Dave. Now one more question for you. Do you know some specific brands I should look at or a good place to buy this stuff?

Try Speed-Tech, Global West, Hotchkis. They all make very good bolt in stuff for what you want to do.

If you're going to be selling this car I would do what Big Dave said for the rear. Cal-tracs and Comp Eng. adjustable dampers. Another way to go, although a little more involved, would be a watts link and 4 link. In front, you could just run the Guldstrand Mod with the new dampers, cut your springs and not have to replace anything else. That alone should give you better specs all around as far as camber, caster, toe-in, etc. Granted, the speed parts that Dave suggested are awesome but if you want to do it on a budget I would think this would be the best way for you to do it. You won't be able to squeeze all the performance out of it but you'll clean up a good portion of the sloppy front end. CPP Disc Brake kit would be great in front. Maybe a splined swaybar in front for adjustability? Sticky tires definitely!

John

I have Global West stuff on the front and Hotchkiss on the rear of my car.

There are numerous smaller outfits that make similar parts including a new chassis fabrication shop that opened up less than ten miles from my front door in Thonotosassa, FL (that's Injun for big still lake full of gators). They are called BMR and make a rear suspension upgrade using a single torque arm instead of copying the two torque arms used by GM and made famous by "Hot Rods From Hell".


Big Dave

I have the Hotchkis TVS set up, from summitracing.com plus a-arms
with 245/45 17 tires you can get .97g on the skidpad (or so Hotchkis says)

What effect will moving the rear of the spring in have on handling and ride?

I want to improve the cars cornering abilities. If moving the springs will make it handle worse than I'd rather not do it, and just run slightly narrower wheels.

Also, where can I find the Camaro 1967-'69 TransAm six leaf springs Dave suggested?

Moving the springs and shocks in a lil bit to clear a tire won't have any ill affects. Also a must have is a set of frame connectors if there aren't any there already. Doesn't matter wether you get bolt in or weld in connectors cause you should weld them anyway. Many people bolt in the bolt on ones and then weld them all the way around. I would also look into adjustable shocks on all 4 corners so you can tailor your ride for different situations. Tubular control arms up front will give you more adjustability too

Moving the srings and shocks in a lil bit to clear a tire won't have any ill affects. Also a must have is a set of frame connectors if there aren't any there already. Doesn't matter wether you get bolt in or weld in connectors cause you should weld them anyway. Many people bolt in the bolt on ones and then weld them all the way around. I would also look into adjustable shocks on all 4 corners so you can tailor your ride for different situations. Tubular control arms up front will give you more adjustability too

YESSSSS!!!!!:yes:

John

Get a hold of Frank at www.gpsuperstore.com (http://www.gpsuperstore.com) He's a sponser here and a great guy to deal with. I've bought from him several times. A route to consider if you want to get a control arm package is Speed Tech Performance. They have a package with upper control arms, lowers, QA1 coilovers and tie rod sleeves. It's just under $1500 for the kit. here's a link: http://www.speedtech-performance.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=133/category_id=215/home_id=215/mode=prod/prd133.htm I have the Speed Tech subframe and used to have the regular arms (I now have the high clearance ones that come with the subframe). They are very nice and you wouldn't be disappointed. Frank can hook you up with them. If you want the G-bar...Alston recently released their new G-bar set up...very nice. You can also go with the air bar or prodigy bar from Frank. I have the prodigy bar set up (has adjustable arms whereas the air bar doesn't) with coil overs. Check out my build thread if you want to see what it looks like. Frank can also help you out with the ride quality and other questions like that. Personally I like the triangualed 4 link look, I know no one where I am has that set up on a Nova so it will look sick.

How are the budget CPP control arms? Do they correct the poor suspension geometry like the more exspensive arms?

How much wheel/tire room should I gain if all I do it move the shocks in at the top and bottom?
I'm thinking I'll make this my first cheap step so that hoepfully I can get a big enough wheel/tire combo in there for right, one that will satisfy my later after I upgrade the entire suspension also.

How are the budget CPP control arms? Do they correct the poor suspension geometry like the more exspensive arms?

How much wheel/tire room should I gain if all I do it move the shocks in at the top and bottom?
I'm thinking I'll make this my first cheap step so that hoepfully I can get a big enough wheel/tire combo in there for right, one that will satisfy my later after I upgrade the entire suspension also.

If you plan on going to a full suspension upgrade I would wait, if I were you. Make a plan as to where you want to end up and then ask a lot of questions. Figure out what you want to end up from there and then execute. No use buying stuff that you'll be pulling off later anyways.

John

Thats one of my problems, not sure how far I want to go with this car. I want to lower the car and get bigger, nicer wheels on it, as well as improve handling a bit. But I don't think I want to drop too much money in it, because I will probably try moving to a '66 or maybe something older in a year or two. So I'm trying really hard to balance my budget vs. performance and looks.

Thats one of my problems, not sure how far I want to go with this car. I want to lower the car and get bigger, nicer wheels on it, as well as improve handling a bit. But I don't think I want to drop too much money in it, because I will probably try moving to a '66 or maybe something older in a year or two. So I'm trying really hard to balance my budget vs. performance and looks.

In that case just cut your springs, put some wheels and tires on it and call it a day!

John

So I just picked up a brand new set of Hotchkis rear leaf springs and front coil springs for the Nova, got a gret price on Craigslist. I figure I'll want to do upper control arms. Its the uppers that are more important for performance, right?

Who makes the best control arms that aren't crazy expensive?

Is the budget $550 upper and lower arm set that comes with a front swaybar from CPP any good, worth getting?

i would do tubular upper and lower a-arms up front i think cpp has a good deal on these i would do 2'' drop spindles i think cpp can help there to as for the rear you could look into a heidts rear four link kit or tci they also have front clips too i think they also make a hole bolton frame or something you too its hard to balance budget and performance cause the more performance you want the budget gets more expensive. i dont know how to put the web sites in so here they are www.heidts.com and www.totalcostinvolved.com

i would do tubular upper and lower a-arms up front i think cpp has a good deal on these i would do 2'' drop spindles i think cpp can help there to as for the rear you could look into a heidts rear four link kit or tci they also have front clips too i think they also make a hole bolton frame or something you too its hard to balance budget and performance cause the more performance you want the budget gets more expensive. i dont know how to put the web sites in so here they are www.heidts.com (http://www.heidts.com) and www.totalcostinvolved.com (http://www.totalcostinvolved.com)

Remember he just wants to better the performance than where it is now but will be selling it down the road for a '66 so the less cash he drops the better.
I still think that caltracs and a guldstrand mod would be your best bet and cheapest route to get you close to where you want to be. Since you won't be tracking the car anything else would be overkill. This setup should be fine for corner/canyon carving.

John

After thinking some more about it I just want to do the upper arms for now. Later on I may want to upgrade to coilovers in the front, so at that time I'll do the lower arms. That way I won't waste money buying lower arms twice. I now have Hotchkis lowering springs, so drop spindles won't happen until I upgrade to coilovers down the road. This all depends on how long I keep this car too, as Novanutcase pointed out I'm planning on trading this for a 66-67 Nova sometime.

Basically all I need to know now is who makes the best upper control arms?

Speed Tech has nice upper control arms and in your budget range. $499 for a pair + $30 if you want billet ball joint covers. Very nice product. http://www.speedtech-performance.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=117/category_id=187/home_id=187/mode=prod/prd117.htm

Speed Tech has nice upper control arms and in your budget range. $499 for a pair + $30 if you want billet ball joint covers. Very nice product. http://www.speedtech-performance.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=117/category_id=187/home_id=187/mode=prod/prd117.htm

Never used them but the certainly do LOOK nice!

John