Yea, I'd like my 66 to handle a bit more like a modern car :)

I've already started with some upgrades but I may have taken a bit of a strange route.. Thing is, I can save a lot of money by importing parts from the USA, but shipping is expensive for heavier parts. So I've had some heavy and large parts shipped by container (which took literally half a year!) to save on the shipping costs as well. Hence the perhaps less logical order of parts going on the car..
Anyway, what I have is a Hotchkis swaybar kit, 1 3/8'' front and 1'' rear. And a set of Hotchkis lowering springs.
I've installed the springs and rear swaybar. I was going to mount the front one but discovered the bolt pattern didn't match with what was on the frame, found the solution on the forums and I'll be giving it another try tomorrow.

So far the result has been less than satisfying, the ride is still pretty much like a boat. I can't blame the new bits because I'm sure they are good. So obviously something else must be wrong.
I have installed brand new shocks as well (Monroe Sensa-track) but I actually think the old ones that were on the car were actually a bit better, and they were rubbish.. I wasn't expecting too much for $25 each though, but I'm going to have to get new ones.

Anyway, other than the stuff I mentioned everything is stock, except for a discbrake kit in the front with stock height spindles.

So here come the questions then :)

I'm looking to buy new rear control arms, both upper and lower. UMIs tubular lower arms look like really good value for the money. What I'm unsure about is if the swaybar would work better with the boxed ones, because it will be mounted against a straight surface? Altho I'm guessing the bolts will keep it straight anyway.
Any other reasons why I should not get tubular lower arms?

Next then, I want to get some new upper arms as well. I've seen that a lot of people don't like the ones with poly bushings because they cause extra stress. Will keeping a regular bushing on the axle side be enough to get rid of this stress or does the other end have to be a regular or oval one?
I am getting Hotchkis tubular trailer arm mount braces, which I think will make the stress a lot less at least, if I'm picturing this right? Well basically I'm wondering if I'm worrying too much about the stress and what the easiest way of avoiding it is?

And then we come to the shocks.. Like I said the ones I got now don't seem to do a very good job, and I'm thinking of getting the Hotchkis HPS 1000 ones that are part of the TVS. Good choice?

While I'm at it, I might as well look at the front control arms.. Is there any direct/noticable benefit for buying new (tubular?) ones or should I just put some paint on the old ones and get new bushings?

I'm not planning to do any racing and the car is mainly used for cruising, but I do like to put the pedal down every now and then, and that's when I need things to be stable and controllable.

Hope this hasn't become too much text, and thanks in advance for any help :)

I dont think I could wait a half a year for parts.. you are very patient!

I will chime in on a couple of things.

I have monroe cheapys on my el camino, probably the same ones as you. They aren't that bad but my old ones had no compression and I needed something.

People talk good things about Bilsteins and other pricier shocks.

I also have the UMI adjustable upper rear arms and tubular lower.
I have a sway bar (like yours) bolted to the tubular lowers and it is fine, To be honest I think tubular should technically be stronger considering its shape but thats just my thinking.

Like you were thinking rubber in the top ears of the housing to reduce binding rather then "stress"

UMI makes great pieces and if you go that route you won't be disappointed.

I put poly bushings in my stock front control arms, but I would ideally like to go with SC&C tubular uppers. The big thing with these is they will allow you to add more positive caster, making higher speeds more stable.


The biggest thing that changed that "boat" feel that you are describing was a higher T-bar tight ratio steering box.

I got mine out of a 90's Jeep Grand Cherokee here in the States, I dont know what your inventory looks like in junkyards over there??

something comparable in the aftermarket world is the AGR boxes that also have a larger T-bar.

Do some searches here on the site for this popular swap. It makes the car 10000X more fun to drive.

Hope this helps some, and you understand everything I typed up.

Matt

Thanks for your answer Matt, really appreciate it!

I'm not sure what this "binding" is, I figured it meant stress. Never heard of it before to be honest, English not being my native language and all ;) Could you (or anyone) explain what it is? Good to know anyway that keeping that bushing gets rid of the problem, whatever it is.

Very good point about the tubular upper front arms, I hadn't though of that. But that might indeed be worth spending some money on.

I already bought a powersteering conversion kit and went for the regular ratio, I'm not sure why any more (it's been a while since I ordered this stuff..) but I think I was afraid of it being too sensitive at higher speeds. I'm sure this kit will make an enormous difference though, this thing is an absolute beast to steer right now and not the least bit tight either.

As for the 6 months waiting for parts.. I ran out of patience before that, but everything was paid for and neither the guy who I ordered from nor the guy who he ordered from could do anything about it, so I had nobody to be mad at really. This 2nd guy deals with a company in the USA who gathers stuff for him from different manufacturers and distributers and sends it over to Sweden in a shipping container every other month or so, and they were the ones that screwed up this time. I'm still waiting for my hood and trunk lid, the stuff was ordered in october. But I have other things to worry about right now, I do hope I'll get those before the winter though so I can hopefully get the car painted during the winter.

Hello
I noticed that you are considering UMI Performance for your rear suspension! That's Great! I just wanted to leave you know no matter if you go with boxed or tubular lower control arms you will not be disappointed in the quality and performance. They both are equally strong we just offer both styles for the customers that like the old school style compared to the more race car look of tubular. They both have reinforced sway bar holes and they both feature a grease able Energy Suspension bushing! If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I will be more than glad to help!
Thanks
Brad :D

Thanks for the info Brad :) I was actually wondering about the swaybar holes on the tubular ones, good to know they are reinforced as well.
You should be getting an order for an upper+lower rear arm kit from Summit any moment now ;)

Thanks for the info Brad :) I was actually wondering about the swaybar holes on the tubular ones, good to know they are reinforced as well.
You should be getting an order for an upper+lower rear arm kit from Summit any moment now ;)

Your Welcome and Thanks for the Business! If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I will be more than glad to help.
Thanks
Brad :D

I have just recently started my restoration on a 71 chevelle. I was afraid to drive it before because it did handle like a boat! I have installed power front discs from a monte carlo, SPC stage II kit, SPC springs front and back, and Bilstein shocks all around. I could not tell you what part made the most difference, but now my car is very fun to drive!! My only complaint is the steering, I have a manual box in there right now and it wanders.
I do plan on putting a Jeep box and transitioning to power steering hopefully this summer.

I did a lot of research before I bought my parts and the consensus was don't skimp out on shocks. I did have new Monroe shocks on there a couple years ago, but the Bilsteins really are worth the money. Don't get the revalved ones, that is just marketing hype.
I got mine from allshocks.com.
Hope this helps!

I'm not sure what this "binding" is, I figured it meant stress. Never heard of it before to be honest, English not being my native language and all ;) Could you (or anyone) explain what it is? Good to know anyway that keeping that bushing gets rid of the problem, whatever it is.


The upper and lower control arms are different lengths, they're also not parallel with each other. Look closely at the rear axle and see how the arms have to move in order for the axle to move. If you were to put solid steel bushings in, the axle would be locked into place and couldn't move at all. So keeping rubber bushings in at least one set of arms allows for movement. The rubber compresses and provides the give or flex needed. Poly bushings are quite hard and will not compress like rubber.

Front control arms are different since the axis they pivot on, upper and lower, are parallel. Using all poly bushings in the front is ok because they won't cause the stress or binding like occurs in the rear.

Thanks for the explanation, so basically binding means not allowing enough movement?

I've ordered some new stuff now, and I'm pretty sure I'll have a nice ride once I get everything installed.
The complete list of suspension related parts would be:
- Hotchkis lowering springs, I'm going to cut them a bit in the front
- Hotchkis HPS 1000 shocks
- UMI tubular lower rear arms
- UMI non-adjustable upper rear arms
- New rubber bushings for the housing mounts
- Hotchkis rear arm mounts braces
- Hotchkis 1 3/8'' front, 1'' rear swaybar
- New poly bushings for the front arms
- New ball joints
- New rod ends and adjuster thingies
- CPP front disc brake kit with original height spindles
- Power steering conversion

I've decided to keep the original front arms for now, but I may change the upper ones to adjustable tubular arms later.

I'll update with the results when I have everything installed. I'm pretty sure it'll be fine now though :) It may take a while, it'll probably take about 2 weeks before I get the new bits but I can have some fun installing the power steering kit meanwhile.

The larger T-bar in the power steering gear will make a HUGE difference in steering feel. It will eliminate the "pinky steering" over boosted feel that was SOOO common to GM products. Highly recommended.

If you are replacing the rear upper arms... it is worthwhile to go with adjustables so you can tune pinion angle if needed. Put another way you can re-optimize it for a non-stock ride height.

When, not if, you upgrade the front upper arms you should also give serious consideration to the SC&C stage 2 setup with tall ball joints. These correct the camber curve as well as allow positive caster (as previously stated). This will reduce or eliminate the excessive tire wear on the outside edge of the tires that was common to vintage A-bodies. Plus improve front end traction and thus handling.

Looks like an OK list and god knows everyone has their opinions of bushing type in certain locations...

One thing I will point out is the need for an adjustable Upper control arm in the rear. You're lowering the vehicle and might want to be able to adjust for pinion angle.