Team Chevelle banner

corvette suspension in chevelle

14K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  BillyGman 
#1 ·
i own a 69 chevelle and want to convert to a c4 corvette suspension. has anyone done this and can help me out and give some pointers? as far as i know now no one makes any kind of kit. i dont want to spend 13 grand on a chassis from the after market. i have some skills and helpfull to give me a hand. any info would be appreciated:thumbsup:you can email me direct ai imacarguy@comcast.net thanks john
 
#3 ·
if you've got the skills, then get going on it.
it would be cool and has been done before, but it's not the popular thing to do.
but don't do it for the glory or expect to get your money back when it comes time to sell the car- do it because it's what you want to do.
 
#4 ·
Hotchkis i think it was built a 1971 Chevelle (may ave been 1970 - this was probally 5-7 years ago) with their road race suspension

They did a weaving in and out of the cones, A Vettes top speed doing this was 55mph, A Chevelle with their suspension was like 53-54mph with bolt on suspension

They changed everything front and rear, Call Hotchkis and they should be able to refer you to the article, may have been on TV too i just cant remember i was just shocked that it was right there with a Vette

They used their control arms, special front ones, sway bars and much more, 20" wheels and low profile handling tires
 
#5 · (Edited)
If you're going through all the effort to graft in 'Vette suspension I'd suggest using the C5 or C6 rear suspension rather than the old half-shaft based "twitchy" C4 rear suspension. It's a huge improvement in driveability and predictability over the old C4 setup.

With a C5/C6 setup you could also keep the transaxle & torque tube arrangement for better weight distribution or you can get a 3rd member adapter for the C5/C6 rear diff to keep the transmission in the "normal" location and run a standard driveshaft.

One thing to keep in mind is this: The Vette suspension has the geometry optimized for a vehicle with a lower mass and much lower CG height than our Chevelles so it isn't really an optimal suspension for our cars weight & CG. The higher CG in a Chevelle leads to more body roll and the Vette stuff has a rather low FVSA / camber gain for a Chevelle because the lower CG Vette simply doesn't put as big of a roll moment on the suspension.

FYI, there is already an excellent front suspension setup for these cars from SC&C and there is a forthcoming 3-link for the rear of these cars that will get rid of all the converging 4-link woes when it comes to a handling application.
 
#6 ·
I think it's a great idea. There is a guy around here that has a c4 front & rear in a 66 Chevelle. I judged it at Autorama about 15 years ago. The rear is pretty easy to do you just have to come up with a good way to mount the center section and 4 link. I used some 1' SS and welded in some tapped ends. Then ran those up to the same cross member as the shocks. The front is going to be a lot of work. You will have to remove the coil bucket on the frame or just clip it from the firewall forward and use the cradle form the vette. Here is a pic of the one in my 32. I narrowed it 7". I have some pics showing the hole process but I will have to scan them if you want to see them. Good luck

 
#7 ·
The reason why I asked the question about what you're trying to accomplish with this car is for the reason which was already mentioned by another member concerning companies like hotchkiss having aftermarket pieces that are just as good if not better than the factory Vette stuff.

I know that some guys will prefer to use the factory Vette parts on their Chevelles anyway merely to do things their own way, and that's fine. But if you do decide to look to the aftermarket, then the hotchkiss suggestion has already been made. ;)

my guess is that in that testing that was mentioned, the Chevelle made it through with 1-2 MPH slower only because Vettes are lighter and have a shorter wheel base. So if you factor those things in, then you would probably have to conclude that the suspension used was equal to that of the Vette in performance.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top