[Malibu70]

Hello everyone, I spent the holiday morning investigating a bad front-end squeak caused by the coil-over shock upper shaft rubbing on the hole where it passes through the frame. I removed the QA1 coil-over shock and spring and found the factory shock mount hole is not centered in the upper spring pocket. The shock tube was rubbing a groove into the frame to find the new center point. I fear the twist on the shock tube will cause the seal to wear and leak. This must happen with other Chevelles who installed coil-over shocks.

My question is what would you recommend? Should I drill a new hole for the shock to pass through the frame at the center of the spring pocket, and weld closed the offset factory hole?

You can see in the photo that the factory hole for the shock to pass through is nowhere near the center of the spring marked in red. This was okay with separate spring and shock the way the factory designed it. Now with the coil-over the spring determines where the shock is located.

I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.

 

[Kirk's67SS]

I did not have any problems with the Front Viking Coil Overs I got from UMI Perf that went on my 67

Maybe ask QA1 if they have had any queries on this before !?

 

[David Bates]

Unfortunately, what you are experiencing is not an uncommon situation with the "Stock Mount" style front coil-over systems. I experienced the same problem as you and ended up with two leaking shocks because I let it go. I had the shocks rebuilt and to solve the problem I removed the lower T-bar and poly bushing, replaced it with a QA1 bearing kit and reinstalled the T-bar. Problem solved. I have since modified the frame to accept extended travel custom mount coil overs. Here's a pic from 2012 (I think).

 

[Tom Mobley]

Yeah, I remember. You built yourself a nice setup there. and, you did it yourself. Congrats.

 

[Malibu70]

Dave, your re-engineered mounts look outstanding. I understand the geometry change to leave the top alone and relocate the bottom where it meets the lower A-arm. Thank you for the input. I am thinking the simpler solution would be to move the hole in the frame. My car is like most others, in that it is fully assembled and ready for the occasional drive.