Less Steering, More Suspension

The noise I was hearing was the spring on the driver’s side. It just doesn’t seem to fit in the control arm cup well. It seems no matter how the spring is clocked, it rubs the outer edge of the cup, doesn’t match up with the index bumps or something. The passenger side seems to be seated correctly, so I could probably get the driver’s side done, but I’ve decided to go in a different direction.

The front and rear springs on the car came from a place called Vette Brakes around 1995, and they are STIFF! All my weight on any corner barely moves the car at all. The ride is pretty harsh, so I’ve always planned to change the springs around and this seems as good a time as any. I’m going to go with bolt-on coilovers in the front. They fit between the lower control arm and the upper shock/spring mount, so it won’t permanently alter the car and they will allow me to adjust ride height and compression rate.

I also managed to buy the wrong steering box. The intent was to get a quicker, heavier feel. It works, but is completely effortless. So I’ll be exchanging the power steering unit for one out of a 90’s IROC Camaro.

Then I got an order together with Summit and saw the cost. I have a separate account I funnel a little money into each month specifically for Pandora. The cash is there, but my brain starts to break a little when I spend more than a couple hundred dollars. So this turned into almost three weeks of debating all of this in my head, peppered with a frustrated wife saying to just buy it already and stop whining about it.

Last Tuesday, I finally placed the order. The shipment containing the coilovers, steering box and sway bar end links ended up getting delayed a day. Happily, the other shipment arrived Friday afternoon.

I think while I was freaking out about money, some other part of my brain sneaked in some wheels and tires on the order. Well, I had to call them so they’d ship the tires mounted, so it wasn’t that sneaky. But whatever. I love this look!

I’ve been researching what size tires will fit under this car for over a year now. Once the tires are mounted, nothing is returnable, so you have to get the sizing right the first time or you are just out money, or what you can’t recoup selling them. These are Wheel Vintiques Corvette Rallys – 15×7 up front and 15×8 in the back. Tires are 235/60R15 in the front and 275/60R15 in the rear. About half the stuff I’ve read said this combo would rub against the frame or fenders, but then half said they fit fine. I was going to go with a size narrower, but Summit was out of the 225’s so I took the chance. I’m glad I did. They fit fine and don’t come close to rubbing anything. Of course, mine sits a little higher than normal, I think, but even if I bring it an inch or so down, I should be fine.

I also managed to get my subframe connectors in and the rest of the parts showed up a couple of hours ago. I’ll be able to start installing that stuff tomorrow after work, so I might be able to have the whole suspension part of this done this week!