1988 Cutlass - GNX Suspension Upgrade

[88hurstolds]

These are the Panhard and Stiffhard bar brackets:

 

[88hurstolds]

The alignment jigs finally arrived, 7 months later...
Aligned everything and had my buddy over last night welding in the pan hard and stiff hard brackets and spring perch extensions.
Still need to press in the bushings on the ladder bar and weld in the cross member.
Once that is done I will get everything powder coated and send the cover off to be polished, wanted to make sure everything fit before making it pretty.
Took a bunch of passes at Great Lakes Dragaway on Monday to get a baseline, I might be able to hit up Byron on Sunday to do a few passes to see how much my 60' times decrease.
Should be about a 0.10-.15 decrease according to some TB owners.

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[88hurstolds]

Suspension is finally in.
Was having issues with pressing the ladder bar/torque arm bushings in and had to go through a couple torque arms to get one that wasn't distorted from welding.
Was a painful process but the end result was well worth the wait and I do have to say what a difference!
It's like driving a whole different vehicle and the traction is insane and handles around corners like no other.
I am not sure why GM never installed this setup in other G-body's.
Hitting the track tomorrow to evaluate the 60' times.

 

[autonaut]

Interesting..

 

[Blake442]

Looks awesome, Mike!
Too bad the lower bar totally blocks the fancy GNX logo!
I'm sure cost is what kept them out of other G-bodies...
Definitely curious as to how much your times improve.

 

[oldtinsmith]

Your torque arm/Panhard bar setup just plain looks "Bad to the Bone" !!! I am also waiting to hear your performance improvements. In Mark Savitske's book (How to Make Your Muscle Car Handle) in chapter 8, page 113 he states: The limited-production Buick GNX torque arm/ Panhard bar setup is not a particularly well-designed suspension and should be avoided. The torque arm is too short and in a compromised location due to packaging limits. The Panhard bar is too short and not level at factory ride height. You're better off tweaking the factory converging four-link. It's a shame the GM engineers didn't spend the same time and effort on overhauling the front suspension instead. ... I only posted that because I don't understand why he thinks it should be avoided (for drag racing? for autoX? for road racing? for the street?) ! ... I would appreciate your input and what you found during your research (besides it looking "Bad to the Bone" even without color!) . ... Thanks>

Doug

 

[88hurstolds]

Ive heard that too, it holds true with max effort setups and drag racing but if its a street car it makes a world of difference.
You need to experience it first hand and not on paper to fully appreciate the setup.
The amount of traction gained is impressive and its pretty cool when the rear of the car rises instead of squatting when taking off.
I had to cancel my track visit this weekend due to a major event, this Saturday is free if the weather holds up.
Stay tuned...

 

[oldtinsmith]

FWIW, Ron Sutton said he prefers a Panhard bar (for ease of adjustment) and Mark seems to like the Watts linkage better. Oh, thanks for the reply.

Doug

 

[G-Body_Vet]

Here's an episode of American Muscle Car where they talk about the turbo Buicks. At 19.00 minutes they talk about this suspension setup on the GNX and demonstrate what it does http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_XNN-0VEzXw

 

[xitabl442]

I drove an X this weekend, it wouldn't do a burnout. The front tires just slid.