Rear Suspension Pics

[patmckinneyracing]

Finally had a chance to work on the rear suspension this weekend. For the most part, the only mod I did in the past was the rear sway bar which made a substantial difference in the handling.

I'll let the pics speak for themselves. I have yet to test it but it sure looks beefier and stronger. Bout time to change the diff fluid too. Had been running royal purple for 4 years now, and the car sat the last year and a half, and it smelled pretty rank.

 

[85GPLef41]

nothing like a girdle to make a 7.5 look tough!... 8) with the planned upgrades it should be stout for what you need. i read that welding the tubes to the housing also helps..

 

[patmckinneyracing]

I thought about welding the axles tubes, but I'm a little uneasy about welding steel tubing to a cast center section. How does this mod make the rear end stronger?

 

[khan0165]

Pat, this is looking sweet!
- what length did you adjust your upper arms to? If I recall, I think a 2deg pinion angle is what you want for good traction on track use.
- is that an aftermarket sway bar?

I really like the round tubular lowers!

 

[patmckinneyracing]

I set the uppers at the stock length of the original control arms for now. I don't have an angle reader but I'm gonna start at stock setting and adjust from there.

The sway bar is from a Monte Carlo SS Aerocoupe, so its a stock, but it has always worked excellent for me and is much better than not having one.

All these control arms are beefy as hell and a lot thicker than what I expected. Thanks khan for the props.

 

[khan0165]

I guess the Aero coupes had thicker sway bars. Looks thicker than the one I have.

 

[78MC-BBC]

Is your fuel pump hanging a little low?
On welding the axle tubes, i wouldn't attempt it myself unless your an expert welder. When people saying welding the axle tubes, they mean is that the factory only put plug welds on the housing to hold the axle tubes to the housing.
See those dots about 1/2" diameter on each side of the cast iron housing where the tube goes into it. That's the only welded part that hold the tubes to the center housing.
When you weld the axle tubes to the center housing you put a weld around the entire axle tube where it goes into the axle center housing, its tricky from what i've been told. The reason people do this is that with high horsepower/torque cars is that the torque can actually start to rotate the axle tube out of the center housing, so the welding tries to eliminate it

 

[patmckinneyracing]

Concerning my fuel pump, what I did was I re-used the stock rubber hanger that held the original muffler. The rubber hanger had a metal bracket attached, so I made myself a bracket that could mount the fuel pump to the stock exhaust hanger bracket.

This way, the sound of the fuel pump running won't travel through the frame and car and remains isolated.

 

[78MC-BBC]

Concerning my fuel pump, what I did was I re-used the stock rubber hanger that held the original muffler. The rubber hanger had a metal bracket attached, so I made myself a bracket that could mount the fuel pump to the stock exhaust hanger bracket.

This way, the sound of the fuel pump running won't travel through the frame and car and remains isolated.

just make sure that the fuel pump doesn't move around a lot, that its securely mounted, dont want it to bang into the gas tank or the axle and break something

 

[patmckinneyracing]

Been like that for 7 years now and no problems.