New parts for the chevelle

[mf68chevelle]

Since I just got my check from the insurance company to start rebuilding my chevelle. Here are the parts I am thinking about buying. I just want to get some feed back about them if anyone is using them or knows if they are good bad or otherwise. ( 1968 chevelle. see I just totaled my chevelle post)

Complete set of global west tubular control arms with del-a-lum bushings. $1100 for complete front set
hotchkis front sway bar 1and 3/8 inch $215 with bushings
quick ratio steering box 3 turn lock to lock $305
Hooker competition headers ceramic coated hok-2451-1hkr $366
Almost everything else I am looking at getting from goodmark and all the rest of the odd ball stuff from original parts group

I am not looking to make the thing handle like a new corvette. I just don't want it to ride like a fat chick on a water bed like it did before. I already had all polyurethane bushings and adjustable upper control arms in the rear with boxed lowers and factory sway bars front and back

[tiresmoke!]

Re: New parts for the chevelle

You're gonna be able to save THAT Chevelle?

My hat's off to you, man......good to know it will live once again!

The parts you've listed should definitely enable it to hold the road a lot better than with stock parts.

Are you gonna upgrade the braking system as well?

[yellomalibu]

Re: New parts for the chevelle

Those sound like good additions to a car... but... I (personally) would hold off on the high performance aftermarket bolt-on stuff until the car was un-totalled. It's bolt-on... you can do it anytime. Be sure you get the rest of the car fixed right first, then if you have money left over, go nuts!

Just my .02

[Bamfster]

Re: New parts for the chevelle

I have to agree, get it running and driving right first, maybe not so much the cosmetic stuff. After the basics are in order start the bolt ons.

[Mr4Speed]

Re: New parts for the chevelle

You can save some bucks on the steering box at the junkyard. 92-98 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

http://www.chevelles.com/techref/shea_3.html

[mf68chevelle]

Re: New parts for the chevelle

The stuff I have listed is all going to need to get replaced anyway the original stuff is junk. So instead of doing it twice I will replace it with the good stuff the first time. I am going to get a differant fram and have it powder coated also. I have a decent amount of money to play with and I am going to do all the work myself except the body work. It will be nicer than before the crash when I am done with it( hopefuly before spring)

[VTJUNK]

Re: New parts for the chevelle

Glad to hear it's going to get fixed. What are you doing with the subframe? Do you have one, or is there an aftermarket one available?

[malc]

Re: New parts for the chevelle

I´m with Bamfster and Yellowmalibu use the money to get it sorted, then what´s left over is
for the goodies.

[CaminoKid]

Re: New parts for the chevelle

Having a decent amount of money is like having a shop that is big enough,there is never enough.Be carefull bro,it can go quicker than you think.Good luck.

[nosnerd]

Re: New parts for the chevelle

cool...buy the big ticket items first....


keep us posted....(that means pics!!!)


al

[Schtauffer]

Re: New parts for the chevelle

FWIW, I was extremely disappointed with the quality of the trim from OPG. I got pretty much all the brightwork from them. The finish on the bumpers is wavy; all the trim is very thin, isn't very shiny, and the paint is very shoddy. The emblems were all very nice, however. It was the stainless stuff (gutter trim, grill, window trim, etc) that was trash. I seriously considered throwing it in the garbage and ordering stuff elsewhere. Had the price for all that stuff not been $2k, I would have. They would not allow me to return it and give me the money back. I went with them because the price was a lot cheaper than Year One, to the tune of a little over a thousand less. I've seen Year One's stuff, and there is no comparison. Doing it again, I would gladly spend the extra bucks for better quality parts.

When you buy sheetmetal, don't get it shipped to you. Try to find a local Goodmark dealer, and take your body guy to pick up the panels. He can pick through what's in stock and find pieces he likes. All sheetmetal is not created equal, not even from the same manufacturer.

[fahrenschnell]

Re: New parts for the chevelle

Good to hear.....Good luck and enjoy it....I am.

Seth

[cantvalve16]

Re: New parts for the chevelle

X2 on the comments about the sheetmetal. I worked in a body shop as the parts guy. We got stuff shipped all time tha had to be shipped back. Dents, creases, and warped panels are not out of the norm.

[Loren]

Re: New parts for the chevelle

GW control arms, complete set, not neccesary unless you like the looks. That's a lot of money. Get a lot more handling for less cost and still use some GW parts by using your stock lowers with urethane bushings, install mid-late '70s f-body (or Nova or Cad Seville) spindles using GW's machined-down ball joints, and then as stock uppers won't work now (you can modify them) use their uppers for the application. The taller spindles get you better cornering geometry...you can also use Caprice wagon or Seville 4-wheel-disc-option ones and get 12" brakes.

The 1 3/8" sway bar is too big and your frame will start flexing instead of the sway bar. That's asking for understeer anyhow. For G.P. the stock SS dia. bars (front and rear used in combination) work excellent.

Here's a cheap trick for the front end, cut the shock hole in the lower a-arms a little bigger and use a '70s Dodge light-truck shock. The stockers are just too small for a car that big.

BTW this is from experience, my own series of El Caminos. A buddy built a Chevelle with that front swaybar and all the GW stuff and it wasn't really the ticket for the street. Maybe for a smooth track and with a big rr bar but he spent a lot to get a combo that wasn't as fast as my cheap one. I do like the GW upper a-arm, it saves the engineering lesson you need to modify the stock one and that's the one you see anyhow.

[65 L79]

Re: New parts for the chevelle

Here here !
Good to know that your insurance pulled thru for you !
I put a 1 1/18" front sway bar on my 66 chevelle that came off of a 76 trans am , it bolts right up.
I saw a caption in car craft magazine that mentioned it and I had to try it .
It is just the right size and is what they should have had from the factory. They are cheap to buy
(@ $25 )from a junkyard and look just as good after a nice shiny coat of paint .
Any Z28 camaro or t/a or firebird formula from 70 to 81 with the big front sway bar will fit and work real well.

I used the stock Lower A-arms with 2wd s10 gas shocks and global west uppers and 87 caprice
spindles with the 11" discs and the stock manual steering box .
It has a firm grip in the turns and is not a harsh ride with new stock BB front springs , I would
say it was a big improvement over the original stuff but all of it is stock stuff except the upper arms
and the energy suspension bushings. $$ very affordable too $$

Like he said, you gotta open up the a-arms to accept a bigger shock and I drilled out the welded in
nuts for the shock mounts and stuck grade 8 bolts straight down through.

Instead of buying the turned down ball joints from global west , I just got new caprice ball joints
from auto zone and had a local machine shop turn them down to the chevelle's od and then they
have a lifetime guarantee to boot .
If you would choose to go with the big car spindles , you also need to run the caprice outer
tie rod ends . The taper on the spindle is smaller than the old chevelle ones , no big deal .

Check out global west's site and others if you want it to handle better.
They are real big on their del-alum bushings and kinda mock polyurethane bushings claiming that they
bind . I'd say its all the same after you get a bunch of miles on the polyurethane ones on just the lowers.
My impression of what makes a chevelle ride too rough or harsh is putting lowering springs in.
"just my opinion" Keep us posted !