Almost everything's ready, aside from an adjustable panhard rod and adjustable lca's. Getting some time on a lift next weekend and doing it all up. This is replacing a largely original suspension on a '92 RS, so it should be a night and day difference. A front end kit (had some stuff done last year) and upper strut mounts will be done next summer.

I'm wondering what settings to run the Koni's at? I've read about one guy using the fronts at 3, but nothing about the rears - I'll be putting a subwoofer enclosure in the trunk well, so thought that would impact the desired setting(s)?

 

are those subframe connectors on the bottom of the pic? What brand are they? And the hardware for the sway bars, where did you get that kit?

 

Those are Alston subframe connectors. I bought the sway bar endlinks from a local shop (energy suspension brand) and the bushings/brackets are the greasable kits from TDS. The 2 packages for the sway bar endlinks are the same part number, but I think I got an old-stock package and one newer package.

 

doing a torque arm at all?

 

Not yet, no. I'm not certain what engine & trans I'll be swapping in the future, so don't want to buy anything application-specific yet.

 

guessing by the adjustable lca's he's more going for handling than straightline, and the stocker will do quite a bit handling or drag.
- Depending upon ride height, lca relocates are a big help, and are cheap enough. As for that tq arm, if you go with a BMR track pack or the like, it doesn't matter what trans you run. - If you change the tq arm, no sense leaving it tied to the trans.
what you have looks good!

 

Thanks for the head's up on the bmr track pack! - I hadn't looked into enough manufacturers. It looks pretty nice. I'll do more reading up... a lot more reading up, haha, and maybe it'll be in the cards for next summer. The car's intended for weekend duty on some curvey roads out west, so trying to build it up with that in mind.

 

 

If you want handling over straightline performance, get a tq arm with a spherical front mount(heim joint) It needs to be able to twist to perform properly under agressive cornering.

V8Rumble - yeah yeah yeah, it's running, should be driving it by tonight or tomorrow night.....

 

hey man, post up some pics when you get the Alston SFCs on, i jsut ordered the same ones in black a few days ago

and let me know how u like the koni yellows.... (if u cna feel the difference among all the other stuff youll be bolting on)

 

A friend and I installed everything (except the alstons) over the course of a week. The koni yellow's are nice, but I don't have any experience other than the factory suspension to compare them to. I'm running them on the softest settings right now - I don't have to worry about the front end rubbing while backing down driveways. It's a much tighter feel while going over the terrible roads here.

I'm going to take the car to a frame shop to make sure it's true, then I'll get the sfc's in. Really looking forward to finishing up with the car for the season, haha.

I also picked up and installed outer & inner tie rods & sleeves, as the ones on the car were factory and rusted into solid, fused pieces. The centerlink and idler arm were replaced a couple years ago and still look good.

 

Pics of the install?

 

good stuff dude

 

More progress this weekend!

...Sorry for the lack of photos - I typically am too frustrated with wrenching on & breaking rusted bolts to want to remember any of the process, haha.

I installed my UMI adjustable LCA's, on-car adjustable panhard bar and LCA relocation brackets and had an alignment. The panhard bar wasn't too tough - pb blaster saved the day.

Removing the factory LCA's was like punishment from God, though. The very last (LCA to body) bolt was fused to the sleeve inside the rubber bushing. It was just unreal. No amount of force could break it loose. After attempting to use a sawzall to cut the bolt's shaft next to the bushing (not enough room), a grinder to remove the head (which coincidentally died) and then a couple dremel cutting wheels & sanding drums, the bolt's head was eventually cut off.

To cut off the other (threaded) end of the bolt, I wrapped some duct tape around the end of a hacksaw blade for a handle and sawed between the subframe mount and the bushing. Lots and lots of sawing later, the LCA was free.

I can't believe what a difference the upgrades made. The car accelerates smartly forward now! For what it's worth, since I have a stock powertrain & cooper cobra tires, I set the LCA's to the higher of the two mounting holes in the brackets.

Over the past few weeks the car has developed a mystery squeak from the rear passenger shock area. At first I thought it might be the rubber bushing from the upper track bar, but now am suspecting a koni yellow's shock bushing. I've noticed that it goes away for a couple days after I've jacked up the rear axle to work on the car.

Next will be a torque arm, followed by a rear disc brake conversion & upgraded front brakes. The car looks good, so I want to make it handle well and drive safely, then (probably in a year or two) the powertrain will get its turn.

 

I noticed the same thing once I installed my LCAs (non adjustable though). I too was suspecting the shocks but what I found was the lack of grease in the bushings of the control arms. I took them off and pulled the bushings apart and greased them liberally and problem was solved!

 

Interesting... in my own case, it's likely not the LCA's, since the problem started a few weeks before the installation and continued aftward, but is it possible that the cause is the rubber bushing in the upper track bar? The sound seems to come from that general area.

I have the rear interior partly out to fix a hatch pulldown issue, so will investigate more tonight... that squeaking sound is so shrill.