PA Racing kmember, A-arms and front coilover kit with caster/camber plates, Summit 7qt oil pan kit, Spohn Top Gun driveshaft and QA1 rear coilovers. I was a good boy this year

 

Very nice setup.

 

Very nice. What are the advantages on coil overs? Also very interested to see how the PA setup fits. Looking to do the switch and right now its UMI on top for me.

 

Don't really know the advantage other than they weigh less than the factory stuff. Hopefully I'll have all this installed by New Years.
I got the rear coilovers on and driveshaft. Disadvantage on the rear coilovers is that i cant maintain the ride height I had before without the shock bottoming out.

 

I seemed to have come up with a solution to the shock bottom-out issue I may encounter. I was about ready to go into a deep sleep last night and I came up with an idea to make a 1/4" thick extension bracket maybe 2 or 3 inches in length with 2 holes drilled in it. Bolt it to the shock mount on the axle using the upper bolt hole and tack weld it in place so it won't move side to side. Then bolt the coilover to the lower hole which will give me a lower ride without worrying about the shock bottoming out. It's amazing the stuff you come up with in your sleep

 

That's pretty much exactly what I did .to correct that issue as well. There are pics.of.it in a thread of .mine somewhere here on tgo. I also .added a brace back from that piece of.1/4 back to a hole in my lcarb so add some support.

So maybe you saw my pic a while back, and it came back to you in your sleep in a vision or sorts,lol

 

Great minds think alike I will have to search for those pics unless you have them in your PC and PM them to me

 

If you search for 'rear coilovers' look at the thread ' rear shock relocation' that has pic's. They are elsewhere as well. I have pics somewhere, I can pm them once I find them.

 

There's a guy "irocdennis" looking for a template of those 2 stiffener plates. Maybe you can help him? He's on this side of the planet too so getting a new set is a PITA and $$$

 

If your using the stock steering linkage and wanting to turn your car, you may want to clearance that POS K-member so your inner tie rods and tie rod sleves clear the main cross tube.
Good luck. I HATE the POS they sent me.

 

When did you get yours?

 

.

 

A few years ago.
The main tube is the problem. Its a poor design. My K looks like yours.
And no My car hasn't been wrecked.

Im going with this.
http://www.umiperformance.com/catalo...roducts_id=625

 

I talked with him already, I can send him a template in a couple days when my new computer shows up

 

Have you talked to Jason from PA Racing about the problem yet?

 

Yup. They sent me another one with the exact same problems.
Wouldn't take them back and ended up having 2 paying 4 both of them.
Long story, to make it short I HATE THAT COMPANY WITH A PASSION.

 

Damn that sucks. I guess we'll see what happens on this install.

 

Even with flipping your center link you still have clearance problems?

 

I was just out in the shop checking on Jerry's build progress for our new K-member. Not only are we the engineers on this, we get the joy of installation as well. Because of that we test fit many times to ensure a smooth build for our customers. Sometimes we even throw wrenches but better us than you.

As you can see, our jig is quite robust, our mounts are CNC'd to exacting tolerances, and Jerry's even incorporating some slots in strategic locations for engine mount bolt clearance. We are committed to making this k-member the best on the market.

ramey

 

Wow...I guess you WERE a good boy....nice stuff!! -What's the secret?? lol

 

 

Lot's of TLC

 

Ok here's a quick update. I borrowed 86ta's design of the coilover relocation bracket and created my version. The car sits right where I wanted it without worrying about bottoming out. Here are the pics:

 

one more

 

Looking good!

 

 

can you send santa up to Pa with some of that for me ? That's 1 nice car you got there .

 

Thanks, just test drove the car to work and back(100 miles) and brackets held up nicely.

 

Kewl

 

Sweet. I'm in the Tampa area, too. That same santa hasn't been by my house... lol.
Looks good!

 

Congrats!!
I musta been very very naughty or somewhat anyway!! Lol!!!

Looking forward to updates......

Enjoy

 

Those relocation brackets don't need welded in?

 

These are the bolt in variety. They can be welded in.

 

Those came out great! Do you think a gusset at the bottom is needed to tie the two pieces together for additional strength?

 

Yeah it would've worked. Ive put this design through its paces and so far its holding up pretty nicely. My next mod will be to add an adjustable steering stop and bumptops
to the pa racing a-arms.

 

Update-The entire front suspension is removed. Now I have to go hunt down so 10.9 bolts for the k-member.

 

Wow man Ive never seen a bar like that that holds the motor up. Whats it called and where can i get one. Also where did you attach it to. Thats badass. I might end up getting a k member now

 

It's an engine support bar. It's rated at 1000lbs. I bought it at Harbor Freight a few miles from my house. $75 It comes with 2 chains. I wrapped the chain around the accessory brackets on both sides. Love this thing. I was going to use my engine hoist but the legs wouldn't allow me to maneuver much under the car to get the old k-member out and new one in. I also need to swap the oil pan while I'm down there.

 

Damn..... All I got was a new steering wheel!

 

Here's a quick update. I finally got around to putting in the k-member yesterday. It went in pretty easy. I have the driver side suspension almost done. I made my own steering stop and coilover support brace.

 

Another update. Ran into an issue with ride height and strut bottoming out as I did with the rear shocks. Here is my solution - 2" T6061 aluminum stock cut in 1.5" sections and a 5/16" hole drilled through the center and tapped. It looks questionable but i test drove it today over speed bumps and dips at generous speeds and everything held up perfectly. Tomorrow i will do a slalom test on a deserted road for further stress testing

 

Going to HF tomorrow

 

I would be very careful with that. especially with the coil overs! You have a lot of load that was carried by the entire strut tower that is now being transferred through three round pieces of aluminum. You've lost a lot of contact area. Are they atleast machined flat or just saw cut?
and, did you reset the camber or how do you know its correct?

 

Its a very nice piece of equipment. Bought it today for a tranny swap for my GTP. With these cars you have to drop the whole cradle to get it out. Its solid as a rock and eases the mind over using blocks of wood instead. I would recommend to just replace the chains with something stronger or beefer like I did.

 

They are machined flat on a lathe. The aluminum is T6061 and has a tensile strength of 45000psi so I have faith in this design. I've seen this setup on other vehicles used for autocross.

 

Those aluminum pieces are not at any time in tension, though. Only the bolts are. The alum pcs are in compression. But, really thats a moot point. I just hope things don't move around any!

 

The spacers are screwed onto the grade 8 bolts and tightened from the underside, then the strut mount is bolted on. I don't think there will be any movement. So far so good. Here is a rough diagram of the design.

 

what kind of wheels are those and what size? they look great on a blk camaro

 

Here is a factory suspension development /track car.. look at the strut mounts

 

Is that your car? BTW my steering linkage doesn't rub on the k-member like yours was. They must've redesigned it.