there is a guy on youtube named "Klowny69" who does a lot of thirdgen stuff. he installed one of these and shows it in detail. worth a watch.

 

thanks alot

 

Hi

This is my turn to come in.

I'm thinking of buying one of these. In France, with shipping and taxes, you finally will pay twice (in Euro !) the MSRP price in USD. So should I really need one ?

My T-tops 1983 T/A has 70K miles, and will never be a daily-driver again. Just a pleasure car.

Our local roads are curvy and hilly, but our highways are great. For now, I'm running a prepped 305ci, but may switch to a 383 or LS-engine in a few years.

I want this car to behave like a Late-C4 or Mercedes SL : comfy cruiser than can compete Boxsters at the light, and run fast (120/150 mph) on Autobahns. No strip, no AutoX, no hard-cornering but a few Donuts here and there.

Here's the shopping-list : UMI K-member and A-arms on replacement WS6 springs, UMI torque arm/rear arms/SFCs, UMI Wonderbar, 15'' wheels and tires.

The difference between re-coating the factory K-member, and going tubular is $2000 to my wallet. So, I'm thinling twice.

What's you opinion ?

 

I would skip it unless you need it for clearance or you have already shed every last kilogram of weight and are looking for a little more. The stock piece is quite strong and the weight is down low which isnt a problem.

 

Yeah thats alot for kinda little gain. Theres like 30 lbs savings i think it was but thats hardly anything to get excited about

it does look nice and give more room around engine underneath but thats only an advantage if you need it for like header bolt access, turbo builds, spark plug changes if your headers suck, etc. stock K isnt bad to work around imo

if you want to liven up the handling get some koni shocks and but stiffer springs than factory

 

Thanks for the great answers, I will follow your advices.

Firmer springs ? With factory height ?
For now, my shocks are 36 year-old. Understand : shot !!! I should buy the Konis, then check how the car behaves with stock WS6 springs.

 

I don't usually recommend not buying our products but in the case of the k-member vs other items - shocks springs and sways from UMI would be well worth the investment first...

 

Sounds like you want a car that gets a little rowdy and can show some other cars the tail lights. I like it, that's my style too.

A k-member in and of itself is not a good purchase. You should have some kind of greater reason for needing it, and I don't see that reason. Removing weight from low in the car (like a k-member) is the opposite of what you want to do for high speed stability.

I wouldn't be cruising at 120 - 150 mph on 15 inch tires.

 

Thanks for all these great advices. So I'll just have the GM K-member removed and repainted.

Just in case, I'd rather buy new bolts before. No replacement part found on the internet, except at Spohn's site.

Just added them on my shopping-list !

 

fits like made by GM..