I actually set up the arms on my lift so they catch on the frame...RIGHT BEHIND the bracket for the power steering cylinder mount....so I am getting closer to the center-line of the front suspension as possible. The closer you get to the center-line ..the less chance you are going to have any flex. Just plain simple logic.

ALL I will write on this is this. When you are raising the car AFTER you have set your arms where you want them. Do yourself a FAVOR and LOOK REALLY good at the gap between the top hood surround and the door. WATCH this area when you get the wheels off the ground. The you can make a determination if the increase in gap is worthy of your time in providing additional support UNDER the car when you get it up and raised....via the tall safety stands. Some Corvettes barely move...BUT thy DO MOVE..and others MOVE A LOT! REGARDLESS If ti is a coupe or convertible up to 1982.

AS for the rear gap at the door/ quarter panel..as I wrote...unless there is something drastically wrong....usually coupes do not have a big issue in the gap increasing...BUT...the convertibles can do as I wrote previously.

DUB

 

I was a concerned with the clearance of the spreader bar and both the fan and power steering pump....but there was ample room! Very pleased with the performance and the added stiffness of my Vert I highly recommend having one installed!

 

Ok seems like general opinion is that a spreader bar is a plus and and a good cheap upgrade. Now, is there a difference in spreader bars for a BB and a SB? I read Speed Directs site and it seems to be for a SB only. Help me out here.

 

I believe VB&P are the only ones making a spreader bar for BB. You have to run an electric fan though.
I just finished installing the Speed Direct unit on my 72-BB, running electric fans, but I made my own brackets using angle iron from Home Depot. If you have access to a welder it's not that difficult.

 

My '72 vert was an old show car up in Md. near DC. there is very little to no rust thanks to it's show car status I bought it in '95......moved to Florida in '97 and so still garage kept..... one of my first projects was fitting '89 vette wheels with 50 series tires on it, and the fender flares worked out purrfect......so I noted here in Florida long about Y2k that the guys here commenting about those supports, so got one from a fellow here......

even with the 255/50/17 up front, and all the 275/50/17 in rear, it was a HELL of an improvement in handling.....
plastic 360 rear, 460 front, Bilstein all around, that cross support actually was a HUGEimprovement I suspect not so noticed with stockish wheels/tires....but with serious rubber (compared to stock sizes), and suspension mods.....THAT cross really added a LOT.....

SO DO IT!!!! even with bicycle/stock tires, it going to be noticed!!!!

 

How about some pics of what you did? I have a welder - stick and mig so this may be doable as especially as the VB&P spreader is about $60 more than the Speed direct. Can't imagine there being $60 worth of difference.

 

There's got to be more to this story than just being on a lift for a weekend.

My '69 convertible was on 4 jack stands for 13 years before I put it back on the road. Doors shutting was never a problem.

 

I believe you will find the VB&P unit is beefier than the Speed Direct one. All depends how far you are pushing your car. I'm basically a cruiser with some occasional spirited diving.
Regardless, here are some photos of my install as you asked. In a nutshell, I cut up the brackets supplied from Speed Direct and, using 1" angle iron stock, cut up/welded up some new brackets using both materials. I got the bar as close as I could to the pulleys on the motor. A little trial and error is involved. Not to difficult a project.

 

YES..it is hard for some people to actually believe this...but I can not say any more about it other than it is true. So much depend on the integrity of the steel...which can vary from your car to another car...which we all know is possible.

Not meaning to get into this to deep...but I have jacked up hundreds of Corvettes (1963-1982) to do service work..and I can tell you that SOME are fine...others cause me to have great concern.

And knowing the properties of steel because I do body work....metal can stretch...and if you had no problems with your car...truly I am glad....and if you can not understand that this can happen....all I can say is to take classes in frame straighten and you will see very quickly on what happens when you have to make a pull..and GO PAST where you want it to end up because the metal will go back...do it its properties. THIS...if the frame sagged greatly due to issues it had...when it was put back on the ground...the frame did not go back to the exact same spot.

And for what it is wroth...not saying that you would believe this...but I have a customer with a tool that he brings by when I need it that can read the thickness of steel. And many Corvettes have that I have had him test had frames that are showing major rust deposits in the rocker channel area and other ares that are HALF the thickness of what the frame should be. Just saying.

DUB

 

Or you can make it too complicated and way more difficult





M

 

Kim - I notice you have yours much nearer the engine and pulleys than Mooser does. Is this just a matter of preference or is there some benefit from having it closer? Or is Mooser's idea of making it more difficult just that? Mooser WHY did you do that? LOL! I gotta admit I kinda think it would be easier to live with having it further forward, but what do I know???? Thanks guys you are really helping me along!

 

BTW Kim what is that electrical gadget on your radiator?

 

Mooser where did you get those brackets? Does Mooser interior supply make brackets like that too? You gonna be a full fledged complete line of custom Vette parts supplier!

 

No particular reason for me. You just have to skirt the front bolt/nut on the a-arm.

Electrical gadjet is my electric fan controller.

 

Ideally you'd want to go in-line with but in between the two control arm bolts. That doesn't work so well with the BB. So it's either up or down some to make clearance on the WP pulley (I have seen somewhere that someone made a spacer for the stock fan and managed to sneak the bar in on a BB)
Like Kim72 said, you need to get around that front a-arm bolt. I wanted to stay in-line with the bolts rather than going up or down so this worked for me.
M

 

LOL, yeah is a subsidiary

 

I did not want to comment on the placement location of your spreader bar...because I understand WHY you went where you went with it. Sometimes....'thing's' can only go where they can go even though we might want them to go elsewhere.

Very impressive....very CLEAN looking installation.

DUB

 

Thank you Sir.
M

 

Spreader bar *locks* In the dimension across the a-arm / shock towers; 26-3/8" IIRC. When this area "sags" does dimension open up or get tighter?

 

The few I've seen tended to collapse and measure smaller.
It's not even the sag that's the problem, it's the movement as the car is driven (cornered?) and the camber is moving in/out all over the place during a corner.
The bar at least makes it more consistent.
M