79 l82 manual
already
- new front bushings ball joints
- 474 pound springs moog
- 1 1/8 front sway bar
- added gymkhana rear 7/16th oem ebay bar
- new poly strut bushings
- bearings tight original .001-.002
- trailing arm bushings in place but dry original
- broke my new delco gas front shocks..
- put new bilsteins front B6

all happy ... very happy..
Christmas list..
rear bilsteins to replace my newer delco gas shocks..
i have original 9 leaf steel spring..am i upgrading to mono? Not yet rear spring ok for now but never say never...
what rear bilstein? B6 or b8?
one says for adjusted lower height? But many say required for mono..which one to buy?
for some reason b8 adjusted lower suspension cheaper..than b6 normal ride height?
not really planning on lowering..
thank you

 

I run Mono spring, B8's only slightly lower in rear. works great. steel multi leaf standard height, most would agree B6.

 

I used the OE style and then switched to a generic Pep Boys style then went to Bilsteins and wound up installing and still going with Monroe Gas-Adjust and am very happy..
Of course most C3's especally in the mid year range all rode hard regardless of what shocks folks used..Just my 2cents worth!!

JJ78

 

BY Far the biggest single change one can make to any C3 suspension that will DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE, not only the ride but also handling, is a composite spring...BY FAR!

Bilsteins will also transform the ride on any C3 and in fact, most any car I have used them on over the last 40 years....and I have done a lot of installs on Audi's, BMW's, Chrysler 300's, Mustangs, C3 corvettes, C6 Z06 corvettes, etc.

One of the most common comments, folks make riding in my C3 is not abou the powerful 355 L-82 upgraded and rebuilt in 2014, the handling, BUT very often the ride quality being so good for a C3......it is that good......

 

I would ditch that 9 leaf base suspension steel spring in a heart beat...Very heavy, a marsh mellow at a rating of about 198lbs, terrible ride quality (steel springs provide an awful ride quality whether they are base or the gymkhana 7 leaf 292 LBS, terrible). Please read below for a solid recipe with riders comments.

The C3 Bilstein B6/8 do not need to be used with lowering springs, etc Bilstein HD/Sports work well with a stock ride height suspension. Note below that I have both the HD (6) and Sports (8) on my C3 at the SAME time. Since you installed 470 front springs (not sure why?), You may want to go with the sports (8) all around, front and rear. I used Bilsteins HD's (6) in front with my 550 front springs, 1 inch lower than stock, and have been on the car for years..no issues. I used the HD (6) in front since the 550 springs are so stiff to begin with and the sports are 30% stiffer than the HD's. Did not need any more damping than provided by the 550's, thus the install of the HD (6)!

In the rear, again, since you have 470 front springs, I would suggest 330 monospring with Bilstein Sports in the back. Ask any questions you have? I instaled my 360 monospring back in 1986 and have many years tweaking this cars suspension.

This post of mine from another thread should help you with my experience completely upgrading my basic OEM designed suspension:

​​​​​​From another post on suspension and Wheels that I posted a while back:

I have a 78 L-82 4 speed car with the gymkhana sport suspension (67,000 miles) that I have owned for 34 years and I have tinkered with the suspension one part at a time over all those years to achieve the perfect balance of superb handling, steering response and a firm but not harsh ride. Not knowing if you have a base suspension (most likely since most did not have the sport suspension from the factory) or the sport suspension, below is what you need for truly sportscar handling with a great ride for your 78:

Front:

550 lbs front coil springs/1 inch lower than stock-$100
1 1/8 inch solid front sway bar (OEM Bar size)-$200
poly upper and lower control arm bushings-$50
Bilstein HD shocks-$150
Front Spreader Bar-$100
Custom blueprinted/rebuilt OEM steering box- GTR 1999-Gary Ramadei-$300
This modification will make your OEM box about as good as it gets with the OEM steering and very close to a borgeson.....not quite but close


Rear:

360 monospring-$300
Bilstein Sport shocks-$150
OEM Style Rear Sway bar (not the aftermarket type bars. I highly discourage NON OEM/GM style rear sway bars)-7/16 or 9/16 or 3/4 inch (I have this one replacing the stock 7/16 inch bar)-$200
Competition adjustable strut rods with heim joint ends-$200

Total Cost $1750

This suspension will get you a FAR SUPERIOR suspension than what came on the car when it was new, X3 if the car had a base suspension from the factory. You will need to add 17/18 inch rims and tires (ZR rated only W/Y sub rating) later to maximize the superior suspension setup. I have ultra high performance summer only tires Front-255/45/17 ZR and rears 255/50/17 ZR's.



This is ^^^the basic C3 suspension design pretty much unmodified from its original design but maximized for handling, steering, response and grip....I will say this again, the ride is far superior to the OEM gymkhana suspension that came on the car with 255/60/15 crap tires and is very compliant. A neighbor who has lexus LsS460/430 sedans recently rode in my 78 and he commented more than once about the power is great BUT he could not believe how well and tight the ride was....kept saying it.

I said this way back in the beginning of this thread...This ^^^^ will get you a fantastic ride, superb handling, all with basically a stock designed suspension with 17 inch ultra high performance summer only tires.............

I will also add that Karol on this forum with his base stock suspension,L-82 4 speed, and 15 inch aluminum OEM rims with 255/60/15 Radial T/A's, just this past weekend rode in my 78 ^^^^ and then in a back to back comparison we rode in his 78 unmodified base suspension L-82 and he could not believe how much BETTER my car rode than his car (not to mention handle). He loved the rebuilt/upgraded 355 L-82 but raved about the ride....This example is an immediate comparison of real world results, no theory here, with a direct comparison of the 2 suspension types...Not sure what else to say here about this subject.

These upgrades to a C3 basic suspension are FAR SUPERIOR to the way the car was in stock form and for very comparatively little money. If you plan to just drive on the street, I would highly recommend going this route, even though my car can more than hold its own on a road course. For serious racing, you would need to more drastically change the basic suspension design or switch to later suspensions like the C4, as mentioned above.....

 

@jb78L-82
ok not going mono yet..what shock rear for that..and whatever that choice is will still be ok on steel spring?
budget
you know I’ve been following your build and mimicking the gymkhana..
b6 or b8

im leaning b8 even though b6 in front..

thanks

edit!
also might as well put mono spring on list you never know...any brand 360#?

 

I would still go B6 in front with the 470 springs which are only 80 lbs less than the stock gymkhana OEM front coils. In the rear, I would definitely go B8 Sports since that rear spring is very soft and the sports are 30% stiffer than the HD's and will actually help the ride a bit and can be used later with a composite, down the rode.

No recommendations on 360 springs since my VBP 360 is out of business. I think others recommend van steel (may have bought VBP molds?). Others can chime in on suggested brands for the composite....Stay away from TRW,,,,,

 

B8 rear it is..thanks..for some reason b8 significantly cheaper too..rock auto
will add spring to list..not looking to lower but use stock bolts etc..

 

355 lb monospring here with the Bistein Sports on the rear here. VERY happy with the ride and handling. Not harsh. This was a 2 stage upgrade from base level with the mono spring added first (not thrilled with the combination with stock shocks) and the Bilstein Sports added later. Ride is completely changed now.

Stock base springs on the front with Bilstein HD (front only).

 

i will probably do opposite order..
source on springs? Oem hardware? My current ride height is stock about 28 1/4 inch to 28 3/4 from ground to lip depending on day and side..32 and 28 psi

 

I have an AO Smith spring with stock bolts which is unfortunately now out of production.