Yesterday, I traded my '94 T/A for an all original '82 Crossfire Vette w/ 133K miles. Its a solid car that just needs some TLC to get it up to speed again. But by all original, I mean it! I'm sure it still has the original shocks by the way it floats down the road. So, the first order of business is to re-build the front end and take care of the rest of the suspension with the best parts recommended by the Forum for occasional Auto-X or road racing. I'd like to get your expert advice on the following:

1. Front End Re-build Kits: I want to stick with HD MOOG parts instead of the "generic" kits made up of parts of unknown orgin (most likely from China). Does anyone sell complete *MOOG* kits for C3's; or do I need to pick up a Summit catalog and order each part individually??

2. Rubber vs. Poly A-Arm bushings: Need some opinions here. Has anyone used those Global West "Del-a-lum" bushings, or the Herb Adams steel/nylon sleeve setups??

3. Shocks: I'm pretty much decided on Bilstein Sports. Who has the best prices? I was surprised to see Mid America is $50 cheaper than Shox.com for a set of 4 for standard Bilsteins, but I'd prefer Sports.

4. Front Coil Springs: 450 or 550 lb/in?? I'm leaning towards the 550's, but I need some advice here since I'm also considering a sway bar upgrade.

5. Sway Bars: Any advice matching with the front coil rate would be appreciated.

6. Longer Bolts for lowering the Rear ride Height: What size and length do I need? My plan is to pick these up at the local hardware store.

I'll attack the rear suspension more in detail after I take care of the front. Looking forward to your replies! TIA!

 

You have alot of questions to address in one post, but to get some quick answers, I'd go to the home page for the Forum and start checking out the web sites of some of its sponsers. Van Steel and VB & P are two that come to mind. Both have excellant products for a variety of Vette uses. (And they both specialize in Vette applications so their man-power usually comes up with straight advise.

Also, search this forum for previous posts on "rubber vs. poly" bushings... trust me, you should find plenty. Ask yourself a few questions first like "do you want go-kart tight rough handling or do you want a more comfortable Grand Touring feel." Are you trying to build a 1/4 street/strip car, a daily driver, an autocrosser. Also, how adjustable do you want your suspension to be in terms of ride vs. handling. And how important is adjusting ride height to you? The pieces are all out there....Of course the first factor for most people in how much $$$ do you want to throw at the project.

I'm in a similar spot to you in that I have an '81 ready for frame/suspension restoration. I just popped the body off mine Friday night with the intent of cleaning everything up, doing a bit of POR 15 painting and then figuring out what I want to do with the suspension, etc.

Good Luck with your project....

kdlp