sb66

hey everyone

The other day when I was out - for some reason I seem to notice just how much the car seems to flex(?) going over our lovely roads. I wondered if there are ways to firm up an '85? I read somewhere 86 and up had a kit but not the 85. I did not know if there was anything reasonable that the avg to less than avg person could put on that would help. I thought about reaching out to a few shops but that could probably get a little expensive - plus I would need to find one I could trust.
Nothing urgent - but I feel like I would not be the only one that could benefit - I would think a lot of 84 and 85 people might take advantage.

anyone ever look into this or try anything?

thanks

Sean

Nowhere Man

keep the roof on

drcook

Well, if you don't mind driving across 224 a ways, I will show you what I did to my car and take you for a ride so you can feel how I firmed it up. If it doesn't rain, Aug 2nd would be a great evening to do so. You could come over to the all Corvette cruise-in over here. I know it is a little bit of a drive, but it is basically 224 all the way.

v8vette84

This has been discussed in detail in other threads. If you tighten up the chassis in one place the flex will move elsewhere.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...solutions.html

There's way too much flex in the chassis for an easy solution. It would require substantial modifications to make any real change in stiffening the chassis from what I have gathered.

sb66

that's a lot of stuff - I will need to re-read and maybe get an engineering degree or 2 -

recook - I came across a post or 2 of yours with a camber brace and harness bar - you seem to like that and it does not seem too intrusive?

sb66

I do not think I have had the roof off since getting a new one - at least a year +

drcook

the only issue with the harness brace is that you cannot open the little doors in the back, so you can't get the jack out. at this point my spare is 20 yrs old and not under the car. if I can find or build a spare tire delete bracket, it won't make a difference, plus I am thinking of hanging a transmission cooler with fan back there.

sb66

http://www.vansteel.com/index.cfm?fu...owItem&ID=2985

is this the same type of camber brace?

drcook

basically yes. I have a 96 so it is slightly different for a LT1/4 car

sb66

further reading mentions these are very if not too close to accessories and belts? but I would not think it would move much if at all with where it is?

drcook

Granted that mine is a lt1, the bar just fits down in

blackozvet

Hi Sean its Sean here

3 ways to really tighten up an 85
Harness Bar
X brace
Camber bar

sb66

thanks Sean -

triple threat!

I did not think there was a cross brace for the 85 - just for 86 and up? or is that the one for the convertible?

blackozvet

thats right, the cross brace was introduced with the convertible in 86, all chassis from 86 onwards has the bolt holes.
to retro fit the cross brace you need to fit nutserts into the chassis, so its a bit of stuffing around, but then any of the options involve a bit of stuffing around !

sb66

which one should you start with? I cannot get them all at once -

Also I. read there is or may be clearance issues with the x brace? - any truth to that?

blackozvet

yes there are clearance issues with the x brace - the convertible's came out the factory with a higher ride height to compensate.

I would look at the Exotic Muscle harness bar - they tighten the rear up the 2 rear points and up into the seatbelt bolts in the halo
http://emracingcorp.com/scripts/prod...?idproduct=496


Also consider the C beam plates - if you can find some - they work
http://www.zfdoc.com/c4beamplate.htms

rjacobs

vette 2 vette kit is the way to go IMO.

WAY better than the convertible X-brace.

gerardvg

Have not heard of a C4 breaking in half yet, flex is something all vehicles have to varying degrees.
No flex means it will find a weak spot and crack leading to breakup, ever looked at a plane how much the wings flex
Forget about it, like that song goes don't worry be happy

sb66

I did not think they made anything for the 85 - has anyone tried to modify and adapt to fit?

why would it be better? just curious

sb66

true - and I will never get it to the point of no flex - and probably do not want to I just wanted to reduce some so I do not have that water bed feeling over bumps and going in and out of driveways - but you make a very valid point - I came across many other posts that were adamant that all of these things were unnecessary for street cars. I think one of the articles I read that inspired some of this was about a vette that had a crack in the frame from overflexing (?) I think it was a c3 - got me to thinking about the flex in mine