Spohn Performance looking to expand its h-body product line

[monzamess]

Hi all, I got this from Steve Spohn today.

Basic story is, he's making a few parts for the h-body and wants to make more.

He's asking for a couple of good examples to borrow and will return the original parts + one of his new parts to the lender.

I'm going to send him a V8 torque arm + bracket but he's still looking for others.

Please write him directly at sales@spohn.net but post here if you find out anything interesting.

Let me introduce myself, my name is Steve Spohn and I am the owner of Spohn
Performance (www.spohn.net). We are a manufacturer of chassis, suspension and
drivetrain components specializing in GM RWD applications, and most notably the
1982-2002 F-Body.
In the past we have gotten some requests to build components for the H-Body cars and
have done so. The customers used F-Body style rear end housings and we built custom
torque arms for them, etc.
Lately we have been getting many more H-Body inquiries and have decided to design
and build a line of H-Body components. We already have rear lower control arms,
tubular with the sway bar mounts. The first run are at powder coating now and I can
share a picture with you next week. You will find that our quality is top notch.
The reason I'm writing you is in the hopes that you and your website members can
help me with some technical guidance, and in turn we can provide your community with
some very nice components they have been looking for.
My research so far has told me that the rear LCAs were the same from 71-80. I have
also determined that the 71-74 cars had rear upper control arms and not a panhard
bar or torque arm. A few years ago on one of the custom orders we did a gentleman
had sent me his stock rear LCAs and Panhard Bar to copy off of. I know he had a
Vega, but I do not recall the exact year of his car. The Panhard Bar he sent me is
mostly straight with just a slight bend in it. Looking at the schematics you have
online the only picture I find that shows the panhard bar is a 1975 Monza drawing,
and that panhard bar looks much different than the one in my possession.
What I'm hoping you can tell me is what year Vegas/Monzas had what suspension parts,
and any drawings/pictures you could share to assist us. I would also like to find a
stock rear upper control arm to build off of, as well as a stock torque arm. A
torque arm rear hosuing would be nice too, but I don't know how rare they are, so
maybe that is not possible.
We would pay for all of the shipping and provide free parts to whomever can supply
us with the stock pieces we need. Any technical assistance you could provide would
be much appreciated. Thank you for your time and I hope to hear back from you.
Thanks,
Steve Spohn

[and later]

The slight tweak (bend) in the factory panhard bar, is it necessary? Looking at your
pictures it looks like you have a tubular unit with no bends in it. Is that made
from 1" or 1.25" tubing? If it clears ok with 1.25" tubing I could make an
adjustable one very easily.

What I need is a stock rear upper arm and the stock torque arms with the front
bushing and mount if at all possible. When I have my pieces done I would send the
person their stock part back and one of our parts at no charge.


***********************************
Spohn Performance, Inc.
http://www.spohn.net
Sales: mailto:sales@spohn.net
Tech: mailto:tech@spohn.net
Phone: 717-273-6004

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Ok, I'm going to maintain a prioritized list of requests HERE.

I'll update this first post.

Please check it over and point out mistakes.

Let's consider this "closed" by Monday evening (14 JAN).

Code: Select all


These people have expressed interest in supplying parts:
* Bill (bill1978v8) -- '78 LS1 Monza
* Matt (spyder_xlch) -- '79 Spyder complete, '75 Skyhawk shell


For now the list is in three categories:
* High priority == a lot of people really want it
* Low priority == legitimate need but low demand for it
* Very low/no priority == don't bother

Part                                    Who supplies original
--------------------------------------- ------------------------
* High priority:

(all years) rear lower control arm
   - just like you've done, keep doing it

(all) front upper A-arm, adjustable,
   works with S-10/G-body ball joint & spindle

(all) front lower A-arm, adjustable
   - with deep pocket
   - works with S-10/G-body spindle
   - reinforced for optional coilover use

(all) subframe connectors
   - bolt-in, optional weld-in
   - no cutting

76-80 V8/V6 auto/4-speed torque arm
    - make it adjustable to fit more
      cars including the 75s

76-80 adjustable panhard rod

71-74 rear upper control arms

(all) V8 mounts -- consider replacement
    plates that use more common mounts,
    but OEM-style mounts would be
    snapped up as well

(all) Trans crossmember,
    - adjustable w/torque arm mount
    - DS loop?


* Low priority:

Hollow sway bars -- sizes???

76-80 V8/V6 5-speed torque arm

75 adjustable panhard rod

OEM-style rubber bushings on arms

V8 K-member
   - tubular with rack mount!


* Very low/no priority:

4-cyl torque arm

71-74 Front lower A-arms with shallow pocket

6.5" rear, anything for it




[spyder_xlch]

I know the panhard bar in a 75 Monza is different from 76-up. Is the rear the same? Torque arm mount and all? I'd loan him the rear if he can use it. How much of a market is there for a torque arm? I'd hate to loan him the rear and make a torque arm then have nobody buy one. Maybe I'll contact him. I'm maybe 2 hours away but sometimes get in that area. (tow truck driver)

[Yenkoboy]

Sent him a list of what I have ready

Front Sway Bar 71-80 1-1/16, 1-1/8
Rear Sway Bar 71-80 3/4 , 7/8
Front A-Arms 75-80 Style Same as 71-74 but with a deeper spring pocket"Preferred"
Torque Arm Rear End from an 80 Monza but the same as 74-80 H-Body
Panard Bar not sure if it has a bend - There are to Styles an I'm not an expert on why

Mark

[heinz057]

how about a torque arm bracket that mounts to a 12 bolt

[spyder_xlch]

I wrote him too. I do get near where he's located and tow cars back. I could drop one or 2 off to him on my trip down. I have the 79 Spyder which is complete and the 75 Skyhawk shell with rear I could let him borrow. The only reason for loaning him the 75 is because of the different panhard bar. Maybe he wouldn't even need it. Did any Vegas/Astres use the same panhard bar as the 75 Monza/Skyhawk/Sunbird/Starfire?

[spyder_xlch]

how about a torque arm bracket that mounts to a 12 bolt

They have 12 bolt and 9" rears with torque arm mount for 82-92 F body. Also have Dana 60's that "bolt in" the 82-92 but they don't say torque arm mount. I'd think if they are bolt in they'd use a torque arm. I know these are for F-body but I'm sure they could make them for H-body.

[cjbiagi]

The curved panhard bar as used in 1975 requires a different mount on the rearend because I believe the angle of the bar where it attaches is different than the straight bar. I think it was only used for one year, 1975. It could have been used in 76 too, not 100% sure about that but I believe the upgraded brakes, front and rear, along with the different panhard bar all came in 76.
This is great news to hear that a company like Spohn is willing to fill a small niche like H bodies. Hopefully he will get the support to make things worthwhile. They also make a rear lower control arm repositioning kit for Camaro's that would be great. On cars that are lowered the angle of the rear lower control arm changes, generally not in a good way. You can wind up with the front of the arm lower than the rear which kills traction. These would also be a great part to add.

[ColinOpseth]

I have referred people over and over and over to Spohn for his adjustable stuff (but telling the person that modifications will be required). I never dreamed that he would actually MAKE parts for us!!

This guys make QUALITY stuff. Just ask the users on ThirdGen.org.

[spyder_xlch]

Rather than just send parts, I can supply the whole car like I said. He'd be able to get correct alignment and pinion angles and stuff like that. Plus I can hand deliver the car so he wouldn't have to pay shipping both ways. Either way, if he gets a car from me or parts from someone else, someone (not me, I'm not good at that stuff) needs to make a list of what we want including problems that need addressed like negative camber and as Clyder mentioned, rear lower control arm repositioning kit.

[vegatex]

At the risk of pissing off everyone who is involved with the whole upper and lower front control arm issue, we could really use a reliable source of these. Adjustable uppers and/or non-adjustable with optional rubber or greasable polyurethane bushings would be nice. Lowers with sway bar provisions.

How about tubular front and rear sway bars?

How about bolt-in or weld in sub-frame connectors that don't require cutting the car?

I love the idea of an adjustable panhard rod and torque arm.

If their prices are as reasonable as some of the F-body products from Spohn and BMR, I can see having my whole suspension tricked out within two years.

[JohnP]

Check out their website, pretty nice and there products look good.

Even though I just ordered a set of upper a-arms from AJE, I'll agree, additional sorces for these would be great.

And I'll second the sub-frame connectors. Weld in or bolt on.

Boxed or tubular rear control arms with poly bushings for stock type suspension.

Pretty exciting, hope some nice products come out of this.

[vega_man_larry]

I gave him the complete history on rear ends. FYI the Monza '75 setup was also used on the other '75 2nd generation H bodies and the '75 Cosworth. I refere to the '75 as the transitional as it is a step between the 71 thru 74 H and the 76 and newer H. I also gave him the rundown on all the variations of the torque arm to include the 2 inch difference between 4 cylinder cars and all the rest and the 5 speed variants for 76 through 80. I also mentioned the small carrier rear having the 'bolt on' arm and the large carrier which has the 'bolt through' arm. I suggested that he have at least 2" of adjustment on his arms and skip making the small carrier arms alltigether. He could carry a 'standard' torque arm that would fit all cars except for the 5 speed which could be done special order. I suggested the 2" adjustment so the Cosworth guys who autocross their cars could get a better bar too!

A suggestion I made for future products would be a bolt in crossmember for overdrive transmissions.

Larry

[BigTruckDriver]

torque arm

[v8astregt]

SWEET! I know they're the leader in F-body suspension components. Nice to know they want to help us out as well!

[SpohnPerformance]

I want to thank everyone for their kind words and response. I have gotten quite a few (very informative) emails and will respond as soon as I get a chance (been a long day here).

I think what will be easiest for all of us is if you guys discuss what parts you would like to see and their applications... ie. SFCs for 71-74 and 75-80 or are 71-80 the same, etc.? I am not an expert on the H-Body by any means and will not claim to be, that's why I have come to you guys (and ladies) for your input.

What we can do is some serious fabricating here. We have the equipment and know-how to build just about anything you want, and we'll do it. We've been building some H-Body custom parts over the years, but lately we've been getting more and more requests so I've decided to build an off the shelf line of components. Even still we're always open to custom tweaks and modifications, so don't ever feel our offerings are set in stone, take it or leave it, we don't operate like that.

A complete car would certainly make our job much easier and more accurate for certain items. I will respond to that gentlemen very soon. I would need a car to do the S-10 spindle swap a-arms, SFCs, etc.

I've looked over the current discussion and I don't see anything listed so far that would be out of reason. Certain items would depend on perceived interest/volume potential. This would pertain to things like sway bars. We have a complete line of solid heat treated 4140 chrome moly sway bars. They are not made in-house, but at a large contract forgery. They don't make 1-3 bars at a time is what I'm getting at. We'd need some committment for an item like that as I have to lay out 4 figures to get them made.

As someone had mentioned in a previous post, how about you pick someone to "chair" this project and then I can communicate with one person, which will make things more organized for all of us. I'll check in on this post when I have free time.

I have tubular LCAs coming back from powder coating Friday, I'll post a picture of them soon.

Thanks,
Steve Spohn