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Hey guys, this is my first post. I am looking for all the possible combinations of front suspensions. I have a 73 vega that i am building into a drivable street car. What do you guys run/suggest? How does it perform on the street? and also if you have any ideas, just throw them out there, reasonable or not. Thanks!

On my 73 Vega wagon I'm running deep pocket Monza lower control arms, Monza V6 coil springs, and S-10 spindles and 5 lug hubs\disks witn an iron head SBC. Working well for me.

Well at minimum you want to upgrade to the later H body vented rotors. This along with the upgraded calipers will give you the best of factory designed H body brakes. After that you will have to decide on whether you want to maintain the factory 4 lug setup or go 5 lug. This can be done by either redrilling the rotors for a 5 lug pattern ( 5 x 4 1/2 recommended) or by doing the S10 spindle swap. The springs need to be evaluated by your specific car and ride height goals. Going with the deep pocket front lower control arm and matching spring will give you the larger balljoint used with this arm, so that's obviously a good upgrade. Rebuilding the entire front end is also a good idea with all new bushings, ball joints etc. If you can find a factory or aftermarket 1 1/8" sway bar mounted in poly bushings that would be great. There are also places making tubular control arms and other more serious upgrades but we need to know more about what your expectations are. For a reasonably priced shock you can go with KYB's low pressure gas shock.

I know others did the coilover conversion like using the s10 QA1.

I went with the AJE Racing tubular control arms, and Viking first gen Camaro coilovers per AJE recommendation. Not running yet, but seems to be working out, albeit a little expensive.

So the plan to move tie rods is moving forward and looks good, MAY even be able to keep stock tie rods and get inners away from oil pan included.
So keep tuned in, and I also have a plan the set up properly for coil overs with out true tubular arms.
But the arms, good bushings, maybe upgrade sway bar,links. I am talking to SC&C about SPC uppers. Also I like idea of locking lower arms as far out on camber adjustment slots as possible thus getting a slightly wider track width. This will allow more wheel bs and slightly better scrub radius and tire width.

Also talking to Ridetech about coilovers.

Have you seen this thread? viewtopic.php?f=10&t=45103

Dick

could one of you guys please explain what dick said about the mounting plates should have been horizontal instead of vertical. i look at the pictures and dont see what you guys are explaining. thanks art

chevyart wrote:could one of you guys please explain what dick said about the mounting plates should have been horizontal instead of vertical. i look at the pictures and dont see what you guys are explaining. thanks art

Hey Art, if you look at the first picture he posted the tabs for the coilovers mount sideways, the bolts go through the side of the control arm and the bolts/mount are trying to be sheared from side load. If you think of a stock control arm the mounting points for the shock tab are through the bottom of the arm, supported against the spring pocket. This makes it so the load is better distributed on the bolts since they arent in shear and the mount since its far more supported against the arm and can be reinfoced.

someone chime in if im wrong

thanks Bowtie. I understand now what they were saying. problem with the pictured coilover setup is that crossover bar that mounts the coilover to the control arm is ridiculously made(weak) in the slotted area where it broke. technically(i think) is that setup is a dual shear mount(2 bolts holding coilover), but the part that carries the weight is just way too thin. look at coilovers on drag cars. the coilover rides between 2 steel plates, drilled and welded to axle tubes, and a 1/2" bolt runs through everything and carries all the weight, with no problems. the pictured setup could be fixed by getting 2 small pieces of angle iron, drill a 1/2" hole for the coilover, and another 1/2" hole to mount the tabs to the A-frame. two tabs(one on each side) (bolted) to the A- frame. done this way it would give it a sort of dual shear strength(i believe) to carry the load. i would try this way if there was room to do it on those A frames. tabs would be small and i would use tabs about 1/8 to 3/16 thick. the grade 8 1/2" bolts would carry the loads. hopefully the structure of the A frames made as they are, would be strong enough to carry this new, extra load. what do you think of my idea . Art

I see it that way too. So Nail on Head there BBT! Art the bolts(2) are installed in a way that the load has to only break them in one spot [each] so that is referred to as "single shear" the way that your control arms are mounted, for example with the bolts through two mountes is referred to as "double shear". Harry

thanks hary i fully ubderstand the double shear vs. single shear methods. i just didnt understand the way

dick talked about vertical vs. horizontal mounting of the parts. if you look at my long post above yours i fully descbed the double shear method and i also suggested a fix or the coilovers in question. i also know that the single shear method is almost always used in just mounting a shock to a hotrod type of rear suspension(like on my 67 nova drag car), usually by way of a single stud welded to traction bar plate or to a plate under the leaf springs on older hot rods. i think some of the newer made front control arms actually have a pocket made into them for front coil springs and the newer type coilovers can be adapted to sit right in the pockets, on top, for maximum support of the weight. art