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Hello y'all,

I started my project on a arizona find, first owner Pontiac astre.
I understand that in a way it shares a lot with the Vega and monza which seems to be the car that all the topics are about.
I was just wondering if I can completly follow all the tech tips (like the s10 conversion) or if there is a difference between my astre and the vega's
Besides that I wanted to order some energy suspension bushes and I found the ENERGY SUSPENSION 33140G
Is this the right one? On rockauto it does show up for the 75 vega but not for the 75 astre.
Since I live in Europe rockauto is the way to go.

Thank you

Joey

Just to add,
to replace all my front arm bushings it seems to be cheaper to use energy suspension than OEM rubbers.
How is the quality of the energy suspension bushings?

They are the same car just different nose and tail. Astre s eventually dumped the vega 140 motor and replaced it with the iron duke . So yes all the swap stuff you can follow to the tee. If I have misspoken some one here will correct me! Me personally I prefer stock rubber to poly bushings.

To add to 283's remarks just, follow the same years of Vega, check this forum out and it will help you find the differences between the Monza/Sunbird/Skyhawk/Starfire's and the Vega/Cosworth/Astre/Cosworth Example '75 Cosworth Vega has the 7.5" Rear, '75 Vega 6.5" rear '75 Monza 4cyl. 6.5" V8 7.5" there are some differences with brakes but that will not matter with the S10 swap except for the master cyl. which many swap out to a S10 sizes on anyway. A few other things as such, the info is all here, you will have some reading to do to take it all in. Also there are two different lower control arm depths to consider if doing an engine swap, the deep ones are easier to source springs suited to V6/V8 engine weights. Harry

Thanks for your respons, i shall do some research.
My car will be fitted with a volvo b230f so nothing too heavy. It might have 16 valves and turbo later on.
My main question is WHY do you prefer rubber over poly? I always thought poly was a better upgrade than rubber.
Very curious to hear others preferences and reasons why

Hi, My thinking on poly bushings opposed to rubber is that the poly are stiffer therefore maintaining a possibly tighter cornering and suspension response over rubber. They may also send more noise through the body from those vibrations. Others can add more info.
nick75vega

As to rubber vs poly . Rubber bushing = better /softer ride. Poly = better handling , harsh ride and sometimes squeeky. Its your choice it just depends on what you want.

I also contend that poly is harder on the chassis since there is little to no give there is no cushion between the control arms and the body. So all the stresses / twisting is applied right to the body. These frames are already known for cracking in highly stressed areas so I don't see any reason to exacerbate it. Poly bushings can also be more difficult to install because if the holes don't line up perfectly for the bolts it can be very difficult to gain any "give" to help align the bolt. I am not a big fan of poly bushings in the control arms, I know some people are so it's up to you. I prefer not to lower the ride quality, listen to sqeaks etc. I do use them on the front sway bar mounts, but that's about it.

As usual Clyde, you have defined it precisely.

I have used both and I prefer the rubber bushings for the street. If your a performance kinda guy who likes to feel the road in your gut then Poly is the way to go.

Ya, Vegas and Astres are virtually the same with some subtle deference's.