The Official H-Body Internet Community

vegastre wrote:Has anyone ever installed a monte Carlo bar or strut bar in their Vega or Vega variant?

PM me your email and I'll send you a picture of a pretty trick Monte Bar on a Vega with a Rotary engine.

Resizing an image here is a pain.

BadBowtie wrote:Great wagon and cool videos! Subscribed and looking forward to the next installment

74_Vega_GT wrote:Great detailed video on the old style 4 link wheel hop fix. I am curious how the 3 link with the panhard bar and torque arm setup compares. Did the engineers overlook the convergence angle that you describe as the cause of the hop when they re-engineered the 3-link design like the Cosworth used in 75 ? Also...all that work and you used the same ragged out bushings? Loved the 3-welds at once video shot. Killed it! Are you familiar with Jordy dot coms work? His dad was director of underwater photography on many famous movie sets.

burnouts&rotorblades wrote:

74_Vega_GT wrote:Great detailed video on the old style 4 link wheel hop fix. I am curious how the 3 link with the panhard bar and torque arm setup compares. Did the engineers overlook the convergence angle that you describe as the cause of the hop when they re-engineered the 3-link design like the Cosworth used in 75 ? Also...all that work and you used the same ragged out bushings? Loved the 3-welds at once video shot. Killed it! Are you familiar with Jordy dot coms work? His dad was director of underwater photography on many famous movie sets.

I hear everyone suggest immediately to go to the three link as soon as anyone mentions wheel hop or that they have an early 4-link Vega. It drives me nuts because 4 link is the gold standard for aftermarket suspension setups. Why would I want to regress when I could add adjustable control arms and change a bit of geometry for infinite adjustability and have a bulletproof set-up? I can't speak to the convergence angle on the three link because i don't know much in the way of specifics or history on it. My theory on the four-link convergence angle is; they wanted the suspension to have as much "bite" as possible with the little 4 cylinder and went radical on the geometry to that end. When you put some horsepower to the tires, it has the unfortunate byproduct of causing the rear to want to squat and without the vehicle weight to put weight on the tires it unloads the tire repeatedly. The mod moving the convergence angle simply takes away some "bite." I also noticed that before the mod, the car squatted under power and now it lifts a bit. So, I think the axle drives into the ground more.

I never took out the bushings and I wanted to show it makes less difference about the bushings than the angle. So far, that has been the case. I don't even notice the wrecked bushings. I am considering some adjustable control arms so the bushings might be replaced with heims. Poly bushings at the very least. But all in due time. Electric power steering is my next project I think.

burnouts&rotorblades wrote:This time on @Burnoutsandrotorblades, the Vega loses the leaky quadrapuke carb for some performance upgrades and some nuts end up somewhere they shouldn't be. Check it out!!

https://youtu.be/YBL9MHLv7EQ

Monza Harry wrote: There are a few different 3 link rear suspension styles out there. there is the four link with only one straight upper [coupled and uncoupled (with a coil over shock)], and the torque arm, I don't feel either is a regression from the four link. The uncoupled one is a go to on dirt track oval cars for more than three decades now as it lends itself to uneven traction conditions usually with a Panhard (track) bar or watts link (etc.), [not unlike the streets in the rust belt] and the torque arm was considered a huge step up to the Third Gen F-Bodies, and [sort-of adapted to the independent Vette rear]. The four link is "The Gold Standard" for drag racing as it is the most easily adjusted as track conditions and other variables change. The torque arm is the most set it and forget it of the bunch. Also aside from the wrong convergence point on the Vega the control arms are woefully weaker than the four cylinder needed. Just boxing the control arms have reduced and even eliminated the problem for many, raising the rear mounts on the uppers is only halfway there with any decent V8. The lowers primarily will open and close the "C" shape of the arms under forward pressure of engine torque and traction getting much worse as the wheels go into hop. They become an un dampened spring. That would be on my short list of fixes for your car [and mine even with the "Three Link"] Keep your stuff coming you are livening up the place! Thank You Harry
P.S. I love Q-jets harder to set but again once good they are usually set it and forget it and the deep intake noise of the spread bore is one of the coolest things of the 60's 70's and 80's for me.

Smiley wrote:With raised upper control arm brackets the upper control arms can be straight so they are easier to make.
If you were swapping a Monza rear end and a TH350 into an early Vega I can see the appeal of a bolt in conversion to the torque arm.
Early cars dont have much room next to the driveshaft for a torque arm.
The 4 link allows a lot more options for rear end swaps.