Torque arm front mount

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Torque arm front mount

Postby 77irishwagon » Tue Feb 28, 2012 5:09 pm

I'm looking to fab something for the front mount of the stock torque arm. The 4cylinder /th350 had the torque arm bolted to the tail shaft. The car now has a 350 /powerglide. Can i make a solid mount for the front of the torque arm? Or does it need to have some sort of pivot / shackle attached to it ? Looking for ideas to make this a fairly painless install.

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Chris
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Re: Torque arm front mount

Postby cjbiagi » Tue Feb 28, 2012 5:26 pm

You can use Heim joints, it does need to be able to pivot as the rearend moves up and down. There should also be some ability to move front to rear again as the rearend piovts in a arc around the lower control arms. It doesn't need much, but otherwise there will be some binding. Whether it's enough to cause a problem is up for debate.
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Re: Torque arm front mount

Postby 76Vega » Tue Feb 28, 2012 7:34 pm

I'm going to do what a friend of mine did and weld a tab onto the trans crossmember, and then bolt the torque arm 3 bolt bracket to that, This way you still have the original bushing and bolt on the end of the torque arm, and you could actually have it sitting in the factory position.
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Re: Torque arm front mount

Postby cjbiagi » Tue Feb 28, 2012 7:40 pm

It's important to have it in the factory position because the torque arm will set your pinion angle. It's amazing how easy it is to rotate the rearend when you have the front of the torque arm disconnected and move the arm from the front. Incredible amount of leverage.
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Re: Torque arm front mount

Postby 77irishwagon » Wed Feb 29, 2012 9:10 am

76Vega wrote:I'm going to do what a friend of mine did and weld a tab onto the trans crossmember, and then bolt the torque arm 3 bolt bracket to that, This way you still have the original bushing and bolt on the end of the torque arm, and you could actually have it sitting in the factory position.


Does the stock bushing in the torque arm allow for the pivot? I dont recall the 3 bolt bracket or were it installed. I might have sold it with the old transmission. But if I make a tab coming off the trans mount like you have described and mount the front eyelet solid... does the bushing allow the needed movements?


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Chris
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Re: Torque arm front mount

Postby stage169 » Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:12 pm

Yes the stock bushing allows the TA to move/pivot. I don't know how many different front mounts there were (maybe just these two?) but here are some old pictures. The round bushing has a bolt through the center which holds the three hole bracket. The other one just squeezes around the front of the TA. Brian
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Re: Torque arm front mount

Postby cjbiagi » Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:42 pm

The round bushing is rubber and designed in a way to allow some movement. If you need one let me know.
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Re: Torque arm front mount

Postby 76Vega » Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:47 pm

I would say yes. :D
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Re: Torque arm front mount

Postby hammerdown7 » Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:48 pm

stage169 wrote:Yes the stock bushing allows the TA to move/pivot. I don't know how many different front mounts there were (maybe just these two?) but here are some old pictures. The round bushing has a bolt through the center which holds the three hole bracket. The other one just squeezes around the front of the TA. Brian


What engine/drive train combo is the sliding TA off of, I've only seen the round bushing.

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Re: Torque arm front mount

Postby 76Vega » Thu Mar 01, 2012 8:21 am

The sliding ones had come on later years monza's, but please someone correct me if i'm mistaken.
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Re: Torque arm front mount

Postby Fasterthansome » Thu Mar 01, 2012 8:26 am

F bodies used the slider mount. I use a link similar to this on mine.


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Re: Torque arm front mount

Postby cammerjeff » Thu Mar 01, 2012 8:36 am

zfrom what I can tell, Cars equipped with a V-8, and V-6 cars with at least a TH-350 came with the round style TA Bushing, my 78 Sunbird and the 78 & 79 Sunbird parts cars all with Auto along with the 79 V-8 4-speed Firenza Parts car all had the round Bushing, all 3 77 Astre's I have had with the 2.5 and M-200 3-speed Auto have had the other style. I can't help you with any other year/Combo. I have both style Brackets available if you need one, and I would get a new Bushing from Clyde.
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Re: Torque arm front mount

Postby 77irishwagon » Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:23 am

Thanks for the info guys , mine is the round style. just wish i hadnt let the attaching bracket go.

Do you know what size hole is in that round bushing?


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Re: Torque arm front mount

Postby stage169 » Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:45 am

hammerdown7 wrote:What engine/drive train combo is the sliding TA off of, I've only seen the round bushing.
Dick


Image

From Monzamess -
Mounting the torque arm was not simple. Unlike every other H-body, the 2.5l 4-cylinder models use a "lipped" torque arm bushing instead of a round one. This is the same as is used on 1982-current Camaros. It's a little better because this arrangement allows the torque arm to slightly move in and out of the bushing, which may help prevent wheel hop. So, I had to find a way to mount this "oddball" torque arm up to the TH350 transmission I was putting in the car. Plus, the torque arm was now 3.5" too long since the V8 drivetrain sits farther back than the 4-cylinder one.

I could have just used factory parts from a V8 Monza, including the torque arm (round bushing) and TH350 tail housing. But I didn't know where to find those parts at the time (this was before I joined HBOA). I found a B&M kit for putting the TH350 and TH400 into 3rd- and 4th-gen Camaros in a racing catalog. This kit comes with a bracket that attaches between the TH350 body and tailhousing to which the torque arm mounts. Then I bought the "clamshell"-type bushings from a Chevy dealer; ones for a Camaro work on the Monza torque arm. (Beware: although all 1982-up Camaro torque arms are the "lipped" type, the "lips" face different directions depending on the year and drivetrain, so be careful if you go this route!) The specific part numbers I used were: GM 10024028 insulator + supp and GM 00527689 insulator.
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Re: Torque arm front mount

Postby hammerdown7 » Thu Mar 01, 2012 2:03 pm

Thanks for the pics and explanation. I've never owned an h-body with the 151, what is different between the TH350 and the M200?

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