monza suspension (Long)

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monza suspension (Long)

Postby crytical point » Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:58 pm

I own a 1978 monza S and it has the tourque arm and pan hard rod and I have already replaced shocks(kyb gr2) springs (trw HD) bushings (energy suspension poly) and the whole F41 racing swaybars. I run the car autoX and push it to its limit and wanted to know if I were to install air support bags in the rear coil springs or add an additional set of shocks or coilovers in the rear will my rear end stay planted on the corners? also I see these braces made to prevent body roll at the rear axle and I wonder if that would help to. I have already snapped welds, broke a windshield, and gone through several rims (blowing the bead in corners) But i want to make the rear end more solid for drifting the rear end for faster times. I want to make this car into a handleing beast and I see more potential in this than my 3rd gen camaro, pontiac fiero, and rx7 and have chosen this car over all of them and have sold them or stripped them for parts to make the monza better. The car is equiped with a 2.5 duke and th200 and I am looking to replace it with a cosworth and a s10 T5 and a s10 rear with a set of 3rd gen camaro rally rims for a wide tire. So far I have port/polish, portmatched , and angle valve job the head on the duke with a free flowing exhaust and weber carb with a msd ignition and a v6 radiator, also I racewieghted the car and welded the unibody seams. I just want to know what else I can do to it to make it handle better and work, money, or discomfort will stop me. If I can take a vette on the corner or spank a miata on a autoX course I don't care about the suspension being hard or sensitive ( I like it that way).
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Postby cjbiagi » Sat Aug 19, 2006 8:11 am

Sounds like a wild ride, I'd love to see some pics. I assume that the car is oversteering? You may have to experiment with some different size sway bars, bigger in the front or smaller in the rear. You can also either replace or at least box the lower control arms if you haven't done that already. Are you sure that your panhard bar is level? Changing the position of the panhard bar will also affect your rear roll characteristics.
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Postby AusRs » Sat Aug 19, 2006 8:46 am

you can also make lower control arm repositioning brackets (same as f body ones ) 3 settings ,lowest setting introduces an amazing amount of oversteer :)
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Postby crytical point » Sat Aug 19, 2006 1:09 pm

I read about the lower control arms sound interesting and something I need to do. Yes it does oversteer but its like the car rides on rails until the 195/70 tires come from the bead and slam you to the ground then sends you into a spin. Well as for the sway bars I have the larger swaybar and lower control arms off a v6 monza (bigger than the f41 package by 1/8 a inch) and the rear swaybar is off a gt which is 3/4 and the front is 1 1/8. I have been playing with the settings and cut a coil off the front springs to help with highspeed cornering and a lower front center of gravity. Well now im working on interior and the little rust the car came with. I bought the car for 400$ and the owners had no idea what it was and it turned out to be one of the 2300 monza S that were made in 1978 and it had an original 34k on it. Before I built the car up for racing it was a hypermileing experiment (most MPG) and rated its top at 48city/56hwy. but I have some pics http://community.webshots.com/photo/550 ... 0664kFWpGy http://community.webshots.com/photo/550 ... 0664sSGdbw
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Postby djv8ga » Tue Aug 22, 2006 11:01 pm

Do you have subframe connectors?
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Postby marco_1978_spyder » Sun Sep 17, 2006 10:19 am

try running 205/60's

or some dedicated autocross slicks on some 7inch rims.

A local guy campaigns a very competitive '75 starfire with a v6.
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1980 Sunbird Hatchback 4cyl, 4spd.
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Postby cosvega76 » Mon Sep 18, 2006 8:42 am

I agree with Marco. Your best bet is to spend the money on the widest, stickiest tires you can use in your class. I run a street tire class for high-speed autocross in my Corvette. Switching from the old, hard Goodyears to a new set of Kumho MXs was good for 4 seconds at Blackhawk Farms Raceway.

By the way, I used to race the Vega, but between all of the mods on a V8 car putting me in A Race class, and the fear of not being able to repair the car if I crashed, I found a '92 Corvette.

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