Relative to ride height and stiffness. What was the result of the Global West kit installation.
I hate this car.
701 - 719 of 719 Posts
I did not have to drop the gas tank for the installation of the GW shackles and del-a-lum bushings.
I made my own installation tool from some threaded rod, large washers, nuts, and metal plumbing fittings (very similar to the installation tool GW sells). The installation tool makes this task very easy. I used a shop press to install the aluminum bushings into the leaf spring eyes.
NOTE: Be sure to follow to GW written instructions for positioning the grease fittings (red arrows) on the correct side of the frame rails and leaf springs (the illustration in the GW instructions can be confusion)... and I also positioned the grease fittings facing the rear of the car (instead of facing the front as GW instructed) so that the grease fitting can be easily serviced with a lube gun.
Be sure to pay close attention to #10 in the GW installation instructions (shown below).
The installation instructions I originally received with my GW Shackle Kit were incorrect to the tightening of the shackle nut (referenced a high torque spec). I contacted GW about this error and they informed me that they modified the instructions that would be included with the Shackle Kit. I have attached the New/Modified GW installation instructions to this post.
The ride height remained the same and the there was no increased stiffness in ride.
When installed correctly, The GW rear del-a-lum bushings act like a bearing... letting the suspension travel more freely (up and down). But the GW rear shackle kit also significantly reduced the sideways flexing in the rear suspension compared to when regular rubber bushing are used (delrin bushing is solid as will not flex). Due to the reduction in sideways flex in the rear, I felt the GW shackle kit also improved my Nova's handling.
Sounds good. Thanks.
May 23, 2022
Took the kids to Street Outlaws No Prep Kings on Saturday the 21st. Really hot out, uncomfortably hot. My 18 year old enjoyed it the most, the 21 year old, less so and the 14 year old who we smuggled into the starting line (18 years old and older no exceptions) liked it the least. It was an experience. NOVA NEWS: Boddie is running his "GUCCI NOVA" for No Prep and it's a beautiful car...or should I say it WAS before he had an incident. It was on the far side of the track and I didn't see the entire thing unfold but down a ways it got loose on him, he tried to recover it and smashed, he walked away from it and his crew was dropping vulgarities left and right at the starting line.
I'm waiting on bushings from Global West before I do anything more. My forward mounts for the leaf springs arrived a few days back. Not really much else to report.
Took the kids to Street Outlaws No Prep Kings on Saturday the 21st. Really hot out, uncomfortably hot. My 18 year old enjoyed it the most, the 21 year old, less so and the 14 year old who we smuggled into the starting line (18 years old and older no exceptions) liked it the least. It was an experience. NOVA NEWS: Boddie is running his "GUCCI NOVA" for No Prep and it's a beautiful car...or should I say it WAS before he had an incident. It was on the far side of the track and I didn't see the entire thing unfold but down a ways it got loose on him, he tried to recover it and smashed, he walked away from it and his crew was dropping vulgarities left and right at the starting line.
I'm waiting on bushings from Global West before I do anything more. My forward mounts for the leaf springs arrived a few days back. Not really much else to report.
5/25/2022 - Wednesday
Ordered bushings from Global West on the 19th and no indication whatsoever about when they are shipping. Maybe I'm making excuses, because there are little odds and ends I could do - but I can't really move the bulk of the work forward without the bushings. I called them to get an update and they said it's a 10-14 day delay in manufacturing and they are slammed. So it's just a waiting game. A few things going on personally that have taken some of the fun out of this stuff too but I'm sure it will pass.
Ordered bushings from Global West on the 19th and no indication whatsoever about when they are shipping. Maybe I'm making excuses, because there are little odds and ends I could do - but I can't really move the bulk of the work forward without the bushings. I called them to get an update and they said it's a 10-14 day delay in manufacturing and they are slammed. So it's just a waiting game. A few things going on personally that have taken some of the fun out of this stuff too but I'm sure it will pass.
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833 Posts
I've been trying to get a Mopar radiator for my jeep for nearly a month now. Was supposed to ship middle of this month, then Summit said middle of next month so I cancelled. Tried to order one from someone yesterday but I have a feeling it's not in stock even though their website says it is. In other news its 104 F here today, so enjoy whatever weather you're having.
Can you find them in stock anywhere and cancel your order? Summit or Jegs have them?
May 27, 2022
Picked up grade 8 hardware for the shock relocation kit. Climbed under her last night and looked and a couple of different things that I didn't feel like worrying about last night. Exhaust is in the way on the passenger side, best I can do is to cut them off at the mufflers which appear to be under roughly where the backseat starts before the hump back for the rear wheels. The other thing is that it looks like I have some lines that will need to be re-routed. Whatever lives above the bump stops is in the way when I try to put these brackets on.
Picked up grade 8 hardware for the shock relocation kit. Climbed under her last night and looked and a couple of different things that I didn't feel like worrying about last night. Exhaust is in the way on the passenger side, best I can do is to cut them off at the mufflers which appear to be under roughly where the backseat starts before the hump back for the rear wheels. The other thing is that it looks like I have some lines that will need to be re-routed. Whatever lives above the bump stops is in the way when I try to put these brackets on.
June 2,2022
So good news / bad news.
I was able to muscle the lines out of the way and change the hole the exhaust is hung from to get the shock relocation brackets up and into place. Not having to cut exhaust is good in my book along with the lines. Here’s photos
![Automotive tire Wood Grey Rim Fixture]()
![Automotive tire Hood Tread Synthetic rubber Bumper]()
![Automotive tire Wood Gas Rim Tints and shades]()
The bad news. Holes no line up. My hope was if I could at least get it all bolted up I could scribe where it needed welded, grind everything and get it prepped and get a welder here to do it.
also it really looks like it will be a bit of a tight fit with all of the evap stuff in place.
Choices I have now are:
-cover the car in gasoline and say to hell with trying to have a cool car, I suck at this stuff and I’m just causing myself a ton of grief
-Say screw relocating the shocks, twiddle my thumbs until my bushings come in and reassemble everything with staggered shocks.
-Try calling the welder yet again and see if I can get him here to do it.
Either way I’m kind of dead in the water at the moment so I have time to think.
So good news / bad news.
I was able to muscle the lines out of the way and change the hole the exhaust is hung from to get the shock relocation brackets up and into place. Not having to cut exhaust is good in my book along with the lines. Here’s photos
The bad news. Holes no line up. My hope was if I could at least get it all bolted up I could scribe where it needed welded, grind everything and get it prepped and get a welder here to do it.
also it really looks like it will be a bit of a tight fit with all of the evap stuff in place.
Choices I have now are:
-cover the car in gasoline and say to hell with trying to have a cool car, I suck at this stuff and I’m just causing myself a ton of grief
-Say screw relocating the shocks, twiddle my thumbs until my bushings come in and reassemble everything with staggered shocks.
-Try calling the welder yet again and see if I can get him here to do it.
Either way I’m kind of dead in the water at the moment so I have time to think.
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833 Posts
Take that unibit I had you buy a while back and wallow out the holes until they fit. You can half arsed use them as an end mill. Put it in the hole and spin it slow while forcing it the direction you need to move the hole. Or use a carbide bur on a die grinder. Then get a good grade 8 washer to put under the head of the bolt that holds it in place. That much misalignment isn't the end of the world.
Also, get some scrap steel and get your little welder out and start practicing. You can weld some of this stuff yourself, I'm sure of it.
My machine only does 1/8” I believe. I’ve welded a bit. I spent several hours welding english wheel frames at Wrays once. My welds didn’t look half bad either for the plate I was welding.
I still wouldn’t want to weld structural stuff
June 6th, 2022
Not any sort of exciting update. No word from Global West on the bushings and install tool. Ordered on 5/19. Today has been 18 days in total. I called maybe a week ago or so and was told 10-14 days, next to be manufactured. No updates whatsoever from them, no shipping, order status hasn't changed.
As mentioned, I did find a guy to weld these brackets up for me. Next move is likely going to be ensuring I can get everything mocked up, hopefully with bolts to hold it in place and marked to be cleaned up in preparation for the weldor, whenever he has time. I'm entertaining dropping the gas tank just to get it up and out of the way for this work. There's a fair amount of space between where the welding needs to happen and the gas tank but I'm not sure how antsy he would get about welding about a foot away.
That's really about it folks. Just in a holding pattern.
Not any sort of exciting update. No word from Global West on the bushings and install tool. Ordered on 5/19. Today has been 18 days in total. I called maybe a week ago or so and was told 10-14 days, next to be manufactured. No updates whatsoever from them, no shipping, order status hasn't changed.
As mentioned, I did find a guy to weld these brackets up for me. Next move is likely going to be ensuring I can get everything mocked up, hopefully with bolts to hold it in place and marked to be cleaned up in preparation for the weldor, whenever he has time. I'm entertaining dropping the gas tank just to get it up and out of the way for this work. There's a fair amount of space between where the welding needs to happen and the gas tank but I'm not sure how antsy he would get about welding about a foot away.
That's really about it folks. Just in a holding pattern.
June 11,2022
No updates from global west. Bushings are not available through Jegs and it says “ship directly from manufacturer on 7-13”. It’s been close to a month already and it’s looking like another month before I will have these.
Talked to a guy at work who might be able to weld up my brackets. That’s about it for the moment
No updates from global west. Bushings are not available through Jegs and it says “ship directly from manufacturer on 7-13”. It’s been close to a month already and it’s looking like another month before I will have these.
Talked to a guy at work who might be able to weld up my brackets. That’s about it for the moment
June 28, 2022
Received shipping information from Global West last night that the bushings are shipping and should be here by July 5th. Not exactly the real productive 2022 "work on my car" season that I had in mind but whatever. I guess sometimes things go smoother than others. No other updates. I need to get up under the car and tweak with the shock relocation stuff by opening up the holes and such to get them mocked up into place. I need to grind everything down and maybe even tack it so that someone can come finish weld it. I have a couple of options now for a welder. Just haven't been highly motivated. Been trying to connect with my son at a distance in my spare time instead of wrench on this car. Trade offs.
Received shipping information from Global West last night that the bushings are shipping and should be here by July 5th. Not exactly the real productive 2022 "work on my car" season that I had in mind but whatever. I guess sometimes things go smoother than others. No other updates. I need to get up under the car and tweak with the shock relocation stuff by opening up the holes and such to get them mocked up into place. I need to grind everything down and maybe even tack it so that someone can come finish weld it. I have a couple of options now for a welder. Just haven't been highly motivated. Been trying to connect with my son at a distance in my spare time instead of wrench on this car. Trade offs.
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3,087 Posts
Brother, any forward momentum is good!!! Wish we were closer and I'd help with the welding part too! 
The shock relocation isn't terribly structural so I'm sure even a small 160 flux core from Harbor Freight, if metal surfaces are all prepped correctly, would work fine in your hands to weld it all up. Stitch it for penetration, go slow and do some test welds off the car on some scrap to get your heat and wire speed just right. It's really not terribly difficult, and with your skills, it would be a piece of cake!! 18ga and 1/8" or 3/16" together is a simple task, just stitch it so you don't burn through. Hit it, pull off, hit it, pull off, repeat. Just make sure you get penetration on the first stab and you're golden. As for time with your son, by all means, more important than any car!! Ask me how I know...
The shock relocation isn't terribly structural so I'm sure even a small 160 flux core from Harbor Freight, if metal surfaces are all prepped correctly, would work fine in your hands to weld it all up. Stitch it for penetration, go slow and do some test welds off the car on some scrap to get your heat and wire speed just right. It's really not terribly difficult, and with your skills, it would be a piece of cake!! 18ga and 1/8" or 3/16" together is a simple task, just stitch it so you don't burn through. Hit it, pull off, hit it, pull off, repeat. Just make sure you get penetration on the first stab and you're golden. As for time with your son, by all means, more important than any car!! Ask me how I know...701 - 719 of 719 Posts
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