[unstable]

@RifRaf the good / bad news is that the leaf spring pockets I purchased were used so unless they shipped me a mismatched pair, we should be able to rule that out.

At this point I’m thinking that either the ground in the garage is really weird, I mean this house dates back to 1780 and the carriage barn is from the late 1800’s. It could be as Dave / @xxdabroxx mentioned that the front suspension isn’t on point or one of the front tires is sitting higher or on ground that isn’t level.

If i’m trying to be optimistic, I do not see any damage or rot to the extent that I would expect any sort of twist in the body…it doesn’t mean it’s not there but a little bit of twist in the shell would do this and even a little at the source would be exacerbated over the length of the body along wherever that torque was applied to where I might be seeing an inch or more of difference on one side versus the other. It’s really not the end of the world for me either way I just need to figure out how to work around it and get my measurements.

 

[unstable]

@RifRaf and @xxdabroxx

so assuming my passenger side rear is higher than my drivers side rear, an adjustment to my drivers side front wheel should affect the opposite corner / passenger rear. Should I be raising or lowering the front drivers?

 

[sudden_impulse]

Try putting a jack under your control arm on the driver's side in front and lifting it to see if that makes a difference. Put the jack as far outboard as you feel comfortable doing.

When you redid the front suspension, did you keep the control arm bolts loose until it was on the ground on tires and bounced?

 

[unstable]

@sudden_impulse I don’t recall to be honest with you. I guess it’s worth looking at. I want to say that I torqued them to spec with them at full articulation if I’m remembering right. With the coil overs, I’m pretty confident I have them dialed in pretty closely matching which was…crap now you’ve got me trying to remember whether she leaned to the passenger side BEFORE I touched the front suspension. Crap it’s really hard to remember because I didn’t drive her long before tearing into her…you’re probably onto something here. Guess it could be possible too that a coil isn’t sitting in the pocket right or something. I’m going to run a few measurements on the front now too.

 

[xxdabroxx]

If your front control arms have plastic bushings instead of rubber where and when you torque them doesn't matter as much.

Raising the front left will add weight to the right rear dropping that corner some. You can think of it like driving over a board or going up a drive approach at an angle as your first tire hits the high spot it tilts up and back opposite. Another way to test this would be to put something like a book or a piece of plywood under the tire. You're doing essentially the same thing as making a spring adjustment.

The change you can make in rear ride height will probably be pretty slim but it may change it some.

 

[unstable]

Thank you gentlemen. Hoping to look at this today / tomorrow. It could easily be that where the ground is in the garage for the front wheels that it’s throwing everything off also. Really just want to get this measured for shocks and put this thing to bed!

Thank you all for seeing me through being a moron. I was watching pawn stars and some guy came in trying to sell something and Rick goes…I’ve got a little knowledge which is bad…that’s where I am. I don’t know or understand this stuff at the level that many of you do and I’m truly grateful that you take the time to read my BS and reply with suggestions and help. It’s really a nice thing because you don’t have to do it…so I want you all to know that I appreciate your part in my Nova journey.

 

[unstable]

Stumbled upon a video by SS396RAT where he had three different sets of shocks lined up. Two pairs of Calvert Racing shocks and a pair of KYB's. According to him, the stock height shocks when relocated are equal to 62-67 Chevy II / Nova's. His car had a 1.5" drop and he swapped to a pair that run in 1981-2001 Camaros. Another note: The performance online kit has the shocks in front of the axle, however; SS396RAT flipped his crossbar to put the shocks behind the axle. I can't imagine that this would change much honestly and I did it the same way as him but this is for anyone else who runs the POL / Performance Online shock relocation kit.

Stock Height = 62-67 Chevy II Nova. Calvert Part CR42133
1.5" Drop = 1981-2001 Chevy Camaro Calvert Part CR42123

now I can't find the stupid video again.

note: shocks ordered. Went Viking double adjustable.

 

[unstable]

September 22nd,

First off, beware of ebay listings by Classic Performance Parts (CPP). I put in an order and the ship date was in November because they don’t actually have the stuff in stock they are just reselling.
I asked for a cancellation and I’m getting jerked around.

I called viking direct and ordered a set of their crusader shocks. The dude I spoke with at Vi-king blew my mind with all of the knowledge he had in his head. Guess I have a ton to learn if I'm trying to play this game.

 

[kimmer71]

I agree, the guys at viking are great to speak with. I had to order new eyelet bearings for my shocks and they were awesome. I wish I would have just called them directly when I ordered my rear shocks. They will sell direct but you have to call them. I feel your pain with measuring for shock height. It was a chore for me, to say the least. I have adjustable lower mounts which helped I'm sure. If memory serves, the viking shocks are specified with a ride height range. If both measurements are within the range of of a particular model, and you have the car at ride height, you could order them with relative confidence you will have the right size. If you are buying crusader series, you defiantly want to get the measurements right...some are quite expensive!

What I love about your posts - you accurately capture and express how I feel so often yet make me laugh about it! Right there with ya buddy.

 

[unstable]

October 3rd, 2022
Well it's the time of the year when frost advisories start coming and money starts flowing towards keeping myself warm instead of spending it on the Nova. I'm waiting on shocks from Viking. Per @xxdabroxx's recommendation, I'm staying away from QA1 and instead opted for Crusaders from Viking. They should be in on Wednesday and you can bet I'll be bolting them up pretty quickly thereafter.
Outside of that, I need a new driveshaft and need to measure for it and run some brake lines and throw my tank back in. Not sure how much is going to happen this year. Only year 2 of having the car and it spent the entire season in the garage...I'm slow going but work did happen, I promise. Bummed.

 

[patman]

Suggestion: make a to-do list of all the stuff that needs to happen between where you are now and turning the key to take it for the first drive. Add everything so you don't forget some detail later that will cause problems. Cross stuff off as you get it done. If you have 15 minutes to work...pick a 15 minute task and get it crossed off the list. It's a good motivator because you can see progress happening as you cross things off.

 

[unstable]

Wow…I’m a fan.

 

[Sheepdog]

View attachment 445977 View attachment 445978 View attachment 445979



Wow…I’m a fan.

Not sure why, but the pics of your socks came up as "sensitive"... but they are nice!

 

[unstable]

Not sure why, but the pics of your socks came up as "sensitive"... but they are nice!

i noticed that too…guess they are too sexy

 

[xxdabroxx]

Nice, how do the clickers feel? My QA1's leave a little to be desired in that dept.

 

[unstable]

Nice, how do the clickers feel? My QA1's leave a little to be desired in that dept.

Seems about on par with QA1 honestly. The Calvert adjustments felt really spongy and felt like you could easily miss the mark. I'd compare these to a good rifle scope. They turn with little effort and "click" into position. We'll see how they go.

 

[unstable]

October 6, 2022
Honestly at about my wits end…Shocks came in the other day and I’m all excited like a little kid figuring it’s going to be a real quick thing and I can cross it off of the list.

Popped the drivers side on the stud and I go to run the top stud into the cross bar with bushings and those screwy washers…and I spend over an hour and cannot get the nut on the top like there isn’t enough of the threaded rod sticking through the mount to get a bite on it. Kept screwing with it, even thought that maybe the washer was interfering and eventually I decided to try a different approach entirely.

I took the cross bar off and I got them with the bushings and everything. I go to put this back on figuring that I had solved the problem and no dice whatsoever. The angle is ridiculously off…

I’ve heard that people often use the first gen camaro leaf spring / shock mounts because of this and I tried calling Calvert and they were busy so I just hung up.

I’ll call them tomorrow. Open to ideas.

 

[unstable]

October 7th, 2022
First I have to say hands down that Calvert Racing is an amazing company. If anyone reads this thread now or at any point in the future, do not hesitate to spend money with these guys. When I ordered stuff from them over a year ago, it was shipped out quick. When I ran into problems with bolts smashing into my subframe connectors they sent me bolts that had been milled down, free of charge. Taking a couple of bolts, running them into a mill still takes time and time is money and then they dropped them into an envelope and I had them within a couple of days.

Today I called them to explain my conundrum with shocks / angles and I mentioned that I recall reading or hearing that the 1st gen camaro brackets work better when the Nova shocks are relocated. [email protected] told me that there is a 10 degree difference between the brackets. I'm a dummy and didn't write this down but I want to say the Nova brackets are at 90 degrees and the Camaro brackets are at 80 degrees. He said to bend them...which is the same thing that @xxdabroxx recalled doing on his car. The alternative is spending $150 on the brackets.

So, I will try this and all should be well.

 

[unstable]

So I have the shocks bolted at the top without the shock crossmember bolted up, it’s located over the brackets roughly where it should be.

Here’s what my shock angles and alignment look like so you have a better idea of what i’m dealing with here

Seems like we are several inches towards the front of the car from where we want to be.

note: I am not talking about the vertical distance. The shocks extend down further if they didn’t interfere with the bracket. I’m referring to where the shocks are currently aligned in relation to the bracket and studs.

I’m thinking maybe the easier fix here is to address this at the top where the shocks mount by adjusting angles or where it bolts in or something i don’t know

 

[Pragmatist]

Are you able to turn the upper shock bracket around?
probably not a good idea.......