GBody Notch:98 F body rear brakes: DSE 2":Hellwig bar : Feedback input Etc

[turbo96max]

Guys,


I just embarked on an extensive project in order to prep for a tune and hopes of adding bigger tire and better traction.

I took some pics and learned a lot throughout the process using a little bit of different peoples products.

If anyone can use pics or info on anything let me know

My initial findings:

Gbodys frame notch kit: somewhat of overkill but great if you are really picky
the material is thick , to me it was thicker than .25 inch , looked more like 3/8
If lowered the additional crossbar support will not really work if welded where the instructions say , since the lowered car will cause the upper control arms to hit the bar. I had to cut it out, weld more plating, cut and grind the car to push it up another inch, still have limited travel now, im going to get aftermarket adjustable ones with heimjoints which are thinner vs the oem box style which should clear the bar. Had i known this I would have purchased them and put them in at the same time. Another option is to notch the factory ones and box them for more support etc

My welder says its like a tank now back there w all that thick plate added

Fbody (ls1 98 ) rear conversion: I used Flynbies ebrake cables : found them to work ,but were short, didnt allow for much travel on the pulling action , only got about 1 inch of cable travel. dont think that is best, 2 inches would be more ideal, but they work, car doesnt move in neutral ,

flynbie new hard lines : worked good, were right in the neighborhood where they needed to be to bolt to the calipers

Disc prop valve: regular brass valve summit offers for gbodys, so far working well with the monte carlo vac master cylinder

Hellwig bar: had to angle it to help clear the rear end cover , should work fine just not perfectly parallel to the ground. input welcome

 

[jdpolzin]

I'm interested to see the Ebrake cables and how you were able to attach them.

 

[turbo96max]

I'm interested to see the Ebrake cables and how you were able to attach them.

Ill post up pics when i get a chance. but essentially I used the right backing plate on the left and vs. then i got a welded a piece of 1" .25 steel plate to the diff bracket near the lower control arm bolt. that plate has a whole drilled the size of the cable to slide in and use the securing clip.


so the cable is pulling towards the front of the car

 

[jdpolzin]

OK, I'm thinking I'm going to have to weld a bracket somewhere on mine as well. I've been trying to figure out a way to fab a bracket that bolts to the swaybar bolts. Havent quite figure that out yet! What did you use to relocate the shock?

 

[turbo96max]

I used flynbie's relocation bracket which is actually from baer brakes i think, tacked it w a weld spot to make sure it wasnt moving. 90 deg L stock could have worked as well.

 

[turbo96max]

 

[turbo96max]

 

[turbo96max]

 

[jdpolzin]

Yeah, those are the Baer brake ones. I had issues with those. They relocate the shock, but with the reduction of angle, the shock is actually 80% compressed and they let the rear end sag roughly 2in lower than it would with the shocks in the original location. This was a problem for me, as my springs are also 2in shorter than OE unsprung so the springs just fall right out. I made my own brackets that lowered the mounted position about an inch lower than the Baer brackets. Someone needs to make a good bracket now that rear disc conversion are so popular.

 

[jdpolzin]

That notch job looks awesome!

 

[turbo96max]

Yeah, those are the Baer brake ones. I had issues with those. They relocate the shock, but with the reduction of angle, the shock is actually 80% compressed and they let the rear end sag roughly 2in lower than it would with the shocks in the original location. This was a problem for me, as my springs are also 2in shorter than OE unsprung so the springs just fall right out. I made my own brackets that lowered the mounted position about an inch lower than the Baer brackets. Someone needs to make a good bracket now that rear disc conversion are so popular.

you know , my buddy recommended shorter shocks, since the ds2 spring can fall out when the car is lifted since is so much shorter, but that was the same with the stock location. you are saying your car sat lower with the shock on the baer braket? i thought the spring set the height.... car seems a little lower to me but not 2 inches. do you have pics of your custom bracket?

 

[jdpolzin]

The ride height is set by the springs, not the shock. But, since the car will sit lower, the shocks will be more compressed than they would at stock height. Now, on top of that, the Baer brackets move the shock mount location inward as well as upward, as compared to the stock mount location. So, basically, those brackets act as if the shocks are already compressed by 2" because of the different mounted location. So you have the shocks compressed by 2" because of the springs, and then another two inches because of the brackets. So your shocks will basically be compressed by four inches total, not including the compression it will need during normal driving. Those brackets aren't good for a lowered car.

Also, when you go to lift the car, those brackets allow the rear end to sag 2" more than it would with the shocks in the stock location. Now combine that with the shorter spring, the springs will fall out.

I'll dig up a few pics of the brackets I fabbed up.

 

[jdpolzin]

Here you go

 

[jdpolzin]

These brackets are better than the Baers, but I actually still need to redesign them so it mounts the shock even lower. I need about one more inch lower on the Monte to get it right.

 

[charlief1]

Make the shock relocation bracket out of angle iron Jeremy. 3/16 or 14 will work but it needs to be welded on. You can also change the angle to get the position you want. You need 2" wide on each side, leave one end "square" and then make the other side flat. Drill a hole to align it on the original bracket and hold in place while you're welding it. That;s how I did mine,

I may have also found a way to use the F body backing plate without cutting the ear off the flange. I need to do some experimenting to make sure it works but if it does I'll post the info.

 

[turbo96max]

Jeremy, What tire / wheel combo are you running? Im trying to figure how much tire i can stuff in there now and still tuck since the car is lowered. Too bad dse didnt make their matching shocks the proper length to avoid the dangling spring issue.

 

[jdpolzin]

I sold my GN that was notched and lowered but I ran 315/30/18's on a 10" rim with a 5.5 backspace. Everything tucked great!