At a crossroad on my 55? Sell it or C4 build

[carls 56 (RIP 11/24/2021)]

might be better to sell that project. the kind of frame and engine you want will probably cost you $10,000 alone. another option would be to look for a driver (its a buyers market) and enjoy it while you work on it. will all come down to what you can spend. good luck in whatever you do.

[destroyertta]

Man I changed my mind so many times before I decided to go with laszlo front and rear kit. Luckily I only replaced the bushings, shocks, and leaf springs just to control some of the sloppiness but it didn't help so glad I didn't buy a bunch of parts. I was going to go with a ride tech set up which isn't cheap but thought the c4 rout would be better. You got to see how much work the body needs and if it's worth it they make every part for these cars so finding parts will not be a problem but whatever you do good luck

[55 Rescue Dog]

Getting closer to making a commitment on my car. Went and looked at a 89 in my friend's local junkyard, that took a hard hit in the left front. Unfortunately the front suspension is bent, but the rear I won't be able to check until I see it in the air. Dana 36 I can get for $350. Found a 91 front for $500, but it is a 700 mile round trip. I might wait on the front, until I get a CED frame coming, and shop for one a little closer. Getting a little more excited now. Just need to find more money. I want to get this car to a drivable stage in 18 months too.

[55 Rescue Dog]

Would love to talk to Lazlo about now. Yesterday I bought a 89 C4 front for $600 out of state to be shipped, and from a local yard, a 89 C4 front for $350. Still could back out of the deal by Monday. After I bought them I received a call back from a bolt on suspension supplier, who was very helpful. He had me pretty convinced I would be better off with his coil over set-up in the front, and a leaf rear with a frame mounted watts link. He said the C4 rear isn't a great option,(anti squat issues) but the front would be fine, other than engine placement is compromised. With the bolt on suspension I could get my car on the road without having to do a frame off right away, but the parts still add up to near $5500. So, I only have 2 days to make up my mind which route to go. So much for looking, before I leap! But, that is how I ended up with a 55 Chevy.

[chevynut]

I don't know if you've read the posts about suspension comparison's but you can only do so much with bolt-on parts. Yes, you can change caster with new upper a-arms. You can get some more camber gain with a taller balljoint...but that's very limited. You will not be able to change anti-dive nor the SAI. There's a lot of discussion about this stuff on this forum.

I don't know what supplier you talked to or what he suggested you use, but part of this is related to how you want to use the car. Do you wonder why virtually all sports cars and many new cars have IRS now? The Camaro uses an IRS, as does the new Mustang. It's not only a performance enhancer, but it's a cool addition to a 60 year old car. The car will also respond to bumps in the road differently since each tire reacts independently. Why retain the same axle and suspension they used 60+ years ago? Anti-squat is a non-issue, imo. I've read enough stuff on the corvette forums where guys are using their cars for autocross to convince me of that. If you're drag racing the car, the IRS is perhaps not the best choice, but for performance handling (autocross) and cruising around, it's a great choice. To me a solid axle is like a carburetor...both are long outdated.

I also don't understand the comment that "engine placement is compromised". We set the engines at the same location as you would with any suspension. The SBC is 3/4" forward, the LS is 2 1/4" forward and the BBC is 1 1/2" forward. The front of the engine is slightly higher due to the steering rack but the engine angle is increased a bit to compensate and make it fit. We set the engine at 5.5 degrees which causes no issues. You'll never notice anything due to engine placement, imo.

The aluminum suspension parts look better than any aftermarket a-arms, imo, and they're significantly lighter. They reduce unsprung weight and take 150-200 pounds of of the entire car. The rack is front steer so you don't have any oilpan issues and the pan is easy to remove if needed. There are lots of advantages to going with a newer suspension.

There have been many of these frames upgraded with C4 suspensions and I have yet to hear anyone say they don't like it. Lots of guys have gone the bolt-on route only to have to do it all over because it didn't meet their expectations.

I've been in Playa del Carmen all week and I'm headed to Cancun today for another week so I won't be back until 12/12. I don't use cell service down here since it costs $.99 a minute. If you want to talk more about this I can do so when I return. In the meantime take a look at the tech and faq sections of my website.

[55 Rescue Dog]

Thanks Lazlo. I'm in your hands, so I will go ahead, and get the C4 suspensions coming, and give you a call in a few days. I've just been reading way to many opinions the last few days, and is part of the too many indecisions.

[hutchenc]

Who did you talk to about the Watts link?

Also, listen to Lazlo, he knows what he's talking about. You're not going to make the car even close to handling like a C4 with bolt-ons. I'm not sure why someone would say the C4 is inferior...it was one of the first cars GM made that could hold 1G on the skidpad.

[chevynut]

Here's some stuff on anti-squat. We set up the dogbones to the 88-96 dimensions at the front pivots.

http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/...y-so-much.html

http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/...th-an-irs.html

[55 Rescue Dog]

Who did you talk to about the Watts link?

Also, listen to Lazlo, he knows what he's talking about. You're not going to make the car even close to handling like a C4 with bolt-ons. I'm not sure why someone would say the C4 is inferior...it was one of the first cars GM made that could hold 1G on the skidpad.

It was Savitske. He seems to understand suspension very well. Just read his book too.

[rockytopper R.I.P 5-13-2017]

Dog I'm a Mark supporter myself. I run his setups. I have a stage 2 kit on my cutlass and similar on my nomad project. Just curious what hardware you are looking at for 5500.