Are there any aftermarket control arms available for these cars? Or would any other years bolt up to them? Sent from my SM-G977U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
No Aftermarket that I know of unless there is something for the 1st series Corvettes that pretty well shared the same suspension. My Hollander doesn't go back far enough but maybe someone who has one that does will check. Still good used ones shouldn't be that hard to find.
lowers or uppers? what are you trying to accomplish? or do you have a bad one? looked it up in Hollander interchange and they fit from 49-54 passenger and sed delivery and 53-62 corvette
Well I've got to replace all the bushings amd was thinking I might as well update the front end while I was in there, modern ball joint control arms, spindles, disc brakes etc. If that can't be done I'll just rebuild the stock stuff. Speaking of, where can I find just the bushings? All I see are cross shafts and complete kits. Sent from my SM-G977U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
they sell them that way because if the bushing is worn, the shaft is worn also. they should be replaced together
That makes sense but also makes for an expensive repair when you do all 4 Sent from my SM-G977U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
If it was cheap and easy everyone and there brothers sisters husband would be doing it ! Do the uppers/or lowers one set at a time as you can afford it.
That's the plan, going to check and see which are worse and start with those. Thanks for the help everyone!! Sent from my SM-G977U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
If you decide on new bushings, shafts and kingpins, give Kanter Auto a look. Complete kits are available through them. Decent prices too.
Im finding some interesting stuff digging thru old threads. Nothing for a direct swap for the control arms themselves. If you have a way to accurately measure them, Speedway has a lot of control arms available for circle track chassis and dimensions in their site. Most spec class circle track chassis are based on production front clips. You can kinda back into the production version based on the circle track version of the arm, if the dinensions line up. Much of the discussion on jb threads is based on comparing the cost stock rebuild to changing to a different front suspension or "kit" Interesting links on home grown rack and pinion if youre looking at that as an option https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/49-54-chevy-guys-steering-swap.75313/ References to volvo rack and pinion Read the 13th post, refers to swapping to 68-72 nova susension arms http://www.how-to-build-hotrods.com/rack-and-pinion.html Cavalier rack and pinion
Heres one example of control arm based in 6" crossshaft bolt spacing, many other charts like this on speedway.
I will say this, a good tight stock setup works fine and actually handles real well being lowered. I toyed with the idea of ripping my suspension out and doing a conversion to ball joint and ditched that thinking, I figured if it was good enough for corvettes till the 60s why ditch it? To get low on these, some modifications like stepping the lower control arms actually helps the suspension geometry for steering vs dropped uprights so if you want to go lower or get more suspension travel with stock springs and stepped control arms that is the way to go. The link style is pretty dang tough and is simple and easy for sure. Funny thing after building my car we have some decent sweeper corners around here, the car rolls minimally and plants and drives through great I was pleasantly surprised by the ability in the corners. Cool car bud, message me if you have any questions Ill try to answer best I can.
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