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Is there a place that sells a complete front/rear rebuild kit for the suspension, or do I need to piece meal it?
This car has 31k original miles, but has been in a barn for the last 15 years. I put new shocks in when I changed the brakes all the way around, but when doing that noticed 3 of the 4 springs have some sort of helper or something in them. The longer it sits waiting on the engine to be finished, the longer I sit and think of how I need to just be proactive and replace the bushings/balljoints/etc since its down.
As much as I'd like to put springs in that drop the car a bit, based on the layout of my "driveway" its not a good idea.
With 31k miles many of the parts such as ball joints may be in excellent condition and be quality made. They likely need lubrication and possibly boot replacement. Consider a close inspection and replace only what is needed vs. a wholesale replacement of everything.
OPGI sells a Moog kit for the front, p/n 535416 for round bushings...535417 for oval bushings. They will not include coil springs. I haven't seen a kit for the rear but that doesn't mean there isn't one.
With 31k miles many of the parts such as ball joints may be in excellent condition and be quality made. They likely need lubrication and possibly boot replacement. Consider a close inspection and replace only what is needed vs. a wholesale replacement of everything.
Good luck!!!
Good point. I initially was going to get it on the road and sort it out once I had an idea of how it acted, but the longer it sits waiting on an engine the more antsy I get
I am sure there are other sources for springs, but I got mine from Eaton Detroit Springs. Very comprehensive selection. At their website you can select OEM, Lowered or Raised springs, based on your car and it's accessories. EDS supplied GM factories back in the day.
I've gotten replacement MOOG springs from RockAuto and have been satisfied. I'd also recommend checking out ProForged for your front end replacement parts. I've been extremely happy with their stuff. I use PST polygraphite bushings in my control arms (front and rear). Have been very happy with them over the years.
Bringing this back up with another Coil Spring Question.
As much as I don't want to, I think it'd probably be best that I maintain stock height. That being said, are all replacement "stock height" springs the same or are there stiffer/HD springs? Being a driver/cruiser, would it even be worth it over OE replacement.
I plan on going through and greasing everything that I can, and doing a visual on any bushings but other than that I think I'll just replace the springs and call it good until I can drive it.
Stiffer HD springs with the same ride height as "comfort" springs should be available. A 442 should have stiffer than "marshmallow/comfort" springs from the factory.
Other members will probably be able to offer suppliers and possibly part numbers.
Okay, quickly scrolled through Summit this morning and only saw "standard" and "lowered" springs.
Checked Eaton's website, and after sorting by car there was only one option for front/rear (from there I had a drop down box for lowered/standard).
I'll do a bit more digging on them after work, just didn't know if there were different springs (standard vs. HD). Or am I misunderstanding and the standard 442 springs were HD? I'm coming from leaf springs/torsion bars, so this is pretty well foreign to me.
I replaced the original front springs on my car with Moog 5536 which are the HD FE2 equivalents. The car sits the same height as before but is much firmer, without being stiff, and still maintains a very comfortable ride quality.
Here's info that I archived from the online Moog catalog many years ago. I stripped out everything except the 68-71 442 applications. Dunno why the 69 application shows a 350 engine - there wasn't a 400 listing at all for that year. Anyway, I would do 5536 front and 5409 rear (that's what I have on my car).
Last edited by Fun71; November 23rd, 2021 at 03:39 PM.
As for the 5536 being a softer spring, if you note in the specs, the 5536 has a spring rate of 487 lbs/in and a load rating of 1984 lbs. The 5450 is 454 lbs/in and load rating is 1642 lbs. So the 5450 seems to be the softer spring.
I think the key difference is the installed height, which is 1" taller for the 5450 over the 5536.
As for the 5536 being a softer spring, if you note in the specs, the 5536 has a spring rate of 487 lbs/in and a load rating of 1984 lbs. The 5450 is 454 lbs/in and load rating is 1642 lbs. So the 5450 seems to be the softer spring.
I think the key difference is the installed height, which is 1" taller for the 5450 over the 5536.
Good call, must've got my numbers switched.
So, the 5536 while not the correct spring for what I have would not only be stiffer, but may also lower the front a tad allowing for a slight rake?
Has anyone used ESPO? They were the go-to (along with JC Whitney) for leads for my Mopar, and I hopped on there this morning and saw they also carry coil springs. I'll send them an email but didn't know if anyone had any previous dealings themselves.
@ 31k your car may still have original "spiral" shocks??? If yes remove them with damaging them and keep them for yourself or list them on the forum as a member may want them for a highly detailed restoration.
Didn't know shocks could have been restored. Not sure if they were the originals or not, but they were pretty ugly and tossed for new ones. Below are the only 2 pictures I had that included them.
Heard back from ESPO today, they have "USA made matched pairs" both front and back. Didn't give me any specs, but gave me a price that seemed reasonable.
Currently have an email out asking for a bit more clarification on specs, I'll advise once I have them.
I would match those specs to the closest Moog spring and get them from your local parts store. If they are not to your liking, you can return them and make another choice. The cost would be cheaper.
Don't worry about getting standard height springs, even if you like the lowered look. Every '68-9 I've seen seems to sit low unless other means have been used to raise it. That includes mine ... I like a slightly raised look so I used BBC springs, hoping to increase ride height a bit and it looked great for awhile and then settled back down.
If you go back and look at print ads from the era, they all appear to sit low.
Another option is going with the stock springs and then installing aluminum heads and intake and ditching the original AC compressor. Picks that front end up an easy 1-2". Ask me how I know.
Another option is going with the stock springs and then installing aluminum heads and intake and ditching the original AC compressor. Picks that front end up an easy 1-2". Ask me how I know.
I'm currently running stock springs with no engine. I'm not a fan of leveling a truck, let alone a car 😂
I like the lowered look, but I think for this car I'd rather have a *slight* rake. With the 17's as well, I want to make sure I can get as big of a tire under both front and rear without rubbing.
I had planned on checking those specs against the Moog offerings at work (much easier to manage on a desktop vs. phone) just didn't get around to it. Id thought about looking at other offerings for Chevelle/GTO/etc but I wouldn't know where to start.
I'll update this once we get them installed, but first I need to now take the rear diff out to be sent off to @monzaz which means I'd might as well go ahead and get the bushing kit for the back.
Still hoping I can get by with greasing the front. I struggle with remembering that it only has 31k on it..regardless of the fact it sat for 15 years in a barn.
Been slacking to say the least (darn life getting in the way)..
What's the trick to getting the control arm bushings out? I've got new poly bushing waiting to go in, but I can't seem to get the old ones out. I'd like to (while the control arms are off for new bushings) get the control arms cleaned up and painted, but I can't get past the bushing frustration to care about that.. Lol
Don't have a torch, or a press unfortunately.. Any ideas?
With no tools like a press or air chisel, the easiest/ cheapest way is to get some threaded rod, washers, nuts and some section of tube or pipe larger than the diameter of the bushing. Basically you want to run the threaded rod through the bushing with a washer on one side just smaller than the opening in the control arm and a section of tube on the other side with a washer that will allow you to force the bushings out as you tighten the nut(s). Or you can buy a tool set for more money. Basically something like this:
October 8th, 2021, 04:57 AM
