69 Camaro Front Suspension
 

Ok everyone I am looking at the different coilover setups for the front of my 69 and am wondering which one out there is the best as far as performance, quality, and price. I have a friend that has the DSE Speed Kit 3 on his car which requires a lot of modification to the subframe which isnt that big of a deal, but is it that much better than the cheaper kits out there that are just a direct bolt in coilover system? Like Speed Tech front suspension for example? Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Jon

well thanks for the plug. i think we have come up with an excellent compromise.
With the addition of the ATS line how does this sound

If your not worried about some welding we can combine the ATS Chicane upper coil over brackets, with a QA1 coilover (this keeps the cost down) add the upper and lower arms and a sway bar and you can have a great front set up that is a step up from the QA1 GMP coil over conversion kit. but not as far as the complete sub frame. very straight forward install if your a decent welder.
The next upgrade would be the ATS Tall spindles and either a rack and pinion conversion or 12:1 or 14:1 steering box??

I opted out of the DSE kit simply because of the process involved in setting the ride height, so I decided on the Pro-Touring kit from Speedtech. Nothing against DSE, because they have a great product. It also depends on what you're trying to achieve with the car.

Blake,
What's involved if I ever wanted add the ATS brackets? What parts would I need besides the brackets. I assume the shocks are different than what is offered with the Pro-Touring kit.

Got any pictures of those brackets welded on a subframe?

This is very good advice. You can't go wrong with ATS or Speedtech products. Personally I used ATS on my last car and I was 100% happy with the results. Speedtech will most likely be on my next one.

Enjoy!

:thumbsup:

The ATS Chicane requires you to remove the "flap" that the stock shock bolts into. Them some trimming is necessary for the pass through of the shock. Next, you "fit" the new bracket to the remaining upper control arm bracket. Then, you can temporarily mount the shock, to allow for fully welding in your bracket. Your lower control arms must be for a coil-over, then unless the kit has changed, you weld two tabs to your lower a-arm. The kit used to be avalible with Bilsteins and Penske shocks, but it looks as if Speedtech is now doing them with QA1's. I think you can get a glimpse of the install by looking at the "one lap camaro" (Jim Shipka's Camaro SP?). Also check out the ATS website. I think there are pictures of the parts there.

A lot of it will depend on needs, wants and buget. Also budget and abilities cross paths too. Something like Blakes Chicane kit works great especially if you can install it yourself. If you have to hire it done, pay a pro shop $60 to $100 hour, you will spend some coin in labor, and it your not carefull you could find yourself spenidng enough money modding your subframe you could have just called us and ordered one of Blake Subframes. So I think the Chicane kit is perfectly suited for the do it yourself builder on a budget that has the fabrication skills to install himself.

If the fabrication and welding skills are not there, then I would lean towards one of the 5 other bolt in solutions we have available for you car that you can install, including Speedtech amoung others.

I have read very little positive about the "coilover conversions" that rely on the existing upper spring pocket to seat the coilover spring. Negatives include stress on the shock leading to leaky shocks and limited ride height adjustment. If you want to go coilover my opinion is that you should be using something like the Chicane mounts. Otherwise consider sticking with conventional springs combined with adjustable shocks.

Just my two cents worth,
Don

your correct sort of, i agree for what ever reason that preseption is out there. We have sold hundreds of QA1 coil over conversion kits and have YET to have anything come back. take that for what its worth.

This i also agree with.