Hotchkis #1107 Header Clearance Problem
 

Hello everyone,
This is my first post on the forums and I want to see if anyone can help me with some upper control arm clearance problems. I have a 69 Camaro with a ZZ502 and Doug’s 320 headers. Last weekend I installed a set of upper and lower Hotchkis control arms and BB lowering springs. Well I should say I started. Everything went in pretty smoothly until I tried to install the passenger side upper control arm. It instantly hit the number four header tube. At first I thought it was a header problem but I had a set of Hooker headers laying around and swapped the Doug’s out but still had the same problem. I dented the Hooker header just to see how much room I would need and pretty much had to crush it in half to get the upper arm to fit. I put the old control arm back in with the Doug’s header and it fits perfectly with over ¾ inch clearance. Comparing the Hotchkis upper control arm to the factory arm the part#1107 is 2.5 inches wider and is 1.5 inches longer from the rear mounting hole.

Has anyone run into this and how did you fix it? I called Hotchkis and they were zero help. Guy keep putting me on hold to ask someone else for the answers. Anyway I got a lot invested in the whole Hotchkis front end kit and don’t want to crush my new headers for a control arm that looks like it was designed to large. If this part won’t fit can someone recommend a upper control arm that will fit more like factory? It also bothers me to be mixing and matching upper and lower control arms from different companies.

I will post pictures later when I have time to get into the garage. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Nick

Call Hotchkis
 

Nick,

Sorry to hear you are having a problem with that installation. Please give me a call and I'll see if there are any tricks I can come up with to make that combo work. We haven't had any other problems that I'm aware of so maybe we can find a solution.
Thanks
Mark Rossetti
Hotchkis Sport Suspension

Mark,

Thanks for the reply. I have just posted some pictures that I hope help explain what I am seeing. Drivers side perfect. And then the four passenger side images. You will notice with the new upper control arm install I can’t get the rear attachment bolt in without inference. I will call tomorrow and see if we can sort through the installation. Thanks for the quick reply.

-Nick

Nick, Thanks for calling me today. Looks like you might try swapping those cross shafts around as we discussed. Please let me know how it works out.
Thanks Mark

I had the same issue with a BB nova. We sold the arms. Too bad someone can't make that tube turn a bit sooner...hello header makers???

Mark,

Well good news. I double checked the measurements you gave me over the phone and everything looked correct. I flipped the upper cross shaft 180 degrees and the control arm slipped right into place. It is very close to the header but it fits. I don’t see a way a shim could be added for alignment purposes but I am back on the road. I attached a picture for you to see the clearance. For everyone reading I have the notched side of the cross shaft bolted to the frame. And for sanity sake the measurement from the front mounting hole to the bushing is 1 1/4 and the rear distant closest to the firewall is 1 3/4. Thanks again for taking the time to walk through this install with me. You were very helpful and went the extra mile to make sure I was taken care of.

-Nick

That still looks really close, we had the same issue on big block before. Tried a couple of different headers some where better then others. In the end I took out the header and cut and rewelded the tube gave a little more curve to the motor and back a little if I remember correctly and then had them recoated. Yes this was a pain and cost the customer a few bucks but that's why we call it hot rodding. You may need to still move that harder tube once you go for your alignment?

Nick,

Glad we have gotten you at least back on the road. As Rick D stated some headers offer better clearance than others, and on the BB it's real tight. It's been a while since we did a BB car in house, so we haven't had to deal with header clearances, which isn't normally a issue on SB or LS based cars. I'll continue to research options and we'll see if between us, and the great members on Lat G we can find a header that might offer a advantage.
Thanks
Mark R
Hotchkis Sport Suspension