[214Chevy]

To the Mods and Lateral-g Family:

First off, let me apologize before hand if this is out of line due to the thread that just closed on the Fesler/Ring Brothers dispute. If I am out of line, just close and delete my thread and I again apologize. This thread is in no way intended to refer back to the closed thread. Nor, will I or do I want anyone to mention either companies (Fesler/RB) names in my post. We are moving on from that. I just want some clarification as to what I’m about to do so I can remain respectful to the company I’m about to refer to.


Guys, can I ask a question in reference to liking, admiring and building off of someone else’s ideas and work. What I’m getting at is Roadster Shop’s IRS suspension. I know many of us saw and followed Chris’s 66 Chevelle build. RS was the first one to design and build an IRS 9” for our muscle cars. Oh, what a thing of beauty it is. I liked it so much that I literally had 20 so, or more, conversations over the phone with Bryan at the Roadster Shop. Bryan and I talked about the different options. Finally, it all boiled down to the cost, which was no where in my budget. I thought about selling a lot of my other parts just to be able to buy the IRS from the RS. I will back track and say that even before RS came out with their IRS 9” I wanted to do one in my Chevelle, but just didn’t know how and lacked the necessary knowledge and fab skills. Plus, I was going to do a C4 rear, because I’ve seen it done before in muscle cars. Prior to RS building Chris’s in his 66 Chevelle, others used C5 stuff, but it was using the torque tube and I didn’t want to do that and have to cut up my floor and stuff. Now, jumping back forward, RS comes out with Chris’s frame and I totally want it, of course. That’s when I called and began several talks with Bryan at the RS. After realizing that the RS IRS 9” is no where in my budget, I starting thinking about doing my own. Since I was getting a custom frame built anyway, I talked to my builder about doing it and he said he could do it with no problem. He said they’ve done it many times before, except in rods with Heidt’s IRS. I told him what rear end I wanted and he is going to work on it. I then bought all my own parts. I emphatically stated that I do not want mine to look like the RS IRS for these very reasons of “copy cat” building as I do know that is a very disrespectful and is a BIG NO-NO!! So, I end this thread by saying my builder and I are installing an IRS 9” in my 72 Chevelle with the same components of course, C5 stuff, but it will look totally different. Is this okay to do? Am I doing anything wrong? I want to hear from everyone, good and bad comments are okay with me. Hey, I asked a question…didn’t I? So, I can handle it. Let me end my post by saying, I love the RS work and think it is phenomenal and second to none. Phil and the guys there are grade “A”, top notch builders. I really just wanted to buy theirs since all of the R&D had been done. It just wasn’t in my budget. You can't blame a guy for trying to save money and do his own stuff can you?