Made some good progress today with the front. The driver side front is mocked up and the Chicane mount is welded in. Everything was actually very easy to put in. I was nervous using the angle grinder to cut out the spring pocket but I found it was actually very easy when I did it from the bottom up.
One issue I ran in to is the bolts for the Caliper mounts are not exactly right. I thought they were 1/2" bolts and the threaded in just fine. Unfortunely looking at the thread after mocking them up it seems the 1/2" bolt is a little off. I'm going to head over to the GM dealer tomorrow and see if I can buy a few from them. The 1/2" bolts were also very lose in the spindle so hopefully the GM bolt fixes that too
In case anyone else is looking for the caliper mount bolt size, the Chevy factory C5 caliper mount bolts are M14x2x47. The Chevy dealer didn't have them in stock but Fastenal had some M14x2x50 grade 8 cap screws (actually the metric equivalent whatever that is). The 50mm bolt with a flat and lock washer is a perfect length and they not actually fit the bore in the spindles.
Steve, did or are you changing rims? or i should ask, what type of b/s or tread can you get up front? I'm watching this closely and thank you for posting in such detail while i make up my mind on which front to get for my 2nd gen....
I will be changing the rims and most likely going with some CCW LM20's in a 18x10 and 18x 11.5 but I don't know from sure yet. I need to install the passenger front suspension hopefully today then start the measurement process. Jay at Speedtech said I could get ~6" BS. Once I get the measurements I'll post them up. I'm hoping a 295/335 tire combo may fit....
I'm finally getting to the point where I need to figure out the actual wheel/tire combo I'm going to run. I have the front fully welded in and all pieces mocked up. With my 275x17 rear wheels on the front there is loads of clearance with the new parts. I'm starting to lean to the 315/275 combo on a 11.5 rim for simplicity and ability to go to a 335 rear later if desired. The biggest debate is wheel choice. The LM20 CCW's seem like the best wheel for what I am looking to do in my price range. Now I'm just debating gold vs grey centers. Here is a rough photoshop of the gold on the car.
These are 19" Fiskes but pretty close to the 18" CCWs and the look I want on my car. Think I'll be going with 18s with a satin dark grey center and polished lip