Feeling ambitious today, it's time to try to test fit both the front and rear suspension. First, I'd like to see that the parts I bought are good, but mostly I wanted to checkout how well everything lined up.

     Starting at the rear, the fiberglass leaf spring was the first to go. This was pretty straightforward, just removing a few bolts. More importantly, I had to flip the rear tie rods. Corvette rear ends have tie rods to each side behind the differential. Adjusting the length of these tie rods sets the rear end toe in. Flat Out Engineering makes a kit to do this, basically just a bracket and some tapered bushings. This kit flips the connection of the tie rod from above the steering knuckle to below the steering knuckle to prevent chassis interference. It's on order, due next week, but in the meantime I can do some of the flip to get it out of the way.

     Everything lined up perfectly, though I do need to pick up the correct bolts to replace the mismatched ones I had lying around. I did have some trouble attaching the rear anti-sway bar. It turns out that I had to flip the sway bar left to right to get the clearance correct, and I had to swap and reverse the sway bar connecting brackets. It now fits perfectly!

     The front suspension had quite a bit more disassembly required as besides removing the front leaf spring, the entire engine cradle is not needed as it is completely fabricated as part of the new frame. Also, there was quite a bit of grease and road grime on the backside of the spindles. So, I dragged out the pressure washer and cleaned them up before I went much further. Most of it is aluminum, so under the grease, everything cleaned up very well. Now I can handle things without getting so dirty.

     The lower control arms lined up perfectly, but I quickly figured out that the steering rack needed to be installed first. It fits well, and the bolts lined up perfectly, but it might be a little difficult to replace if it ever goes bad. I think it would be smart to replace it with a remanufactured one at final assembly.

     The rest of the front suspension went well until I came to the front anti-sway bar. The bar fit fine, but no way are the connection links going to work. I had to call Darrell today anyhow to let him know the rear lower shock mounts were coming, so I asked him about the sway bar links. Evidently, he needs to make them, but they are different whether the front suspension is 84-85 or 86-87. Since mine is an 86, he will make the ones I need and send them to me. He said he was working on a new design, so I told him there was no rush and if he wanted to try something new, it was fine with me.

     I think I'm done for the weekend, though I do need to put together a shopping list for bolts. There's a Fastenal store not too far away, so I'll check it out for all my fastener needs. Tomorrow is the Mt Dora Art Festival, and Sunday I have a Honey-Do list from Mom to do. The coilovers came in today, so it looks like Monday for test fitting.