Chassis & Suspension:

Ordered an Eibach pro-kit (finally!)  Will be installed the very next moment I have some spare time.  Probably not for a while...

Actually got some time this weekend to get these things in.  The rears took all of 5 minutes.  The fronts, however, were a different story.  On a side note, DAMN its rusty under there.  I need to fix that, someday...

Got the Bilsteins installed.  Drop spindles are next.

Ground Force 2'' drop spindles finally brought the nose down to where it should have been.

And the result.  SSweet!

  New brake rotors were installed, check out the old ones:

Apparently, the old brake pads on the inside got wedged in the caliper at an angle which only allowed a small amount of contact with the rotor. This happened on both sides, probably from sitting for so long, but it destroyed the pads and rotors. This would be the cause of the spongy brake problem I've been having.

Old.

New.

Besides new rotors, I also got rebuilt calipers, new caliper pins, new brake pads, and new wheel seals.

I also recently installed a B&M Quicksilver ratchet shifter for the 200-4R trans. (shift kit not yet installed)

The reason I chose this over the mega, or hammer shifter is because I hoped it would fit into the stock console without excessive modding. Turns out, it pretty much fits right in with NO modification to the console (aside from pusing it back a bit). The rear bolts that hold in the center console will still bolt up to the stock location, however, the fronts will not. Those will take a bit of ingenuity, and I haven't yet decided what to do yet :D

Here it's pictured in the full forward (park) and full rear (ratchet) positions. The quicksilver functions both as a straight line detent and a full blown ratchet shifter for convenience.

I must say, it was worth every penny and hour spent. Banging through the gears makes for a much more fun driving experience. You also don't have to worry about shifting down or up one too many and destroying something. As they say, "shift with confidence." I'd recomend it for any Monte Carlo owner with a floor shifter or, for that matter, anyone who's looking for a bit more fun and control over their 3 or 4 speed slush-omatic.

New polyurethane sway bar bushings (33mm) and end-links from Energy Suspension.

This is what I started with. The sway bar bushings were so bad that they were basically falling apart (one was in 2 pieces) and sticking out of the bracket in every direction. This also bent the beejezus out of the old brackets too.

It's so rusty under there that I couldn't even get the old links off the sway bar without removing it. As it is, both links snapped off at the bottom when I tried to un-bolt them. I had to beat the tar out of them with a BFH and then chop 'em off with a cutoff wheel to get them out of the sway bar.

Afterwards, all went relatively well. After some paint and re-assembly, everything went back together. The difference is incredible. It's like driving a completely different car.

Switched some tires around and finally put the new Falken Zeix 215/65/R15's on. Used the old ones for the new Fiero wheels.
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Page 1: Exterior
Page 2: Pre-Body Shop Pics & Body Work
Page 3: Engine & Audio
Page 4: Chassis & Suspension------You Are Here
Page 5: Engine Swap Progress
Page 6: Other Cars 
Page 7: Car Shows

Check out my other ride, 1987 Pontiac Fiero !