Viper Swapped ‘69 Cuda gets a QA1 Front Coil-over Suspension

The original torsion bar design can be worked to provide excellent results on the road course however, when you want to step your game up and enjoy some adjustability, a coilover conversion is a must. In this video I’ll explain the steps required to install one of these kits into your mopar as well as point out a few issues with both the kit and the paper instructions provided. For reference, below are the PDF instructions from QA1/Gerst
gerstsuspensions.com/wp-conte...
#mopar #musclecar #suspension #coilovers #coiloverconversion #plymouth #plymouthbarracuda #wilwood #qa1 #protouring #dodge #handling #automotive #autoracing #diy #howto #techtips

[@douggrace1653]

I purchased a GTS front suspension for my '73 Swinger a couple years ago. It's all installed but had to put the project on hold due to, well, being Mopoor..... Saving up now for the 400/470 build and with the way the economy is, that'll take a couple years too .... Anyway, very cool to see the build. I recently sold my '68 Fastback Cuda and bought the Dart which is much more solid and requires less body (rust) work. I tried contacting Carl a couple weeks ago only to learn he sold the plans to QA1. I forget which oil pan (other than a $500+ Milodon pro touring unit) will fit the big block A Body setup. Keep up the excellent job - so nice to see MOPAR videos on KZbin! It helps us poor guys out so much - thank you!

[@jiggedupunlimited3142]

QA1 definitely should move the sway bar install section quite a few pages earlier in the direction book haha, life would have been much easier for me

[@sorta_stock]

I was pretty pissed trying to get it to fit at 0100 lol

[@olikat8]

In all honesty, if you don't have the $$$ for the QA-1, Magna-Force, whomever...you really need to get ahold of Bergman Auto Craft. The guy was an engineer for XV Motorsports, fantastic products and I've beat the snot out of my A-body and not a single issue. He isn't cheap, but its a lot less expensive than these type of set ups and it does work

[@JeffLeblanc-xb7qe]

Your doing a great job and I’m sure it will make a ton of room prob make headers easy to put on looking forward to see go down the track road or which ever

[@sorta_stock]

Thanks Jeff! Even with all the room, there’s still a bunch of magic needed to get the exhaust to fit.

[@JeffLeblanc-xb7qe]

@@sorta_stock you look pretty talented with cars so I’m sure you will make it happen

[@JeffLeblanc-xb7qe]

@@sorta_stock headers with most mopars are a pain in the rear my buddy used to run a 440 in his 68 barracuda a 10 sec car and putting starter and headers on used to give him night mares that was a quite a while ago and Thers more headers to choose from I believe I have a set of old tti and they have more hammer marks and bumps in them to put a 440 in a dart back in the day and I just sent to get them sand blasted so I can do this one more time I’m going to pull some of the dent out of them or weld in new pieces the 2 I. Into 31/2 I BELIVE

[@jennyespinosasoto2799]

excellent video, can you help me with the part numbers of the coilovers and springs

[@mrpurcountry]

Real nice front end excellent video, not real crazy about wellwood brakes after watching video with junkerup who said his wellwood breaks faded out too easily he went back to the Mopar disc brakes.

[@sorta_stock]

I've never actually had Wilwood brakes so, this will be a good test. I'll be sure to give a review after I've fully broken them in and run them a few thousand miles.

[@snake_eyes_garage]

Interesting. Maybe the rotor heats up more than the stock rotor? Or pad material overheats too easily and loses its friction? Baer would be a better choice though if that is an option. But I will say I have Wilwood on another application and haven't had any concerns - will put my face on the front windshield.

[@snake_eyes_garage]

I agree on those upper arm spacers... seems like that could have been better. With my Scarebird swap, their use of 'off-the-shelf' fasteners to save money was annoying. It really wouldn't be that much effort to produce custom grade-8 bolts just up-front effort. And I guess somebody else's liability if the bolt breaks. BTW I think there were similar issues when putting a new suspension on the 'Death Metal Charger' - having to remove all the factory mounts and then rebuild them dimensionally correct. It is what it is though.

[@sorta_stock]

Aside from seeing how this performs on the track, I’m really curious to see how well it holds up after 10-20k miles. Most of the folks I’ve heard from barely average 1k miles/yr. I’ve got a feeling those spacers are going to go soon and possibly that top coil bolt.

[@snake_eyes_garage]

@@sorta_stock I have to imagine that road 'grit' getting in between the moving parts would be the most impactful. I guess that's always the case. I talked to a guy that had an Hurst Olds g-body and he lived outside Rochester. I told him how amazed I was at the condition of his car and he smiled and said, 'I've gone through a lot of quarters at the car wash.' He said he would drive it all year round but always ended his drive during the winter with a car wash.

[@powers6963]

Totally agree on those UCA spacers. At the very least, I would've expected them to come with some proper misalignment spacers with a larger OD on the side that rests against the bracket on the frame. The fact that they're as narrow as they are would bother me. It doesn't have a lot of meat to grab.

[@69NOMAN69]

ty sir +1 sub

[@sorta_stock]

Thanks! Pulling apart the top end of the v10 today

[@michiganracer1181]

Thanks for posting, putting this under my wife’s 68 charger. Is there space for a bushing around the top shock bolt? If not I’ll probably just pick up a couple longer bolts and cut threaded portion to length needed.

[@sorta_stock]

Are you talking about the top of the coilover? There was just the aluminum spacers to allow for shock movement. No bushing to prevent the bolt threads from scratching the shock. I plan to go back and replace those bolts with ones that have a longer shoulder.

[@michiganracer1181]

@@sorta_stock the bolt that you had noted has a short shoulder where you thought the threads may cause an issue over time. I believe it was the top bolt for the shock itself

[@sorta_stock]

@@michiganracer1181 yup. It was the top bolt. I’ll be replacing it soon as a precaution

[@stevodakine1]

Nightmare!

[@4130ChassisWerks]

All that looks too heavy for my taste.

[@meh-canics9628]

MEH- RRY CHRISTMAS! kzbin.info/www/bejne/gonRnmWPgLuqlZY