Check this $hit out. Circles bolt holes are compressor mounting locations. I know I could live without the back one, but dammit.
www.forabodiesonly.com
I haven't looked into compressors much, but I have heard that some of the newer style compressors can't be used. Something about the compressor not being a normal 2 wire deal.
I just remembered some of them are variable displacement compressors. I don't know exactly what's different, but I'd image the factory ecm has some type of control that won't be present if using a standalone ecm. I also don't know what year started with those, but it isn't across the board. Some have them, some don't. Chrysler doesn't do anything easy.
For whatever reason, it was about $50 cheaper than the bare cast. I figured I'd paint it orange until I saw it. I like the black.I like the black pan. When I bought mine, Holley didn't offer them in black then.
At least it is easier to paint mine black than it would be for someone to strip a black one.
There actually is an SKF hub that most guys that track their corvette upgrade to. Not sure if it's absolutely necessary but there is a market for it.
LOL on the hemi. The last month of life has be extra busy. I'll get back on it over the fall/winter. The K install took way longer than I wanted it to. Not because it was difficult, it was finding the time to dedicate to it. Not to mention, we've had heat indexes in the 110+ lately and it's hard to stay out there for more than a few hours before I'm done with it.Not going to lie, I was a little disappointed that this wasn't the G3 install.
I am certain I haven't read all the comments, but most of what I remember starts with "I have to have a COC to make my car handle" which usually devolves into the deficiencies of one or both systems.
I don't believe there is a perfect solution out there, my only gripe is the push by the aftermarket to make it seem like a $5k+ system is the only option.
It will be interesting to hear your back to back review on this. Far as I know, this will be the first one.
BTW, of all the COC options, I think HDK is the best of them. So good choice there.
I've often wished there was an option for a cartridge style wheel bearing setup for an A-Body. I should have guessed there was an option for the M2 spindles. At the same time, I wonder if it wasn't just a cost cutting solution for the OEM's and the stock setup is actually more robust. Doubt it matters, it's not like you see C5/6 Vette's littering the road courses missing a wheel because of a failure.
I know you were working on some of the issues with a G3 swap (oil filter and AC compressor clearance), is that part of why you made the jump?
DD501 shocks, 12HT400 spring. (12")
It looks like the lower shock mounts are pretty low on the LCA's too. I like that since it seems it would allow for a longer coilover shock and more suspension travel. When I converted mine with stock LCA's, I ended up raising the upper mount. In hind site, I should've thought about lowering the lower mount. I'll be curious what your takeaways from the swap are!
But seriously, I’m interested in hearing your opinion on the swap. Not very many people have done as much as you did to make the most out of the torsion bar suspension before doing the swap to coil overs. And that’s always been my gripe, people do the conversion thinking it’s necessary to handle well, which isn’t true.
All things being equal, I still think the chassis being designed to carry the suspension loads radially through the K and torsion bar crossmember VS vertically on the forward frame rails is the biggest issue, and one that is not addressed by Denny’s hoop reinforcement. The Mopar chassis has flex between the frame rails and cowl (“cowl shake”) and running coil overs up front increases the vertical load on the rails, making that problem worse. IMO that calls for additional bracing between the cowl and rails. Stiffening the shock mounts to carry the coil overs is necessary too for the HDK, but additional reinforcement is needed in the form of “J” bars or something similar to USCT’s shock tower to cowl reinforcement. That’s true for all of the conversions, regardless of how the coil overs are mounted.
The HDK retains the factory amount of suspension travel, but some of the competing coil over conversions do not, so while travel may not be an issue with the HDK in particular it is still a valid issue with the others.
Another issue, and I don’t know if it’s relevant for the HDK to be honest, is turning radius. It is an issue on some of the other conversions. The rack used doesn’t allow the same amount of turning angle. Not a big deal on a cruiser, but for AutoX it can be an issue on tight courses.
Camber gain is important, and the torsion bar system is a good one for that. It isn’t an extreme amount by any means either, so again IMO less would not be advantageous. But most of the geometry changes between the torsion bar system and the coil over conversions can be filed under pros/cons, they both have things they’re better at. And some of them are made better/worse by other factors in the set up that can make them more specific to a particular car. Most are pretty minor, so, most drivers aren’t going to notice much.
The weight savings of the entire system depends very much on options. It’s not as much as most people think, I’ve documented it several times. And more than just weight, it’s worth noting that the layout of the coil over system will tend to raise the CG, especially vs a manual steering stock set up. The coil overs are the heavy part, and they’re mounted high.
