Hi. New member and first post. My name is Johan from Sweden

I tried the search function but it didn´t really help me.

I recently bought a -67, it´s a California car that has been exported here to Sweden and has restored between 2009-2017. It´s in very nice condition. The previous owner have swapped the stock motor to a 468 BBC with a th350 ( i have the stock 326 and tranny on the side but have no intentions of installing them for the moment ).

Anyways. The car has the stock 8.2 rear end, single leaf springs and no traction bars installed. So i think it´s a mess driving around for the moment. I did get one traction bar with the car but the other is missing.

So i have been filling up a cart on Summit and was hoping for some inputs before i push the order button
I hope it´s ok.

To minimize body roll i have added the - Hotchkis Sport Suspension Anti-Sway Bar Kit front and rear
For stiffer rear- Hotchkis Sport Suspension Lowering Leaf Springs
QA1 Stocker star shocks front and rear with current front springs as they are quite stiff
I also added the Borgeson 12.7:1 ratio power steering box.

I think i start there. What is you experience with theese parts? Is it worth the money?

Thank you.
/Johan

Hello and welcome to the site.

We usually suggest to new members with (new to them) 1st Gen Firebirds to order a copy of all the original factory documents that will let you know exactly how your car left the factory.

PHS Services

For instance, dual rear axle traction bars were never installed on cars that left the factory with automatic transmissions (1967's only). I did retrofit my built in California 400 '67 with both bars. One of the things that is the most difficult is to overcome the fact that the factory welded on a reinforcement plate on the top of the rear floor pans to support the front bracket for these bars. If you pull the rear seat bottom out on a factory auto trans car, you will find a reinforcement plate only on the passenger side.

Sorry but I can't comment on the Hotchkis pieces as my rebuilt my rear suspension close to factory stock (except for the 2nd traction bar). I can imagine that rear wheel "hop" would be pretty bad with the single leaf springs and no traction bars along with the big Chevy motor. Now you know why Pontiac retrofitted the axles with those bars.

Thank you for the quick reply!

Is there any other advantages using the traction bar other than preventing wheel hop? I know that the sway bar kit doesn´t allow room for the traction bar.

/Johan

The OEM traction bars are not going to help with body roll. I can however point out one thing I learned - a rear sway bar has less impact on body roll than the front bar. It may be cheaper in the long run to put your one OEM traction bar back on and just get a bigger front sway bar. Unless you decide to completely change out the rear suspension like you were thinking.

There is a really good website I can point you to put together by a guy who has been auto crossing a 1st Gen Camaro for years. He had a lot of good pointers about 1st Gen GM F body suspensions. It's probably a good place to start before spending a lot of money.

Pozzi Racing 1st Gen Suspension

I will have a look at his website.

Great info. Thank you!

Definitely read Pozzi's website as a great starting point. There all also tons of companies that sell great products, but some will address the inherent geometry flaws in different ways (and some better than others). So, don't jump to quickly getting a system. Do some searching on Detroit Speed Engineering, Global West, Speed Tech, SC&C, and Ride Tech systems. Learn as much as you can about each, and get people s opinions, and then decide for yourself. Really depends on your goals, and how much you're willing to spend.

Welcome!

There are all kinds of amazing aftermarket upgrades readily available. The big question is realistically how hard do you intend to drive the car? Track car, auto cross or just spirited street driving?
I have a '68 with Hotchkis rear lowering leaf springs, KYB gas shocks all around, rebuilt stock front suspension, a fat aftermarket front sway bar. Front coil springs have been cut 1 coil. I used a little faster than stock rebuilt steering gear from NAPA. Car drives and handles well on the street with these relatively inexpensive upgrades. Future refinements include Upper and lower control arms and better shocks.

One other thing that should be on your shopping list should be frame connectors. You can get weld-in or bolt-in( the bolt-ins are less permanent and more forgiving if the need to remove them arises).