Clarks lower control arm bracket

[m37aswell]

Whats the story on this lower control arm bracket that Clarks has that relocates the strut rods on the diff on my 1965? I
installed rebuilt rods on my 65 monza which was more difficult than I thought it would be. I had to move the trailing arm assembly up\down and around quite a bit to find a "sweet" spot where I could get bolts started. I have another 65 coming which will no doubt require the same operation. I am wondering if that control arm bracket that relocates the pivot point will make strut rod installation easier if nothing else.

[Jerry Whitt]

I have the system on two Corvair. Both work really good!


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[m37aswell]

Can U tell any difference in handling ? I guess at this stage of the game I am wondering if that bracket makes strut rod installation any easier. I am new to the 2nd gen corvair. I am going to have to swap the strut rods on my other 65 [bad inner rubber bushings].

[terribleted]

these bracket were originally made for use in V8 mid engine power Corvairs. Their purpose is to change the rear suspension geometry to better accommodate the heavy V8 engine just forward of the suspension. I have run one on a standard Corvair before. I did not notice any particular difference in handling, but the general consensus is that they are detrimental to handling in a stock Corvair unless you re-drillso that the strut rods are mounted in the stock location (these brackets move the mounting point lower and inboard slightly). This bracket does not make mounting the strut rods back into the car significantly easier. The shop manual says to lower the rear of the powertrain to attain alignment of the inner strut rod mounting brackets. This works great but is a pain in the arse as clutch transfer rod and many other things must be disconnected in order to drop the rear of the powertrain the needed 6" or so to get alignment. I install the axle first and then jack the torque arm up with a floor jack to get the bolts to align. If you had this bracket and it was re-drilled to stock location it would work like stock. It still will not align in the center unless the rear of the power train is lowered or the torque arms are jacked whether re-drilled or not. Nothing wrong with the stock inner brackets as long as the are not stress fractured. They do crack sometimes so be sure to look at them.

[66vairguy]

Ted gave an good explanation.

BTW - ALWAYS raise the trailing arms to same height as when the car sits on the ground or removing them can damage parts. The trailing arm drops through and arc twisting the control arm. That's why rubber bushing are better than hard nylon (that stress the brackets).

I've had to throw away two differential cases because someone tried to unbolt the bracket bolts with the rear wheel hanging down. The bracket twists against the bolt and breaks the bolt holes in the case!!!

[m37aswell]

After u guys posted I looked around in some of my corvair reference books and sure enough this Clarks bracket seems to have been intended for a V8 corvair drag race application years ago. So now I am thinking this Clarks bracket shows almost no use at all in a stock corvair for the street, apart from not making strut rod installation any easier ether. So I am glad I did not pop for that one. I noticed that the strut rod is always under some degree of torsional force at the point of trying to mate the stock bracket to the diff as u move the trailing arm through its range as the car would sit. A little tricky but it can be done. I did however chose the strut rods with the nylon bushing as the inner, so I hope that does not want to crack the stock bracket later in use. So u guys think I should go rubber in the inner end of the strut rod as opposed to nylon? I will have to do this operation again on my other 65 corvair. Thanks for the tip off.