[AG81]

So I ventured into buying a restored 67 Coupe. It's a basic SBC V8 with a Powerglide, PB, PS and A/C. The car appears to have been put together well. I said appears.
The car drives well and the steering is great, even better than I remember from previously owned early F-Bodies I have owned. My issue is the rear suspension. It almost feels dangerous. On the highway I have no issues. On the city streets with bumps, dips, humps it is terrible. So bad I don't want to drive it. The rear all appears new. Multi leaf spring and the shocks appear new.

The car currently has a ride height I want to maintain. Not too low. My driveway is a bear to navigate.

My plan is to run a 17" Rally Wheel with 4" bs and a 225/45/17 up front and a 225/50/17 in the rear.

The tires are dated on these 14" existing rims.

I don't want this car to be a pro touring car. I just wanted it to be a classic Camaro that I can drive as much as possible.

Am I crazy to think the the suspension issue is in my head because I am use to modern cars and other classics I own that drive much better?
I am looking for any advise on how to proceed with this rear suspension issue. Do I simply replace the shocks? Do I replace the leaf spring. Both?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[ilikeike]

Did you check the front pocket bolts where the leaf spring attaches?
my buddy's firebird lost a couple bolts and he said it was acting weird in the back, that's the first place I checked and found the issue.

other than that, it should handle fine with fresh shocks all around and good springs front and back, front bushings in good shape.

What does restored mean? was that what the dealer said, or what the private seller said ?

From the attached picture, that wheel does not look even close to centered in the wheel well.

 

[AG81]

ilikeike, Thank you. Yeah that picture is a bit distorted, view wise. I didn't see any issue with the centering of the rear wheels in the opening. A better picture is attached.

Restored, from previous owner, was body off to bare metal. Everything appears new. I've owned at least 25 classic cars over the past 30 years. This one, someone too their time with.

I'll get into the rear set up and check everything......... Going on the lift for the weekend.

 

[Agitator]

ilikeike, Thank you. Yeah that picture is a bit distorted, view wise. I didn't see any issue with the centering of the rear wheels in the opening. A better picture is attached.

Restored, from previous owner, was body off to bare metal. Everything appears new. I've owned at least 25 classic cars over the past 30 years. This one, someone too their time with.

I'll get into the rear set up and check everything......... Going on the lift for the weekend.

View attachment 270513

I would check where the rear axle bolts to the rear springs
ilikeike, Thank you. Yeah that picture is a bit distorted, view wise. I didn't see any issue with the centering of the rear wheels in the opening. A better picture is attached.

ilikeike, Thank you. Yeah that picture is a bit distorted, view wise. I didn't see any issue with the centering of the rear wheels in the opening. A better picture is attached.

Restored, from previous owner, was body off to bare metal. Everything appears new. I've owned at least 25 classic cars over the past 30 years. This one, someone too their time with.

I'll get into the rear set up and check everything......... Going on the lift for the weekend.

View attachment 270513

Restored, from previous owner, was body off to bare metal. Everything appears new. I've owned at least 25 classic cars over the past 30 years. This one, someone too their time with.

I'll get into the rear set up and check everything......... Going on the lift for the weekend.

View attachment 270513

i would check where the rear axle attaches to the leaf spring. It may be that the center bolt in the spring is not located properly in the spring perch. Not sure if you have single leaf or multi leaf in rear. There are rubber pads in that location which can make it difficult to get it centered properly. Car looks great from under neath pictures

 

[Luwi67]

What shocks are on the rear?

 

[srode]

Also check the front of both springs to make sure that loop around the bushing isn't broken in the front on one - more of a problem on the mono leaf springs though but worth checking.

 

[Brettallen59]

Need more pictures of the rear assembly, springs mounts and shocks. Your driver side looks centered but the passenger side looks off. Can you provide any more pics of that whole area on both sides? Plus, a better picture of the rear passenger wheel from straight on to confirm whether the wheel is centered. Either that or you'll just have to look around closely for anything that looks off, loose or damaged. Grab ahold of different things and wiggle around to see if anything jumps out at you.
The rear end suspension looks old or original. Didn't you say the stuff had been replaced? At least in the photo it doesn't "appear" to be new.
Brett...

 

[bills69]

years ago thought the rear of the car was falling off it was a tire belt separation

 

[jimsl78]

From the underbody pic it appears like you may have multi leafs springs with a mono leaf shock plate on the pass side and a multi leaf shock plate on the driver side?
If this is the case, shocks wouldn't work properly as there's different lengths used for each style spring. Also I concur with Brett on the pass side wheel looking too far forward in the wheel house. If the leaf spring pin doesn't extend far enough to fully engage both the spring perch and the shock plate it can move the axle forward.
Ask me how I know..........

pic from driver rearward side on a '68

 

[Sauron67MM]

If you've owned as many cars as you stated it is simple and check the obvious. Educate yourself. Big difference between owning classic cars and driving them nearly everyday for decades. I guess I'm just accustomed to gearheads who have turned wrenches since they were teenagers.

Interesting someone would paint the driveshaft stripes and screw up the floorpan restoration.

 

[67CruiseMasterCamaro]

when I removed my rear axle this is what I found. The front spring perches were broke. Not saying this is your problem, but something to look into

Scot

 

[Sauron67MM]

when I removed my rear axle this is what I found. The front spring perches were broke. Not saying this is your problem, but something to look into

Scot

Common issue. Those are not broken perches. They are broken leaf spring eyes.

 

[AG81]

Thanks for your input all. I'm going to tear down the entire rear end. I need to change gear ratios for the 700R4 transmission anyway. I'll just take everything apart and start over. Yeah I'm not sure why the folks who did the restoration would bother with drive shaft stripes. Seems a bit strange to me. The rear spring may be too stiff. I can not
get hardly any movement forcing all my weight on the rear and getting it to rebound. This car should be a cake walk compared to the car I finished last year. 2000 hours on a classic Porsche 911. Chevy parts are pennies compared to what I just finished.

 

[Brettallen59]

From the underbody pic it appears like you may have multi leafs springs with a mono leaf shock plate on the pass side and a multi leaf shock plate on the driver side?

I saw the same thing! I was like; "why is there a really long shock mount on the pass side"? I thought it was the radius rod mechanism (since I had never messed with that I thought if I said anything someone would consider me clueless, lol).
Brett....

 

[Sauron67MM]

Do this 24/7 on many makes and models. No car through the entire job is a cake walk. Have fun with your easy project.

 

[SoCal805]

OP

Your PS rear tire sits to far forward..."something" is not right. Hard to see in the under carriage pic but it looks like the spring perches are different. You may even have different leaf springs on each side but can't really see much in your pics

You can take X measurements from a common point on each side of the car front to rear...I suspect the PS measurement will be less than the DS

IDK how close those U bolts are to your drive shaft on the exhaust but you might want to consider this type which seal infinitely better than those.

This is for 2 1/2" pipe, they are made in several sizes for whatever size pipe you have
Summit Racing SUM-681250 Summit Racing® Lap Joint Band Clamps | Summit Racing

 

[yellow69RS]

It doesn't look to me that either wheel is centered correctly in any picture. Being a 67 with multi leafs makes me think the center bolt is not keeping the differential located on the spring. I think there's a good example of what I'm thinking in Jiml78's post.

Jeff

 

[KevinW]

It almost looks like there are spacer blocks between the springs and perches. Lots of gap between the plate and perch!

 

[jimsl78]

It almost looks like there are spacer blocks between the springs and perches. Lots of gap between the plate and perch!

I just zoomed in, you can see the axle has mono leaf spring perches and thick lowering blocks, strange that the car doesn't have a lowered stance?

 

[X-77 keith]

I just zoomed in, you can see the axle has mono leaf spring perches and thick lowering blocks, strange that the car doesn't have a lowered stance?
View attachment 270599

Good picture. I personally would not run that on any of my cars, I think the builder took a short cut. That said his shocks could just be too short causing his issue.