Added upper control arm

[Fathead Racing]

I'm well on my way to adding the driver side upper control arm to my 60 Impala. I have installed a 9" rear, welded the brackets on the axle,drilled holes and bolted the other bracket to the correct position on the frame member. When I placed the control arm between the brackets and added the bolts. It was a mere 1/4" away from the bigger 9" differential housing. I have made the cut that I need and now am ready to weld the new arch in. I will be setting all the driveline angles next. I haven't set the angles since installing the 700R4 and the 9".

 

[CDNpontiac409guy]

WHOA !

FAT !.......... That's BRUTAL !
Been thinking about this....
I think I know why you're having such an "interference" problem.
When you cut the brackets off the original housing, you loose some material. Subtract even more material from the brackets due to grinding / smoothen / contour the surface to fit the 9". This loss in "length" or "height" of the brackets has effectively lowered the control arm mounting holes closer to the housing. I would suspect by AT LEAST 1/2 an inch....and as much as a full inch.:eek:
Maybe you can take a measurement and we can compare to an original housing ?

 

[Fathead Racing]

Control arm

Aubrey, You would have to look at the installation of the 9" to see where I'm going with this. The 9" housing is that much "bigger" that the arm is that close. The stock bracket hight would not have made a difference. I made my own brackets. If I knew that the control arm would have been that close I would have made the bracket different. It would have been Easier. When I first thought about making the bracket I thought that I must keep the geometry the same. Now I think that it wouldn't have made a difference as long as you can keep the pinion angle the same.

 

[dq409]

Fat,,,Maybe you should consider going with an aftermarket four link set-up.
I know the money thing is a factor but so is strength and adjustability. JMO,,,,dq

 

[Fathead Racing]

Four link.

Yeah dq, this thing is evolving slowly. I figure once it is dialed in I shouldn't have to touch it. I'll try with the stock components and if that doesn't work I'll do whatever is necessary. I have the B&M Mega shifter just sitting in the car right now and it looks pretty good. All I need is the cable, looks like I'm going to put it in. It's to hard to shift when your racing with the column shifter.

 

[dq409]

HEY Fat,,,,,you will love that shifter !! BAM,,,,,,,,BAM,,,,,,BAM !!!!!
Nothing like a ratchet shifter !!!