Back on its wheels, rear suspension is done

Back on its wheels, rear suspension is done


Quick update. I'm quite happy to say the rear suspension is on and complete, and the Impala is on its wheels again.

I bolted the shocks and rear sway bar in place, checked the fitment, then decided to put on the wheels and see how she sits. Here are the stats:

Front is about 6-7" off the ground at the rocker panel just behind the front wheel.
Rear is about 7-8" off the ground at the rocker panel just in front of the rear wheel.
Front track width is almost 70"
Rear track width is about 68".

Once the new lips are installed on the rear wheels it will be a symmetrical track width on front and rear.

Here she is on the ground again. The rear wheels fill up the wheel well quite a bit. I will have very good fill with the new wheel lips on the rear.




Front rocker panel is just above the 6" mark.



Rear rocker panel is just above the 7" mark. I was concerned that the car would have too much lowering in the rear, making it look like it had something heavy in the trunk. It appears to have a very subtle rake toward the front, which is what I prefer. I'm glad about that.



Quick pick of the engine bay with the spark plug wires removed. Looking into a serpentine belt conversion, but might hold off for the sake of getting it running (and upgrade later).