Build Thread 1978 Fairmont. I bet somebody back home’s thinkin’…I wonder why he don’t write..?

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Spent all day scrounging the remaining steel to finish the conversion. I woke up obsessed with trying to find a way around the front mount w/o having to order Maximum Motorsport’s crossmember and front mount..I mean they’re not the only ones building these things after all.

So,...I got on summits website, and searched “ torque arm”.......Late model Camaro use torque arms.
Of the three aftermarket suppliers of torque arms, two of them basically do the insert right index finger in your left balled up hand method of controlling the front mount..a shaft slides in/ out of a captured rubber bushing with a hole in it.
But the other one......the other company has a link bar that ties two bushings together...
UPI-2203-B_RZ.jpg

I do believe that I can make this version work.

When converting to a torque arm, you have to remove the upper control arms...I’m thinking,....” what if I cut off the front of those control arms to allow me to copy the Camaro mount system pictured above?”....I mean what else am I gonna do with them after I remove them anyway?

So that’s what happened,...I cut the ends off of the old uppers to create my front mount solution for my torque arm. By linking two bushings together with a link plate, the rear will be free to push/pull the plate however far it can in order to add some articulation to the rear end as it travels through its swing arc.

If you don’t have a metal supermarket in your city, I hate it for you....my total investment in the materials to build the torque arm, the front mount, and the panhard mount is just over 100.00...the panhard bar materials are in a cart on
summit...another 65.00....total to build my torque arm conversion....less than 200.00 with hardware.
20201009_180813.jpg


It is going really slow though...the front mount took me all day, and it’s not done. The torque arm is only in its rough stage, and I haven’t started on the panhard mount,...but...it’s my time...it ain’t costing my jack.

Tell ya one thing,....it will never cost me 900.00.
 
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I would figure with your bionic knee situation, you'd be willing to maybe pay for something that's almost a bolt in, rather than crawl under that thing who knows how many times!

Looks like the front mount needs more beef, but I'll wait to see the final results.
 
I would figure with your bionic knee situation, you'd be willing to maybe pay for something that's almost a bolt in, rather than crawl under that thing who knows how many times!

Looks like the front mount needs more beef, but I'll wait to see the final results.
If you have a dog, you’ll know how I lay down, and get back up. my knees have never touched the ground. And you’re right, that front mount isn’t done yet. there’s still the bottom of the loop, and some gusseting before I can call that thing done.
 
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If you have a dog, you’ll know how I lay down, and get back up. my knees have never touched the ground. And you’re right, that front mount isn’t done yet. there’s still the bottom of the loop, and some gusseting before I can call that thing done.
Thats good, I'd hate for you to turn into a pole vaulter.

I've never owned a dog.... Allergic to them. I had a cat... Allergic to them but I got used to him. So if you lay on the floor and lick where your nuts used to be, I know how you work on the car
 
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For those that have never owned a dog, and know that he/she puts their ass down first..then lays down...this is what happens when having to go through that process.
20201010_174451.jpg

This is only for the non-dog owning, pinto wanna be owning, or falcon just the same owning members that actually had a car, but currently don't own a car individual's that populate the forum.

THIS is what a properly reinforced front mount looks like. ;)
 
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Me and the three were talking last night...( seems he decided to drop in unannounced).

He was concerned about the front mount path Ive chosen for the torque arm....* something about zero articulation with regard to the rear being allowed to roll side to side. He’s thinkin that the torque arm I’m copying is intended for a purpose built drag car where the rear end would never have a need to roll side to side ( which would be a really bad thing if it did).
And....as much as I wanted him to be wrong,......he isn’t.

And in the spirit of making sure everybody in my head gets a hand in this new project, I’ve also invited my alter ego to the party. ( aka Do it twice Mike).

Im gonna have to cut the control arm end off of the cross member, and turn it 90 degrees. Doing that allows for a shaft to slide in/out for the swing arc of the rear, and at the same time will rotate to allow for the side to side roll that I currently won’t have. I’ll be copying another Camaro torque arm instead, one that looks more like this:
upi-2205-r_ju_xl.jpg



Instead of that goofy bushing and channel strap, ill use the control arm bushing in the soon to be cut, and turned 90 degree ex-LCA end to control movement of the whole thing.
1602420349467.jpeg


This whole damn adjustable torque arm only costs 270.00 crossmember included..If this thing would’ve been an option for me, I woulda just bought it,..but I just went downstairs and looked....Definitely not a Camaro.
 
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I had to buy a copy of this book....I have a welder and can fab stuff, thought the MM panhard bar I bought was kinda pricey for what it was...That torque arm DIY was all I needed to see. Thanks
 
I missed what the rest of the rear suspension is with the torque arm. Is this replacing any of the stock 4 links?

While trying to get caught up, I was going to suggest using a front suspension item for the pivot point bushing. If it did not need to slide, a ball joint would be strong, grease-able and wear resistant. If it was overkill, a tie rod end would also allow for arm length adjustment.
The custom front cross member looks great.
 
I had a camarro :puke: that I put a built 200r4 out of a Monte Carlo in. I fabbed a transmission crossmember and used a cut and rewelded tie rod end for the torque arm. It worked and that car was beat on religiously.

Doesn't sound safe but worked...I wouldn't do that now though.
 
Once you have it done, can you supply a parts list and some abbreviated instructions? Doing the remote turbos the upper control arms get in the way
it’s a nightmare...nobody will want to do this, even if they can.
I don't see how you can compare the UMI weeny camaro torque arm to MM's mustang setup and say people are getting raped by MM.
When did I say that ? :shrug:
Mike, you probably already know about the designs for the torque arm, but thought I would leave this here

20 years ago when that book was new, I followed that first example to a tee. When it came time to lower the car to the ground, the suspension bound up. That first example is an absolute no-go.
You have some pent up prison rage going on. Glad you realize that dog ain't gonna hunt.
Naahhhh, I just like ringing your door bell, then running away.:runaway:
I had to buy a copy of this book....I have a welder and can fab stuff, thought the MM panhard bar I bought was kinda pricey for what it was...That torque arm DIY was all I needed to see. Thanks
See above..
I missed what the rest of the rear suspension is with the torque arm. Is this replacing any of the stock 4 links?

While trying to get caught up, I was going to suggest using a front suspension item for the pivot point bushing. If it did not need to slide, a ball joint would be strong, grease-able and wear resistant. If it was overkill, a tie rod end would also allow for arm length adjustment.
The custom front cross member looks great.
It don’t look like that anymore..:nonono:

Now that all of the people are answered ( thanks for the comments)..Let me tell about the jug phck that today was.

Right after updating this thread i went downstairs on a mission..I knew what I had to do, the problem was, I didn’t have what I needed to do it. The blade on my portable band saw ( my weapon of choice) was done,..I don’t think it would even cut me..After 15 minutes of binding and bucking, I put that thing down. I got out my Sawzall,..( Which I really hate) only to find that I had no better blades for it either...but that didn’t stop me from spending another 15 minutes eating that time too,..all the while cussing like a sailor.
All I had left was a freakin cut off wheel on an angle grinder...Just what I wanted at 9:30 am, to get my ass burned up from hot metal sparks...A perfect way to start what was set to be an epic test of my sanity.

And so we begin.

Eventually, I get the thing cut off,..cleaned up, and spun 90*. And at the “Do it twice mike‘s welding and fabrication emporium, where I never tack ANYTHING, preferring to weld the piss out of it instead....

I welded the piss out of it.

Followed up by cleaning that up, then primed it, and painted it.

Now that I had the thing turned the right way, I fell into a complete state of brain cramp....I realized that I had omitted several steps that I shoulda took measurements on...or, took steps to come up with a temporary jig to hold things where they were supposed to be but, nope,....not me,....Not today
You’d think as many race cars that I‘ve scratch built over the years, something that shoulda concerned
somebody whose removing upper control arms, ( That’ll cause the rear to just flop forward)...Or removing the coil overs, that now allow the entire flopped forward rear to completely drop as far as the brake line will let it drop, before it rips out of the floor...would’ve concerned me.
Did I think about any of that sht,...or take one freakin measurement to give me a reference point to work from?
Nope,..Do it twice Mike here...we’re flyin blind.

So because I had no point of reference to work back to,...I ended up going around in circles...wondering if an egg came before a chicken...or if a tree falling in the woods makes any noise when nobodies around to hear it...
For about two freakin hours.

Finally, I find a path...I decide to work back from the crossmember since it’s done...I put the thing in place, square it up..

But.........

The newly piss-welded bushing mount is almost an inch off center.

Now you know what that noise you thought you heard at 1:45 this afternoon...I think i popped a blood vessel from screaming.

So,...I gotta cut it back off again..Now w/o the benefit of anything i’d use to cut steel, except the cut off wheel. This time, I cannot save it...I have to cut the thing up in pieces so that the cut off wheel will reach far enough to get the job done.

Fortunately.....I have the other one.

By now I’m whipped, screaming pissed,..I decide to break, and go buy the bolt that will hold the male portion of the torque arm, with the female portion being the part that has driven me to the brink. I need like a 6” long, 12 mmx1.75 pitch metric bolt...Now where do ya spose I’m gonna find that bitch on a Sunday?

I choose Lowe’s. I chose,.........poorly.
A 1/2” bolt is close, I buy one, hoping that maybe i’ll be able to drill the hole open to the size. Since I was there, I bought new blades for the band saw.

When I get home, I put the piece in my drill press, get one of my sharpest dull assed 1/2” bits,...and start...To my amazement..it’s working. Evidently the shaft material i’m gonna use as a “male member“ isn’t hardened. I drill it as far as i can go one way, then flip it, and drill it the rest.

Then I cut a piece of 5/16” thick steel, that I intend to weld onto the front of the torque arm, and drill a 1/2” hole through it

Then,....take that piece, run the bolt through the newly drilled out shaft, then through the 5/16” plate, then nut that bitch to the plate,....and......You guessed it.

I welded the piss out of it.

Now,......I got a crossmember with a centered bushing...and it’s back in place. After the shaft gets cool ( which took a really long time..because it was welded front and back.) i inserted the male member into the female receptacle...(It was a very tight fit...as it should be. I had to beat the male member into the female receptacle with a rubber.......mallet.);)

I place the torque arm main spar in place...The rear end now at my “ best guess” ride height,..and the pinion angle locked in place at 4* with a piece of aluminum plate. I “tack“ :banana:the main spar to the male member..then remove the main spar,...and....Weld the piss out of it. Then I reinforced that with big assed gussets..and plated that.

After it cooled...I cleaned it..I primed it...And said..Fck this place...and turned off the lights.

*edit..forgot the picture of my battered up crossmember
20201011_210208.jpg

There now..all better.
 
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