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79 Nova rear specs?

8K views 76 replies 10 participants last post by  Bigtruckdrivah 
#1 ·
Looking to go to a mono leaf and caltrac bar. I don't know if anyone has looked at smith race craft stuff but it looks nice. And a little cheaper than caltrac or CE. I called them but they don't have a 4th gen Nova direct part for the bars, their "assassin bars". The leafs they can do. Does anyone know if there is another car around the same year that is the same specs? Maybe a 79-80 Malibu, camaro? My shocks are inboard the leafs already, and it's subframed.
 
#3 ·
Got an email back, they said they are the same as the earlier novas. Also discovered 68-69 camaros leafs will work on my nova. Price is the same for caltracs or assassin bars. Any input on which is better? The leafs are a bit different on price. It looks like the assassins have more adjustability.
 
#7 ·
Ended up ordering Calvert leafs and bars, they had everything in stock and available. I installed it all yesterday, nice and smooth easy stuff to use. Nice quality too! I have 5" of travel up front, bars set at 1/16 gap. I'm using non adjustable drag shocks front and rear. Plan to test Friday. Anything I'm missing? Will the non adjstables work?
 
#9 ·
Tested tonight. Adjusted preload to 1/16 loose each side, 13lbs or psi in slicks, 2 step at 4600. Cut a new best of 6.76 1.49 60'. @99.8 mph. On that pass alone it dead hooked and jerked the fronts up about 8" and kinda bounced. Other 3 passes same settings were consistent 6.80-83, with 1.50 60's. It seemed to kill the tire on those passes though, was spinning a little. The car is a lot more consistent now, any suggestions on backing up the 6.76? Less preload or more? Tire psi? I'm still on non adjustable drag shocks. I'm gettin itchy and ready to spray this thing.
 
#17 ·
with me IN THE CAR (this is critical) i just have my brother or a friend turn them just to where they hit the leaf an start to feel just a tiny bit of tension nothing more, no preload, try to keep the bars as level to the surface your racing on as possible if the car tries to drive to the left or right put about a 1/8 inch turn of pre-load on the side its driving toward. your very limited to what you can do on a non adjustable shock.
 
#20 ·
Yes, 155 lbs will make a difference. I'm not a ton heavier than that and I have to account for my weight.

If you're looking for adjustable rear shocks, send me a PM.
 
#21 ·
Pm sent. I adjusted the caltracs with me in the car. I noticed with me in it, the passenger bar was way out of adjustment. They are now adjusted to touch the leaf with just a tad of tension with 150lbs in the seat. It's rainin out today, so I won't get to test! Fml
 
#22 ·
I talked to the guy who I bought the roller from yesterday, he told me the front springs were cut to lower the front 2". And the front shocks are Infact 90/10's. When I raise the car with a floor jack it has atleast 5" of travel. After watching my videos with caltracs/monos the car doesn't seem to transfer weight as much. Right now the front is probably 1.5" lower than the back. The rear feels kinda stiff when I push down on it. My rear shocks have a rubber ring that shows travel of the shocks, i put it all the way down on the shock body and made a pass. It went about half way up the rod, probably 3.5".
 
#23 ·
That ring would show the compression travel of the shock right? That probably happened way down track or when you let out of it. The suspension "action" of a Caltrac is chassis separation so you want to know what your shocks are doing on extension. You want to make sure your shocks have about 1" of compression stroke then a bunch of extension stroke. A big issue to look for when having trouble hooking a Caltrac car is whether the shocks are topping out. If they are, the fix is easy. A $15 set of shock extensions from NAPA make a world of difference.
 
#27 ·
If it's really bad, replace the shocks. Get some extensions on there for sure and try it out. if you are topping out the shocks, fixing that will make a night and day difference.

I chased mine for YEARS. Finally bought some good D/A shocks and they did not help at all UNTIL I put a $15 set of extensions on there. Now it hooks like crazy.
 
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