We’ve been hard at work here in the PowerTV garage on our Project MaxStreet Chevy II lately. In our last update, we began work on the trunk in order to make room for a wider set of rear tires using a set of Detroit Speed’s deep tub kits.
We chose the deep wheels tubs in order to fit the set of 17-inch Billet Specialties Street Lite wheels wrapped in Mickey Thompson 315/35/17 Drag Radials under the car to give us a great look and a wide set of meats to lay down some serious rubber with. The old factory tubs were only capable of handling a 255mm tire, and so the first order of business was getting those out of the car.
Once Sean got the tubs out, he worked on massaging the frame rails to gain the essential wheel clearance that we needed. With the frame rails fabricated, Sean fitted the DSE tubs and welded them into place. In addition, the rear seat frame was fabricated to fit with the enlarged housings. With that complete, we were able to test fit the new wheels and make measurements for our new Moser 9-inch rear end and then move on to the next step.
We’re expecting to make some big power from the 555 cubic inch Musi/Edelbrock crate motor that we’ll be dropping in, upon its completion. The Chevy II, like most vehicles from the 1960’s, was outfitted with a leaf spring rear suspension setup. In order to handle the horsepower and really get the tires planted while performing in all different environments - from the street, to the strip, and even the road course – we needed something more modern that could handle those rigors.
Detroit Speed Inc. recently released their new QUADRALink four-link rear suspension that makes for a great replacement of the leaf springs. The DSE four-link kit is not only an affordable option, but is designed with ease of installation in mind and offer a modern ride with great handling ability and strength for those hard launches and fast corners.
The Detroit Speed QUADRALink kit utilizes DSE’s exclusive new 4-link geometry design to achieve the vest best possible handling. The patented Swivel-Link allows the suspension to fully articulate with smooth and sold motion and without binding that that can commonly occur in 4-link setups. As well, the QUADRALink features the use of tuned, high-durometer rubber bushings in place of the standard heim joints and urethane bushings that are notoriously weak and noisy. Needless to say, this got us excited about getting this beast running.
Detroit Speed provides everything you need with the kit to get your new QUADRALink installed and ready to hit the road. All the mounting brackets and cross member come fully fabricated and ready to be installed on the car.
The installation process on our MaxStreet Chevy II closely followed the order of events in the supplied video, which is pretty self-explanatory once you know which parts are which and where they go. Before moving forward with the installation of the QUADRALink, we first had to prepare the car for the job. Namely, removing the seats and carpeting from both the cabin and the trunk and of course, all of the leaf spring suspension parts.
The process of installing the four-link required some extensive cutting, measuring and welding, but all in all, is a much easier swap than one might expect. Prior to the arrival of our kit, DSE had shipped off the four housing brackets to Moser Engineering to be welded into the proper -2 degree pinion angle as suggest by DSE. Once the new housing arrived, we got it all bolted into place and must say, it looks great. We’ll be featuring the new QUADRALink and housing install more in-depth in an upcoming article here on DRAGZINE.
The new rear is a 9-inch Ford style housing with WaveTrac spool and axle combo using bolt-in axles, and 3.50 gear ratio. It has a flush mount drain plug and top fill plug as well. The bolt pattern is 5 x 4.75”. The car will utilize Wilwood big bearing Ford modern disc brakes with a parking brake and four piston calipers.
The Musi/Edlebrock engine is also coming along well and we can’t wait to drop it between the fender wells of Project MaxStreet. The short block is currently at Ford Performance Solutions and is receiving a set of custom, low compression JE pistons, new Edelbrock XT cylinder heads, and an all-new COMP Cams valavetrain set up for the boost coming from the Procharger. Stay tuned in for our next update!
Sources:
Detroit Speed Inc.
http://www.detroitspeed.com/
704-663-3272
Moser Engineering
http://www.moserengineering.com/
260-726-6689
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MaxStreet Nova II - Third Update - DSE four-link and Moser Rear End Install
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