RE: front suspension

[Darryl Tinnerstet <darryl@xxxx>]

Walt said:
> I read in an old magazine that the DeLorean front lower control arm looked
> like a lengthened version of the one used on the Pinto.
Interesting you should bring that up, Walt. The Pinto, and its big brother
the Mustang II, did indeed use a lower front control arm that was very
similar to the DeLorean one (bad pun). The inner end of the lower control
arm is narrow, riding on a single bolt through frame brackets. But it used
a strut rod that bolts on the top side just inboard of the ball joint and
angles back to the frame where it went thru rubber doughnuts and a bracket.
Sometime after 1974 street rod builders discovered that the complete Mustang
II front suspension was a great retrofit into "modern" hotrods. Several
companies began offering crossmember kits to fit 1928-48 Fords and others to
easily adapt the newer suspension pieces. Along the way someone discovered
that if you fabricated new tubular lower arms shaped like an "A" with the
legs on the outside of the frame brackets on a longer bolt, you wouldn't
need the strut rod at all (like most modern suspensions). Today if you look
at any street rod magazine ("Street Rodder", "Rod Action", etc.) you will
find literally dozens of ads selling front suspension kits still based on
that Mustang II concept and geometry, but with all new components. You can
get polished stainless tubular or cast control arms, dropped spindles, 11"
ventilated rotors, any wheel bolt pattern you want, 4 piston calipers, air
bag suspension, sway bar, power or manual rack and pinion steering, etc.
Unlike DMC they are all fully adjustable for caster and camber. Thank God
for innovators - if it wasn't for them street rods would still have I-beam
axles and drum brakes.

Will any of this fit a DeLorean? No. But in 1995 I approached a prominent
street rod chassis builder about making a custom suspension setup with DMC
geometry specs, similar to the modified Mustang II design with no strut
rods, and he said "No problem. Just bring your checkbook." Unfortunately I
was unable to go forward with that plan then due to my subsequent divorce.

Is there a market for such a kit? Would owners pay $5,000 +/- to get 11"
ventilated rotors, 4 piston calipers, optional power steering, and
bulletproof suspension? I doubt it. Just look at all the negative comments
about a $66 pair of Toby Bolts which cure a known weakness. All the
"experts" would have us believe there is nothing wrong with the factory
setup, despite its flimsy control arms, inferior brakes and ball joints,
lack of adjustment, and poor strut rod design. All in a car sold 7 years
after the lowly Mustang II, by the way.....

I hope the DeLorean world (okay, another bad pun) will be just as innovative
as street rodders have been for decades. And keep your eye on the
Northwest. There could be plans in the works that just might blow your
socks off.

-- 
Darryl Tinnerstet (former and future street rodder)
Specialty Automotive
McCleary, WA
www.delorean-parts.com