[airbob01]

I finally got my 71GT on the road! Took her maiden voyage on Christmas day. Still have a few issues to work out, but at least she is driveable.
The front end seems to be a little sloppy so that will be the next focus of attention. I have a complete front suspension out of a 73GT and was toying with the idea of rebuilding that and installing it in the 71. That way I can continue to enjoy driving until the suspension is ready. Are there any issues with that? Will the 73 bolt up directly with no mods? The only difference that I am aware of is the controll arm bushings are different in size. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Bob

 

[opelgt73]

nope, no problem, it will bolt right in

 

[Jim Branham]

4 bolts hold it in place, two for the shocks, 1 for the steering and disconnect the brake lines, pretty easy swap.

 

[kwilford]

Yep, as adequately discussed, they are completely interchangeable. And the '73 suspension clip will have the improved lower control arm bushing design. In late '71 or early '72, Opel decided to remedy (or at least improve) the tendency of the GT's front suspension to "shimmy". This was a design flaw in the Kadett "B", which of course, was carried over directly to the GT (identical front suspensions, unlike the Manta/1900/Ascona).

Opel reduced the"compliance" (flexibility) of the lower control arms (often called "A" arms) by increasing the thickness of the inner steel sleeve, thereby reducing the thickness of the rubber bushing. This makes them "wriggle" less, if the tires are a bit out of balance or the road induces some harmonics.

The reason I bring this up is that you will want to ensure that you re-build the '73 front suspension with the later design bushings that fit the thicker inner sleeves. You can still get the OEM rubber bushings, where the inner and outer steel sleeves are adhered (vulcanized) to the the rubber bushing, in either the older (thin inner sleeve) or the newer design. That requires you to change out the entire bushing, which is quite a difficult task, and you still have a rather archaic suspension design. I recommend that you replace the old rubber bushings with polyurethane bushings, which utilize the original inner and outer metal sleeves. Which is why you need to buy the correct poly bushing, since they come with either a smaller hole (thin inner sleeve) or the bigger hole (thick inner sleeve). They are also available from OGTS in either soft (which is not so soft, and my choice) or hard (for more spirited driving, but a harsher feel).

I moved this thread to the "Suspension" heading. Have a look around, and do a search. There are several excellent threads on the topic of rebuilding the GT front suspension (and I might even have contributed to a few myself).

HTH

 

[airbob01]

Thanks for the info guys. Did a search and found a wealth of information on the subject.
keith, Sounds like the 73 suspension is the better choice to rebuild. If I can get ahold of a digital camera, I will document my progress.
Thanks again for your help.
Bob