[nickincrete]

Hi
I am rebuilding my front end to use adjustable coil overs and I am thinking of making new lower A arms to go with the new upper A arms that I am fabricating..
It would make life easier if I could find some ball joints that bolt on just like the the standard upper ones do.
I have seen the ones on the site that screw on to screw on adaptors but these require the spindles to be reamed out.
Track rod steering arm joints could also be used but again does anyone know any that are the same size as the standard lower joints.

I am also later thinking of using MK2 mx5 rear suspension narrowed to replace the solid axle. I will be using RX8 lsd and shortened half shafts as well.
This has been done recently for a mini and seems ok. Its actually a four wheel drive setup.
Of course there are many diffs that could be used
The standard mini track is 48 inches so its in the correct ballpark.
I think that the subframe would need to be further modified from this point in order for it to fit the opel gt, a square flat box frame into a curved gt underbody, but it is worth investigating for well under 500 bucks.

 

[P.J. Romano (R.I.P.)]

I like those screw-in ball joints. They are very durable and when the time comes they can be easily replaced. Reamer is available from the Speedway Motors and the price is acceptable. Keep those ball joints on your list as one of alternatives.
Speedway Tapered Ball Joint Reamer, 7 Degree

 

[nickincrete]

come on guys use those brain cells

 

[RallyBob]

I doubt you'll find something with the original taper, bolt pattern, stud length, etc.

Opel uses a 1.5" per foot taper (works out to roughly 7 degrees).

Pinto stuff from a circle track shop might work for you, HOWEVER the GT spindles use small diameter tapers and would likely require reaming anyway. Even for the same taper angle.

Manta spindles are the same taper angle but a larger diameter. However the Manta spindle is overall shorter than the GT spindle.

I'm building my own upper a-frames for one of my cars and decided to drill thru the upper spindle hole with a straight 5/8" drill, and will use a high misalignment monoball in lieu of an upper ball joint. Less bulky, lighter, roll center adjustable and clears inside my 13" racing wheels well.

 

[nickincrete]

do you have a link to this joint

 

[RallyBob]

do you have a link to this joint

Sorry...which one? Pinto type or monoball?

 

[nickincrete]

sorry the mono ball

 

[RallyBob]

sorry the mono ball

That company doesn't have a website to speak of. Nothing with pics anyway. It's just a Teflon-lined high misalignment monoball, within a steel housing that can be welded into an a-arm. I've used them for my outer tie rods on race cars too (well, road cars as well, but you didn't hear that from me).

 

[nickincrete]

That company doesn't have a website to speak of. Nothing with pics anyway. It's just a Teflon-lined high misalignment monoball, within a steel housing that can be welded into an a-arm. I've used them for my outer tie rods on race cars too (well, road cars as well, but you didn't hear that from me).

sort of like these
items in store on eBay!

 

[RallyBob]

More like this:

 

[nickincrete]

is the taper end for the mono ball or the other way round

 

[RallyBob]

is the taper end for the mono ball or the other way round

The tapered end in that pic is for the spindle. The monoball has a straight thru hole.

 

[PROSTOCKTOM]

Lots of years since the first post was made, but I thought I would share about my homemade control arms. I used old style VW Beetle ball joints and reamed out the upper Opel GT spindle holes. Then fabricated the arms and made the cups from 2.00" o.d. 4130 round bar stock. VW ball joints are really cheap, in fact I paid less for all 4 of them than one Opel ball joint cost.

Tom