REBUILDING OUR REAR SUSPENSION WITH QA1

WORDS BY CHRIS HAMILTON

PHOTOS BY DAVID SHANKEN

I IN THE LAST ISSUE, WE BROKE DOWN ALL THE PARTS IT’S GOING TO TAKE TO CONVERT THIS OLD ’77 SQUAREBODY CHEVY INTO A CORNER CARVING, COILOVER HAVING STREET TRUCK. We chose QA1 for our Squarebody build for the simple reason that we wanted a painless, DIY installation with no wiring, running air hoses or dealing with leaky systems. Just a solid stance, a smooth ride and some really nice new parts for our truck!

The factory frame rail on this truck is cracked completely in half. So, we will remove all of the body panels and install them, along with this new QA1 suspension, onto a cleaned-up replacement frame that’s ready to go. We will also be installing a 6L LS engine using new engine mounts and a new wiring harness. The real question is whether to keep the topper on it while we rip up the corners! The paint is not that bad for a 40-plus-year-old truck, so we will simply buff it and let it ride. There is no reason we shouldn’t be ripping it around the track later this year!