Old SCCA Racer Rear Suspension

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tim rayner
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Old SCCA Racer Rear Suspension

#1 Post by tim rayner »

Dear All, I recently got hold of an old SCCA 356 racer. I am currently making it road legal in the UK. It has all the normal modifications (mostly) with the exception of the rear suspension. The car now runs coil overs and has some sort of Panhard rod arrangement at the back. It has a rod attached to the swing arm on the drivers side and then is attached to the body on the passenger side (by a rough support structure).
Panhard rod.jpg
I would like to know if anyone has any experience with this kind of thing on the street? I would like to add one of Vic S.'s camber regulator as I had good experiences with these before (apart from removing the wheels of course). I assume I would need to remove the Panhard rod before adding the camber regulator?
Thanks Tim
 

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Jim Karaba
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Re: Old SCCA Racer Rear Suspension

#2 Post by Jim Karaba »

That looks like a front Porsche 914 swaybar.

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Vic Skirmants
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Re: Old SCCA Racer Rear Suspension

#3 Post by Vic Skirmants »

Tim,
With one arm forward and one rearward, that is a "Z" bar (or zed bar). The right arm should also be attached to the swing arm.
It prevents the wheels from drooping, the same as my camber regulator.
You can leave it on there if the appearance is not bothersome to you; and if the arms are attached properly.
Whose car was it? It almost looks familiar.

tim rayner
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Re: Old SCCA Racer Rear Suspension

#4 Post by tim rayner »

Dear Vic,
Thanks for the comment. When I got the car the bar was only attached to one swing arm, hence why I thought is was a Panhard rod. The bar is not perpendicular to the car and goes across at an angle, one can see the bar mount to the body in front of the axle on the drivers side and behind the axle on the passenger. The bar had a drop link on it but no link to the swing arm. I will give it another look but I did not see an obvious was to attach the other end?
As for who owned the car, I bought the car from Tom Coughlin from the Boston area, previous owners include Skip Froh(g), Jerry Forthhofer and George Bryan. Car is now in the UK. If you know these guys and could get some period pictures that would be great.
Regards, Tim
 

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Vic Skirmants
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Re: Old SCCA Racer Rear Suspension

#5 Post by Vic Skirmants »

I did a bunch of work on that car for Froh. Thought it looked familiar.
You do know it was originally a T-6 Hardtop?

tim rayner
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Re: Old SCCA Racer Rear Suspension

#6 Post by tim rayner »

Dear Vic,
Yes I was aware it was a hardtop before hand. What work did you do to it and do you have any photos?
Regards
Tim
 

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Vic Skirmants
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Re: Old SCCA Racer Rear Suspension

#7 Post by Vic Skirmants »

A local body man bought the car with the front end wrecked; no rust. He put another steel nose on it, cut off the top, and changed the dash to the one from his wrecked roadster. Raced it locally for a few years, sold it to another local. That guy finally slid into the gulch inside Turn 2 at Waterford and banged up ALL the fenders. By that time SCCA allowed fiberglass body parts, and I had molds taken off my T-5 roadster. That's when the car was converted to a T-5 configuration. I do have photos of the bare chassis with all the cut off steel parts arranged around it. Send me an email and I can scan them and send to you.

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Dennis ODonnell
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Re: Old SCCA Racer Rear Suspension

#8 Post by Dennis ODonnell »

Tim, I have an NOS Z bar, bought just before Vic offered his solution. I was relieved when he came out with his non-intrusive spring & bracket and used that instead. Without either, wet driving was exciting.

If you intend to restore the car to that period state you're welcome to it. It's lighter & simpler than your fabrication: The mounts are one-piece square loops which bolt under the rear seat sheet metal and the bar itself is Z shaped with bushings at the apexes. It came to me without Heim joints and drop links, maybe you can source those from him.

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