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 Although the '97 GT had a...  Although the '97 GT had a smooth and comfortable ride on stock suspension, the first word that comes to mind is "blah." Not only will the car be stiffer and handle better with a new suspension, but by the end, it will be much prettier. |
 Greg Smith of DPR in San Diego...  Greg Smith of DPR in San Diego starts by unbolting the strut. The SLA upgrade requires him to remove nearly everything from the front of the car relating to suspension, including the struts, springs, A-arms, steering shaft, K-member, motor mounts, and tie-rod ends. |
 After struggling with some...  After struggling with some well rusted nuts and bolts, the K-member comes out, and with it, a substance resembling kitty litter. No cat was found. |
We ALL want to go fast. Horse-power is king in our myopic world of best e.t.'s, but when building a vehicle to do double duty between daily driver and open track racer, speed in other areas is just as important. Fast around a corner is as important, if not more so, than speed in the straights, and if your plan is to add considerable horsepower and torque down the road, it's a good idea to tighten up the chassis as much as possible because stiff is fast and flex is, well, second place.
Stopping fast is also important, but we'll get to that soon enough. For now, we're going under the car to clear out the old and import an entirely new GR40 suspension system from Griggs Racing, including its Short/Long Arm (SLA) front suspension, a Watts link rear suspension, and subframe connectors for stiffening. But first, a little pregame analysis.
The stock suspension on the '97 is a little squishy, a little boaty, but gets the job done pretty well for a daily driver. The ride is smooth on the open highway, but still has some strength in the turns. It's not until you put the car under duress that the flaws start coming out. On an open track, at higher speeds, the body roll is considerable, and prevents a driver from really pushing the car. Also noticeable is the dramatic understeer. This will vindicate drag racers, but the car feels like it wants to go straight.
For those who read Part 1 of this project in the May issue, you know that this is my first attempt at building a project car. The goal here is not just to tell you what I did, but also to explain from a novice's point of view the reasoning and results behind the buildup. Most readers probably know a lot of this information already, but for the quick starts like myself, consider this a crash course in physics.
To start, the tighter you can make the suspension, the faster it'll make it around the track, but I also want to drive the California freeway system without needing a kidney belt. On top of that, the stock profile of the GT resembles something closer to a 4x4 truck, with huge gaps between the tires and the wheelwells-and we all know that a lowered car is much cooler.
Without needing any further motivation, the folks at Domestic Performance and Restoration in San Diego put the car on the lift and immediately began tearing apart the front end, basically removing anything that wasn't part of the powertrain. With two guys working on the car, the entire front suspension was removed or pushed aside to make room for the new equipment.