A bad stance can kill the looks of even the coolest car. A jacked-up rake and a gap the size of the Grand Canyon over the front tire just looks bad. Back in the day, we would grab a torch and slice a chunk out of the front coils. Sometimes it worked, but more often ended up with a car that leaned like a drunken sailor. One time we cut off too much and had to run spring spacers until we could find another set at the local salvage yard. In truth, even when we cut them just right we were still doing nothing for, and most likely hurting, performance.
Today's aftermarket offers an endless array of widgets to help you get your Chevy sitting pretty and handling properly. One way is by going with a coilover suspension. The only problem here is cold hard cash since it's often a pricey proposition involving new control arms and sometimes a bit of fabrication. When we spied QA1's Pro Coil system, we were intrigued. It offers the benefits of a full-blown coilover system in what the company bills as an easy-to-install package which doesn't require messing with the GM control arms. It sounded like a sweet deal, so we ordered up a kit, borrowed a buddy's Camaro, and decided to see for ourselves.
 Jon Lindstrom has been working...  Jon Lindstrom has been working on his '71 Camaro for some time now, with the plan for it to eventually be his daily driver. With this in mind, he wanted to be sure that when he fixed the stance, he wouldn't be screwing up the car's ride quality. |  Here's the cure for what ails...  Here's the cure for what ails this Camaro, the Pro Coil kit from QA1. This kit (PN GMP3350-3, $449.95) has been engineered for stock GM front ends and includes Proma Star aluminum single-adjustable coilover shocks and springs. The springs included in this kit are 350-pound linear rate units and are silver powder coated. We also picked up a set of spanner wrenches (PN T114W, $16.95) and thrust bearing kit (PN 7888-109, $25.95). These provide less bind on the attachment points of the coilover shocks, making life, and adjustments, much easier. Add it all up and the total is $492.85 for everything you see. |  We're not going to bore you...  We're not going to bore you into a coma by doing a step-by-step on how to take off the old junk. We'll just give the obligatory warning that care needs to be taken when removing the factory springs. They contain a lot of stored energy and if you don't remove them the right way you could end up becoming a very unhappy, quite injured camper. We disconnected the upper control arm from the spindle. The wizards over at QA1 later told us the install would have been even easier if we would've unbolted the lower control arm from the spindle since we wouldn't have had to disconnect the calipers. Next time we will give it a try. |
 With pressure off the spring...  With pressure off the spring we just needed to give it a firm yank to get it the rest of the way out of the spring pocket. We then drilled out the lower shock mount holes a bit to accommodate the new bolts provided in the QA1 kit. |  Don't freak out when you see...  Don't freak out when you see how much shorter the new spring is compared to the behemoth you just removed from your car. Keep in mind that the new spring doesn't need to go all the way down to the lower control arm like the stocker did. The springs are offered in 250, 350, 450, and 550-pound rates. For our small-block equipped Camaro we decided on 350-pounders. |  With the shock assembled we...  With the shock assembled we slid it into place. We made sure to set the rings all the way to the bottom of the shock for easier installation. To help the spring seat spin freely on the shock, we dabbed a little anti-seize on the threads. |
 Putting the lift near the...  Putting the lift near the ground, we used a floor jack to compress the new spring until the bottom of the shock lined up with the mounting holes. We then used the supplied bolts and lock nuts to secure everything in place. |  This roller thrust bearing...  This roller thrust bearing and washer kit wasn't included with the Pro Coil kit, but it was $25 well spent. When we went to adjust our height it was the difference between a pleasurable experience and an expletive-laced task complete with bleeding knuckles. CliffsNotes: Buy the roller thrust bearing kit. |  The old KYB gas shocks did...  The old KYB gas shocks did their job well, but the new QA1 units will give us tuning benefits over and above their ability to change ride height. The new shocks have 24 valving options from cushy soft to ultra firm. The one knob changes both the compression and the rebound simultaneously. The fact that they look nice is just icing on the cake. |
 With the shock bolted in place...  With the shock bolted in place and the control arm reattached to the spindle, we started adjusting the ride height. Given the shape of the lower control arms, the first few threads were hard to do, but after that the spanner wrench was much easier to use. We went with a starting point of 13 threads up from the bottom. Once the upper ring was where we wanted it we locked it in place with the lower ring using the other, smaller, spanner wrench. |  All hail the new stance. Since...  All hail the new stance. Since this ride is destined for pothole-strewn city streets we didn't put it in the weeds. But we did knock the front end down a couple of inches. Best of all, Jon can easily dial in the front height once he gets around to bringing the back of the Camaro down a bit. |  Lastly, we reattached the...  Lastly, we reattached the sway arm, double checked all of our bolts, and installed new cotter pins where necessary. Total install time was under two hours and that was with constant stopping for pictures. Since this car will spend most of its time on the street we set the dial at five clicks. But, if Jon ever wants to dodge some cones at an autocross he's just a few clicks away from a more aggressive setting. |