And here's what the bushings should look like when fully in place. This will help to ensure stable handling with much less slop than the stock bushings could ever deliver.And here's what the bushings should look like when fully in place. This will help to ensur Now we don't mind if you refer to our little wagon as a grocery getter, but all we ask is that you do so with a little respect. You never know, we might have to unload our camera gear and show you what this thing will do on the autocross. We're pretty sure you'll be surprised. Stopping The Slop On the drive home from Hotchkis, one thing became painfully clear: While the ride was hugely improved, the vague and sloppy steering was now a glaring deficiency. With a huge dead spot in the middle, it was nearly impossible to fully appreciate the wagon's newfound handling prowess. Since Hotchkis didn't offer a steering box for our application, we stopped by Classic Performance Products (CPP) for a little help. Much like the lower trailing arms, it's pretty easy to see that the new uppers are quite a bit stronger than their GM ancestors. One huge upside is that they are adjustable and allow for easy pinion angle changes. Their Swivel-Max bushings also provide for non-binding articulation during suspension travel.Much like the lower trailing arms, it's pretty easy to see that the new uppers are quite a In many G-body applications we would have installed the included cross brace bars, but in wagons we found GM had a bar already welded in place. The good news is that this drops the price of the kit by over a hundred bucks. Just make sure you let Hotchkis know that you have a wagon.In many G-body applications we would have installed the included cross brace bars, but in We then scrunched up the air bags (PN 31750, $132.95) and inserted them into the rear springs. Since this wagon is often used to haul around a lot of "stuff," the ability to adjust ride height was a real bonus.We then scrunched up the air bags (PN 31750, $132.95) and inserted them into the rear spri The air hoses from the two bags were routed to the back bumper and attached to the included bumper. Some people like to "T" the two hoses together, but by keeping them separate we can adjust each bag separately if needed. If we ever hit the drag strip, we can also preload one side to help nail down a better launch.The air hoses from the two bags were routed to the back bumper and attached to the include Lastly, we installed the new 15/16-inch tubular Extreme rear sway bar. Considering the wagon didn't have a bar to begin with, this should make a huge difference in how the Malibu negotiates the curves. There are two adjustment holes on the bar, so we decided to start out on the less aggressive setting. Since it attaches to the trailing arms via dog-bone links, the system is far less likely to suffer from bind.Lastly, we installed the new 15/16-inch tubular Extreme rear sway bar. Considering the wag With the rear installation done, we only had to grease up the zerk fittings and pump some air into our bags. Given how many parts were changed, we also had to align the wagon to Hotchkis' recommended specs.With the rear installation done, we only had to grease up the zerk fittings and pump some The Malibu's stock power steering gearbox was ugly, but of greater concern was its lackluster performance.The Malibu's stock power steering gearbox was ugly, but of greater concern was its lacklus The first step was to use a puller and get the pitman arm off the old box. And just like every other GM car, we then dropped the box by disconnecting the power steering lines and pulling the three bolts that hold the box to the frame.And just like every other GM car, we then dropped the box by disconnecting the power steer Here you can see the old box next to the shiny new 500 box from CPP. Besides being new, and not having the huge dead spot, the new box also has a sportier ratio of 14:1.Here you can see the old box next to the shiny new 500 box from CPP. Besides being new, an Well this certainly put the brakes on our project. Turned out that the splined hole in the wagon's pitman arm was a too small to fit the new box. CPP did some research and found out that there were two different pitman arms used on these G-bodies. The right one ended up being from an S10 pickup truck of the same era. Go figure.Well this certainly put the brakes on our project. Turned out that the splined hole in the Although our rag joint was still in decent shape, we decided to go ahead and replace it since we had everything apart. We also took this time to ditch the plastic sleeve that was on the original setup since it wouldn't work with the new steering box anyway.Although our rag joint was still in decent shape, we decided to go ahead and replace it si With the new pitman arm in place, we were able to install the new box and bolt everything together.With the new pitman arm in place, we were able to install the new box and bolt everything Finally we hooked up the power steering lines. To do this we needed a pair of adaptors from CPP to accommodate our O-ring styled original hoses. After hitting the road, we immediately noticed the new responsive steering and were now able to fully appreciate the wagon's new snappy handling.Finally we hooked up the power steering lines. To do this we needed a pair of adaptors fro As you can see here we weren't kidding about all the stuff we pack into this ride. We're talking camera, timing, and baseball equipment. We need it all, especially the chair.As you can see here we weren't kidding about all the stuff we pack into this ride. We're t By The Numbers We've done quite a bit of testing over the years, and have yet to back down from any sort of a suspension challenge, but we didn't feel 100 percent confident that our wagon would hold up under the rigors of our testing requirements with the stock suspension and sloppy steering. Besides, the stock stuff was so worn out, that we really wouldn't have gotten valuable data. So we thought it would be interesting to show how our '82 wagon fared against some stock, factory-built performance cars we've recently tested. 420-ft Slalom 200-ft Skidpad Stock '02 Z06 Corvette 49.3 mph 0.98g Stock '10 Camaro SS 46.2 mph 0.86g '82 Malibu Wagon 45.5 mph 0.80g Stock '01 Camaro Z28 44.7 mph 0.87g SOURCES Hotchkis Performance 12035 Burke Street Suite 13 Santa Fe Springs CA 90670 877-735-6425 www.hotchkis.net El Toro Field / AMCI El Toro Field Irvine CA 92618 www.eltorofield.com Classic Performance Products 175 East Freedom Avenue Anaheim CA 92801 800-522-5004 www.classicperform.com « | 1 | 2 | View Full Article By Nick Licata Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues!
