glad to see the updates!

 

Making progress Just got my confirmation from UPS, all my steering parts and front shocks are waiting on me at the house. I'll get them put on this evening or tomorrow morning depending on how the day goes. I might work on the rear frame this weekend and start mocking up the rear end. Removing the gas tank gave me the length to fit the leaf springs under there. 55" long springs. From looking around a little that seems like a pretty standard size. Even s10 blazers use a 55" spring. I figured a blazer spring would be compatible since they're both small suv's.

 

Ratty
Start thinking outside the box. Are there other leaf springs that could be shorter in length to help you out? Yes granted leaf is an easier way to locate the rear. I myself just started looking on line to see if I could come up with a car using mono-leaf or multi that has a center to center eye length less than 55". Haven't found the right site for a chart yet.
Edit: Was thinking of MG rear springs. Don't know the spring rate, length or width but are used for a light car.

 

I found this



Even 70's Camaro's and F Body's rear leads are almost 55". I looked up rear 1400lb s10 springs and from my math they're about 52" eye to eye. 24 1/2 From front eye to center, and 27.5 from rear eye to center. I've looked up monoleaf designs, and there are some shorter options there. I just worry about the safety of a monoleaf. I'll have tools and a trailer most of the time. Plus the chirt roads in my neck of the woods can get rough, and I tend to beat the hell out of things. I'd hate to snap a leaf on a dirt road and end up in a creek or between some trees. If I was at home in my shop I would 4 link it. I'm just not familiar with that setup, and I'm somewhat on a schedule. I've got about 8 weekends left to work on it before I head back east. Good advice though. I'm probably gonna head to a junkyard this weekend with a measuring tape. I'll write it all down and post it up for you.

 

Mono will work. You can go high tech an get aftermarket composite. Are you going to off road towing a trailer?
I would still look for a shorter leaf just to possibly help with fitment.

 

I won't be technically off road, they're on Google maps Imagine the beginner or easy trails at an off road park. That's the first 5 miles of my trip leaving my place. Hills, ruts, washout, and generally terrible paved roads until you get to the highway that leads to the interstate. Yeah I'm definitely on the hunt for shorter leads. I'm imagining I won't leave the junkyard without a set to at least try

 

Got the steering hooked up today. Turns out I had the front lower control arm bolt in backwards. End of the bolt was sticking out and hitting the inner tie rod. After I fixed that it went smooth. Looks like I'm gonna need to add about 13" to my steering shaft. Might need to trim the opening for the shaft to have the right angle. I'll know once I make the connecting shaft.




Was talking to my girlfriends father, he wants me to run coil springs and a 4 link setup. So maybe that is an option. I'll need to look into what that is gonna take to put that together.

 

After doing a little research, Ive decided to go with a 3 link setup with a watts link. I'm thinking I can use the factory trailing arm mounts on the HHR body as the mounts for my 2 lower bars. I'll be cutting out the spare tire area and building a frame, so that should be sufficient for my top mount and watts link. Seems simple, less chance of bind, and seems to be pretty good all around.

 

Here's an idea. Maybe use a Jeep steering shaft for the added length.
It's a popular swap in A, F and G body GM cars. It might be a little long but you could shorten it.
Take a look at this:
https://bangshift.com/general-news/t...hed-rag-joint/

 

This is a watts link set up,





You are showing a panhard bar setup