You spend countless hours polishing paint, dialing-in your motor and picking the perfect wheels. But what good is a muscle car or hot rod that’s not fun to drive on a regular basis? The fact of the matter is, a modern minivan actually handles better than anything that came out of Detroit in the 1960s, a fact that can make driving your pride and joy on a regular basis a frustrating experience.

There is hope, however. These days there are literally dozens of different suspension options for ‘60s muscle car owners, ranging from stock rebuild kits to completely new chassis retrofitted with a hodgepodge of components lifted from modern sports cars. Choosing the right bolt-on suspension components like sway bars and sport springs can make any cruiser more fun to drive without permanently modifying your chassis, improving looks and handling without affecting long-term values.

As you can see in the “before” picture, the car suffers from excessive body roll, which when combined with terrible ride quality and poor brakes made it less than pleasant on crazed California highways.

Rather than picking random parts from a variety of vendors, choosing an integrated bolt-on suspension system that was engineered to work in as a cohesive package will maximize handling and eliminate negative traits like excessive body roll or poor ride quality. In fact, many muscle car owners that want to take advantage of the current advancements in suspension technology that are currently hitting the market as a result of the G-Machine/Pro-Touring trend have taken to stashing their old stock suspension in a corner of the garage, just in case they ever want to return their car to stock restored form.

Shown is the Hotchkis TVS kit for full size B-Bodies, which is basically everything you need to tame your ill-handling ‘60s cruiser or muscle car. Upgrades include steering rebuild kits, shocks and springs, disc brake kits, etc. Chevelle, Camaro and Nova owners can also select tubular front A-arms, subframe connectors and more

We decided to see exactly how much a modern bolt-on system can improve a ‘60s cruiser and started looking for potential candidates. We found Joe Molina, a 30-year veteran of the auto industry who still owns and drives the 1966 Chevy Caprice 396 wagon that his father bought over four decades ago. “Popz Wagon,” as it’s known, underwent a serious makeover in the early ‘90s, when Molina had all the fake wood and chrome trim removed, smoothed out the panels and had the whole car slathered in “Chezoom Blue,” named after the late Boyd Coddington’s custom hue mixed for the ’57 Chevy custom of the same name. Molina also had the springs chopped to lower the heavy Chevy’s ride height, added some basic performance bolt-ons to the big block and swapped out the steel wheels for 17-inch Enkei five-spokes. In its time, the car was cutting-edge, but 15 years later the wheels were looking dated and he was considering selling his family heirloom because he was tired of the car’s battleship handling and high-seas ride.

Instead of selling the car, Molina decided to have Hotchkis Sport Suspension in Santa Fe Springs, California, install one of its B-Body Chevy Total Vehicle System (TVS) suspension kits, which includes high-performance tubular sway bars, upper and lower rear control arms and an adjustable Panhard bar. He also opted for optional sport coil springs and Hotchkis HPS1000 shocks, which are made exclusively for the company by Bilstein. Despite its age, the car only has about 60,000 miles on the odometer, so the bushings and steering components have never been replaced or rebuilt. Molina also ordered a new Hotchkis Steering Rebuild Kit, which includes new heat-treated forged ball joints, tie rod ends, center links, idler arm and pitman arm.

Once the parts were ordered, the car was delivered to the Hotchkis installation center, where head mechanic Corey Bedortha works on customer cars doing everything from corner balancing and alignment to full-blown chassis rebuilds. The beauty of a Hotchkis TVS kit is that all the parts easily bolt to stock mounting points, yet improved geometry and materials dramatically improve handling and road feel. This particular installation takes about a weekend at home in the garage with the cooler open, or a single long day when Bedortha (who has done hundreds of swaps) is turning the wrenches.

Front Suspension Installation

The original bushings, steering hardware and shocks were totally shot, as illustrated by the sway bar bushings shown here.

The original upper A-arms need a good clean up. Next Corey will start the rebuild process with components from the Hotchkis Premium Steering Rebuild Kit.

Next, a high-performance Hotchkis Sport Spring designed specifically for big block GM B-bodies was placed into the spring perch, and then compressed by the spindle.

After stripping off the old hardware, Bedortha washed all the parts he planned on re-using (front A-arms, spindles, etc) in a parts washer and re-painted them. Then everything was bolted back together with a fresh coat of grease, new bearings, new polyurethane bushings (supplied with the Hotchkis TVS kit) and new hardware. The front went together quickly, including all the new steering components, new Hotchkis Big Block Sport Springs, HPS shocks, and finally the adjustable tubular steel heavy-duty sway bar. Out back, the car was fitted with heavy-duty Hotchkis high-performance upper and lower control arms, which radically reduce body motion and improve traction and handling, as well as a large rear sway bar that cuts body roll. The adjustable Panhard bar helps dial-in the rear end on lowered vehicles, and new springs evened out the ride height, which had sagged and become nose-high on the old worn-out coils

Rear Suspension Installation

Next up, its time to remove and replace the old rear suspension. After supporting the rear end on a rear end jack and unloading the springs, the shocks and springs are removed and the lower control arms can come out.

The new Hotchkis tubular rear control arms come with pre-installed polyurethane bushings and a zirc fitting for greasing them. Hotchkis recommends pre-lubing the bushings inside and out on all contact surfaces prior to installation.

Bolt the lower rear arms in place one at a time to keep the rear end from shifting too far out of alignment.

The Hotchkis Panhard Bar is significantly stronger than the stock unit, and features greasable polyurethane bushings and full adjustability.

Since most mid ‘60s GM fullsize cars never came with a rear sway bar, installing a high-performance Hotchkis model makes a huge difference in handling but requires a little drilling. Here the bar is loosely bolted to the rear end and mocked up.

Next, the brackets are placed on the chassis bracing directly below the upper control arm mounts. Here they are marking the spot to drill.

After drilling to holes, the bracket is installed with grade-eight hardware, all of which is included in the TVS kit. Then the links can be installed. Notice even the links feature zirc fittings and poly bushings.

The installed rear bar looks like it belongs, and does a fantastic job keeping rear vehicle motion under control.

BIGGER BINDERS, BETTER SHOES

New 11-inch Hotchkis cross drilled and slotted disc brake rotors clamped by heavy-duty two-piston calipers and high-performance pads were bolted in place to help slow the 5,000 lb car down in a hurry.

Once the suspension situation was under control, it was time to remedy the wheel situation and address the car’s incredibly long stopping distance. Because mid-‘60s GM B-bodies have massive wheel wells, it was determined that an 18-inch wheel would fit without a problem, so Molina started studying every wheel catalog and street rod magazine he could get his hands on. Eventually he decided on Orange County based Intro Custom Wheels, a 20-year-old custom wheel manufacturer known for its stunning billet rollers, attention to detail and reputation with the street rod and custom crowd.

They may not look much different on the outside, but the Hotchkis HPS1000 shock is built by Bilstein to Hotchkis specifications in Germany, and utilizes cutting-edge valving technology that produces superior handling characteristics.

Intro Custom Wheels has a reputation for building some of the best big-inch billet wheels in the business, and the Intro Vista, shown here, is one of the wheels that started it all. One of the Orange County company’s best selling designs, the Vista features a highly polished finish inside and out, including the inner rim and tire mounting surface. The center spokes are highlighted with a new satin suede finish.

Even though he already measured the wheel wells prior to ordering the actual wheels, they double checked fitment of the 18x9.5-inch rear rollers prior to having the tires mounted. They will fit perfectly in the Chevy’s giant quarter panels.

The model of choice was the Intro Vista, which are totally polished to a stunning mirror shine inside and out (even the inside rim), with satin suede centers on each of the five spokes. The billet gurus at Intro knew exactly what backspacing and rim width would tuck perfectly into the lowered wagon’s fenderwells, so 8-inch wheels were ordered for the front and 9.5-inchers were picked for the rear. Once the wheels arrived, they were fitted with a set of new Hankook Ventus V4ES high performance radials. Measuring 245/55 in front, and 275/40 in the rear, the new tires offer a significantly larger footprint than the car’s old rubber, superior construction and a slick high-performance look.

Originally equipped with four-wheel drums and upgraded to stock GM type discs during the early ‘90s rebuild, the massive Caprice still had a hard time with panic stops and repeat braking. The crew decided to go with a new addition to the Hotchkis line, high-performance four-wheel discs clamped by heavy-duty two-piston calipers and high performance pads, all of which are available in the new Hotchkis Brake System for most GM muscle car applications. The kit bolted right on, and improved brake feel significantly.

THE FINISHED PRODUCT

Car owner Joe Molina taking delivery of his newly overhauled ride from John Hotchkis, whose products essentially saved the car from a place in the wanted ads. As you can see, Molina is a happy man.

After about two days worth of work, it was time to pick up “Popz Wagon” from the Hotchkis shop and take it for a test drive. The car featured noticeably less body roll, tighter steering, a more even ride, and overall drastically improved handling. The car also had a much improved look, sitting slightly higher than it did on chopped springs, but with an even stance that looks right sitting on the glistening Intro wheels.

“I’m thrilled with the car,” Molina says. “You have to understand something… I used to ride in this car when I was my son’s age. Forty years later I was ready to sell this piece of family history, because I hated how it drove but figured that’s the way old cars drive. The Hotchkis TVS kit, combined with the Intro wheels and new tires, totally revolutionized the driving experience. I’m so happy I look forward to teaching my son how to drive in his grandpa’s Chevy.”

The car now serves as a driver on sunny days, and hauls the family to car shows and the park on weekends, all activities it was retired from when the highway handling got borderline dangerous. Best of all, Molina had all the original components sand blasted, powder coated and stashed in a box, just in case he ever wants to return the heavy Chevy to stock form. Will the big wagon compete in SCCA road race events? Probably not, but it’s a much safer, significantly more fun car to drive, which is the whole point in this hobby of ours.

“After” the suspension install, body roll is controlled, ride height is more even and overall road feel is dramatically improved.