1969 Chevrolet El Camino - The Agile A-Body Part II

Off The Drawing Board
Traditionally, performing this conversion on an A-body has meant replacing the factory pieces with actual GM spindles from a '70-76 B-body. We've covered the plusses, but there is a significant minus, as explained by John Hotchkis: "The drawback to the B-body spindle (when used on an A-body) is that steering arm is in the wrong place, so it causes bumpsteer. As it goes up and down in its travel, the wheels go toe-out and toe-in, making the car veer around. In road race cars and stock cars and so on, they work so hard making sure it doesn't have bumpsteer. Bumpsteer turns the car." We were lucky enough to get a look at the prototype of Hotchkis' solution to this problem, its new Sport Spindle. In short, these original pieces have the B-body spindle geometry but retain the A-body steering geometry-the "best of both worlds," according to Ogawa. "By changing that steering arm, designing one just for these cars," Hotchkis continues, "We can make it so that it doesn't have bumpsteer. It goes up and down in its travel and the wheels stay straight." These new castings will also accommodate aftermarket big brake kits; Hotchkis is working on brackets for various setups. The dwindling supply of original B-body spindles is partly behind the development of this new piece, but in our book, Hotchkis had a more relevant reason: "People are getting more sophisticated about their suspension," he tells us. "They notice when things aren't right, so the timing is perfect for this piece." We'll agree, and you'll hear about it here when the final versions are available.