Control arm bracket width: 2 5/8” on both
Distance from inside edges of the control arm brackets: C- 34 9/16” I- 35 9/16” a difference of 1”
Distance from wheel mounting surfaces (Chevette measured without drums): C- 54” I- 55 7/8” Assuming a drum thickness of 1/8 – 3/16” this would be a difference of 1 1/2” to 1 5/8”
Well, so much for that. There’s only one solution to this that I can see, cut a Chevette in half and widen it 1” so the axle will fit. Seriously this might not be all bad, but not as easy as rounding up some unobtainium and bolting it in.
The Impulse torque tube is aluminum and noticeably beefier than the Chevette piece. I haven’t seen an Opel anything up close so no idea how it compares. The tube bolt pattern is different where it bolts to the axle as compared to the Chevette. The tube and shaft in it are shorter than the Chevette, but the pinion appears to protrude more on the Impulse axle. The floor pan mount is a cross member that bolts in at the front rear control arm mounts on the Impulse. The tube bushing looks like an enlarged version of the Chevette bushing. The rubber bushing for the shaft is a different design. It bolts into the metal shell instead of being folded into the tin like the Chevette. It’s more like a thin half an inner tube thing compared to a fluffy rubber pillow like the Chevette. It’s a weird design and is the main failure point, followed by the tube mount bushing, whereas the Chevette failure point is the tube mount bushing. Both Impulses I have seen the shaft bushing has failed completely and utterly, not a huge sample size I know. I did some looking in the Isuzu forums some years ago and at the time it seemed to be that if this part had failed you were boned. I don’t know if they have figured anything out in the interim.
I don’t have any way to post pics but I can email you some if you would like.
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