F41- 1969 Nova SS

[Nicola]

What exactly did RPO F41 comprise of for a 1969 Nova SS ? When did a rear swaybar appear in a Nova ?
Thanks

[MikeA]

In the I have information for my 1972 Nova SS the F41 option comprised: "Rear stabilizer; special front stabilizer plus special front and rear shock absorbers".I know the info is for a '72 but I would guess the '69 F41 option was similar.

Starting in 1964 the F40 option was described as a "Special heavy duty front & rear suspension". I'm not sure that meant rear swaybar or not?

Mike

[Edited by MikeA (04-13-2002 at 09:51 PM).]

[JoeC]

As far as I can tell, Chevy didn't install F41 on many cars in 1969. The 1970 Yenko Deuce Nova used a rear sway bar. I don't think it was available on a '69 Nova or '69 Camaro. The RPO F41 with rear bar was available on '69 Chevelle but was only on a small number of cars. It was more common on the '69 442 Olds. In 1970 F41 had more widespread use by all GM lines. F40 didn't use the rear bar.

[MikeA]

Based on information on Nova Resource.com the following indicates how many Novas were equipped with the F41 option:

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>1968: 176
<LI>1969: 2,608
<LI>1970: Data Missing
<LI>1971: 1,370
<LI>1972: 3,456
<LI>1973: 4,770
<LI>1974: 891[/list]I'm not sure of the accuracy of this information

Mike




[Edited by MikeA (04-15-2002 at 07:31 AM).]

[JoeC]

I am not sure either but those numbers look funny. Normally F41 used a rear sway bar and I don't ever remember seeing a rear bar on a 68-69 Nova. It would have fit the 69 Camaro if it fit a 69 Nova and there was no production 69 Camaro rear sway bar.

[Nova Research Project]

Mike,

I had noticed that an ordersheet for the 1970 nova listed the "Suspension, Special Front and Rear" as option F40, yet the Assembly Manual list it as F41. Is that normal or a misprint? Would that account for the missing 1970 info?

Greg

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

The F40 package is springs, the F41 package is bars and shocks. I don't know of any case where both options were installed on the same car, but technically I guess it's possible.

The F41 package is in the assy manual because it required a distinct assy of parts, (special brackets in the floor boards, special lower spring mounts, 2 vertical bars, 1 horizontal bar, 3 sets of bushings, a pair of bushing brackets, and a bunch of bolts). The F40 package might not be in the assy manual because it's only a part number change to the springs in an existing assy, and should be footnoted in the normal 'springs' pages.

I believe the F41 package may have been installed in '68 and up Novas, even though it didn't show up in the Camaro until '70. A '69 Nova rear swaybar setup would not be applicable in a '69 Camaro because of the floorboard bracket design. The brackets that get welded into the floorboard would be in the exact location where the '69 Camaro's rear shock towers would come through the trunk floor. Dimensionally, (is that a word?), the Nova rear sway bar would have fit the &lt;='69 Camaro due to the same width of the rear.

Obviously, in '70 the Camaro's rear got 1-2" wider, and therefore received a different swaybar design. The horizontal bar is too wide for the Nova's, (I have an NOS one, bummer). The vertical bars will fit, but they have a different 'clamp' design at the bottom and are ~~1" too short. These bars will cause the horizontal sway bar to rub the differential cover, but probably only if air shocks are installed.

Sorry for the long winded reply!!
[img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[L78_Nova]

I have been fortunate over the years to piece together two factory rear Nova bars with floor/frame mounting brackets. One is on my 68 Acadian small block car and one is going into my 70 L78 car (I know technically it was built too early, but I'm OK with that).
Not sure of what upright configurations I have (suspect the later ones as the later bars were more common).


The spindly little rear bar does make a difference but you would need good tires to really make them work hard.

[nova67]

My 70 Nova SS 350 Auto car had F41 with rear sway bar. I bought the car 1 year old.