Metalhead666

I am in desperate need of help. I am 23 years old I have had A 1984 Camaro since I was 13. I have big plans for this car and im slowly pulling funds together for it. I dont want to build A drag car because I live in the hills. I want A perfectly handling race car. What I need to know is what kind of parts do I need to get to make that A possibility? Im sure I have to convert it to 4-link but what else?

t/aws61985

iTrader: (2)

I would First off change Your sway bar Bushings/Endlinks both front and rear to Polyurethane.
Then a nice set of UMI rear lower control arms, Upper and lower panhard bars. That will really tighten the rear up.
Next new shocks are a must. Your best bet to ball on a budget are a set of KYB AGX adjustable shocks.
For the front, a cheap and easy upgrade is a wounder bar.
Now compared to the rear the front end is alot more expensive to upgrade. Cheapest is to just replace all your bushings with Poly. But if you want to be fancy get some UMI Front control arms. STAY AWAY FROM SPOHN. They are just a pain in the **** IMO. If your gonna do all that might as well get some new Camber/caster plates from founders,Umi, and maybe a Strut tower brace. I Like BMR if you have a TPI car.

At this point you are at about $1000-$1500. maybe less. Frankly man I Spend so much on my car I can really give a Dam lol. I dont even count anymore.

A BIG thing you must do is get Spohns steering rebuild kit (one of the few products from them I like) and a new steering box from hawks. Get a 2.25 or 2.5 turns to lock box. A ASTRO shaft mod will also help by getting rid of that rag joint. THIS IS HUGE. If you have a loose old worn out box, the car feels like crap. Trust me. I have all thats been said and more. Car is tight as heck but my worn box lets the car sway and move a bit. Very very veryx1000 frustrating

If you want to go all out, And to see the most Improvement in feel of the car, get some sub-frame connectors, A Tubular torque arm/trans mount combo, and a Tubular k member. I save these for last because they are the hardest to change in a garage without a lift and proper tools. Heck mine are still wrapped in the basement. Thanks uncle sam.

Biledriver

Good advice. Check the local junk yards for sway bars from a car with a handling package, and forget about a 4 link the rear torque arm suspension is hard to beat when upgraded. Especially with adjustable parts.

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

Do you seriously have a Nelson Racing Engine 454?

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

No need to convert to 4-link.

IMO the VERY FIRST modification that should be done to the chassis, is subframe connectors. Note that this is a "mod", as opposed to a "repair": bushings, sway bar links, shocks, etc. are repairs. All of that stuff, the originals are WORE OUT, and changing it to NOT wore out is maintenance, not modification.

I would add to the above lists, that you need springs, and tires. Moog 5662 front and CC635 (variable rate) or 5665 (constant rate) in the rear.

For tires, get a set of 17" wheels and some good quality performance tires. Your car came with AT BEST 15 x 7 wheels with 215/65 tires; shopping cart wheels and pizza cutters by modern standards. There are no good tires available in such a tiny size with high enough load ratings for these cars anymore. I'd suggest a set of stock late-model Vette or similar wheels, with 1ľ - 2" adapter-type spacers. Probably 1ľ" on the front and 2" on the back will turn out to be the best.

What exactly is this Camaro? 6-cyl? Z28? HO? auto or stick? In what ways has it already been altered?

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

More about the 4 link
It starts to get interesting around post #28


https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/susp...nc-1982-a.html

Metalhead666

i

Metalhead666

Qwktrip I have 10k saved for it, only 2k more to go

Metalhead666

It was A 6 cyl, Stick but basically ive just started tearing it down

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

If you really do want your car to handle, then you want to pay attention to weight and weight distribution. Putting a big block in there is stepping backwards away from that goal. Have you considered a naturally aspirated LS3 stroker? You can still get the 625 Hp while being able to close the hood.

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

And besides that, street tires only hold so much before going up in smoke. I have about 580 Hp and couldn't hold traction under 80 mph and had to move up to MT drag radials. If I was building a handling machine then I would want less torque and more rpm's for better results overall.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

OK so all of this about "454" and "T-56" and all of that is just, ... wet dreams?

If you want REAL answers that will give you REAL help for the REAL situation you are in, a great place to start is, what you REALLY have. Goals and plans and all that are fine, as far as they go; but tell us the truth about REALITY to begin with.

How much of this 6-cyl car is still there? engine, trans, rear end, springs, cooling system, ... ???

Be aware that a 6-cyl T-5 won't work with a V8 unless a hack job is applied; and since the V8 T-5 is already too weeeeeeek for a V8, a 6-cyl one behind a V8 is pretty much an INSTANT recipe for disaster.

What's your budget for THE ENTIRE CAR??? (engine transmission suspension wheel tires brakes interior paint whatever whatever) starting out with what you've got with no upgrade parts already on hand, and turning into anything remotely competitive, will require several $k. Just read those magazine articles about "we got 5000 HP out of a 305" and look at how much they say about "our friends at xxxx happened to have a yyyyy laying around" and "we called in a favor" and "zzzzzz donated a" and stuff like that, then put a price tag on all those freebies, you'll see how they can add up REAL QUICK. Be realistic: pie in the sky is great, but when the bank account meets the bills, "lofty aspirations" won't carry you very far.

t/aws61985

iTrader: (2)

I forgot about tires and springs. I have BFG Sport Comp 2s. They are very good. I run moog springs up front and oem in rear. They seem a bit high to me, but In Chicago with our potholes and my airdam its a must.

Metalhead666

I have already bought the Transmission from summit. I do not have A budget. I know this can potentially be A 50k or more build. I dont have A time frame on it either. I know I have alot of fab work to do so thats not A problem either.

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

No, it is only as expensive as you choose.

Little piece of advice -- There is a difference between being able to spend money on things and being able to afford things. The person that puts all their effort into saving up for something ends up spending money. The person that saves 20-30% of their income and sets aside some money for a car hobby can afford things. This is the same reason why a neighborhood of nice homes has millionaires and people that live pay check to pay check. Just make sure you can afford things and you'll do okay.

Beater79TA

My recommendations:
Step 1: Subframe connectors if the car doesn't already have them.

Step 2: Do maintenance on the wear items. As mentioned above, make sure all the bushings, end links, shocks, springs, and steering components are working properly. This is an opportunity to do basic upgrades at the same time like a) quick ratio steering box from an IROC or 1LE car (local parts stores will have these as remans with lifetime warranty) b) Astro steering shaft to remove the rag joints c) upgraded shocks (Bilstein or Koni are both good choices to start with) and d) springs. I prefer Ground Control Weight Jacks for these but even factory replacements for the originals would help after 30 years on the car for the originals. Eibach and other lowering springs are not the ones you want for handling as the rates aren't right for twisty high speed fun.

Step 3: Driver mod. Join your local SCCA and learn the limits of the car. Find a local HPDE group and do some beginner road racing to learn the limits of the car. Do this while working on Steps 1 and 2. The driver mod is the most important thing you can do. It doesn't matter how good a driver you think you are, you can be better and these groups give you a controlled environment with safety equipment to do it instead of the street.

Step 4: Wheels and tires. If you seriously want 500+rwhp in the car and to have it stick on twisty roads and tracks, plan on spending a lot of money on this category. We've been running these types of events for a few years and I strongly recommend you plan on no smaller than a 17x9 wheel with a 275/40/17 tire. Better is a 18x10.5 or 18x11 wheel with a 315/30/18 tire (these will require modification of the sheetmetal). That setup will use up that $10k you mentioned very quickly. If you are serious about racing it, spend the money on good wheels like Forgeline. You do not want to lose a wheel at high speed.

Step 5: Using what you have learned from driving the car on closed courses where you can test the limits (Step 3), start upgrading everything else. Brakes will likely be next. If it won't stop, accelerating quickly and cornering hard with fancy suspension bits won't help you.

Final step: Engine and transmission. Unless you break them getting to this point, run them until you really know the car and have brakes and suspension upgrades done. Then I strongly recommend going with a LS swap and a T56 Magnum. If you purchased a Tremec T56 Magnum from Summit that is not set for a FBody tailhousing, you will want the Holley transmission crossmember to be able to mount the torque arm. You also need to check shifter position and see how much offset you need to get it to line up where you want / need it in the console.

If you want to see what we've done to our 88 GTA to flog it through several years of Pro-Touring autocross and road course events, it's all chronicled on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DragonladyGta/

SbFormula

https://www.amazon.ca/Tune-Modify-Yo.../dp/076030436X

Covers:

High Performance Street Driving
Drag Racing
Autocrossing
Road Racing

Will give you a good general idea of what needs to be done depending on what you want to accomplish. It covers Camaro but it is the same for firebird.

Good luck

Zach/90\irocZ

iTrader: (6)

Handling don't need much and 4 link not necessary

1-chassie stiffening SFC tower brace
2-shocks struts best you can buy
3- spring setup I like the ground control weight jack setup or can go coilovers up to you
4- wheel tire selection preferably 9.5 and wider square setup
5- sways bar to tune depending on springs rates but can go to junk yard for that same as aftermarket just cheaper
6- chamber plates

As far as the whole big block and you already have trans
10k to spend I would honestly just do a lsx build to be honest better platform and can get a pretty good setup actually a killer setup and lighter that 454 and for 10k you can do alot with that and complete the car and drive it if you choose to research look and out time into it but that's me I like most bang for buck with quality stuff

Think you should do. Ore research cause you can have a bad *** ride for alot less and wasting all that on just a engine BBC is kinda a waste but what ever makes you happy