If you guy's are looking for a great company to deal with and have great products for the 82 up Camaro-Firebird I'd definatly suggest www.paracing.com I just got a K-member and controll arms/coil over kit for my 3.8L Turbo Camaro. Took a week and every thing looks KILLER!!!! Give them a CALL!! ~Scott

long story but I hate mine

love mine!

A-arms were nice. Was really disappointed in the k-member. Powder coating was coming off. And several of the welds were rolled. Two had pinholes after I got it blasted. Had 75% of it rewelded. Now its getting recoated.

They sublet the Powder-coating. I was actually at their shop to drop off my K-member so they could dupicate my engine mounts (position) since my engine sit's further back than a TTA.
I'm sure they would have done somthing for you if you'd have given them a call.
My powdercoat looks great. I actually wanted it raw so I could paint it. But the way it turned out I was happy. Lol.
~Scott

Took the k-member to get coated. Coater looked at the a-arms and said they didn't have enough cure time.

Did you ever try and actually talk to Jason Smith the owner of PA racing?

He sends out his powder coating... it'd be a warranty issue with the coater and I'm sure he would have taken care of it for you.

Hope that helps..
~Scott

are you a spokesperson for PA?
i have a pa unit and have no issues with it.
the coating is fine on the k member, but it was already peeling on the a arms right out of the box.
most of the flat metal used for a spring perch is just rusty metal now. thats fine, they are getting cut off monday since ive got coilovers now.
nother pound of steel to save weight.

I'm not a spokesperson... I just thought I'd share a good experience from a vendor.
Seems like when people get treated right they don't say anything but if somthing bad happens the first thing they think of is coming on a board and bashing instead of working it out with the vendor first.

I thought I'd change things up a bit and and a nice comment for once

I went with the coil overs also. It was not that much more so I just bit the bullet and did it at the same time. Next year I'll do the steering rack!
~Scott
Here's the way the engine bay looked before. (I'm still waiting for the engine to come back from Webber Racing in OH.)

pretty cool...

i liked my pa, it rusted after a few years but i haven't had anything powdercoated that hasn't eventually. powdercoating to me is over rated but to each their own.

keep up the good work on the car, looks nice.

I just had the down pipe/turbo exhaust housing/5"adaptor. I'll finish the header system when I re-fab the pass. side with all the added room the K-member provided.
Since the p-coat on my Kmember looked so nice I just used it like it came.
I would have epoxy primed it and base/clear since I'm a body shop.
I agree with most powdercoating not being that great.
My car won't see any kind of bad weather anyway so it's not that much of a worry.
Thanks!
~Scot

I have the PA Racing K-member, their tubular A-arm kit, and coil over kit (with Koni struts) installed. I haven't tried them out yet, because the car is still being assembled. I'm not crazy about the powder coating quality, as there are a few spots where the coat chipped off. I'm not an engineer, but there is something that really had me concerned, with the coil over kit design. It looks like all of the front end weight and forces will be placed where the top of the strut mounts to the caster/camber plates, which seems crazy. I called Jason at PA Racing and he said he's heard no complaints. I noticed Sphon's coil over kits comes with a reinforcement plate (that samwiches between the body structure and caster/camber plate. I ordered those.

My major issue however is that after i mounted the stock wheel/tire combination the tires now extend a good 1.5" to 2" inches outside of the fender. It seems the kit (kmember/ A arms/ coil over) have contributed to changing the mounting location of the wheel mating surface. I don't recall seeing anything that indicated aftermarket wheels would need to be used, to correct the issue. The engine is still out of the car, but i don't remember the tires sticking that far outside of the fenders when i first removed the engine. I pulled the engine, painted the engine compartment, then installed the Kmember and other parts mentioned. I wanted to see if anyone else had experienced something similar with changing the chassis and suspension over, such as this.

something is terribly wrong. i would get with jason at PA on this.

Yikes. I actually bought this kit a good 2+ years ago. Has anything changed since then?
Which specific area is terribly wrong? Sounds like the powder coating process is/was inferior. I've had other suspension/chassis parts that haven't had an issue.
Back to the terribly wrong... Are you reffering to the top of the strut (where it mounts to the camber/caster plate) could be a problem, or are you referring to the outside of the tire now being exposed outside of the fender? OR all of it?

if the wheel sticks out, youve got a bad part, but being 2 years, im not sure whats going to be the verdict.
id get with him on it anyway.
thats what i was referring to.

Signing on to the thread.

i ran the pa unit since 03 with the coilover setup. later switched struts to air struts but my wheels never did that. to completely move out that far something must be wrong at the mounting points or you've changed something. make sure it's the right parts too though, i've received parts for other cars that looked similar and had to send back.

i personally don't recommend the coilovers after having so many years on the street with them. fine for adjustment, show/race but comfort on the street sucks. the airstruts helped but i eventually dumped it all and went back to standard setup with air bags in place of springs. the way the weight is pushed out the car just feels wrong.

I'd be interested in looking at the re-enfocement plates for the upper strut area.

I've not gotten to drive my car since the engine is still in Ohio.

Like to see how the tires on the car that are flairing out look like...
Can you post a picture???????
Thanks for the street driving input Kandie..... Did you install the sway bar once you had the conversion done?
~Scott

my car feels and drives the same, but ive had skinnys and no sway bar on the car for 7-8 years now.
finally went with a coilover setup, and i must say, it added quite a bit of engine noise to the inside of the car. everything is solid/tubular and on heims, and its driven fairly quiet inside until i did the coilover/rack swap.
its not intolerable for what it is, but i wouldnt drive my car on a long trip.

Scott, Thanks for the Props! I try to do whats right. Can't say we get it right 100% of the time but I do attempt it. As for the wheels being in the wrong spot. All of our jigs are 100% to factory specs. IF you have a issue it has to be with the brake kit or wheel off set. E-mail me and I can see whats up from there. As for powder coating I do out source it @ Creative Finishing (Dave)812-591-8111. Most of the time they do a great job but if you let us know there is a problem i'm sure it will get taken care of. Any other info needed just e-mail me @ sales@paracing.com or Jason@paracing.com

1987camaroz28, i can't tell in the picture but are those pontiac rims on your camaro?

if so offset is different front to back. not sure if camaro ever had the diff offsets

I just order a steering shaft form Jason, it looks great, thanks Jason

Thanks for your reply. I'm using originally equiped wheels, they are the 16" wheels where the front and rears are not interchangeable. I'll take some more pics, but the only other change i made up front, is adding a Wilwood brake kit. I don't see how the brake kit could have any effect on the inward/outward wheel position, since the spindle mounts directly to the A-arm. It is essentially where the A-Arm mounts to the k-member, and the and the spindle mounts to the A-arm that would factor the inward/outward positioning of the wheel location. Strange stuff. I'll add some pics.
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Does it replace the OEM steering arm assembly? If so, send some pics.

Brake kits can and some do change the wheel placement. I know first hand Aerospace brake kits will make your front wheel stick out 5/8-3/4 each wheel. I would check with them on your brake kit. Just e-mail with any questions as I do not get on this forum every day.

his original post said 1.5-2" sticking out. thats more than any brake kit will change.
i agree that an aerospace hub will put you wheel out a bit. i didnt measure, but its visually noticable on wheels, depending on the backspacing of that particular rim.

Your welcome Jason...

As for the steering rack/joints... I really do drive my car on the street alot. I'd prefer to get outer tie rod ends that are quiet and long lasting.
What would you suggest when I purchase the rack kit next year?

I'm getting the short block back Friday. with that back I can check ride height and see how those springs are going to work out Jason.

Thanks again,
Scott~

I have been a distributor for PA Racing for about 3 years now and aside from a shipping mix up we never have problems with fitment or the quality of Jason's / PA Racing products and services..

All I can say is Wow......

Got the engine all back together and put it down in the new K-Member.

It's "EXACTLY" where it was last year with the stock K-member and the

mounts I'd put in.

I think I might put a additional support on the drivers side mount to K-member

from the torque I'll be putting out but that's it. I'll get it all alligned this week

and next year put the Rack in!!!

Thanks again,
Scott~

BTW: the ride has not changed and the coil over springs seem just right.

As it turns out guys, it's the dang Wilwood brake kit. The way the rotor/hat assembly is designed, is such that the mating surface for the wheel is no longer directly against the rotor- as it is in stock form. There is a "hat" that extends beyond rotor which is the mating surface of the wheel now. If I knew this, I would have never used this brake kit. I will send pics, to help with the explanation. Now I have to order custom wheels that have different offset. what a pain, and an extra expense. Oh the other thing is that Willwood doesn't offer flex lines with the kit, you have to specify if you have 3/8 or 7/16" fittings. Strange because everyone else out there that sells braided flex lines never asked me what size fittings I have.

props for PA. I had one issue it was cleared up immediately. I just got the wrong a-arm sent. I was able to shim it properly and use for a muscle car weekend. Jason gladly took it back afterwards with no questions. Fit and finish were very good.