tarvis

my buddy has an 83 camaro v6 and he doesnt want to front the cash to do the engine transplant, and hes become really attached to this car, so he doesnt want to sell it either...so he wants to do the next best thing, LIFT IT...ok well i know alot of you are probably against it, but were going to do it either way, so any help with info would be great...especially working wiht the macpherson strut...anyone know anybody who has done it to this style camaro before??...pics wanted, posts wanted, any info wanted...thanks

travis

ChevyMetal305

here are some pics...NOT MY CAMARO!!!

krisb410

iTrader: (9)

I've seen similar camaros at shows. I'm guessing they put the body on a S-10 frame.

I think it looks pretty cool

tarvis

hmm...well i would like to keep in on the camaro unibody construction...anyone know anybody who makes a kit for this kinda thing?...or maybe a way to extend the macpherson strut or maybe buy a longer one??...

midnightcamaro

dude if u jack up that car and its not on a s-10 frame u better never take it off roading. i dont think all the flex if gonna be good on the car with a unibody setup. yea and im not so sure about the strut i dont think u wanna start cuttin and makin the strut longer. u can round up an s-10 frame cheap anyways. then it would be no prob to lift. oh by the way why the hell are yall wanting to jack it up.

Apeiron

So... he doesn't have the money to do a simple engine swap, but he can afford to do major fabrication work on the suspension?

r0nin89

fireturd350

iTrader: (8)

Anyone else notice the front end on that camaro in the pics was fiberglass pin on?

I also agree with Apeiron. You can't simply buy some 2" or 3" body lift mounts like a truck and go to town. It would take some custom work and a new frame to do the job right.

I dunno... call me crazy but I can't see a V6 turning over tall mud tires very easily with the little 2.X gear it probably has. There is a reason for mudders to put huge gearing in there to offset the tire diameter height.

tarvis

well, im going to do all the fabrication, and obviously im going to have to ask sombody else...thanks for your critisism...im looking to make it work...not change my mind...also im in california, i dont have a very good option to change out the motor

krisb410

iTrader: (9)

Why did you even post

We all have individual tastes and ideas. So what if there not the same as yours, If you don't like his idea then just go about your business.

Maybe he just plans on showing it and off roading?

Man how bout giving the guy some help, If you can't help then move along.

Apeiron

I could care less what he does with the car. It has nothing to do with taste, and everything to do with common sense.

indirocz28

Ok, You are wanting to keep the car a v6 and just for some reason lift the car??? if im getting at this corectly????

Drop the lower A arms down, make mounts to lower all your stuff like 3"s and get taller springs and longer struts..

tarvis

awesome...well my friend is into offroading and wants to..thanks though...to drop the a arms, is it going to be just like the thing they have on the 2wd trucks??

305q_ta86

iTrader: (1)

Tarvis, a v6 RWD car isnt going to be a very good wheeler. You could probably trade the thing for a 4 cyl Bronco and you'd have a much better starting point for less cash. Something to think about. I mean, if he's attached to it, fine. But what about going to the junkyard and getting an engine there? You could probably do that for only a few hundred bucks.

fireturd350

iTrader: (8)

Mine wasn't really critism. It was just pointing out the fact you will need to swap out frames. It has been done many times in magazines so search google and you should have plenty of hits. Car bodies on truck frames have been done to death, so you won't really had to figure stuff out on your own at least.

I just wanted to point out the reason why mud trucks have 4.x+ gears usually is the fact they have 36+" tires, so that evens out the ratio. If you try turning a 36" tire with a 2.77 or similiar, heck even a 3.08 or 3.27 you're not going to get anywhere. It'll be for high speed useage not low end, which would be crazy on that size of tire. For mudding you don't want high speed you need the grunt to get moving off the muddy start line. Hope that makes sense.

Personally I wouldn't even try to attempt it on a unibody. I've seen mud trucks with big blocks generate enough body roll and torque to twist regular truck frames. You're just asking for a world of hurt if you try getting serious on a unibody if you ask me. Maybe if you were just doing it looks/car shows it would be ok. I still wouldn't want to rely on custom steering pieces on the front though on the road. I dunno something about angling would really make me scared. Course this is the fabrication board so you're open to do whatever you want. It's your friends car.

305q_ta86

iTrader: (1)

Fireturd, remember tarvis said his friend cant do a swap, so having too much power wont really be an issue here.

On that note, neither would too little gear be an issue, because with that v6 he wont be going anywhere anyway..

tarvis

i know, haha im not worried about gearing the biggest tire he would be running is a 30-31 inch mud tire....we wont be wheeling too hard, just doing it for fun and laughs

fireturd350

iTrader: (8)

Well if you have a 3.08 gear, a 700-r4, and a 31 inch tire you'll get 55 MPH at about 1300 RPMs in OD.

In first gear you would beable to drive about 20 mph at 2000 RPMs.

At 3000 RPMs in OD you would be running 128 mph.

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

I think most are actually done on full size blazer chassis… and if he can’t do an engine swap I don’t see how he’s going to swap a whole chassis and drivetrain.

fbodyguy86

the s10 standard cab shortbed has a 108 wheelbase the same as the camaro and the s10 blazer so just get a 4x4 s10 and drop the camaro body on the frame and hook up the trans and tranfer case and your off and mudding

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

f-bodies have a 101" wheelbase... the K1500 blazers have a 106" wheelbase, the K5's I think are shorter then that...

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

its easy to change the wheelbase on a leaf sprung chassis im sure, cut the brackets off and weld them up further. you need a half ton chassis like the k5blazer or k1500 to take the twisting of an off roader. i know a guy who did this very thing, i think he used a short wheelbase 80's k1500. he channeled the camaro so you dont see the frame so much. it sounds pretty easy. everything is stock k1500 so you can get a lift and stuff for the truck.

nelapse

iTrader: (17)

I think I bought that same car once in the "hotwheels" series when I was little

fitbmxseries1

that doesnt sound easy to me! i think this would cost way more to do then an engine swap........ and this would take way more time to do. and its not that practicle of a offroad vehicle

1983Fbody

I don't think so, just welding/cutting materials. move the spring mounts or shorten the frame, shorten the driveshaft using a piece of angle and C clamps to keep it straight then weld. I have to agree it's not practical, sounds like fun though.

JCwhitney sells extra high lift coil springs which raise 3-4" and believe me it's more like 6" if your V6 car has old saggy springs. The high lift coil springs should allow you to run at least 31" tires with fender trimming. You might have to elongate the upper strut mount holes to get the alignment close with those big springs. It sounds like you just wanna have some good fun with it so I wouldn't worry about the unibody holding up to offroad use, if you've seen a grand cherokee body it's the same style unibody junk and guys wheel those pretty good. Subframe connectors.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

anything you do is going to be harder than an engine swap. that only takes a weekend.as far as cost goes you get what you pay for. you may be able to jack it up but is it going to last? is it going to be safe? its not going to be practical anyway you look at it. stock is practical. you jack it up you loose the handling, you change the engine you're going to use more gas.

as far as the unibody goes i wheeled a cherokee for years and its "unibody" was a fully boxed frame that went from bumper to bumper. not the same as a firebird thats not meant to have the constant twisting forces from offroading.

indirocz28

This thread isnt dead yet?

fitbmxseries1

one thing that is for sure is that if your gunna build one you stick it on a frame of another vehicle, no way your gunna use it on the unibody of a firebird or camaro, my cars roof is cracking from just normal driving, can you imagine the flexing pics of a f-body car? the actual car would flex i wouldnt be suprised if you shattered all your windows out!

1983Fbody

I was supposed to install a hitch on a cherokee a couple of weeks ago and we decided not to do it because the "frame" was really thin sheet metal, thinner than an fbody in the rear "frame rail" area. They wanted to pull a heavy bass boat with it, I think the hitch could have pulled right through the frame unless some kind of huge washers were put in place to distribute the load a bit and we didn't feel like cutting a hole in the frame to install the washers then boxing it back up. While it might be stronger than an fbody because it is fully connected front to rear and more of a rectangular shape and better design with more supports, it's not any different in manufacture.
A seperate frame would actually flex more than a unibody, the floorboards and transmission tunnel act as one giant crossmember. Compare this to a ladder type frame and there is actually more potential to twist. The ladder frame isn't as likely to start cracking or buckle doors, etc. because the rubber body mounts allow some give. The best thing to do would be to install subframe connectors on the unibody then attach it to the 4x4 frame.

Beachmonkey6

Thats the main thing about unibodys... they dont twist like other frames do. I used to have a '90 cherokee with 32in tires and it was an excellent offroading vehicle. But im guessing your doing this more for show than for offroading?

StreetRoc85 350

Mere words cannot express my disapproval of this so i will instead use a simple, universally recognized symbol.....

yallwatchthis

I will agree with most about impracticality.....however this sounds like an extremely fun and goofy mod for someone with lots of time on their hands to do. Good luck on it and send lots of pics of your progress.....I, on the other hand, will stick to makin' mine hook hard and go straight real fast.

Xophertony

NOT MY CAMARO, saw it on craigslist!

it has been done. EVERYONE that i ahve seen has been on a truck/SUV frame. it will be next to impossable/totally impractiacl to lift the car by traditional means. you will go broke trying. it will just cost too much. pure and simple.