I was just curious...I have a spare 305 engine in my shed, I rebuilt it for my '85 Cutlass which I ended up selling instead, so there it sits (no heads, no cam, zero miles). I was thinking of picking up a basket case Third Generation F-body (5 speed of course) to drop it into. I figure as long as it's in sorry shape I could gut the interior and get rid of the A/C, pollution stuff, and anything else unnecessary. If I cut enough weight, put decent cam in it, run TBI, headers, and 3" pipes to the rear I should have a relatively fast car no? Then just add some stiffer bars, springs (lower it a bit as well), maybe a set of Bilsteins, and get a disc brake rearend (These were Pontiac only right?). Of course, I don't know what class this would put me in. I'm a decent driver and I've been to a few racing schools, but if I'm in too hot of a catagory my skills may come up more than a bit short I'd love to hear what people have to say about my idea for a setup, or what they are running. I mean, it makes sense to run an F-body car in autocross...after all, GM did design them to compete on the Trans-Am road race circuit.

Later,

Matthew

 

i plan on running mine on the sept 2nd so i cant really tell you yay or nay b/c i have no idea have they handle out there.

 

There are still plenty of 3gn F-Bodiies autocrossing. They still do very well in the stock class which is F-stock. ESP calss for the slightly modified F-bodies last year national champ was driving a 89 T/A, and wil probally repeat this year as the champ. C-prepared is the next class your car would run in. These are all out prepared cars, with many mods, gutted interiors. The 3rd gens do very will in this class also.
I have a few friends that autocross 3rd gen F-bodies. One with a 89 IROC whose wife has been national champion twice in this car. Another firend I have raced with has a 90 1LE that is very fast, and another with a 89 TTA that is always a top 5 finisher at the SCCA nationals. Another friend of mine has a 82 TA MSE running in C-prepared, runs a 305 with a manual the car is a animal. So much power. Another friend of mine driving a 84 Z-28 in ESP won the Pro Solo nationals about 4 years ago.


Good luck with your project.

 

If you proceed with your plan, be sure to check out the new group mailing list in my sig!

Clem

 

I autocross with the SCCA, in ESP. I'm in second place in pts, locally, that's on street tires. Before you start to make an mods, check to see what class u want to run in, u can do that by checking with the SCCA on their web site. Depending on where u live, there are other venues for autocrossing like NASA. Just do a search on the web and you will find all the info u need to decide how you want to build the car.

 

I have a question about autox. If I had a stock 350tpi thirdgen, and put a t56 out of a 4th gen, could I still run in stock class? I think this would be ok because t56s came stock in f bodies, but I'm not sure.

 

I don't think you could run in a stock class if you use a tranny from a 4th gen. You may get by with it at local events, but at divisional and national events, they would catch it in inpound.
Instead of running in stock class, why not Street Mod?
If you have more questions, contact your local SCCA club and look at a rule book, Or contact SCCA at http://www.scca.org

 

No,

You can only update/backdate within vehicles listed on a single classification line in the rule book. That means, only thirdgens. And I don't know if the update/backdate rule even applies to stock. Does it?

I believe a non-stock tranny would put you right into c-prepared. However, I am not at all familiar with the rules of Streed modified, so maybe that's where you'd be (?).

Clem

 

Who is saying you can't update? Read information folks it's easy as 1 2 3 steps. They are making 2 speeds electronic now. Just read you will find out the information for your year Vehicle make model, etc., on what you can do and can't do.

 

The rules of the stock class in solo II...and I didn't say you couldn't update/backdate...I asked. At any rate...the rules of the stock category will definitely circumvent a swap to a different body style's tranny.

OK, you don't have a clue what this thread is about do you? Nice try though. You were mostly succesfull at posting an ambiguous statement with no actual facts. Just a bunch of comments making you sound like a jerk.

Clem

 

Third gens still appear to be the best f-body choice for autocrossing. The Solo II national results have reinforced this in my mind. BTW - I just sold my L98/A4 IROC and replaced it with a 98 LS1/M6 Z28. I have concluded that the IROC was better than the new Z28. However, the different is minor enough that if I work on my driving skills, I will do well.

Now for the swapping of parts:

No, technically you cannot run stock with a drivetrain that was not available from the factory. For example, if you have an L98 car, you can only have an A4 tranny. There was no manual tranny for 3rd gen L98's.

Similarly, you can't throw 1LE brakes on a non-1LE car and stay in stock. HOWEVER, if you make every change to a non-1LE car to make the pieces match a 1LE, you can stay in stock.

There is very little (if anything) that you can do with update/backdate in stock classes that would make a difference on a f-body.

As far as the original post is concerned, I would suggest that you read the rules before you "build" this car. This car will be in ESP or CP for the most part (yeah, I know there are other choices). I would first attend an event or two as a spectator and chat with the ESP and CP guys and see where you want to run BEFORE you build the car. Just one silly mod can take you from ESP to CP. Locally, it may be important that you run in one or the other...

 

Oh and I was a jerk for telling them to Read, Of course I was on a diffrent subject. I was breaking the new news, from what I seen. Sorry fellows Im no Jerk. please keep peace.

 

I never stated you were a jerk. I simply stated that you made yourself sound like one.

Sorry for being a jerk myself. However, what I interpreted from your very hard-to-understand post, made it sound like you were on a totally different subject. Maybe you were just being totally confusing though. Either way, it didn't make sense.

I will keep all the peace I can get my hands on

Clem

 

Thanks Clem.That is cool.