just wondering what everones thoughts are about which brand to buy(I decided I needed them when I revved the new motor and blew my windsheild to crap)

opinions wanted
thanx

Rich

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www.angelfire.com/ri/camarogarage

 

Spohn.

Duh

 

Kenny Brown. They tie in to the rear control arms, weld to the front, and have an additional Y-bar that welds to the center of the car.

 

thanx any more sugestions anyone?
cost is an issue

 

Cheap or best? Kenny Brown's sound like the best. Spohn's are among the cheaper, but not the worst or the cheapest.

 

I care to disagree. IMO Spohn's are the best AND cheapest!

 

That pretty much sums it up. I have yet to find a better set then Kenny Brown. The Spohn line of products has a look and feel of backyard made items but is likely the best deal on the market right now. He has some great ideas though and that's why he's popular. The question you need to ask yourself is do I just want to improve the car or am I going to keep it for the next 10 years and really use and appreciate the finer products on the market?

 

Backyard items? Are you kidding me? How much of his stuff have you seen? I have his LCAs and they are anything but backyard looking.
Spohn are some of the best. They also have that cross member that ties into the center of the car. Basically the Spohn and Kenny Brown ones are pretty much the same, though the Spohns are a heck of a lot cheaper.

 

Finally... some backup.

 

Many of his products are made of mild steel angle iron and tubing. The powder coating is placed right on top of the rusted iron. He does not take advantage of the engineering, materials, or welding technologies available. It's archaic. There's a huge difference between engineering a piece of equipment and building a bukly item that won't break because of it's shear mass. Spohn items are not engineered. It's built using best judgement and it's obvious when looking at the components. Highly over built and unecessarily bukly. That's fine because it works. But it does not take into account optimizing weight or areas of high stress. It's a crap shoot so you simply build the parts so bukly it simply can't break. There's no engineering in that. It's simply handy craftsmanship. If planes were built like that they'd never get off the ground.

I'm not knocking down Spohn. It's just good to understand and recognize what you're going to get. Spohn had the most desirable torque arm on the market for my needs and I'm using one. It's not likely to fail and I'm happy with it. Who else makes a torque arm with an integral tranny crossmember built specifically for a Tremec TKO? I was very pleased to find it through Spohn. But frankly, the build quality is less then desirable and Steve Spohn will tell you the same thing. He realizes his manufacturing short comings and he's trying to update his technologies.

So to sum it up I would recommend the Spohn subframes but the question was which subframes are the best. It's obvious he's not the best but he might be the best choice. Being the best choice is a desireble position and Spohn has done a good job to get there.

 

what are we talkin' about for cost and wait time
I live in bc remember (cost more, take longer to get here?)

long time no hear doug

 

I suggest you call the company (it's not clear which one you're talking about) and ask them that same question.

 

I guess I should mention that the Kenny Brown web site is http://www.kennybrown.com

Spohn, of course, is in the header to every page on this board.

Another option is BMR Fabrication at http://www.bmrfabrication.com

The other more generic options that may or may not fit well include Hotchkis, Competition Engineering, Moroso (Herb Adams), and several others that I can't think of at the moment.

 

thanx I did
I like the roll cages also
any thoughts on that subject

Rich

 

I've been looking at roll cages too and for a street car I really like the Kenny Brown (again ). It allows for very easy access in and out of the front seats. I'm not up on NHRA rules but I suspect that roll cage doesn't meet spec.... big ???? there. Depending on the purpose of your car it would be wise to research that issue before buying.

 

Not to worried about NHRA it's only got 320hp looking at 450horse tops when I'm done. If your over 12.00s you don't even need one but it's just for my reasurance that I won't kill myself in this thing.
I've seen the ground going by through the passengers window once allready (once is most definately enough)
I'm looking at putting harnesses in also so a cage would help there also.

what are everones thoughts about mounting harnesses on the roof at the back of the T-top(I don't have a headliner anyways)
would it be strong enough?

Rich

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www.angelfire.com/ri/camarogarage

 

When mounting a harness the first question you have to ask is what's the appropriate placement for the harness and worry about mounting location later. What I'm getting at is there are NHRA rules for that too as far as the height of the mounting location relative to you shoulder, etc. It would be advisable to follow those rules regardless of whether you need to pass tech or not because they are guidelines made for safety reasons. Mounting your shoulder straps too high or too low could result in a seat belt with too much slop or simply doesn't perform when the need arises. Once again, I have no clue what the NHRA regs say but I *think* from a file drawer waaaaaay back in my brain that the allowable vertical distance from your shoulders is +-2 inches.

It follows the same idea as using a driveline safety loop. Ya, you don't have to do it if you don't care about NHRA spec but it's still a good idea. Most NHRA rules are good ideas to follow.

[This message has been edited by QwkTrip (edited August 08, 2001).]

 

hey Rich I would have to agree with QwkTrip, plus I know someone who could do do it fairly cheap(thats doing a harness bar for yeah

[This message has been edited by F-BOY (edited August 08, 2001).]

 

I'm just not sure if I want a harness bar because I'd like to still be able to recline my seats(you know for when my girlfriend won't let me sleep inside )

 

82suped-up-coupe What shop are you planning on having these welded in? I haven't looked that hard, but I don't think there are that many shops in northern WA/ southern BC that can weld SFC's in. If you find one can you please tell me about it so that I can get some too.

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yellow 86 Camaro
LG4 700R4
Pioneer head unit
Kenwood speakers
Infinity Beta Digital 300 amp
2 Infinity Perfect 12s

Now KYB equipped!!

 

Well, if you run out of luck up there I've got a guy down here who has installed the Kenny Browns before and he's a fabulous welder.

There's another guy here who does some of the circle track cars and he has a chassis jig to set the car on before welding. It's probably pretty difficult to get his attention for a little job like that though.

 

the shop I work at has a great welder
(very nice guy)
I can also weld reasonably well, but he'll be puttin' in the subframe conectors and anything else structural

Matthew if you continue to have problems just get hold of me and I'll hook you up with the welder at my work

Rich


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www.angelfire.com/ri/camarogarage