I called up PA Performance today to get a tubular front cross-member. Before I was out of there they talked me in to the entire front end adjustable coil over suspension kit. Oh... and powder coated red. hehe. Busted the budget once again. Plus I just dropped a bunch of weight off the front end too. Get that big block nose down to small block weight and I'll be burning some corners seriously fast.

 

Sweet. I just contacted them yesterday about the same thing. Good prices. Are you getting everything including adj. A-arms and R&P steering? That's what I'd like to do, but with an LS1, not a big block.

 

For now I got the crossmember and coil overs. Next year I'll get the control arms. I don't think I'll ever bother changing the steering box. If you call them up again tell them your friend Jon just got a deal on the coil overs at $215 and you want the same thing. Over all he knocked $110 off the package because I was stalling and I simply must have called at a good time or something.

 

He did say something about a package deal. Here is a copy of the E-mail I got:


David, these parts are plenty safe enough for every day street use,most of
our customers use them just for that. Prices are as follows K-member $499,
A-Arms are $349 bushing and $479 rod end (fully adjustable),rack kit(manual)
$625 (includes,rack,bump steer kit,steering shaft,billet rack clamp),coil
Over kit is $289. Let me know if you order i can take off about $100 for a
kit deal. Thanks Jason


Sounds pretty freakin' cool to me. With this stuff & a fiberglass hood you shave like 200 lbs off the front end!

 

Info in the e-mail sounds about right.

Yep, he did remove 200 pounds from the front end with those mods. The question is do you want to spend that much money for 200 pounds or just get some weight off and more motor? Personally, I'd just drop some weight off and call it good.

 

Yeah, but I'm going for the whole "They said it couldn't be done" type of thing.

I know I'm going to catch heck for this, but my goals for the car are:

200mph top speed

1+ G on skidpad

10 sec ET's

Under $15k

Try not to laugh too hard. I think it's all possible except for maybe the 10 sec ET's. I might have to settle for mid 11's.

 

Well, I wouldn't count on making all those goals. First, the budget will have to double. Plus my feeling is you'll have to either drop the 1-G cornering goal or the 10 second drag goal. They aren't compatible. The 60-foot time necessary for a 10 second run is too brutal for a stiff suspension like that. In other words, I would plan on focusing on your biggest desire.

Dreaming about mods and such are great (and fun )but the very moment you plunk down cash is when you MUST know and understand reality. Think hard and deep before you spend your money. If you can't make your goals do you still want to do it? What aspect is most important? Be prepared to comprimise.

 

Just as an example, I'm running a 600 Hp supercharged big block, a fully adjustable competition suspension (yes, competition), overdrive stick shift, and mods out the ying-yang. I couldn't meet your set of goals.

Before this car I had a custom built supercharged LT-1 '94 Vette with a 6-speed. It had $15K in mods and it couldn't meet your goals either.

[This message has been edited by QwkTrip (edited August 16, 2001).]

 

Well, the 200 MPH top speed is achievable, I have a CHP magazine with an guy who has a 345hp Z28.. and it ran 227 MPH!! The trick, is, the gears and tranny. You could do that for *AROUND* $15k. The car had a T/A - GTA Aero wing, on it, was lowered and had a modified front end, but was pretty much stockbodied, of course, a roll cage would be VERY needed.

1G on the skidpad could easily be done for $15k, get the right tire/wheel combo for about $3-4k, and then just spend the rest on suspension stuff. Not to hard to do in theory.

10 second 1/4 times... thats alot harder to do. It takes alot of suspenion/chassis mods, and quite a large amount of HP to pull down 10s.

I think you have 2 goals that are alot more easily achievable. And can be done for around your price range.

Me personally, I am shooting for a high top speed, without completely losing my low end, and I also want a nice handling car. A few more big mods on the suspension and Ill be pretty happy. As far as top speeds, well, Im going to need about 250 MORE hp, Im just going to shoot for about 170-180 MPH top speeds.

-Roshambo

------------------
-Joe
1988 Pontiac Trans Am WS6 - 305 TPI, 700R4, 3.23 Posi, Digital Dash, Leather Seats, Maui Blue with Silver GFX, T-tops, Tinted Glass, Gutted MAF, TB Coolant Bypass, K&N Cone Filter, Hi Flo Cat, 3" Cat-Back, MSD Super Coil, L98 Aluminum Heads, Ported and Polished Plenum, Siamesed Intake, Edelbrock 3 point Strut Tower Brace.

 

Well, here's the blueprint for my plan:

Car $3600 -check

36/24 sway bars, poly bushings everywhere $230 -check

Other susp. (LCA's Panhard etc.) $1000

above mentioned A-arms, K-member, etc $2000

Used set of 17" or 18" wheels $800

Z rated tires $800

Ahhhh, now the secret ingredients:

'98 Z28 rollover w/LS1 & 6sp $4500

custom twin turbo setup
(designed & mostly built by me) $3000

That puts me a little over 15k, but pretty close. Do you really think it couldn't be done? What if I did everything but dropped the 1/4 mile goal to 11's? I'm not just day dreaming, I've already set this plan into action and I'm not backing out. Is there something I'm just not seeing?

 

By the way, with the above mentioned mods, what do you think is possible for a 1/4 mile time?

 

Ummm, I am sure you are aware of this but the coil over for 3rdgens is NOT reccomended for corner carvers... it puts WAYYYY too much stress on the strut tower and causes failure all too soon. Do a search on the Spohn board about this. Coil overs on 3rdgens are for one reason, drag cars. Lose weight on the front, but not for corner carvers...

 

Rosh, the 345 Hp level ran about 175 to 180 mph without mirrors and such and I might add that is highly unusual. The higher speed was on a different engine combo. The artical was misleading. It takes BIG horsepower to run 200+ mph.

Wow... cool setup, man! I didn't realize you were going to turbo the LS1. However, you are limited to a boost level that will generate around 450 Hp because of the cast pistons. That will put you well in to the 12s. I will admit it is possible you could do this if you built a forged piston motor with some head work and increased boost.

I think you low balled the suspension by a bit. Did you get subframe connectors and a roll cage in there? You'll need a roll cage to pass tech and run on the track.

You're going to have to custom fab components for the LS1 swap. The more expensive components will be the headers and exhaust. Expect to pay out around $1500 for the full exhaust system.

How about brakes? You'll need killer brakes to stop a car like that. What do those cost... $1200?

The major component I'm not seeing is the rearend, driveline, and clutch system. The stock rearend doesn't have a prayer of lasting 2 seconds under that motor. The driveline will vibrate the heck out of the car if you don't replace it with a better one, and you'll need a scatter shield and very nasty clutch. You're going to blow about $3500 on that.

... now multiply your total by 25% because that's ALWAYS what happens.

All I know is I've got a ton more money in my car then $15K and I can't even tell you where it went. I've done all the work myself too.

 

Thanks for pointing that stuff out guys. I'm glad I'm getting real answers and not a bunch of crap.

Yes I do have subframe connectors, I just forgot about them. I also forgot about a roll cage, DOH! That I don't have.

Unless there's a problem I planned on using the rearend & driveline from the wrecked Z28.

If I can find a way to use the brakes I'll do that too.

Do you think there'd be that much of a problem with the headers & exhaust even with the tubular K-member?

A scatter sheild and upgraded clutch I didn't really count on.

So maybe I should up my budget to 20k?
Man, wait til the wife hears this. I think I might need that scatter-sheild sooner than I thought! (or some kind of sheild anyway)

and about the coilover thing, I had no idea.
Are you sure it doesn't just depend on how it's setup? I told the guy at PA I wanted to road race and he didn't see a problem.

 

Okay, Okay.... I'll admit... until right now I thought you were some kid with wild aspirations and I was tyring to thunk 'the kid' over the head and beat some sense into 'the kid'. BUT, you're not a kid so let's talk serious for a bit. Email me at littleborgy@yahoo.com . I can share with you what I've done and you can evaluate for yourself whether you want/need it. Frankly, we're going to have similar power levels except I'm putting out way more torque. Our mods should be rather similar. Plus my experience with my 11 second Vette should be helpful. Also, there are a handful of guys on the board with serious setups and they REALLY know they're stuff. The tough job is rooting them out of the ground and making them talk.

 

Damn Rez, you know I was going to buy that wrecked B4C and part it out, it went for less than 200 bucks, it had a roll bar in it too !

Don

 

Thanks for the info NOW Don! J/K
That's alright, there's something deviously appealing about totally modifying an otherwise perfectly stock car!

Qwk, I'll drop you an E-mail.

 

REZN8R, you have mail. Sorry, it's kind of long. Might need a cup of coffee!

 

Rez, I just got a factory dealer brochure and in it it says that in a skidpad, my WS6 pulled a .92g ! So you cant be far off

Stop by today, I parked in front, you cant miss it !

Don


[This message has been edited by 85 T/A WS6 (edited August 18, 2001).]

 

.92 huh? sweet. I'm getting a G-tech here in a few weeks, so I'll keep you posted on a baseline number. I missed ya Saturday. Maybe Tuesday.