Not sure if this goes here, but I'll try....
 

Hey ya'll. I've been doing some thinking about what car to purchase next and I have a few questions pertaining to the structure of the 3rd gen F-Body. I've got a Buick 455 in my 81 T/A, but it's just a project car and I can't really do anything with it. I'm thinking about purchasing a V8 3rd gen Camaro, driving it until I feel like tearing into it, and then swapping in my 455 Buick. My question is, since this motor will make a buttload of torque, am I better off with a hardtop or T-Top? Can I just weld in some subframe connectors and other suspension items to the T-Top car and be fine? Or should I stick with a hardtop and not worry about body flex at all. I'd REALLY like to have a T-Top car (All my previous F-Bodies have been hardtops), but I could live with another hard top if it would be better off for the car. Anyone? :confused:

Structurally the hardtop is better but if you really like the open air, go with the T top. They can be made plenty strong enough to handle the power a 455 can put out. SFCs are a must even for a 4 cylinder T top car so I'd suggest getting a quality set. If you are still worried you could always put in a cage. Check the Engine Swap board to see if anyone has done this before; it could give you some ideas of what they did to stiffen up the chassis and could potentially save you many many headaches down the road.

Yea, that's what I figured. Like I said, I wouldn't mind a hardtop but a T-Top would be much nicer! :) Thanks for the info!

My car is a T-Top. It has SFC and a full cage though. It's making a lot more power than your 455 will.

There's times when I wished I had a hard top but poping the T-Tops out when I'm working in the car makes climbing over the door bars easier even with a halo bar.