I put an S-10 manual gearbox in my 86 Z28.It appeares to mount fine from the top, and a cursory look from the bottom.

Unfortunately that's not the case. It seemed the steering shaft was too close to the headers, but still didn't hit so i didn't pay too much attention to it.

I pulled the sway bar out of the front today and Pow! there it is as plain as day, the bottom of the gearbox "flange" hits the mount for the sway bar, good 1/2" clearance at the bottom that keeps it from mounting strait.

I dunno if you guys had the same problem, but it apears if your going to run the sway bar, you've gotta take the bar off, (or at least down) and remove the sway bar frame mount(3bolts) to get the box in flush with the frame.

I dunno if it's all of them, or just the one i got, it's a bit "differnt" shaped at the bottom, since it's got no BS like this on the vehicle it came from.

Just a warning and word t the wise, Luckily i caughte it before i ripped t framerail up.

 

what sway bar, i don't have no stinking sway bar, did you change the pitman arm? i did since there was a slight differance in the two.

 

That is just one of many things you have to check whenever you alter your car from how it was originally built. Anytime you put a part on you need to check everything for fit, remember the saying: there's no such thing as a true bolt-on.

 

You usually go to a manual box to save weight. If you're saving weight you don't need that heavy sway bar up front.

My steering shaft was close to the headers also. It wasn't a problem until I put on some aftermarket Merlin heads. They moved the exhaust ports higher and the factory dent in the headers was now above the steering shaft. Some heat from a torch, a hammer and a punch made a new dent in the headers to clear the steering shaft.

Like ede said, I don't need no stinking sway bar, either.

A true bolt-on, what's that? My car has many fabricated parts all over it. Many times they get changed because the fabrication didn't work out right the first time. Alternator and air pump brackets are all home made. racing seat mounts are home made. Rear firewall, suspension, dash and switch panels etc are all home made. If you can't find what you want in the aftermarket or want to adapt something different onto the vehicle then there's no such thing as a simple bolt-on.

My Harley is even worse. There's such a mixture of different parts all over it. I just found what I liked and modified it to fit. It makes it a personal, one of a kind bike. It's not just a bunch of aftermarket parts added on. I went that route once and decided to build a bike from scratch to what I wanted.

 

Coolness ... It's no biggie really, It caught me off gaurd since i tidn't notice it at all before. But now i'll be able to fix it and do some happy motoring

Yeah this car itself is no stranger to fabricated parts. The only part i expect to jsut bolt on is the rims


All in all, even with the myriad of non original, and fabiricated stuff all has gone fairly well. This is jsut one of those unexpected lil bumps.. can't call it a snag, just glad i caught it before i ripped something off

and yes i did use the pitman arm from the S-10.. I used it to save wieght for one, and two.. the old box/lines/ pump was trash, and this was cheaper

I should be driving it in a week or so finally

 

Pony Killer,

Just wondering....will you be running skinnies up front full time or stock size wheels and tires. I'm curious to see how much effort it takes to turn the wheels with wide tires.

 

I am as far as you now Ponykiller, I ran into the same thing with the swaybar. I would just lose the swaybar if I didn't have to do so much rural highway driving My powersteering was shot all to hell, if I had went ahead and paid for parts to fix everything that is wrong, I wouldn't be able to get my hardware for my head project!!!

 

I ran into the same thing. I am thinking of notching that mount so that I can put my wonder bar back on.

Not running a sway bar either.

 

DONE!!! I will be giving the car a spin around the block in the next month after I get my head work done and I am thinking about switching to a 4th gen rear. I am also switching to a 15" skinny/wheel setup with some weld wheels. Later guys

 

I just pulled that sway bar mount off and notched it with a grinding wheel then i bolted it back on. You really only need to remove some material from the corner. I mounted my monster sway bar back on there with no problems. Too bad last friday i pulled that heavy sway bar back off at the dragstrip, but hey at least when i launched with it off i pulled the left wheel about 1 inch off the ground. I love my DRAG RADIALS. Oh yeah i got my new best of 12.31 Fri. night, with a 1.77 60ft.

 

nice man, I'm hoping to get mine going soon So many head choices, so little money