I am making a 86 TA into a club racer. I am new with TA's but have plenty of GM resources.

I have heard that you can install a LS1 rear end into our cars as a direct bolt in. I have a LS1 rear already for the rear disc conversion. Can I alter the front suspension wider to make the front and rear equal. I already have the LS1 offset 17" rims on my Typhoon and want to use them on the TA.

My engine set up is a carb'd 406. Approx 450HP/450ftlb. I for the moment have a WCT5. Once I break it I will upgrade. Headers are hooker 2210 and going to do dual 3" exhaust. Probably Poly engine mounts.

I have a full poly bushing set in the front suspension already.

Koni Adjustables are on the car from the previous owner.

I want to upgrade the springs to handle cornering better.

I think I am going to get the MAC SFC. Or will they cause hell with dual 3". I am not scared of modifying crossmembers and etc.

What else is needed as a must for this car.

Wonderbar!! Will I really need an adjustable one?
Anything else a must?

 

There's no way i'd put dual 3" and longtubes on my TA and run it on a road course. ground clearance is crap, even on the most well-engineered setup (they do have their place, drag racing). do a single 3.5" or 4". You can't really alter the front suspension to make the front wider, except maybe the .6" inches per side that you can get from a brake conversion and 1LE hubs. I'm running the eibach pro kit, the spring rate is actually stiffer than the sportlines. but they'll still lower the car, making longtube header clearance worse.

 

I hear ya about ground clearance on the duals. I was driving my car today rather spiritedly and I scraped the crap outta my 3 inch catback on a dip going around a bend. Course I was doing like 70 lol.

As for the wonderbar, I'd say that any wonderbar is better than none at all. I honestly cant see that you'd NEED an adjustable one, after all that area is not designed to move like that. If it does move enough to warrant one...I'd be kinda worried.

 

if i had an adjustable one, i probably wouldn't have had to grind out the bolt holes on one side to make it fit, other than that, i would bother. BTW, i'm running a spohn chromoly non-adj. one.

 

Thats weird, I'm running the tds one, and it fit in there perfectly.

 

my car is pretty old, and steve said he's heard about others having to do it. No big deal really, i just didn't have my die grinder when i was installing it, so i had to put the swaybar back up, then take it back down after i ground the holes. the Spohn design is different than the TDS one IIRC

 

Build in as many adjustable suspension parts as you can and learn how to use them to your benefit under changing conditions. Especially a rear panhard position adjustment.

 

Jeremy,
The LS1 rear will bolt right in. All the suspenison points are the same as the one you are replacing.
There really is no way to widen the front track by altering the suspenion unless you get into some crazy custom stuff. The easiest way to get those 17"s to fit on the front is to add a pair of 2 1/4" bolt on aluminum spacers. One source for them is here...http://www.skulte.com/adapters.html 2 1/4" sounds big and some people think it's risky to race with them. I can tell you that I've raced high speed events with no problems, skulte has raced with them, and others on this board have had no problems.

Subframes are a definate must for the car. If you're a serious road racer a roll cage is absolutely the best. 3rd gen F-bodys are very flexible.

If you're looking to upgrade the rear LCA's (lower control arms) and the panhard bar this website has an alternative solution....Home Made LCA's

You didn't mention anything about front brakes. You'll probably find that the stock 10.5" disc single piston caliper setup is subpar. If you browse this board you'll see many alternatives to upgrade that department.

Good luck,

 

I might go with the adjustable wonder bar to help the install go easier.

Front brakes I am not sure what upgrade to do yet, but I know the stockers won't cut for sure. Thinking about the C4 upgrade possibly.

Think I will stay with stock suspension width then. Sounds easier to get a new set of rims.

As far as ground clearance that might the the tricky part. That does have me worried, but I will have to see what I can get out of the way. All else fails I can get a single 4".

Proline Eibach's the way to go then? I don't want to lower the car as much as the sportlines for obvious reasons.

Thanks,

 

You might want to give Tokico a call (www.tokicogasshocks.com). They have a special going where you can get their lowering springs for $79. I ordered up a set. The rear springs have the same rates as the Eibach pro kit. The front springs are stiffer than the Hotchkis lowering springs but softer than the Eibachs.

http://www.bescaredracing.com/suspension/springs/

The springs normally sell for ~$250. I don't know if the deal is still going on but man it is a sweet deal for what you get.

Tim

 

cool!

it ends on 3/30/04 according to their webpage.





so how much do their springs lower it?

 

They advertise the same lowering distance as Eibach (1.25").
http://www.bescaredracing.com/suspen...structions.jpg

Tim

 

I found it.

Is that price for the front and rear set?

 

Yes.

Tim

 

Just ordered a set. They still have some left. Finally I will loose my monster truck stance.

Thanks for the heads-up Trax!

 

You got it I found out via CZ28.com. I didn't want to post here until I saw the quality. They look darn good to me ... but won't know for sure until everything is installed. However, you guys will probably get them installed before me. I am waiting to get all the parts so that I can rip EVERYTHING off the frontend. I'm going with the Tokico springs, Koni Yellows, Spohn Caster Camber plates, BAER Tracker bumpsteer kit, 1LE brakes (woot!), powedercoated stock A-arms with poly bushings, all new Moog frontend steering parts, etc. Should be a very nice upgrade. I already have the springs, shocks, struts, and 1LE brakes. Just waiting on some cash in order to order the Spohn CC plates, Moog parts, and the Baer Tracker kit.

Tim

 

I bought into the Springs also. they should be a good starting point for me, and for the price I couldn't beat it.

One step closer.

Thanks for the tip Trax,

Jeremy

 

Got myself a set as well. Also decided to continue the splurging and buy myself some adjustable poly/spherical LCA and relocation brackets from Spohn. Now i just need to get some decent shocks to go along with them. Am thinking bilstein or konis, not sure yet.

 

Just to let you guys know, there is someone on Ebay selling the mother-load of Tokiko Illuminas for cheap right now. I got a complete set (front struts, rear shocks) of the 5 way adjustable Illuminas brand new in box for $409. Users name was jdmwerks13. I plan to use these on my street car, but they would also be really good for track.

 

I just got off the phone with Tokico and they sold out this morning....

 

how hardcore do you want to go? and what are the class limits for you car.

somethings to consider, i don't know if it is too late.

1 springs, when we are talking racing, we are talking stuff that is usualy stiffer than street, i would look to ground control for front/rear weight jack systems and ERS race springs, at a fairly high rate. shocks/struts are VERY important. the key here is the rebound settings. if i were building a 'race car' i would be talking to Sam Strano at stranoparts, and getting either revalved bilsteins, or Koni DA's.

lca's ect. -- you are going to want lightweight spherical ended peices. i would think alum. or chromoly. every bit of unsprung weight you can reduce will help. and the solid connection of the bearings will help you feel the car better. you also want to start looking at ways to fix shortcomings in the stock suspension. i would give Unbalanced Engineering a call here. they sell a panhard relocation kit, i would strongly recomend it, for a road race car.

tires are also going to play a huge roll. the best suspesion is worthless if it can't stick.

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.


i was going to order some tomarrow....

 

Looks like I got in just in time... YAW! I missed out on the el-cheapo Jamex springs a couple years ago and never let myself forget

Lesson of the day: Have some spare cash and take advantage of EVERY deal you see

 

I recieved my tokico last week from ebay. Any one know if you can use coil overs with these shocks?

The coil overs would reduce a little weight.

 

Well they would have to orginally be built to accept springs. If they're the front ones you're talking about, then no. Putting front coil overs on our cars is a little difficult. It's easier to put coilovers on the rear of 3rd gens.