Hi, I'm new here and to the 3rd gen world in general. I am helping my dad start on a little project to gut an '85 Camaro and make a weekend drag racer out of it. We have the engine and trans out (it was an 85 Berlinetta w/2.8 Liter V6 and an M5 tranny). We are kind of stuck on whether or not to keep the rear suspension as a stock type w/a torque arm, or take it somewhere and have something like a ladder bar setup put in. I am leaning towards the stock type deal because I highly doubt the car will run anything faster than 10s in the near future. We have a Ford 9" out of a '72 Lincoln that we took apart today. We are thinking of stripping it, grinding it smooth, and having the housing cut to lengtj and new mounting hardware installed by a shop so it will fit in the stock location with the stock type parts...is this feasible?

We are also wondering what to decide on for struts/springs/shocks for the front and rear? Sway bars? What would be the best setup for a drag car w/ an SBC in it? Should we do away with the power brake booster unit and go manual brakes? And what in the HELL are we gonna do with all of these wires that are left over after we yanked the motor?

It looks like we will be going with a TH400 for the tranny...if the stock type suspension route is taken, what should we do about the torque arm? I see that Spohn makes an arm and crossmember for the TH400 retrofit, does that usually work out OK?

Any other suggestions or help from you 3rd gen guys would be greatly appreciated!

-Andy

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2002 Z28 M6
412 RWHP / 384 RWTQ
12.31 @ 116 MPH (1.93)

 

well, i know pleny of guys running 8's on stock style suspension, so 10's are definetly feasible.

the rearend: honestly, unless your shop is REALLY good, i would pitch it and save your money and put a moser unit in. www.moserengineering.com and they have center chunks and whatnot as well. if you do go with having a shop do it up, take in your stock 7.5 for messurements and specs.

manual brakes are not necessary. i say stay with the powerbrakes.

shocks/struts/springs: most guys stay with the v6 springs and struts. i am not as fast as you will be but i am running the stock v6 springs and struts with a pair of monroe replacement shocks in the rear. really any stock spring will work pretty well. eibach makes some drag springs that are really nice if you want to go with a good aftermarket spring.

sway bars: i would run an iroc rear sway bar and either take the front sway bar completely off the car or, like me, disconnect it from the arms at the track.

wires: find the ignition and starter wires, and then if you decide to go carb, you can pretty much do away with everything else.

spohn: steve makes awesome stuff, i would definetly look at his conversion torque arm for your application. my father is running one of spohn's torque arms with his powerglide tranny. check out his lca's and panhard rods as well.

my other suggestions are: keep it streetable, and keep it comfortable (ie: full interior and stuff). also, for a cage, i would have someone put in a chromoly 8pt. if you can tig, then do it yourself. if your not planning on going any faster than 9.99, then i wouldn't put anything more than an 8pt. in it.

 

I have a 88 camaro and Iam wanting to run bracket. My question is I just want to take all of the wiring out and just rewire just basic switches, can anyone help with a digram or where I can get one.