I recently bought a 91 iroc z for $900, was supposed to have a strong 350 in it. When I got all the parts needed to fire it up, it had really bad rod knock. So I ripped out the 350 and was going to stroke it to a 383 or get a 400 small block for it, but I came across a nice 454 that I couldn't pass up. I have the hooker conversion headers coming and already have upgraded the front springs. Now also having an 89 Turbo T/A I know I need subframe connectors as a bare minimum and nice weld in cage would help out as well, but what else should one do to stiffen things up a little? I haven't been into the 3rd gens for about 10 years now and I am wondering what it out there these days as far as chassis stiffening and rear end stabilizing is concerned? I was thinking about ladder bars also. The car will be a street driver, but not a daily driver, only to the drag track and the occassional autocross (I know the 454 will suck on a road course big time already).

 

subframe connectors will be fine, a cage will be better, but not needed. With the torque of the 454, you may end up breaking the trans, rear, driveshaft or all of the above. These parts will need to be upgraded as well too. The rest of the suspension and motor/trans mounts could use a freshening as well.

 

x2 on motor/trans mounts

 

Since it's not a daily driver, you can do just about anything you want to change the car.

SFC are good for all third gens, even a street driven V6. I had SFC installed within the first week I owned the car and still have them. SFC tie the front and rear subframes (if you can really call them that) together. It ties the front and rear together differently than what a roll bar/cage will do.

Adding in a 6 point roll bar will help. Unless you hack up the floor or firewall, a basic roll bar is good to 10.0 in the 1/4 mile. Quicker than that and you need a full cage.

Depending on how much power you get from your BBC, the rest of the driveline also needs to be updated. Tranny and diff won't last long behind a BBC on the dragstrip. You can always use what you currently have until it breaks then pay the price to upgrade. Some stock stuff can last longer than most people realize but it will eventually fail.

Suspension wise, you can keep the torque arm suspension providing you upgrade it to something that mounts a new torque arm onto the crossmember and not the back of the tranny. www.spohn.net along with a few others have very good products. Get new LCA and relocation brackets and a new panhard bar.

Having a powerful engine is only one small part of having a fast car. If you can't get the power to the ground, under control and safely then it's not worth the conversion.

Then go racing.

 

amen!

 

Thanks for the replies, I am definately getting the subframe connectors (weld in, not the crappy bolt ons). I was thinking about an 8 point cage, but that really can wait till after this race season. The car is for my girlfriend, I have an 87 Tbird that i am in the middle of turning into a pro car (race only). I was thinking about the prothane bushing kit for the car, as it does need sway bar bushings already. Also going to get an engine strap. This is just a stock 454 with a mild cam, high rise intake and 4 barrel carb. I will put in a 12 bolt rear end when the diff pops and when the transmission kicks it, I might put a turbo 400 in. I am not sure what kinda shape the trans and diff are in, but I guess I will soon find out...

 

I've beening looking into the suspension and chassis mods and I am just going to go with torque arm, subframe connectors and a panhard bar for now, with new bushings all around. I won't go any further because I wanna wait until I upgrade the rear end, I might even back half the car after my t bird gets its 4 link done.