Which parts should I upgrade while everything is apart, and which would I just be wasting money on? At minimum I know I need to get the torque arm off of the 700R4 using a relocation crossmember. I am planning on weld-in frame stiffening bars now because I'm already going to be grinding and painting.

Is there anything else where the stock parts are truly insufficient for hard use or light abuse with upgraded engines on the third gen? How much torque is getting into "too much" territory on the other stock parts drag guys would typically replace, like panhard bar and torque arm? My diff is getting worn, should I just replace cones or go for a stronger rear?

Explanation of why is below, skip if you don't care.
I'm sick of things breaking every time I floor it. My transmission and torque converter are now sorted, should be good for over 500HP. I will definitely build or buy a more powerful engine whenever the current 350 (which is still doing great at around 20k miles) dies, but I will never turn this into a serious drag car. I will definitely never buy and probably never build an engine that gets this car to 500 RWHP.

This is the car I always wanted since I was a kid, but I still have the philosophy that it's just a machine and was made to be used and enjoyed, even if that means dumb shenanigans. My goal is not only be able to drive like as much of an idiot as I please, but be able to hand the keys to others without worry that they can easily do major damage to anything other than the rear tire tread. I'll always let people do stunts on my track-prepped bikes even though I'm not into stunting myself. Nobody's ever managed more than about $50 worth of damage to my bikes besides me, and I wouldn't get worked up about it if someone did nor accept money from them after I gave them permission.

Cars are a little bit annoying to work on, so I want to beef up the chassis and suspension where needed, I just don't have the knowledge about which parts tend to give first on this model. I have no idea what my car would even do in the 1/4 mile, so "You need X and Y if your car does 12s" is meaningless to me. Like stunting bikes, drag strip is just not one of my interests.

 

The stock rear control arms are extremely weenie. Not so much a matter of breaking, but rather, bending and being imperfect at doing their job. Definitely worth an upgrade. Also the rear suspension geometry is SEVERELY defective in these cars, from the factory; that's what makes them wheel-hop. LCA relocation brackets fix that. Panhard bar can stand some stiffening but is less critical, but as cheeeeeeep as it is it's worthwhile though.

And I should add: the torque arm itself is another weak, flexible part. Relocating its front mount off of the transmission is a good thing; but putting something stiff in there feels like taking a giant rubber band out of the drive train when you drive it. Usually the TA and the trans crossmember are supplied as a matched set, with totally different hardware and bushings and whatnot from the stock setup.

 

83AQ9, I would recommend a set of our Alston inner subframe connectors, rear LCA's and drop brackets, adjustable torque arm, and panhard bar and reinforcement kit. Give us a call and we can answer any questions you may have.

 

One issue with the inner subframe connectors is they interfere with most aftermarket trans cross members especially for ls swaps etc. I have them in my car (put them in in 2002) and they stiffen everything up a lot but with the ls swap there was a single cross member I found from bmr that works, but makes exhaust a night mare so eventually I will be making my own cross that uses the subframe bolts (there welded in) vs the original trans cross mounting location. @heidtssuspension you don't happen to have a ls swap cross member that works with the Alston's do you?

I second Lower control arms, either replace or box them in by welding metal on the bottom and replace your bushings. The relocation brackets especially if your car is lowered. Pan hard bar (adjustable if lowered). I don't find much benefit in adjustable lower control arms. The adjustable torque arms are nice. I find the sway bars are sufficient if you have the ws6 package.

On the front of the car the idler arm and rag joint is usually the play in the steering if the gear box is good.

Of course good tires. Eventually your diff is going to go.