sorry, I accidentally posted twice as my computer sucks...

 

I have an 83 TA that's in pretty good shape, T-Tops, and it has a rebuilt 350 SB and a TH350 trans. The car runs well and is pretty fun to drive, but I am kind of at a crossroads. I joined the Air Force, and will finally have the money to be playing around with cars like I've always wanted. I love the old school look and feel of my TA, but am a little worried about dumping some cash into it. I can't decide whether to build it as I had planned, or to justy use the money I was goign to use in the 83 TA to by a 2000 Camaro SS. I have read some pretty amazing things about the LS1 power plant, but have also seen first hand what a well built Gen I SB can do...

If I were to keep the 83 TA, I would be building a 383 for it.
-Fully forged rotating assembly, 10.5-11:1 CR
-AFR 195 Eliminator heads
-1.52 Ratio Pro Magnum rockers
-Not sure of what type of cam...( suggestions)
-double roller timing set
-Holley 850 carb
-Edlebrock RPM air gap
-Hooker super comp LT's w/3" custom exhaust
-Monster SS 700R4, 3.73 gears
-Monster 2800-3200 stall TQ
-100 shot N2O
-Tuned

The 2000 SS would be a 6 spd, full exhaust, full intake, and 150 shot N2O tuned

What I want is a car that is good looking, fairly reliable, fairly streetable, and I'd like to not break the bank as much as possible. Both cars would be built over the period of about a year..Which one of these would better suit my needs? Also, with the above mentioned items and an appropriate cam, what would the 383 SBC putting out power-wise?

 

Going fast without breaking the bank??? Thats what I told my wife when I started my project!!!! 15 grand later and I'm almost finished with my small block powered 92 RS. As I look through some local and ebay listings, I could have bought a pretty good stingray for what I have invested.

Look, the point is that I saw an IROC for the first time when I was in grade school. My jaw dropped and I nearly wet my pants. I swore that one day I would have a car like that. I don't want a stingray.... I love my camaros.

However, in my opinion, if you just want any camaro to go fast, a 2000 SS would be a better platform that would require much less attention to make it retarded fast. Aw man, and a 6 speed without the hassle of finding one in a junkyard and swapping it in is hella cool.

 

Save your money and put an LS1/T56 combo in your 83. Run quick and look a hell of a lot better doing it.

 

Yeah, thats an option too. It will take alot more work to do it that way, not just the swap, but you must concider that the TA is almost 25 years old and will need a good freshening up (suspension, chassis) before an LS swap will do the car justice.

I'm not trying to talk you out of it, but the most important thing with either project is to have it completely planned out before you eaven start your first modification.

I personally would prefer the TA, but then again........ what's the name of this site again? Oh yeah, now I remember why I'm here!!

 

That's the thing, I love the looks of my TA, way more than the newer F-bodies. The new ones look kinda girly compared to the third gens IMO. I wouldn't mind dumping $6k into either car, as long as when I'm done I'm running around the mid 12s and could drive the car on a 10 hour road trip if need be. If I kep the TA and mod it, it would be getting all new Energy bushings everywhere possible as well as the Spohn tubular K-member and A-Arms and tranny X-member with TQ arm and the Hotchkis rear suspension package.I'd really like to stay carburated, but I am a little worried about the reliabilty of a SBC/ third gen.I really don't like the $12k+ price tag of an LS1 powered car on top of the $2k+ in mods I would do, but if it is more reliable then I might have to bite the bullit. I'm prolly going to get stationed in Germany, and aprts may not be readily available for either car, so reliabilty and ease of maintenance is key...Is the LS1 still king?

 

Relibility of a SBC??? My 92 RS has 175,000 miles on the original engine. It burns no oil, leaks no oil and still gets around 20 miles to the gallon. If thats not reliability, then what is?

Your plan with the TA sounds good, but unless you're working on a really big budget (well over $6k) or you're planning on the car mostly being used for autocross or at the track, I would loose the tubular A-Arms and probably the crossmember and K-member as well. There are stories around this board of the a-arms failing under daily driving conditions.

As far as the K-member and X-member, they are really nice pieces, but unless you are building an all out race car, and as mentioned before working on a huge budget, the stock members will work fine for you they are just a bit heavier. If weight is an issue, there are plenty of other places to look for weight reduction.

This is what i did:

-Spohn front and rear swaybar set
-spohn wonder bar
-spohn subframe connectors (a must for our cars)
-sportline springs
-bilstein shocks and struts (there are cheaper alternitives out there but I love the way my car handles
-umi performance adjustable panhard rod
-complete frontend rebuild kit with poly bushings throughout

In my opinion, these are the places that the car could use the most improvement, not just to say "I have aftermarket parts there." It handles like its on rails and scares the hell out of me long before it breaks loose.

Search the chassis suspension board for a-arms and tubular k-members before you slap down some hard earned dough for them....Just my opinion

 

just my 2 cents but i would rather buy a 2000ss than buy all the ls1 swap stuff for my 3rd gen

 

Yeah, me too, but there are other ways to get power out of a thirdgen with a small block and still have reliability.

If you have a nice hunk of change and alot of time on your hands, swap to an LS, but if you just want bang-for-the-buck power, you can build a SBC that can roll a stock LS for a little more than a used LS and tranny combo goes for on ebay. Gas mileage would suck and idle mightg not be glass smooth....but hey, its all in what you want.

Best of luck in your decision!

Toby