luvmea3rdgen

Good Day all. I am in the process of restoring an 86 Camaro and have some big plans for it. I'm not new to these cars my 1st ever car was an 88 Trans Am second car was an 88 Camaro. However i never rebuilt them from bottom up or added performace to any degree. I want to add a turbo to this car once its done but have been told i need to sink 30 to 40k into the frame and chassis to make it strong enuf to handle the sheer output from the turbo. aside from subframe connectors and upgrading the sway arms torque arm ect ect and adding a cage what else would one need to do in order to make it stand up. i should mention car is a ttop car also. tnks all and have a great one

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Whoever told you 30-40 thousand has no idea what he is talking about. Buy a set of inner and outer subframe connectors and the s and w cage for our cars and you will be good enough to drag race it. However our cars there are a multitude of braces and upgraded suspension components that should be installed on the car for driving also. If you don't want a cage then get a roll bar with the front diagonal bars.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Depends. How fast you trying to go?

luvmea3rdgen

hard to say if it will ever see the track lol. I figured the number was a little far stretched but I wanted to make it so it could handle at least 700hp maybe a bit more and still be a street car. Like I said I have big plans and big dreams for it its just a matter of if I'm able to make them work ... Thanks for the fast response guys I appreciate any and all info
Cheers

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Street car just a few grand. You wont stress it. Do all the common bolt ons and frame connectors. It be fine

Trans and rear end however need attention

luvmea3rdgen

Yea I was thinking the 9 inch rear and will be converting it to a manual. but may need one a bit beefier then the tremec tko that I was looking at as I think they rated for 600hp and at 2500$ a pop don't wanna over stress it.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

T56 magnum

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

If you ever really tear into a Thirdgen you'll find out how horribly flimsy these cars are. The firewall is ridiculous and the "frame" is bent 16 gauge. GM bolted a 1/8" thick bumper to 16 gauge steel, laughable! Easy way to find out how much reinforcement you need is this:
If you will ever drive the car you need sub frame connectors.
If you have 300 horsepower get inner and outer subframe connectors and a roll bar because you most likely didn't put in a 300 horsepower engine to drive it like a grandma. If you roll over in one of these cars without a roll bar plan on being seriously hurt if not dead.
If you have 400 horsepower you can do the 1/4 mile in under 12 seconds, add in the forward diagonal bars to make it a 6 point.
500 and I would look for an 8 point. Everyone says s and w is good.
600 and up and I would start looking into a full tubular setup.
Don't be a fool and try to argue you'll put in a monster powerful engine but because you won't go to a drag strip you don't need "their" requirements. And remember their requirements are just the minimum to keep you safe.....probably

BrutalGTA

iTrader: (2)

I like the safety aspect, however I think your going a bit overboard.
I'm building an LS3 for my GTA, and your logic requires a full cage for a street car!
Now the loop isn't a bad idea,especially in a t-top. These cars ain't that bad! My 1st car was a 91 RS, I was T-boned making a left hand turn from a stop and was hit on the passenger side door/A pillar by a 91ford f150 (single cab long bed W/T) traveling approximately 47-53mph. It spun me over a median twice. All four seats were occupied and the only person who had any injury was back seat passenger. The coat hook scratched his forehead. We all walked away uninjured. The car was totaled.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Now a days the term street car can be applied to anything that is registered and can be driven on a street. Most of the steel in these cars is 20 gauge and flexes easily. The metal under the windshield is 22 gauge! GM knew these cars were flimsy so they tried to add in strength with all of those small braces under the hood. You don't get a rigid chassis by doing the bare minimum a rule book says or using stamped steel "braces".

If your car rolled over twice and everyone is fine save a coat hook scratch you are either extremely lucky or greatly exaggerating. I see people coming in to the ER and being hurt from far less.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

A basic 6-8 pt plus subframe connectors that tie into trans tunnel subframe really does wonders to help stiffen these cars. Cant comment on roll overs. To feel safe in those you'd need atleast a 10-12 pt cage and better yet a 25.5. But thats a 7.50 et cert in a street car lol not all that practical

700 hp is not a whole lot. If its not being brutalized at the strip you will just be spinning and having a good time on the street with the 6 spd, then it will be fine with basic suspension mods. My car doesnt have anything special and it makes 2 times that power

BrutalGTA

iTrader: (2)

I use the term street car as its full interior, AC/Heat, etc.
The cars are flimsy, but who's to say GM didn't engineer them that way on purpose? This is when the cars had to start crumbling for crash tests to reduce the impact inside the car.

My car spun around twice, not rollover.

Like Orr said said, it's for the street where there isn't prepped lanes. I'm building it to drive it.

Scorpner

iTrader: (4)

There was a book published that included the history of the design. IIRC, it was the first computer designed version of the F-Body. Was almost a FDW car too. Anyway, as I recall a major push was to reduce weight, and along with that was a substantial reduction of power which meant that they could go with less sturdy design. (Edit: IIRC, also to improve mileage.) FWIW, the rear hatch glass was a major undertaking.

Lol, I think of a street car as a trolley, it still comes up in Google as one too.