bottledbird68

Like the title says, I'm looking from some opinions here from people who have actually tried different products. No "I heard this is better than this" please. I'm looking for real world you've tried it opinions.
Here's what I'm after. I've got an '87 formula hard top that's a carbed 305 virgin. It's getting a slightly warmed over LT1 and a 6 spd. I'm also going with a set of ZO6 wheels and tires. What are the best subframe connectors in terms of chassis stifness? I love how the Kenne Brown double diamonds are on 4th gens but the pic I saw of the 3rd gen ones didn't look the same. Am I wrong on that one?
I'm also looking to make the car a respectable handler, not a bash your kidneys out on a small pebble car, but, I'd like to be capable on a road course. It'll see mostly street duty with occasional autocross/ open track use. So, I'm looking for spring/shock reccomendations. As well as torque arm, trailing arm, and panhard rod thoughts. What about front end bracing, i.e. strut tower bars, "wonderbars", etc... Cost isn't really a huge factor, I want good and don't mind spending money to get it. Please don't argue on what's better than what. I'm just looking for opinions and I'll make up my own mind from there. Thanks for the input.

Dewey316

The perimeter style SFCs are going to be the way to go. Spohn, KB/Lingenfelter (yes you are correct, the thirdgen SFCs by KB are not the same as the DD for the 4thgens), and hotchis are all that style. Unfortinaly people don't have experiance with more than 1 SFC style on the same car (it is a fairly perminent modification )

For other components. TA, spohns is really the best out there right now. I haven't gotten an update from Unbalanced Engineering (www.unbalancedengineering.com) on when he will have the decoupled TA built for the thirdgens. For auto-x and RR duty, that will be the way to go. It takes a little more tweaking with a decoupled arm to get it set-up right though. There is a ton of possitive feedback from the 4thgen guys who have it (you can check it out at www.frrax.com). LCA's there are a ton of choices. Whatever you get, make sure it has at least 1 spherical bearing (2 is going to perform better, but some people who street drive their cars, like having 1 poly to cut down on noise), bind will kill you in the turns. same goes for a panhard. Althought for the panhard, I would suggest two spherical bearings.

Front end chassic stiffining. a STB and wonderbar are great. I myself prefer the 3point style STB, but anything here is better than none. When you put a set of R-compound tires on this bad boy for a road-course. Camber control is key, and STB help reduce the flex in the towers, that will cause camber changes.

Springs/shocks - Things get very interesting here. Everyone is diffrent, and tends to like a slightly diffrence balance in the car. But a couple of descisions are easy. Shocks/Struts. Don't skimp here. Don't try to save a couple of hundred dollars. Get Koni adjustables (yellow), OR call StranoParts and talk to sam strano, he sells revalved bilsteins, and will revalve them to match your springs. He can also help with picking spring rates. He is a ground-control supplier, so he can get you setup with their weight-jack kit, and help you get the right spring rates. chances are you will be somwhere in the 700# front range, and likely 150# or so rear, but we don't have enough info to right now to tell you a number, your sway-bars, car weight front/rear, will help determine that.

Also, If you are serious, and going to be spending money. Look at the the Billet strut mount from Spohn. If you do everything else listed here, you will benifit from them. Have you also considered brakes, your going to want more than the stock brakes.

One last thing to consider, since you did list Auto-X, are you going for a specific class? If you do put in SFC's, you are automaticly in either CP or SM. Those are not classes that a street car will likely be very competative in. If you are wanting to really compete at auto-x, it is best to pick the class you want to compete in, and build the car according to those rules.

Hope that helps,
John

TunedPort 335

Hey Matt, i never really got to talk to you about my SFC's after you installed them on my car, but damn it was a huge difference. You know my car is pretty solid and I could really feel how much tighter it got once you welded them in. It didnt feel like it was gonna fall apart anymore. If I were you, I'd try to go for a boxed version... i'm not too impressed with the tubular ones.

As far as strut tower braces, they are all fairly the same, most argue which is better about the 2 point vs the 3 point but I don't really think there is a difference. I got the hotchkis, never drove the car before hand though.

And with the wonderbar, there is a stock one like on Pauls car (kinda flimsy though), the Spohn version, and the TDS version. I have the TDS one and it is built very well, and went in with no problems. Some people on this board have had problems with the Spohn one with fitment, but nothing more than fixing a couple holes.

bottledbird68

Yes, I already considered the brakes. Planning on doing the C5 brakes in the front. I already had my mind made up there.
As for choosing a class, I know I won't have the time to seriously class race the car. Running my own buisness seriously limits the amount of free weekends I have. I'm just looking for a really fun street car that can be more than capable at the occasional open track day.
Beyond that I'm guessing that, aside from what was mentioned, no one brand is really better than the others then on certain items? Thank you for clarifying that the KB are not the same double diamond design. That makes up my mind, I'll most likely get a set of South Side Machine connectors (cheap perimiter style) and fabricate my own braces to the subframe like the 4th gen style. A little welding definitely doesn't scare me I also like the idea of removing the torque arm from the tranny, that was the main reason I asked about aftermarket arms. I never liked the stress the stock ones place on the mount. Anybody have any experience with the entire kit (SFC's, TA, and all rear arms) from S&W race cars on something other than a drag car? We have their TA in the camaro in my sig but none of their other products. Just curious there if anyone else tried them.
One last thought, I noticed PA racing sells a reinforced tubular K member. Anyone have any thoughts on that one? Thanks for the input so far guys, feel free to keep it coming.

BTW Chris, funny side note, when we put the stock "wonderbar" in Paul's car he wanted to take it out at first, he thought it made the car too "twitchy". Guess some peole like a little play in their steering

SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

hey matt, u might like this... spohn performance will be releasing their tubular A arms this week, the K member will be out at the end of january. these parts are supposed to be a lot nicer then anything thats already on the market. i sold my pro fab setup in favor of the spohn. they also will have a well designed coil over kit for the front.

i already have spohn lower control arms for the rear, spohn adjustable panhard bar and the relocation brackets, they are very high quality parts.

KagA152

iTrader: (5)

this week!?!:lala: <-to simulate jumping for joy

SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

yup, or atleast so they say me and someone else called them last week and they told us both the same thing.

KagA152

iTrader: (5)

awesome. hopefully steve will post when theyre ready

bottledbird68

Ok, so I finally found some time to go digging around. It's entirely possible I'm blind but I didn't see anything about billet strut mounts or a coil over kit on Spohns website? Can anyone post up a link for the computer retarded here?

Also, looking at SFC's. Anyone ever use the Competition Engineering ones? I was looking at the pic on (I think) Thunder Racing's site. I like the look of those but will they clear the exhaust?

Ok, I think I'm forming a plan here.....

Dewey316

Hmmm, I can't seem to find the billet mounts on spohns site. Maybe he is not selling them anymore. Give me a day or two, and I can get you some more info.

As for coil-overs, I beleive that SLP-IROC was refering to when he announces information about his tubular k-member.

vsixtoy

I guess the cat's out of the bag (wasn't me) on the Coilovers. Everything is very close, The weblinks ae finished, but not active- Its very close- Just need to have a bit more patience. Spohn will be anouncing the new product lines when he is ready to handle the production demand. He's equipping himself for that demand right now.

The original HMS (Hunter Motorsports design) mounts have been proven unreliable due to metal fatigue. Their is a new idea in the works here also. This one may be awhile longer though.

Lucid

iTrader: (4)

Anyone have any pictures of the undercarriage with the subframe connectors installed?

SteveSpohn

The billet strut mounts are on backorder so I turned them off on the site until we get more in. Hopefully have more in a week or two, the delay is getting the alum. plate in.

bottledbird68

Definitey can't wait to see those, as well as the coilover kit. We currently have the profab setup on the turbo car and just love how they bend the strut mounts after a few days of driving. We actually gave up aligning the car by the end of the season.... Please, let us know when they are ready