[Tusethede]

Work is progressing on my car. Currently she's on 4 jackstands, and suspension component rear of the transmission has been removed. Also so has the gas tank.

But I thought I'd show a little of whats going on.

I started with a stock 1989 TransAm GTA.

I have since removed the engine, transmission, shocks, springs, driveshaft, axel, lower control arms, panhard bar, torque arm, etc... Basically all thats left of the car is a bare exterior. If it bolts to the car's bottom, its been removed.

Most of my time has been sent re-working a set of wheels I picked up for free. These are 17x9.5" Corvette ZR1 rims. Up from the stock 16x8" rims. Original rubber was 245/50/16 series, now riding on 275/40/17 series.

Before:


After:



The wheels had curb rash, some had bent lips, and rock chips all over.

its all fixed now.

Tomorrow, I install the fuel system, check for leaks, and fire her up. After that I start re-installing the suspension components. This is whats getting installed.

chromoly tubular lower control arms with spherical rod ends. Ultimate straight line traction mod. These eliminate wheel hop under acceleration and braking. $230 for the set. They attach the live axle to the rear subframes.


A chromoly tubular torque arm. This is what controls the pinion angle of the rear axle under acceleration and braking. Like the lower control arms this provides a big increase in acceleration and braking traction. But unlike the lower control arms this controls the front nose attitude under braking and acceleration. And can be adjusted for the road course conditions. This comes in at $515 or so. [Surrender]


Also coming in is the lower panhard bar in once again chromoly tubular with spherical rod-end. This is what provides the major increase in side bite during cornering. About $150



To stiffen the chassis and reduce the 5th spring effect from chassis flex, I've got a Front Steering brace, aka the "Wonder Bar". This stiffens the front sub frame under heavy steering load, so in low speed parking lot maneuvers it helps with the wider front tires. It also helps tremendously under high speed corners when the suspension is loaded up. About $65 total


Also to reduce chassis flex I've got sub frame connectors. While it won't replace a roll bar, or full cage, it does provide much more chassis stiffness so the suspension can do its work. These get stitch welded to the bottom of the car, as well as fully seam welded to the front and rear sub-frames. These are $200



Everything above is designed to eliminate flex in either the chassis, or suspension components. It ensures the suspension geometry does not change.

The car currenly rides on Bilstein HD's with custom rate springs (stock ride height at the moment). The suspension uses inboard springs in front, so the front spring rate is going to look astronomical to most people. The front springs are about 815lb/in, and the rear springs are 270lb/in.

I've also replaced every rubber bushing, mount, and sway bar endlink with graphite impregrnated poly eurothane versions. They eliminate slop, and the graphite eliminates squeaks. All of the hard parts use the spherical rod-ends because they have zero bind allowing the suspension to work freely. The downside is they are harsh. This car is not going to ride like a grand touring car anymore. When you hit a pot-hole you'll KNOW you hit a pot hole, and exactly which tire hit it.

I honestly can't wait to drive the car with all of this done. Should be possible to nail over 1g cornering with regular street tires now. And straight line acceleration ought to be mind numbing. Braking distance should be down considerably too. Stock it did well in 1989, but 60-0 in 116ft is too much. I'd like to get it down to 100ft or so, not sure if I can on street tires though.

I'm holding off on doing a tubular K-member for the front because I want to swap in a v6 in two years and can't justify the cost of the K-member when i'll have to buy ANOTHER k-member when I do the swap.

I'll have more pictures of my actual car tomorrow. Perhaps finally a video of it running after 3 years in limbo.

[StitsVobsaith]

I've also replaced every rubber bushing, mount, and sway bar endlink with graphite impregrnated poly eurothane versions. They eliminate slop, and the graphite eliminates squeaks.

No kidding. I had all the lower control arm bushings replaced on a Nissan S13 once and the difference in feel of the car was tremendous. Just the change in bushings alone made everything feel so much more taut and responsive. Makes everything feel so much more connected. Along with all the other components, should be fun. [thumbup]

[violetgorman]

Wheels are looking good painted up like that.
I see you're really getting into stiffening it up, a lot of work but at least most things are available off the shelf - if you've the money...
Can't recall if you've done anything with the steering rack/box - I fitted a quick/high ratio rack to one of my cars a few years back - made a huge difference for a little extra steering load.

I've been racking my brains over the last couple of weeks about a company that used to specialise in "F" bodies (mostly series two) but darned if I can recall the name - something like Goldstand - well I think it starts with a "G" at least. They did heavy duty struts, hubs etc for cars with very sticky front ends as there was a problem of the suspension components flexing under high loads.

[Tusethede]

Wheels are looking good painted up like that.
I see you're really getting into stiffening it up, a lot of work but at least most things are available off the shelf - if you've the money...
Can't recall if you've done anything with the steering rack/box - I fitted a quick/high ratio rack to one of my cars a few years back - made a huge difference for a little extra steering load.

I've been racking my brains over the last couple of weeks about a company that used to specialise in "F" bodies (mostly series two) but darned if I can recall the name - something like Goldstand - well I think it starts with a "G" at least. They did heavy duty struts, hubs etc for cars with very sticky front ends as there was a problem of the suspension components flexing under high loads.

I haven't done anything with the rack yet as its already a 12:1 reccirculating ball system. When I go to a tubular k member I'll probably find a way to do a rack and pinion conversion for better feedback. The rc system has a very quick feel but is slightly vague feeling compared to a rack.

I bought a new intake to have powder coated. And I'll have the wheels done too when its all done. So they'll bead vlast all my work away.

Lots of stuff coming though. Car cruise onthe 26th of this month followed by a speedshop open house on the 2nd and a club dragstrip rental onth the 9th. Lots of work to do.

[Tusethede]

I've been racking my brains over the last couple of weeks about a company that used to specialise in "F" bodies (mostly series two) but darned if I can recall the name - something like Goldstand - well I think it starts with a "G" at least. They did heavy duty struts, hubs etc for cars with very sticky front ends as there was a problem of the suspension components flexing under high loads.

You're thinking of Guldstrand Motorsports.

Most of my stuff up front will be replaced with tubular stuff. But I can't buy the K-member now because the future v6 swap won't bolt to the motor mounts. So I'll wait on that project as I don't feel like buying 2 k-members or modifying it and risking structural issues.

[Immampdah]

Looks like some awesome changes, you will be alot faster around that autocross after this. Though I don't think your acceleration times will improve that much with the added unsprung weight of brakes and wheels, but it will more than make up for it in the areas that really count.

One thing though and it might not be an issue at all. Is the new paint in the area the wheel nuts sit flush with the wheel? Could that cause problems as the paint wears and the bolts then have some freeplay? Might not be an issue, I've just got my pilot's hat on and just one coat of paint in the wrong spot has caused major accidents in the past.

[Tusethede]

Click on a link for a brief sound clip of the engine fireing up for the first time in nearly 7 years.

The story of the engine. The previous owner bought it for a swap in about 2002 with 55,000 miles on the clock. However, he is in the military and its sat in his parents barn for several years while he was off in training and then he was deployed. In 2005, 3 years after he started the project but couldn't finish it, I needed an engine and he was ready to sell it. However, paypal screwed up the transaction, and because of the dispute it sat in limbo for over a year while I resolved the transaction issues. LONG time.

Then other priorities came into play and I was forced to hold back on the car.

So, finally, after 7 years of collecting dust she FIRED UP!

The injectors were completely shot. Luckily I kept the spare racing set I had from my old motor and was able to swap those in.

The audio clip is a short one recorded by my iphone. Its basically the LT1 with the minimum nessesary parts to run. No water pump, no alternator, no power steering. The headers are bolted on, but basically open with no y-pipe either which is why its so loud. It'll quiet down once i get the exhaust up and seal all the leaks.

Its a speed density motor, so the engine relies on vacuum to determine fuel trim and other variables. Hence why it dies within 1 second of starting the first time. However, it started up easily and immediately afterwords so its all good.

I'm reminded of the 80's song I'm So Excited by the Pointer Sisters.

[violetgorman]

You're thinking of Guldstrand Motorsports.

Most of my stuff up front will be replaced with tubular stuff. But I can't buy the K-member now because the future v6 swap won't bolt to the motor mounts. So I'll wait on that project as I don't feel like buying 2 k-members or modifying it and risking structural issues.

Could be, this was 20 or more years ago and they were Pontiac oriented rather than Camaro, slight differences I know but they were big on the Honcho 350, 400 and 455 based cars rather than ones with the Chev' engine - even had gear for the 301 turbo' engine and tran's - if you've ever heard of that ...

[Tusethede]

Could be, this was 20 or more years ago and they were Pontiac oriented rather than Camaro, slight differences I know but they were big on the Honcho 350, 400 and 455 based cars rather than ones with the Chev' engine - even had gear for the 301 turbo' engine and tran's - if you've ever heard of that ...

Please never mention the 301 turbo again. The engineers who built that should have been fired.

New updated sound clip. Killed off several vacuum leaks, so it now idles MUCH better. Still no cooling system as the radiator hasn't come in yet so I can't do any more than let it idle for maybe 20 or 30 seconds before it has to cool down for about a half hour.

http://home.comcast.net/~thirdgen89g...a_lt1_idle.mp3

Its open header right now. And it seems to stumble abit when given gas. There is a vacuum line thats supposed to hook up to the optispark system. It may be causing this issue.

As it sits currently, the new rear end is in, suspension is all buttoned up. The driveshaft, and transmission are done. Missing a fitting for the new brake lines, which is joy, on order. And the rubber lines that go to the calipers. I'm also still missing a throttle cable bracket, so even if I finish everything else I can't drive the car. GRRRR. I opened a paypal dispute with the seller as its been a week with no shipping info or anything else.

[janeemljr]

looks like its coming together quite nicely. I remember getting one of my old cars back together after just a winter and i was all giddy about it, i cant imagine how anxious you are getting [thumbup]

[JANALA]

Looking at getting a new DI 3.6L from GM?

Might wanna wait!
Chrysler's new Phoenix (Pentastar) 3.6L is 40lbs lighter, and has a monster torque curve. 90% of peak torque power comes on from 1600rpm to 6400rpm!
Only makes 280hp and 260ft.lbs right now, but will get DI fairly soon after it is out.


Just something to watch out for by the time you actually get a new engine.
Heck, could always get this unit, and then slap on a supercharger or turbocharger and barely weigh more then the GM 3.6L.

[Tusethede]

Looking at getting a new DI 3.6L from GM?

Might wanna wait!
Chrysler's new Phoenix (Pentastar) 3.6L is 40lbs lighter, and has a monster torque curve. 90% of peak torque power comes on from 1600rpm to 6400rpm!
Only makes 280hp and 260ft.lbs right now, but will get DI fairly soon after it is out.


Just something to watch out for by the time you actually get a new engine.
Heck, could always get this unit, and then slap on a supercharger or turbocharger and barely weigh more then the GM 3.6L.

I just threw up. A chrysler motor in a GM product? Can't do it.

Thats like mixing peas into oatmeal. Its just not done.

[JANALA]

I just threw up. A chrysler motor in a GM product? Can't do it.

Thats like mixing peas into oatmeal. Its just not done.

[rofl]

Hey, you don't have to tell your car that it is a Chrysler motor. Just pet her and tell her that it's all going to be ok. [yes]