[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.