Just adding my opinion. You really need to love the 4th gen to go that direction. They are a pain due to the windshield and structural fender wells they are heavy. If you have a lift the 4th gen is not as bad but without a lift they are a pain.

I can have the motor out of a 3rd gen in half the time. LS is the way to go I think there is more aftermarket support for the LS platform then any other. I am not sure what companies you have looked at but big companies have stand alone control systems for LS motors. You can get the same FAST or Holley system with the self learning in a plug and play LS controller for less then buying a full SBC. I even have a local company that will get you a complete LS mega squirt setup with harness and complete open source code.


I would look to a 6.0, 500 hp NA is cheap and a lot of guys a hitting 800+hp on stock bottom ends and turbos.

Most areas have LS experts around, for me these guys are 10 miles away.
https://sites.google.com/site/sloppywiki/
https://www.youtube.com/user/denmah

 

Very true, the whole set-up with the Jesel Belt Drive is definitely not the cheapest route but I've used it on dragsters before and was very happy with it and those are wide open to work on.

I like cowl delete on yours.

We are looking at small tire bracket car. Thinking mid to upper 10's should be a reasonable goal to get her started.

I was leaning towards the TH400 as the choice. Mostly used the Glyde in dragsters but had plenty TH350 and 400 thru the years.

 

I do prefer the 4th gen platform over the others. I actually have an 85 that I have access to in the family (was actually mine in the 90's) that is solid and the 305 would come out very easy, but I'm just not a huge fan and neither is she.

The weight of the 4th Gen is a huge factor but with what I looked into as far as weight saving parts and things I don't need in there, I'm comfortable that I can get her rolling like she wants.

So are you saying I can ditch the whole LS wiring and computer and go with a Holley or FAST system? This is turning into me learning about Duramax all over again!!

I have played with SBC/BBC for so many years and just never had the chance to play with LS, YET. So many swear by them and I know why. I know the owner of NX has told me for years they are the best and I had no reason to not believe him.

I just want to be able to tune as needed without running to a shop and put it on the chassis dyno every other week. But I want the reliability of EFI.

 

I am definitely not one to slam anyone's opinion. I started this post in the hopes of hearing your opinions and reasons why.

Her first choice was truly a S-10/Sonoma but I just don't see them that consistent at the track unless they are big tire. Even with moving everything you can to the back and 4linking it, traction is still hard to find. 3rd choice was G-Body but damn those got expensive for junk. So here we are with option #2 and one I'm very comfortable with.

Cheeks, I am really liking your set-up. I was definitely leaning towards the 9" and I would probably go Lexan too for the windshield. Mostly for the weight savings.

 

Let me know, I can send you pics of whatever you want, I have the car up on jackstands now due to me getting a little overzealous on some nitrous tuning.

I have Holley efi in my car and it's amazing, plus they make every wiring harness you need, plug and play for the 4th gens, it's quite nice and we'll worth the investment

For what it's worth, here is the cowl delete kit

http://midwestchassis.com/products/9...wl-removal-kit

One of the best things I've ever done to mine

 

sounds like your on your way th400 an Cheeks knows what he is doing too..i have thought about a 3rd gen with my set up too but I like the 4th gens to much ,though I do. like the like 87 iroc bodys an one can put a huge engine in them ,no regrets though, I will leave BBC for a . a 2 gen one day is my dream set up ,some do say weight does not matter when you got a ton of HP like farm truck hehe those lsx engines are the bomb I want one,an the ls7 427 wow that video is pretty cool too a lot of info for building engines ,they had one called the .bonemaro had the lsx 6.0 engine making .575hp an running in the high 10 s for like $9200,00.with an ebay turbo an all I.think one can save a lot by watching the videos ,now that's a cheap race car with some pretty. good parts other then the turbo,

 

That is exactly what I am saying. I would bet any system you have used in the past has a plug and play LS system available. The reason they are so popular is you can find a 6.0 for less then $800 put a cam in it and little work to the heads and hit your 10 seconds range. We had one guy running in the 9 second range in a fox body for 2 seasons on a 6.0 with 200,000 miles on it and a china built turbo. Not something I would do if I was try to any kind of bracket/points racing. But if a 6.0 with 200,000 miles on it will handle 20+ lbs of boost and put over 800 hp to the wheels how well would one with a few upgrades fare at 500 hp. Don't go by what I say follow those links search the net.

Everything has improved so much in the last few year keep an eye on the dates of anything your read. You should just ignore anything on the computer side more that 3 years old. System like mega squirt where a huge pain, it was like having a second hobby. Now you can order a MS3 gold box with a harness and you get the efi self tune module. It has all kinds of add ins. You could even use your front wheel sensor to keep any eye on excessive rear tire spinning and have the system pull power out of the tune instead of pedaling the car.

http://www.efisource.com/shop/ms3-lsx-plug-and-play/

The only reason people keep the stock harness and computer these days is to save money. If you have access to HP tuner then there is almost no cost.

 

So I think I am convinced from all the info here to go with the LS platform. My next question is:
Will it matter what I go with for a shell? Since I am gutting everything that isn't need, upgrading the chassis/suspension, using a stand alone EFI system that will plug and play. If I can find one that already started and maybe added some things like the cage and other items, does it matter if it was a V6 or V8 car? I am leaning towards a 98-02 Camaro strictly on appearance. I have seen some that are T-Tops but I am leary of the strength of that body.

Thanks everyone for the great info. I will continue to pick your brains

 

Not as much difference in strength as you would think but I would want hard top just to avoid having the plastic over my head.

I guess it would go by what is available. If you are going tubular K-member and manual rack then I can not think why it would matter. Shells sell for about the same price but the V6s show up a lot more often.

 

I have found that the V6s do show up a lot more. Yes planning on tubular K-member and manual rack.