you could think about circle track car too ,no matter how you look at it ,if you want something for the road an strip ,your going to spend a lot money to make 99 3800 the one ,so you may want to rethink body style ,or a z28 car ,I had a chance to grab 74 that was a strip car slash street now ,was $7500,00 with fresh 383 500hp it was sweet ,wrong time for me ,could be looking at 2 times that amount for 700hp car

 

I agree that this car is not an ideal car to do what I want to do, but when I decided to do a project, there were two options for me. I wanted either a 98-02 or a 67-68 Camaro. Granted a 3rd and 2nd gen are cheap and easier to work on, theyre just not what I'm interested in. And if I'm going to sink a ton of money into a car, I want it to be a car I want. I do appreciate the input, but I'm not changing my mind, no matter how frustrating and hard this project gets, I plan on pushing forward. Where there's a will (and cash), there's a way. Haha

Tomorrow morning, I'm ordering a 10pt cage. The company I'm ordering it from said its a 2week turn around. So once it comes in, I'll post some pics of the install.





In the second photo, does anyone know what that metal box with wires going in it is behind the back seat. It's riveted to the floor, I cut the wires removing the interior harness. I'll splice them back together if it's something I need.

 

Have you put together a plan? The plan is the most important part of the build. You need to lay out a realistic budget and time line and stick to it. These types of builds can get so out of hand and drag on so long. You should actual write down your goals and your time line.

Of course you will have unknown but you should be able to write down I want X engine Y turbo, backed up Z transmission, I plan on "A" rear end with "B" slicks and "C" rear suspension. It will be tuned on Joe's Dyno. Picking goals now will help design the car.

All these things affect one another, Type of tires will effect what you should do to the rear and rear suspension as will the type of engine you build. A 650 hp 5500 RPM 502 would need a completely Trans/rear setup than a 650 hp 7500 RPM 327. A few years ago a friend of mine bough a hot rod, you know the fiberglass body 34 Ford without a single Ford part on it. It had a huge set of street league tire on it. On launch the wheel hopped you would not believe. Rear suspension was all wrong for the SB 383. He had a local hot rod shop build him a very solid 4 link, first pass after the rears was fixed the trans blew on and he had to tow it home. This was not a cheap hot rod but it was a car built without a plan.

 

Should've bought a built roller for 4-6k that already has a cage, 9" etc already done. But hey its your project. The wires/box is fuel pump/ABS plug. Why would you cut the wires to the harness? You can unplug and remove every wire in the car without cutting.....I've done it

 

Thanks Socom, The box didn't have a plug, everything else removeed without a problem. I'll, splice everything back together when it comes time. I left enough wire to work with, when it comes to that. As for finding a 4th gen built roller, they're not that easy to come by here in Delaware. I've been looking for a little over a year now, so I decided to find a cheap roller and do the work myself.

As far as a plan Gorn I'm in the process of figuring those details out. The power plant I have narrowed down to 3 options.
- LS2
- LS3
- LQ9/4 (I'm leaning toward this option)
All of which I've found on CL for a reasonable price.

Turbos, not sure the type, size, or brand yet. I'm on the fence with this too. My dad has a supercharger that he's giving me. He's swapping it out for a different setup. Comes with all the piping and inter cooler. Just needs to be rebuilt. I'm in the process of looking in to, if its able to make the power I'm looking for.

The Transmission I'd like to keep the 4L60, since it would bolt up nice and wiring for it is already there, but I've heard horror stories about it not holding up. I came across an article on super Chevy. They recommended a company that builds them to handle 1000+ hp and they run about $4900. I'll see if I can look it up, I'm sure I have it book marked.

Rear is going to be a ford 9", not sure the ratio yet, I'll figure that out when I figure the trans.

Tires are going to 275 or 315's on Weld RT-s's, love that style wheel and they look great on the fourth gen.

Rear suspension is going to the stock torque arm setup, but with BMR, UMI, or Spohn components. All great companies, just depends which one I can get a better deal on.

Front suspension will be lightened K-member new control arms and will match the company I use for the rear. Still figuring out whether I'm switching to coil overs (ride tech) or going with BMR springs and Bilstein struts.

This is what I've planned so far, still got a lot more to figure out, that's for sure.

 

Also, with the 10pt cage installed, would you guys still recommend frame connectors or is that overkill?

 

Frame connectors mandatory. I would go a forged 370" lq4 with ls3 top end, boost of your choice, and TH400 / glide. You'll also need a drag bar in the back too.

 

What is a reasonable price for an LS3?

Well with 275 street tires both the 10 point and the frame connectors will be overkill, I spin my 275's with a stock LS1. You still need to set a budget, estimated HP and you should have a goal ET.

Check out Sloppy Mechanics on you tube. Then check out their website. There is a lot of good information, even detailed tech plans on their website about what LS combos work and what ones don't. If you follow one of their builds you can trailer the car up to Allentown and get Matt to test/tune it. Check out Mark's Back to Back high 7 seconds runs in a car mostly built with junk yard parts.

 

I assume he meant a drag radial. I can burn through third in my ls1 no problem on 275 street tires. If he is spinning a 275 radial pro he might have issues lol.

 

I did not know they made 275 drag radial, my bad.