Gen 1 or gen 2 for for killer street canyon runner?

Greetings, this is my first post here...

I am looking to build a very powerful and good cornering Camaro or Firebird. I have a good deal of expertise with drag cars but little with roundy corner. Due to not wanting to have to mess with smog laws and being from the old school I perfer to make power with carbs, so I need to use a 73 or earlier car and will probably use a chevy motor. So the question is of a first or second generation F body which is a better platform for what I want to do? And should I go with a sbc or a bbc when considering the relationship of power vs weight effect on cornering and braking? Thanks

There's quite a bit of info that should be right up your alley at

http://pub59.ezboard.com/bprotouringgmachines

It's not my intention to discourage you from asking questions here, only to widen your list of potential sources of information. Truth be told, I hope you get more responses to this thread.

Much of the "Pro Touring" segment involves 1st & 2nd gen F-bodies. Understand that some of it is pretty high-$, and that I have no clue what kind of budgetary constraints you need to work around. There's considerable interest in the Pro Touring & G-Machine segment of the hobby for EFI as well as extensively revised suspensions and big brakes. Basically, it's a case of merging the best of today's performance technology with the older cars. Whether that's a function of greater leniency for older cars regarding smog, because it's an old car that can be taught a few new tricks, or simply the 21st century's first version of 40's hotrodding (think classic 30's Fords), I don't know. Anyhoo, you can always pick and choose which upgrades to include in your individual build-up.

If cornering is the main goal, I'd suggest an aluminum-head SBC. An all-aluminum BBC would be another option, though I suspect that if such were a serious contender at this point you'd be asking different questions. Getting weight off the front wheels is as helpful for cornering as it is at the strip, especially if you aren't going to get into things like tall spindles and aftermarket upper control arms right away.

How much power you can actually use depends somewhat on what kind of speeds you're talking about. IMO, at most autocross speeds (~60 - 65 mph tops for most street-tired cars) you would not be able to use BBC levels of power in the appropriate gear. At Silver State Classic speeds, you would. Open-tracking - depends on the course. Remember that however much grip you need for cornering takes away from how much power you can apply for acceleration.

Myself, I'd still be tempted to run something based on the LS1/LS6 with the 4th gen F-body 6-speed in a 1st gen. Over 100 lbs lighter than the classic SBC, probably 75 lbs lighter than a SBC w/aluminum heads. EFI on an older car shouldn't be any more of an issue with respect to smog laws than a big double-pumper.

Norm

The second gen in stock form is probably 'better', the first gen can hardly make U turn and I'm not joking. Driving behind a dually pickup in my 69 Firebird,, I barely made it within 2 lanes, it did just fine.

I prefer the first gen for looks, and weight, I just have no real appreciation for the second gen for some reason, although 70-73 is kinda nice. There is certainly an aftermarket, and there are folks on the board who have done quite alot with them, Teetoe Jones is one person I'd talk to since he is into the pro touring thing, and helped give me an idea on fixing up a first gen for handling, as its always in the back of my mind to own one again.

But, stock for stock I think most anyone would agree the second gen is better.

I think a second gen would be a really cool car to do.
click on 'cars' at the top for some really cool cars: http://www.pro-touring.com/

Overall, stock a 2nd gen has better suspension geometry...but you'llmore than stock for any performance. I'd look into aftermarket front subframes, and the HTH (Hotrods to Hell) rear trailing arm kit. Motor is your choice....

I guess your only limitations are your budget nowadays.....you can almost get a full frame under a 2nd gen if you try hard enough (www.waynedue.com). There are plenty of people now catering to the 2nd gens (and the fact that they're cheaper than the 1st gens) that its easier to use one.

Good luck....

man ive been wanting to find stuff about modding my 79 TA. thank for the links guys. time to do some learning and dreaming

Sometime in the last month the Pro-Touring board moved here (http://66.70.234.198/forum/index.php?).

Norm