hello all. it's been about a year since selling my 94Z. i turned to the darkside for a while and went with an 03 Ford Lightning (don't worry, my other two vehicles are chevys, i just needed something that could tow and drag race). been bracket racing it this year and while it's pretty fast (8.1 @ 84.5 in the 1/8th) with very minimal mods, it's very inconsistent due to the supercharger. So now I am considering my options for a true drag car, something for Footbrake classes (non electronics) that runs consistent mid 7s in the 8th (11s in the quarter) and will last for many passes and many years.

I was thinking about a 4th generation firebird/TA or camaro. It would NOT be driven on the street so that opens the door a lot. I'd pull the LT1 out and put something else in, carburated most likely, crate motor or something, strip a lot of the interior, maybe tub it some, heavy duty rear end, bulletproof auto trans, full rolll cage. i'm not dealing with the LT1's ignition system and I don't want to learn to tune the ECM. So my question is what would you guys do? I'd love to see anyones cars who have done this already and what their setup is. A major question I have is could I just get a V6 body/frame since I'll be pulling the drivetrain and powertrain out anyway? What would is a bulletproof transmission for these cars? I guess the dash cluster would become totally useless or could that be rigged to work for say the tach and speedo (probably doesn't matter). How much would you guys estimate a setup like this would cost?

Thanks for any input or pointing me in the right direction.

 

Since all you are interested in is the 4th Gen chassis, intent on ditching the LT1, this thread doesn't belong in "LT1/LT4 Engine Tech". Moving to "General F-Body Tech......."

And just to help you out..... here's a link to photos of a 97 SS convertible, running a 1,350HP Vortech blown 383 Gen 1 smallblock. Not exactly what you want, because its fuel injected, using a MoTeC setup, but it might give you an idea of what can be done.

http://cjcfo.fbody.com/members/injun...l.com/GeorgeB/

 

I have a buddy with a '94 Camaro with a fully forged 383 and a D1 supercharger running 12lbs of boost. TH400 tranny with reverse shift and a trans brake. I don't know all the details, but I know it's fully race prepped and runs high 10's in the quarter on slicks.

Engine currently out with a blown head gasket, and he's taking the opportunity to get it closer to ten flat (nitrous, a couple more pounds of boost). He plans to sell it when it's done (funding the next project).

He's on an aircraft carrier somewhere in the other hemisphere right now, but I can email him. Interested?

 

thanks fellas. i'm definitely going to go naturally aspirated for consistency. really need to be able to predict within 2 hundreths or better what she'll run each pass.