Let the mods begin...to wife's 95 TA :)

[2QUIK6]

Well the modifications have finally begun on my wife's '95 TA.
I was afraid she would never drive it again once I touched it.
So far I've been working on getting the suspension up to par with a new adjustable torque arm and tunnel brace, adj panhard rod, panhard rod support, new KYB AGX adjustable shocks.
Still to go are welding in sub-frame connectors and boxed LCAs.
Have some new Simmons rims on order with 17x11 on the rears with 315 meats. Lloyd Elliot ported heads, .597/.583 lift 236/242 cam and LT4 port matched intake are already sitting in the closet and true dual exhaust w/Kooks LT headers.
Here's some pics of the underside so far.
http://hometown.aol.com/onebadwskier/images/95-Xbracebroadview.jpg
http://hometown.aol.com/onebadwskier/images/95-torquearm.jpg
http://hometown.aol.com/onebadwskier/images/95-panhard.jpg

The relocated panhard support was only used to give more clearance over the rear axle for the dual exhaust routing.

 

[72firebird]

Just wondering but how do you plan to run true duals with that torque arm mounting? And what size piping? X-pipe? H-pipe? I'm wondering cause my brother wants to get a torque arm like that but they don't make them for his 98 TA that will allow for it. His car is also lowered which doens't help.

 

[2QUIK6]

Just wondering but how do you plan to run true duals with that torque arm mounting? And what size piping? X-pipe? H-pipe? I'm wondering cause my brother wants to get a torque arm like that but they don't make them for his 98 TA that will allow for it. His car is also lowered which doens't help.

This is a Spohn torque arm, and they make one specifically for Long Tube headers which is what I have, the only difference is the tunnel brace allows for more clearance...notice it does sit down about 2" lower than it normally should. This car is not lowered and the tunnel brace does scrap on occassion on speed bumps and steep angled driveways.
As far as the duals routing, this pics shows the clearance for the driver side pipe to crossover to the pass side by going over the "X"-brace and under the tranny tailshaft.
http://hometown.aol.com/onebadwskier/images/95-Xbraceside.jpg

It will then meetup with the pass side pipe and I will make the 2 pipes blend together just briefly as they pass thru the tunnel brace (this will be the 'X' pipe) and then as you can see from this pic, there will be plenty of room for both pipes to run side by side just under and to the side of the driveshaft (maybe even welded together) all the way to the rear axle.
http://hometown.aol.com/onebadwskier/images/95-torquearm.jpg

I was planning to use 3" piping at least to the cats, and then maybe 2.5". I've seen similar customer built duals on the f-body boards and some used 3" all the way back.

Let me know if you have have any questions about it as I've probably already asked or investigated it on the f-body boards.

 

[2QUIK6]

Here's the Spohn torque arm that will fit his '98 with LT headers
http://spohn.net/product.cfm?productid=1329
They also make this one for the stock Y-pipe
http://spohn.net/product.cfm?productid=1473
Only difference is the bent tunnel brace that allows for more space...with a lowered car, he might could use the one designed for the stock Y-pipe and blend the 2 pipes together like I'm planning to do.

BTW, this torque arm bolts to the tunnel brace instead of the tranny tail shaft to reduce undo stress on the tranny, some have broke the tranny tailshaft when the hp is upped. This will cause a little more drive train noise to come thru the floorboard since is bolted right under you to the floor.

oh, and I made the "X" brace part that is welded to the tunnel brace and bolted to the tranny support...there is originally a stamped steel "X" brace/tunnel brace part that is on the convertibles.

 

[turbosam6]

Any plans to upgrade the rear end?

Also, just an FYI, I used to be into the LT1 stuff and it seemed like alot of guys had problems with spun bearings and such after a heads/cam swap, something to do with the block distorting after the heads were torqued? Like I said, jusy a warning. Good luck with it!

 

[2QUIK6]

Any plans to upgrade the rear end?

Also, just an FYI, I used to be into the LT1 stuff and it seemed like alot of guys had problems with spun bearings and such after a heads/cam swap, something to do with the block distorting after the heads were torqued? Like I said, jusy a warning. Good luck with it!

If the hp is there after the heads/cam, the rear end will be upgraded, not sure what I will be going with though.
Never hear of the problem you describe. I have an LT4 motor in my truck pushing around 355hp to the rear wheels in its current tune, has seen 380+rwhp before but it detuned for daily driving and towing and haven't had a problem one in 2.5 years with the stock bottom end.
The heads/cam combo I bought from a good friend who had them on his Corvette and it produced 446rwhp N/A without any said bearing problems but was not with the stock crank/rods/pistons. Some other LT1 guys I hang with have Nitrous fed motors producing 651rwhp and 808rwhp and no bearing problems, but none of which have the stock crank/rods/pistons.

I'm not going into this blind, a buddy of mine owns operates a speed shop specializing in LT1 and LS1 performance work and has an in-shop dyno.

 

[turbosam6]

Hope it goes well then, its just something I heard years ago.

FWIW, I destroyed my stock rear in my LT1 car twice with maybe 300 hp and street tires. They are like glass. Thats why my 2002 has a 12 bolt.

 

[sixgun86gn]

So how does your wife like it so far? I bet it handles alot different now.

 

[Rodney87GN]

Looks good so far. I wasn't even aware Spohn made a torque arm to clear long tubes! I was gonna mod my wife's 95 Z28 with LE1 head/cam package, MAC midlengths, Madwolf tune, etc...but I just bought this GN instead so that'll have to wait for now.

 

[2QUIK6]

So how does your wife like it so far? I bet it handles alot different now.

Well, she wasn't real happy about the new drivetrain noises you hear from the torque arm being bolted to the floor board....but the X-bracing I did last w/e seems to have eliminated alot of it. But then the tunnel brace scraps the ground on steep driveways and things, that bothers her.....maybe I'll take it all off and put it on the '99 TA...that will keep her from driving it The rear shocks I put on made a huge difference, KYB AGX adjustables. I have new front struts, just don't have time right now to take the whole front suspension apart to put them on...GM could not have made it harder on these cars.

She's still tripping out if I do any motor work to it..so that will have to wait a while.

 

[85HOT-T]

I had a friend with a '94 Z, he had the 2 into 1 exhuast with the 3 stage flowmaster. I thought that that thing was the 2nd baddest sounding LT1 I have ever heard. Oh yeah, and no cats. The best was a true dual strait pipe. No cat no muffs. Thought I would add my 2 cents.

 

[John Larkin]

Note to file: Don't mess with wife's car. They hear enough noises on their own that can never be duplicated when you are in the car.

 

[sixgun86gn]

Note to file: Don't mess with wife's car. They hear enough noises on their own that can never be duplicated when you are in the car.

John ,you nailed that one on the head.

I doubt Rob's wife is that way though,she is cool.She sometimes drives a real nice manual trans 79 TA wih a 400 poncho in it.So I am sure she is used to some noises here and there.