shiv15

iTrader: (7)

I'm going with one of the two options following and any opinions or advice would be much appreciated.

A:
VRX5 cam
Fab9 rear / chromoly driveshaft / new rear suspension
Monster level 3 clutch

B:
VRX5 cam
TFS as cast 220 heads
Rear suspension
Monster level 3 clutch

For option A the parts I don't have, tune, and some $ for my friend to help will be roughly 4300-4500.

Option B I'm looking at maybe 2800-3000 for everything including tune and labor.

I already have the cam, clutch, UD pulley, and a new oil pump. Other mods on the car now include LPP headers, TD, fast90, nw90, ftp lid.

Either way my end goal is to have a fab9 and an H/C/I weekend car. I originally wanted to go with the first setup because of safeguarding the rear against more power. But that is a lot of cash for me this spring and logically doing the H/C all at once will be cheaper than cam now heads a year later.

Is it likely I'll break the ten bolt on a H/C car with the monster? Rear has 40k, never had any odd noises, is on street tires, and never launched hard. It only has to last until next winter.

Thanks for the help guys.

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

Based off of what I highlighted in bold, I would say do the heads up front. If you aren't really beating on it, the 10-bolt should hold. It might not be happy, but with street tires, the shock loads will make the tires spin - it is usually when the tires hook that **** breaks. Others have broken the 10-bolt on street tires, but it is far more likely to happen on drag radials and stickier tires.

I built my drivetrain first, and I'll tell you...the rear end is good for peace of mind, but I think I would have enjoyed the extra performance over the extra strength since my car is no longer a daily driver. Plus, since the gear setup from Strange was **** on my 12-bolt, I'll be paying even more to get them to quiet down to an acceptable level. That's a lot of money for minimal performance gain in my books.

JScamaro

iTrader: (6)

I would say do the H/C. Definitely stay on street tires or things may go boom! If you had planned on going to the track a lot and running sticky tires then I'd build the drivetrain.

KCS

iTrader: (20)

Why not do heads and cam together at a later time, and just do the rear end and suspension now?

It's a PITA to swap springs with the heads on the car, and even more of a PITA to set them up correctly (ie checking IH, removing seals, shimming, etc). It would be so much easier to swap and degree the cam and setup the valvetrain with the heads off of the car.

02*C5

iTrader: (1)

If it is not a track car and you are not doing a lot of beating on it or hard launches, the rear end will hold perfectly. Once you designate what type of car it is going to be like an 80/20 street/ track or track/street then do the upgrade on your rear end accordingly.

BriancWS6

iTrader: (18)

I was in this position back in 06. I wanted power like we all do, and I went heads/cam with my 10 bolt. It wasn't until late 08 before I got my M9, and during this time I broke my 10 bolt twice, and it could have been more times than that I just started babying the hell outta it after the first time it went, which was only 3 months after heads/cam, and it went on the 1-2 shift!

To make it last as long as it did, I never got on it at all in 1st, never did a dig race, even on the street, and didn't go to the track. The first time I took it back to the track, it let go again, but I was prepared to buy the new rear by this time.

It really sucked having the power and not being able to use it, and always knowing that it could go at any time.

From experience, get the rear FIRST.

blubyu02

iTrader: (17)

i agree with the above poster (02*C5), heads and cam at the same time if you dont plan on beating on the car, going to the track with H/C and sticky tires is a no no to some ten bolts live longer than others some just simply die with stock power. if you do a 9'' and suspension you are already set-up for whatever H/C you want to go with later if you decided to switch from the current one you have listed. If i had it all to do over again i would of done suspension/rearend first. then picked a h/c/i combo goodluck tho on whatever you decide

shiv15

iTrader: (7)

Off topic, but MeentSS02 were you up in Kalamazoo last summer for a Mifbody gathering?

And to answer some of the other questions. It is a 100% street car. It will most likely never see track time in its life and surely not within the next year anyways. Plus, its not my DD and will most likely see <5,000 miles this summer.

I've read a ton on tech over the last few years and I wanted to upgrade the drivetrain first before power. Doing H/C at the same time here instead of rear/cam, then heads will save me a lot of money and grief (tune, diff PR, etc). But as KCS said, why not do the cam next year? I already have the cam and almost all the valvetrain is free (gift from family member) so there is no point in waiting that long. Basically option B is just adding the heads into the factor for me and expenses like new lifters that a regular cam install doesn't have.

The money that i save between the two packages I planned on just saving towards the fab9.

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

Negative...if you saw my car last summer, chances are it was up on jack stands and sitting in my garage here in Dayton

shiv15

iTrader: (7)

lol oh. I was only going off your avatar pic. Someone had a car that looked similar.

ODAWG

I would do the rear first your never gonna have enough power , so why not give yourself peace of mind, that way you can run whatever tires you want and do whatever mods later, and besides drag radials are worth 2 to 3 tenths (thats 3 cars dude),trust me its a helluva lot easier beating someone out of the hole than playing catch up.

black00ssFL

iTrader: (24)

As any racer would say, it's more fun to drive a slow car fast, then a fast car slow.

Don't put all your money into power and then have to baby it just to save the rear. Buy the rear and pound the living **** out of your car! Like it was supposed to be built for!

shiv15

iTrader: (7)

I understand all of these reasons for doing the rear first but its going to stretch my budget a lot more. Saving $1500 now by doing h/c over rear is a big part of my decision. The plan is to do both, just a matter of when. You guys really don't think a ten bolt can handle the power for 6 months? Its coming out broken or not after that. The car is just a street cruiser not some hardcore race car lol.

I know I sound convinced one way to begin with but I'm trying to look at both sides of the coin.

gmmusclecarman

iTrader: (20)

515rwhp and stock rear and suspension here. No problems with the rear yet but i dont get traction either haha. I have a monster clutch too btw.

98LS1Kid

iTrader: (2)

I am in the same situation as you are. I hate taking away money to put a nice rear in the car when it could be spent on a nice h/c set up and i could get a new rear down the road. I just like to have that piece of mind that when i do want to have some fun I don't need to worry about anything breaking. But unlike you my rear is acting up I get a lot of 1 tire fires around corners and thats just embarrassing and its not worth throwing money into the 10 bolt.

Austinma62

I wish the 9in rear came free with the heads and cam package!!

fatmat80

^^thats wishful thinking!!! i do too!!

TX427

Sure, a H/C car will be funner to drive now. But the fun ends when your 10 bolt goes bye bye and your car sits 'till next winter. It doesn't take a hard launch to juice a 10 bolt. Down shift to pass someone on the hwy, boom! You realize you gotta hurry up and pass this guys to make your exit/turn, snap! You're cruisin' with your girlfriend ( or boyfriend ), someone pulls next to you and wants a run, you're not gonna lose in front your better half are you and be embarrassed are you? HELL NO! Another down shift, this fool's fixin' to get F'd in the A, bang! Get the rear end and have fun with the car, and sleep easy at night. It's the smart thing to do

Lazpno

iTrader: (13)

I did H/C before doing my 10 bolt... at 100k miles. It ran fine for an entire summer of me beating on it every friday and saturday night... a good 4 months before the posi unit was done. That was it, just a posi unit, found out at the track after doing like 4 runs in a row. On the street, it was fine but if it got heated up too much the posi slipped. No breakage or anything like that. Replaced it with a 12 bolt in total, a year after I did h/c. Leave the 10 bolt alone, don't change gears or anything else in it. Just leave it bone stock and do your h/c now. Do the rear as soon as possible after.

Being the fact that the car is a toy, if it does break, you can park it and it won't be a major inconvenience to you.

shiv15

iTrader: (7)

^ that's what I was thinking. I don't plan on touching the ten bolt. And if it breaks, hopefully closer to fall, then I don't have an issue having it sit. Sure its not fun but whatever lol.


While I have everyones attention with this thread would you guys recommend the TFS 220 or a set of 799(identical to 243) castings with a TEA stg2 workover? How close would the power be between the two? Plus, with the 799 I won't need RR so that will save even more $ I can put towards a rear.