Driver_10

Ive got a 4th gen camaro that Im doing mini-tubs and a C4 dana-44 irs swap on.

Ive gotten enough clearance now with all of the cutting that Ive done for the mini-tubs and now Im just looking for a way to properly align the IRS axle before I start welding in the mounts for the bat-wing.

Any ideas?

sepsis

iTrader: (7)

Why are you doing this swap?

lees02WS6

iTrader: (5)

Mount the knuckles first. Use a pair of jigs that has a plate with the wheel bolt pattern on it. Get them square to each other and to the body. Ideally you want the 0° of camber and no toe in or out to start with at ride height.

Exactly like this



Getting the rear square in the body is a big challenge. Once you've got the knuckles centered in the wheel well then start on the diff. You'll need that square on both planes so you don't introduce a compound angle at the u-joints of the drive shaft, but also you minimize any divergence on the side yokes (you're going to have some during suspension travel, but it is what is with the c4 irs).

Driver_10

My goal is to lighten the amount of unsprung weight in the suspension. IRS was the next logical evolution. No amount of bolt-on mods will ever achieve this with a live axle.

I had a Moser 12-bolt in the car before set up for street and strip and wanted to make the transition to road racing/ auto-x. The price was right, (about $1,400) so I picked up the dana44 IRS and put the Moser in a 3rd gen project car.

lees02WS6

iTrader: (5)

Fun run/good guys or competitive. If competitive what class?

Driver_10

Im a total novice, so I would prob start out with a local "fun-run". Technical tracks and such are a good starting point to hone yourself. Ill feel it out from there.

lees02WS6

iTrader: (5)

Keep us informed, there are some members here that would like to know the results of an IRS 4th gen in competitive racing. As far as I know you'll be the first 4th gen camaro with an IRS.

Driver_10

PS I would love to have one of those lifts.

lees02WS6

iTrader: (5)

That's actually a guy local to me that did the C4 swap to his E30.

Driver_10

I want to say that there is another guy, so I may be the second or third down. BTW... this car is also receiving a dry-sump, blue-printed turbo v6. The motor wont be too much lighter than an LS (around 370lbs with accessories. Probably around 500ish with the heavy-*** TKO600 tranny) but will place 100% of the weight behind the front tires and closer to the center of the car.

The engine isnt assembled yet, but here are the pics of the prepped block and internals so far.





http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...rpics512-1.jpg









The 3-stage is going on the v6. The 4-stage is going on an LS6 build.

lees02WS6

iTrader: (5)

Good luck with the project. Banshe5 (94 Formula Firebird), 99_Orange_SS (00 Trans Am), and myself (02 Trans Am) all have the C4 IRS in our cars, on this board. There are also three members on thirdgen.org who have it in their Camaros. So, lots of resources for answers about the swap.

v7guy

iTrader: (1)

Looks like a fun project, look forward to seeing the progress

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

Theres something you dont see every day.

Driver_10

Kinda unrelated to suspension work, but this is some other stuff that I've done for the car.

I put together a display using some cheap gauges and some sheet aluminum. I went ahead and "re-purposed" the spot used by the old H-VAC controls.

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I did a little fab work on the otherwise useless cassette holder to accommodate the toggles, meth injection controller and AC controls. The new AC was also fitted into the car. (I got rid of the stock AC because I needed the space for the dry-sump tank.)

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Heres the new AC system. It fits quite snugly against the cowl. Fits like it was meant to be there. It has defrost, foot and vent settings with internal heater core and water control valves built in. The TXV and everything else is built into the compact unit. It should be enough to knock the edge off the heat and keep the windows free of fogging.













Kinda old stuff now, but I like showing the pics

Driver_10

Different question... Has anyone attemped to use the CTS-V, 4-piston rear calipers on a C4 rear suspension?

Ill be using the 6-piston calipers up front and wanted to use matching 4-piston calipers on the rear. I know that its easy enough to adapt the rears for the Z51 rotors and brakes.

lees02WS6

iTrader: (5)

The Street Shop sells a C6 Z06 assembly for the C4 including the rear, complete with the rotor hat integrated drum parking brake. I'm assuming you're going with a prop valve for your brake system?

Driver_10

How much does the "street shop" hat assemblies cost?

edit: I am using a prop valve. The ABS was deleted entirely.

lees02WS6

iTrader: (5)

I honestly don't know, google "the street shop", they make resto-mod frames for older corvettes, with all the modern components. Ask them about the kit for the C4 to C6 Z06 brake upgrade. I haven't had any itch to upgrade the rear brakes, but I researched it just to pass on the information.

Driver_10

I got a bit more work done today. I fabbed up brackets from some 1/8 steel plates and made a simple alignment jig. Ive got the tires true to the center of the wheel wells. Ive got the bat-wing sitting in the car now and will need adjust the diff height. Its sitting about 3-inches too high

lees02WS6

iTrader: (5)

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Mounting the differential first might cause issues for you later on. You have to make sure the toe rods will clear the carrier support (batwing) bolts at full compression. This is not something that is immediately obviously with out the trailing arms connected. It becomes more obvious when they are. If you mount the diff, and it's not exactly where it needs to be using adjustable control arms to fix the problem can create a new set of clearance issues.
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And that the nut and bolt for the upper control arm at the knuckle clears the shock at full compression

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Build the brackets for the trailing arms, reuse the lower trailing arm pockets as a base, and get those knuckles in first






Once you have them square in them properly located in the body, you can get the differential support tack welded temporarily in to place.
Frankly i would box in the spring pocket area, and create separate brackets for the diff carrier, and tack them to the boxed frame temporarily.

note how the corvette has a bracket mounted to the frame rail



This will let you cycle the suspension and ensure everything clears, as well as get your driveline angle straight. Once your satisfied with the alignment of everything, then do the final welding.

note the arc of the suspension travel