I've been stripping my car for maximum weight reduction i can get with it being street legal and still keeping certain things that i want. the car is a street car that i want to tear a$$ on the track (strip and circuit).

I'm to the point that to continue going lighter i now need to spend money and its looking like lots of it as well. I'm putting together a parts list with prices so i can start saving towards specific milestones and goals i set for myself as i proceed on with the car.

this brings me to suspension and chassis. the car will be getting a 6 or 8 point roll bar not cage. i already have sub-frame connectors but they may get replaced as well for newer ones. I'm trying to decide on what parts i should get from what company as i cant seem to find a single company that covers all of it (except for i believe SPOHN) but then again it also boils down to price and quality. i don't care for lowering the car all that much unless i absolutely have to. i plan on getting a set of wheels that i can mount 315s out back and 275s up front and yes I'm swapping over to a pinto manual steering rack (go ahead and tell me about how stupid i am for wanting manual steering and get it out of your systems). also id like to hear everyones choice in brake master cylinder for when i delete my abs, current one only has 2 lines and my abs has 3 coming from it, i do not want to lose front brakes to rears by splitting a line to 2. looking at the c5 brake upgrade and want a master cylinder that will have no problem squeezing the vette calipers up front

the car itself is an lt car that is receiving an LQ4 I'm building in my spare time. i already sold the t56 as i thought i couldn't use it with ls but then come to find out my LQ4 is a 2000 which could've bolted to that t56. that's dead and over with, i have a 5.3 crank coming to switch it over to ls style crank.

im looking for pros, cons, comparisons, story's, and all out information anyone has on all this stuff.

i plan on having my f_body drive legally down the road but feel like a go kart in the corners and still be able to hit the strip and throw down some nice times. i will be happy if it hits low 11s or high 10s with my N/A LQ4(yes i have another LQ4 being built for twin turbos but that's for a different area).

i know there is a lot of stuff to cover here so I'm gonna ask if people will try to stay on task instead of make comments as to why "my build" isn't something you would do

once i can get back on track here and choose my direction im going to go with what parts to purchase i will be starting a build thread going over my weight reduction, suspension, chassis, brakes and everything else that makes a solid roller. winter is coming soon and i plan on using it entirely to build my car to my expectations.

 

Give us a call... we have you covered on all of it.

From the rearend, gears, shocks, roll bar/cage, lightest suspension items on the market and other weight reduction mods... we do all of it right here. The fastest stock suspension f-body cars are all running a full compliment of MWC parts and chassis, and you can have the same!

 

now when you say the lightest it makes me question the durability. do you have any consumer feedback on your products?

 

You have to decide on the weight vs street use. We do make streetable parts, but are a bit heavier than our full on race stuff. What you have to be careful of is there are some vendors here that sell "tubular suspension" that is the same or heavier then the stock stuff. Just because you are buying aftermarket tubular parts don't mean you are losing weight. We offer a few variations of most components to serve the customer for their needs and budget.

Kinda like most subframe connectors sold around here that don't actually connect the subframes together. The rear LCA mount that everyone is using for the rear SFC mount is no where near the actual subframe, and some brands don't even contact the front either! But yet they are still sold as "subframe connectors". MWC subframe connectors do exactly what they are intended for and advertised as.

MWC has a lot of high profile customers with extremely fast cars... likes of Andy Essary(LASTLS1 here), Ohio Boys Racing(6 sec/200mph drag radial cars), Ray Litz(Koolrayz here), Brian Black(SMKN95TA here), Eddie Krawiec, and Ray Bulach(blue99fbody here) just to name a few, but there are a whole lot more. These guys can have pretty much anything they want and choose MWC for all their suspension and rearend needs. Most of them have removed perfectly good working parts that the other vendors here sell and have outfitted their cars with all MWC parts. Feel free to send anyone of them a PM and ask directly how we do.

 

now thats much more comforting. ill try and get ahold of some of those guys and see what they say.

now how much lighter is your "street use" stuff than factory components? im trying to reduce weight but not at the expense of folding a wheel up in my car from a pothole or something else i may meet in the road. even if i cant get significant weight savings, the room i can save will be worth it i think. do you have any circuit designed goods? like i said, i want it to go down the strip but itll spend most its time on the street and more time on a circuit than a 1/4 mile track

 

and btw, i appreciate the prompt responses as well. that means a lot as i cant get anything done on my car without knowing the direction im going with it

 

What you need to figure out is the real direction you are heading with the car. If you are more focused on road course and autocross then there will be a different package then a more street and strip package. It is all very doable, but we need to be sure to get you the right parts the first time.

 

We can help you achieve your goals as well.

Our 4th Gen has been having some good success on the track as of late as well.

Top 5's at Good Guys and Syracuse Nationals.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/18351800-post22.html

As for specifics, our k-member can save 25 lbs, lower front arms a pound per piece and uppers half a pound per piece.

Let us know what you need!

later

ramey

 

sending a PM now to give you a brief description of what the car is and will need to be

 

update guys. this entire plan was met with an extended time out. car is still in the same state. good news is, while I lost anyplace to work on it for the last year and my living situation was completely changed, I managed to pick up a deal here and there.

the powerplant for the car is no longer going to be an lq4. I have acquired a brand new GMPP LS2 for another weight reduction move and hopefully the build yields easier power now that I have no other option than to buy all internals...

I also managed to schedule a custom roll bar for her in the next few weeks. shes going over to a buddies for that as he is a union welder and been drag racing for years and finally decided to start designing roll cages an bars. 5-600 bucks custom built for my car how I want.

after this, I will be repairing the floors in the car my way and doing a few undercarriage mods to make my exhaust plans work better.

haha once the body is repaired properly, I need to be back on task with parts searching. again, this car is still going to be a street legal car built for road race applications. 40% street 60% race. it will see lots of abuse. my biggest concern is suspension... I now have at least 500lbs out of the car with my build which will upset my springs a bit...

who knows spring rates? I need to find out how I select them. I don't need the most comfortable ride more than I need a car that is glued to the road.

so, springs, shocks, k frame, control arms, sway bars, sub frame connectors, torque arm, and if anyone knows the lightest rear end that can take a serious beating, let me know. I was contemplating building an 8.5" 10 bolt for out back...

 

IF you are concerned with handling, and corner exit power down/speed, I would worry more about picking a rear axle that lets you use one of the better road race/a-x DIFFS out there (Torsen T2R, Wavetrac, Platinum Trac, etc.), and be less concerned about the overall weight of the axle.

Supposedly, some of the fabricated 9s let you accomplish BOTH of these goals, and have a Watts Link (and maybe even a full floater) as well.

 

the rear end is foreign to me. ive never done anything with them. it definitely something I will need assistance on in order to accomplish what I want. but overall weight of it and strength is still a concern with the ls2 im putting together and on the handling front I want to keep the unsprung weight down.

can you give me a brief explanation on the different types of rear ends?

 

There is many different choices for rear ends however our fabricated nine inch is the only rear end that has built on brackets for our Watts link. It can also be built to similar weight of the stock 10-bolt. Don't get caught up into drivetrain loss, we've been selling aftermarket rear ends for multiple different applications for many many years and had customers give us feedback and none of them mentioned a 1/4 or 1/8th mile loss and in fact some have gained.

Pictures.

 

its not powertrain loss im concerned with by any means. its the unsprung weight. id like to keep it down as much as possible for handling characteristics on a road course, not a 1/4 or 1/8th mile. im only gonna take it down the strip to see what the swap and weight reduction gain me on a 1/4 mile but I will run the car on a road course. can you explain the watts link?

 

A watts link eliminates the unwanted lateral motion inherent in the geometry of the factory panhard bar and the center propeller of the Watts link is now the rear roll center which ours is fully adjustable up or down.

We offer them in a bolt on version or mounts welded on with our fabricated nine inches.

 

Contact Sam Strano, he'll point you in the right direction. He has multiple national SCCA auto-x wins in his '01 Camaro, if anyone knows how to make these things turn its him.

 

whats his user name?

 

https://ls1tech.com/forums/member.php?u=4237
stranoparts.com
The more specific you are with him the better he can help you.