this is just a thread about the Kmember swap we did in my friends 99 camaro. lots of pics for you to look at, sorry if you're on dial up... just let it load. (dont worry, all of the pics arnt as big as this first one.)


ok, heres all 3 Kmembers side by side.... up top in the red is the BMR Kmember. the middle is the PAracing one we're installing.... and the bottom one is the stocker.




ok.. when you start to unbolt stuff its pretty easy... front A arm has to come out... steering rack comes out... nothing too hard.
once you have everything under the car unbolted but the Kmember and motor itself.... how do you get the motor mounts off?
support the motor. just take the weight off, dont lift the car by the motor.
pull the alternator off, and you can slide the drivers side bolt out...
the passenger side has the AC in the way... leave the motor mount bolt in, and unbolt the mount itself from the engine.... yea, leave the AC alone.. MUCH easier.
heres how we supported the motor

yea, looks a lil hokey, but it does spread out the weight..... that and the jack didnt reach high enough without somthing....

problem number 1
ok... its off... now for problem number 1: motor mounts.

this is your stock motor mount. notice the tab.....


it hits on the PA racing engine mount.



thats because the stockers and the BMRs, look like this:


see the first LARGE pic in this thread for side by side comparison (see theres a reason its HUGE)

Solution

that tab is just there so you can set the engine in with no bolts in it... not required.
you can just cut/grind/dremel/hacksaw (chainsaw if you're brave) it off....

compare:
before:


after:


ok... so at this point, if you followed my advice above.. you have that one motor mount off, and the other one is still on the motor.
GOOD. look at the one on the motor so that you dont put it back on upside down.... use it as a ref for the one thats off, and stick the one thats off on the Kmember.... THEN unbolt the one off the motor, and cut its tab off.. then reinstall.

all seems good untill... prob2.

problem number 2

the steering rack... its a really. really.. REALLY tight fit.

honestly though.. i think its ment to be that way... after all, you dont want your steering loose.
the rack is held on with two bolts... one is in a rubber bushing, the other is a solid hole.
you're going to need a helper for this one.... the holes wont naturally line up.
with a bolt in the bushing side, it'll look like this:


thats fine... because... you can pry on the thing and push a smaller bolt UP from the bottom..... then put in your stock bolt from the top and tap it in... work on it, and it'll go in.

its a REALLY tight fit.... but in the end, the bushing is very preloaded, and your steering rack is tighter then it would ever be if you just bolted it.

problem number 3

this one, i think was just our Kmember.

the drivers side A arm just wouldnt go in.
we tried. ALOT. with 4 competent car guys there, it took us over 2 hours to get it in. a very frustrating experiance.
heres the problem:
when the back bolt is in, the a arm was too far forward to get behind the front tab..
when the front bolt was in, the a arm was too far back to get the back bolt in.


the solution we eventually came to was to put the front bolt in, then dont pry on the a arm at all to get it in place.. instead, pry DIRECTLY on the rubber with a slimmer prybar.... that got us the last little bit needed to pound that bolt in with a hammer... of course once it was in, everything worked fine.

passenger side went in, in less then a minute.. i lifted it into place just fine, and a friend dropped the bolts in... go figure.

problem number 4
wherein- we learn what PA forgot....
ok, whats wrong with this picture?:



if you guessed " hey, his brake line is sitting in the air not connected to anything..." you're right!

i refer you once more to the HUGE pic at the top of this post... look at the BMR Kmember (red one)... on the outside edge of the top bars, there are these tabs..... look at the stocker... on the outside edge... tabs....... on the PA... NOTHING.

yup, you guessed it.. thoes brackets have nothing to bolt to. so first thought.. we'll spin em around upside down and mount them on the frame right?


WRONG...... the brake line would be too short... hit a bump while turning, and bye-bye brakeline... no. you need a solution that puts them in the stock position...

get out some fab tools...
you need to make somthing like this:


it bolts in the existing Kmember hole... and the mount bolts to it with 1/4" bolts and Nylock nuts..
its now painted GM satin black, and looks stock..... but thats somthing you have to make...
and no, its not symetrical.. you have to make diffrent ones for each side.
heres how i made mine:

materials:

• *sheet of steel from lowes... we got thick stuff... this bracket is STIFF. that finished piece you see there.... well i drilled one of thoes holes into it, with it bolted there. and it didnt flex.
• *4- 1/4" bolts
• *4- 1/4" washers
• *4- 1/4" nylock nuts. (if not nylock, use locktite!!)
• jigsaw with *metal cutting blades
• *sharpie marker
• sissors
• cardboard. i used a K&N oil filter box.
• *1/4" drill bit
• drill bit the size of the Kmember bolts.

total additional cost from lowes was $25.96 items with a * were purchesed there.. everything else we had.

ok... get a reasonable size piece of cardboard/paperboard out.... punch a hole that the Kmember bolt fits thru.
undo the middle bolt. slide the cardboard on it, and hold it into place.
trace out the bracket on it.... then take it off and trace out your bracket shape...
cut it out of cardboard.
make sure it fits.
trace the cardboard template onto the steel
drill the holes.- i only drilled the Kmember and one of the 1/4" holes, then i did the other 1/4" hole on the car so it was perfect.
cut it with a jigsaw.
mock it up and mark where it needs that twist in it.
put it in the vice where it needs to be twisted.
put a piece of wood on both sides of it where it sticks up from the vice.
clamp the wood on it with a C clamp.
twist the wood... that twistes the piece perfectly.

fit it back up a final time... drill the 2nd hole... take it off and paint it..... then you're done.




final notes

make sure to ziptie up the brake line to the Kmember... it has to be secure.. if it can flex, its like a paperclip... it keeps bending back and forth.... until it breaks.

you do get a vibration at idle in gear.... its only there.. otherwise it feels stock.. but its a almost tapping noise.... anyone else getting this? im not positive what it is... but nothing is loose... ideas? is this the vibration people talk about?

the alignment we got was DEAD ON.. we were within .03* when we drove it in... the only thing he had to set was the toe... and thats because we changed tie rod ends.... he could have driven like that forever. however, get yours checked.

overall, it wasnt a bad mod... took a good bit of time, but we kinda BSed around for a few hours.... lol. car drives great.

 

WOW! Thats a lot of info. Im sure a lot of people will find this extremely useful, including myself.

 

Great write-up! Things like this really help the average back yard mechanic. Pics are great too!

 

Looks like that shiny new BMR K-member, has gusseting that
mine does not.

I like how the PA uses a continuous tube from mount to mount
on the front.

But the PA has those back-boxes with corners uncut, even
the cut-corners on my BMR made it so I could not fit my
Random Tech high-flow catted Y-pipe. I would expect more
interference potential out of the PA K-member at that area.

 

nice writup and nice pics. If I get a tubular K i will go with the BMR one now...

 

Good info and Pics! I don't think you are the first to have trouble with a PA K-member, I think you are one out of them all

 

ummm... dont take this as a post of "this is whats wrong with PA, and go buy BMR"


its more of a look at the details that no-one seems to post about.... i dont have to tell you "unbolt this then this then this..." if you're doing it, its obvious..

this is just the gotchas that noone here has posted (as far as ive seen)


BMR is likely to have similar hangups... im putting the other one in, in two weeks.... i'll put a similar post up then.

 

Awesome info...it would certainly help my decision!

 

Nice work man.