Camaro Trans Am, what do you think?

[Dyno247365]

http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/ch...70426403ss.htm

What do you think of taking an old f-body and upgrading it like this? I know the 67 camaros are 38 years old but third gens are over 20 years old, and I'm 20, that's old!

The trans american race cars, for instance, have a new lightweight frame built and use the same body style to a T, so why do it with a different car? Opinions

[tcfco2005]

thats pretty cool....they even have a 91 camaro

[kahjdh]

Thats a 4th generation in the pics im seeing. I think they put an 8 instead 9. Its prob a 95. I wouldnt want a car like that though. For 50k You can get a real nice 69'.

[Dyno247365]

Originally Posted by kahjdh

Thats a 4th generation in the pics im seeing. I think they put an 8 instead 9. Its prob a 95. I wouldnt want a car like that though. For 50k You can get a real nice 69'.

That's why reading the site helps. It's a 1994 kevlar body on a third gen firebird

[tcfco2005]

and if you go towards the top of the page and click on chevy by that little car it will bring up many more cars you can buy....thats where the 91 is

[Dyno247365]

What do you think of using another gen body? Is there an advantage since the third gen has a larger engine bay? It looked like a C4 where the wheels are exposed, I thought that was cool

[tcfco2005]

oh hell ya....i would love to put a thirgen body style on a new corvette or on any fast ass car

[Dyno247365]

Originally Posted by tcfco2005

oh hell ya....i would love to put a thirgen body style on a new corvette or on any fast ass car

I also noticed something else, but this is more preference than fact. I think the wide body LT1 looks nicer than the wide body third gen. A third gen camaro is a car that looks great without being too wide but the motion kit for example, made it look really weird, the body lines went from being straight, to widening. the kit didn't really cover how the front and rear bumper looked. So IMHO, it reminds me of a duck...

Bottom line, wide body 4th gen is smoother.

[Earlsfat]

ummmm... I'm going out on a limb here... BUT, isn't that a tube frame chassis with kevlar body panels, which I understood to be a custom, built-for-racing, track only car. NOT an actual production car that has been modded for racing? He did say it was a pontiac, buick and chevy, right???

Not sure I'm following your point / question. You do know that trans-am is a type of race, don't you???

[Rally Sport]

Yeah I know. Dont really get the question either.

[Dyno247365]

"The car was intially a Firebirrd. Then the car was sold to Flip Grogan and transformed into a Buick V6 Turbo which I believe won Nationally. I purchased it in 1993 and totally refit it and installed a V8 and a kevlar Body."

the car started out as an 85 firebird, was built into a Tran Am road racer, yeah I love the Trans Am racing. I haven't seen the buick he's talking about so I can't figure out how much work he did to the frame and where does it say he used a different frame? All it says is that it's a firebird, that looked like a buick, and now it's a LT1 camaro look alike. I know a composite frame is required in a Trans Am Race car now, but was it required back then(93)?

My question was do you think using the 4th gen body style on a third gen is more benficial, like more space, better CD/aerodynamics. And i guess it also matters, which handles better, the front shocks or the struts? Those are the reasons I see to do this kind of conversion.

one more point to make, if he had a new chassis for it(tubular which it says) then why the hell did he need a real car for it? He could have just built one from the ground up right? so how much is left of the firebird if he took off the chassis..and the body, the engine, is the interior intact? lol, thanks for reading this long ass post!

[Earlsfat]

I think either I am totally in left field or you are...

You don't replace a frame of a car... It never was a production car. It was a race car, apparently designed for a firebird body and engine, etc... someone else bought it and wanted to make it a buick so they got a new body, engine and drivetrain and used the frame he had (maybe modified it a LITTLE), and then this guy wanted a camaro and he did the same thing.

If you've ever seen the inside of one of these... there IS no interior.. it's all bare sheet metal. The body panels are riveted (or something like that) to the tublar chasis. They aren't factory fenders and doors, etc. It's NOT like he went to a junk yard and bought a firebird, dumped 10k into it and the result is the picture you're looking at. That thing was built from a pile of chassis tubing, sheet metal and parts.

Forget the idea that the car you are looking at was ever made on a GM production line, or sold through a dealership.

As far as which body is better... since the chassis drivetrain, powerplant, and everything else is going to be the same, I don't think it would make that big of a difference. You just get a new body and put it on as I understand it.

[Dyno247365]

I understand now, thanks Jim. Are there any road races that you can enter a production model? or are they all built like this?

[Earlsfat]

Someone put up a thread about a race track in northeast PA (Bristol??) that actually opens up the track for anyone who wants to race. It's a real race though... no contact permitted (at least intentional contact is prohibited), you have to have safety equipment, etc. I forget the details, but I willing to bet that there are other tracks that open up for the public too. I'd be afraid of running my baby into a wall though. You're totaly S.O.L. at that point though... insurance won't cover it.

[flatlander757]

Langley Speedway (which is about an hour from where I live) has open track nights on Wednesdays. Once I get all the gremlins sorted out with my car and have it properly aligned/new wheels and tires/suspension stuff done I may enter it. $15 isn't too bad, but there's still the possibility of hitting stuff