best full chassis or sub frame for high hp 68 camaro

[bret loibl]

I have a guy that has a procharged ls engine/transmission combo that makes right at 1100hp. He has at this point stock 68 Camaro that he wants to put this engine in. He was looking at the art Morrison max g chassis but was concerned about the amount of fabrication to install a complete chassis. I know that Schwartz,chassisworks, srg,and roadster shop make complete bumper to bumper frames but is this needed..What is the thoughts on say the AME gt sport front and rear clips with connectors of course or any of the many other front and rear sub frame sections?....He wants the car to be a nice driver that can handle the hp he has. He has no plans for autocross but would do a couple laps down the strip. Obviously this will take some coin to do so he is trying to find the options available to achieve this goal any thoughts would be helpful Thanks

[Schwartz Performance]

Hi Bret,

There's a few other things to consider.
Aftermarket front and rear subs are decent and do increase strength, but you'll definitely need subframe connectors.
Additionally, something to triangulate the structure (upwards) will help tremendously- ie a roll cage. At least a 6 point will help.
Our chassis as you already know supports the engine/Trans/suspension completely and is one continuous piece for better strength than subframe connectors.

If you look at the costs of a front and rear plus the labor to do subframe connectors and such, it may be just as much money to just go a full frame route.

It's likely that the car won't get traction with a supercharged 1100hp engine, so yes "maybe" it'll be fine with what you're talking about.

I'm a little biased of course so hopefully some others will chime in :)

-Dale

[Rod]

If I was shopping for a real full frame, not a front and back solution bolted together, I would look to Schwartz, the boys over there make damn good stuff....just my opinion

[dhutton]

I think the Art Morrison full frame or front and rear clips (with welded in subframe connectors) are likely both good choices, especially if you add their new multilink IRS into the mix. I believe David Pozzi said he has seen the future when he installed it in Mary's car. They rate it at 1400 hp with the Dana.

Don

[Auto Rod Technologies]

I'd look at the schwartz and I would have to consider looking at a roadster shop chassis but those are in a completely different price zone.

[PRRC]

Roadster shop chassis would be our choice.

[Ben@SpeedTech]

A car with a pro touring based rear suspension likely will have issues hooking at the drag strip. But a car with 1100 hp will hook fine all day long if you set the suspension up correctly for hooking at the drag strip. Blake's 69 Camaro test car runs a factory subframe with Speedtech front suspension and has run 8.90s with about 1000 hp big block. It also pulls the wheels 4 feet off the ground. Our subframe is plenty strong, is lighter than a factory frame, and of course allows coilover shocks, all benefits for a car like the one you're building. To the best of my knowledge our subframe has the most amount of geometry adjustability available.

Considering the specific needs of this particular car with a Speedtech frame you have even better street drieveability and better handling over a factory subframe, and saves weight which translates to weight transfer to the rear and better traction.

With that kind of power at the strip, he will be kindly asked to leave after his first pass down the 1/4 if he doesn't have a full roll cage rated to the times the car puts down. Right there the full frame compared to half a frame deal goes out the window as the cage will be doing a great deal of the chassis strengthening. Particularily when using a roll cage we've found in our Nova and some of the Camaros we've built simply integrating "frame connectors" into the floor pan has been sufficient. Blake can share more insight on what this means.

Blake's car is tubbed with a dedicated drag race 4 link rear set up in his car. BUT I also have a friend back east that runs 8.90s in his 73 Nova with leaf springs, cal tracs, 8.5" wide rear slicks (!) and a front subframe. He runs in the outlaw 8.5 series and his Nova can literally drag the rear bumper on launch. Important point here- All of the frames you mentioned focus specifically on improving lateral handling. You mentioned the car will be a driver, never autocross, and run down the 1/4, so why are you thinking to buy a pro touring full frame suspension for it? In my opinion and having come from a drag racing background, putting 1100 hp on a drag strip in a car that isn't designed for launching hard and stable high speed straight line driving is not a bright idea, it kinda puts everyone in danger when you hit 3rd gear and the tires break loose at 130 mph.

Again for decent street manners and to save weight take a look at our frame, it's a great value for what it is. It also looks cool when you pop the hood, sounds like the car you're building deserves something visually cooler than a stock subframe under it. If the guy wants to get into serious autocross racing down the road he's likely no farther than a shock, wheel and tire change and he's ready to roll.

In November for our monthly special we're also throwing in free AFX spindles when you buy a complete subframe kit. Check out the details on the frame here- Speedtech Subframe (http://www.speedtechperformance.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=8/category_id=23/mode=prod/prd8.htm)

Hope this info gets you thinking about what the car really needs.