First Gen Camaro Swappers, what is your engine angle???

[67Soto]

Hello HOPE THIS IS IN THE CORRECT FORUM....
Okay so I got my Doug Thorley headers installed and they look and fit great! The step tube design is awesome, ceramic coated stainless steel, and clearance around the steering box is great. I was working with another customer who bought a set of these headers and we were discussing engine angle so this prompted me to double/triple check everything. I found that the tailshaft was about 4.5 degrees negative, ideally I would like to have about 2-3 degrees from what I have heard. SO...


This started another can of worms. I decided to jack up the trans to achieve the 3 degrees and I found a bolt from the forward shifter plate was hitting the retaining bracket for the original shifter hole (67 only had these reinforcement plates). I was still not getting the desired 3 degrees so I decided to order the shorter 302/350 Z-28 frame stands and give those a shot. We installed those and the headers are closer to the steering than I would like but still should clear and are NOT hitting the box. It also did not give me much more of an optimal engine angle with the lower frame stands (dropped about 1/2" up front). However, I can now jack up the back of the trans closer and get around 2-3 degrees at the tailshaft. I am wondering if you all think it is work all the headache to keep the short stands etc. If I go back to the tall frame stands I can achieve 4 degrees down and maybe jack up the rear of the trans to get closer to 3 if necessary (just not the 2-3 degrees desired). Please let me know your thoughts on this as I am wasting precious vacation time on this task when I should be cutting/fitting patch panels for the trunk area. Thanks everyone...


Pics:
Angle finder zeroed on front of subframe frame horn



Angle finder on valley cover:





Header ground clearance is great!







Header Steering box clearance with tall frame stands:






Difference in frame stand heights (I kept the short wide motor mounts on the lower Z-28 stands to drop the engine down, you should use tall/narrow with the shorter stands to compensate but my goal was to lower the front of the engine)


Tall stand





Short stand:



I don't have any current shots with the short stands installed to show header to steering box clearance but it is close. I prefer the tall stands for clearance of everything but that puts me at 4 degrees down. Do you all think that I can get away with 4 degrees? What is your downward angle for those who have swapped LS1/T56 into a first gen? Do you have vibrations? I will be lowering the rear of the car 3 inches and the front 3 inches as well. Any advice would be great.

[67Soto]

Really no reply and so many views? Maybe this is in the wrong forum?

[Peter Mc Mahon]

I personally don't worry too much about the 3 degree thing. I'm not sure but I think this stems from carbed intake manifolds being designed with that as an average. I would not bother changing what you have. But when you set it, you want it at ride height front and rear.. hope this is of some help.

[Todd in Vancouver]

Very interesting but I took for granted that the TCI frame I installed is already set where it needs to be. Just curious but if you install a rack & pinion would it give you a better clearance?