tpi 421 vette

After breaking a u joint, several halfshafts, and finally blowing the whole damn D44 case in half, I have gone to a 9". I am just finishing up the interior, everything else is done. I went with all Strange parts, 35 spline race axles, Strange ultra case, a Lenco locker, QA1 coilovers, and a chrome moly 4 link. If the locker gives me problems, I will go to a spool. I reused my stock rear brakes after making a caliper adapter to go between the Strange caliper bracket and the stock calipers. I did have to eliminate the ABS since there is no real place to mount it, and it wouldn't work anyways with the Ford 9". This is a street car, but I mainly use it for drag racing. I am still running a full exhaust, so I had to do a few things different than if it was an all out race car without an exhaust.

Thanks to Hooked Up (Dave) for some idea's for the car, and thanks to Bowtie8 (John) for help with the pictures. There will be more pictures added as it progresses.

Here is the link to the pictures: http://bowtye8.tzo.com/bowtie8/corve..._%20InchTN.htm

red L98

man that is crazy . wow i dont see myself cutting the car up like that , why didnt you go with the way hoover did ? what the price on a setup like that if you dont mind me asking . looks bad ***

NitrousSam

WOW...that looks like it was a ton of effort. I hope the car really does well for you.

CFI-EFI

Very nicely done. I wish you the best of luck with it. See ya in the spring...at the track.

RACE ON!!!

dr.juice

Very nicely done!! It looks awesome. What's the targeted et with this setup??
I see some wheelies in the future!

0ski_dwn_it

Look pretty COOL. Thanks for the sneak peak before.

Sure would like one of them in my car also. Just not enough time to do it myself and not sure I want to drop another 5K into it.

How much ground clearance do you have with the tranny brace? And could you get some more shots of how you wound up routing the exhaust around the rear components. I suppose with the removal of the ABS and other items you gained some clearance. It would be very tough with the ABS still in place. At least I would think so.

Good Job none the less. There is A LOT of work there, and the ETs will reflect it.

curious what you were running last year? And was this the only change with the rear for this year?

I hope it was, I would like to see a comparison of what somebody would do with that conversion as the ONLY mod.

BrianCunningham

Definitely not for the faint of heart!

You know your a drag racer when....


Best of luck with it!

Bowtie8

Looks Great Jim

You'll be one of the first to rip off some 1.4s and 1.3's 60fts with a ZF.

I'll have all the scoop on the 4L80E when your ready to drink coffee going down the track.

John

tpi 421 vette

Thanks Guys. I ran 10.72@132.45 w/1.56/60 last year. I hope to run in the 1.4's, and hope to get in the 10.50's. My previous best 60 ft was a 1.52.

Ski, the crossmember is 1"x2", and is about 1/4" below the exhaust. So it's hanging down about 1 1/4". I was really thinking about running it inside the car, but it would be a nightmare to make it fit around the exhaust. Since those pictures were taken, I have added some supports off the crossmember to make it more rigid. John now has the latest pictures, and they will probably be added soon. It isn't a daily driver, but I will have to be a little careful with the ground clearance.

For now I am running a 4" bullet muffler that dumps in front of the rear end. But I will probably run it to the back of the car. There should be room to Y the single 4" into dual 3" pipes, and run them under the axle tubes. The main reason I used a panhard bar over a track locator was for exhaust clearance. Same reason I didn't add a 1 1/4" tube under the housing from one 4 link bracket to the other. I just want to get the project finished, and I will probably redo the exhaust later.

I also have thought about seeing what difference this has on my et. I was planning on pulling my ac, ps, and adding an electric water pump, but I may have to postpone it to see what this mod does by itself.

comp

Light84vette

That looks pretty good, Do you have any pictures of a close up where the crossmember mounts to the chasiss.

Daffy

Sweeet Looks like the hot set-up to me

jburnett

Because Hoover's car as cool as it is and as nice as the "bolt-in" 9" was it isn't really optimum. You cannot get the instant center or other driveline geometry correct with 4-link bars that short.

Jim, looks great. Holler at me when you get the chance.
-Jeb

red L98

do you have to use a 4 link set up ? can you just run a 9inch with coil overs and Trq arm like the f body?

ralph

Jim, you're almost home........good luck buddy. I wonder how long it will take before i'm buying that off ya....LOL. Probably cost a fortune to ship across the country, but i feel like i'm rebuilding your car here in NY, one piece at a time

tpi 421 vette

Ralph your right... the only thing left I could sell you after all the parts you have bought from me, would be the car itself!!

0ski_dwn_it

Thanks for the information! Yeah if you can, it would be awesome to see that as the only difference and how much ET you gain. I will be a solid .3-.4

It has to be WAY WAY more efficient than the IRS system.

Next time some of you are board in the garage - take a ratchet universay and put it on a drill, and run it at an angle. It will GLow red hot. All those angle, result in friction, and power loss. NO GOOD FOR MAX. POWER.

Great job, I know how much work that must have been and pictures alone, don't capture all the sweat, blood and tears.

mackeyred96

That's a great looking job,

hookedup

Way to go JIM!

Good to see you almost there, it's been fun being able to help and still stay clean

I know there were times when you thought "what have I done to my car?", now it's all worth it.

Looks great, Dave

Won't be long 'til you launch like this:

jburnett

No, you can also use a ladder bar setup but it requires the same floor mods as a 4-link. The F-bodies don't just use a "torque arm and coil overs"; as a matter of fact they are a 4-link design themselves with lower and upper control arms, and a panhard rod for track location. In other words you still have to mount a 4-bar setup; the stock Vette suspension is a 4-link as well but considerably shorter than that of the F-bodies due to more tight confines. When you shorten your control arm (4-link) to the extent necessary to install a solid axle using the OEM mounting points your instant center will never be optimum and will never be able to be MADE optimum because of the abbreviated length of the bars.
-Jeb