Table of Contents:
Page 1: Exterior Modifications
Page 2: Suspension Mods/ Plans
Page 3: Engine, Exhaust Mods
Page 4: Interior/ Stereo and Mods
Page 5: TCFBA Meeting Pictures
Page 6: 2009 F-Body Pictures
Page 7: TCFBA F-Body of the Month
Suspension Mods and Plans

Spohn Home
Mods so far:
1. Spohn Combo end (rod end/poly bushing) adjustable tubular panhard bar
2. Spohn Tubular steering brace (wonder bar)
3. Spohn 25.4mm slolid chromoly rear sway bar, all poly bushings (replaced with GM 24mm)
4. Rear 1LE 11.5" disk brakes
5. Eibach Pro-Kit Springs
6. All wheel Hawks HPS brake pads (replaced with Performance Ceramic rear and OEM LS1 for the time being)
7. Rear Koni Yellow shocks
8. 1LE 36mm hollow front sway bar with all polyurathane bushings
9. Spohn Polyurathane Ended LCAs (replaced with home made aluminum rod end/rubber end)
10. Front KONI Yellow Struts
11. J&M Camber Caster Plates
12. Replaced Spohn LCAs with custom aluminum LCAs
13. ZR1s in 17x9.5 front/rear (275/40ZR17 BFG g-Force Sports)
14. Spohn Weld-in Tubular SFCs
15. Spohn Weld-in LCA Relocation Brackets
16. Polyurathane Front lower control arm bushings
17. LS1 Front brake conversion

Planned mods:
1. Ground Control Weight Jacks
2. Lee Manufacturing rebuilt steering box

These are some pictures of my aforementioned wonder bar and adjustable panhard bar. (Wonder bar is the shorter one, on the left.) This is what I mean by performance mods... not the engine.

Here is my new rear sway bar. It is a Spohn (as usual) 1 inch chromoly sway bar with polyurathane bushings and tie ends. The second is a side view that includs the sway bar and the panhard bar.

New (red, duh) sway bar is alot beefier and is much stronger. I did away with the oversteer and developed some understeer. Now I am tring to get rid of that. It never ends. I replaced this sway bar with a GM 24mm. The combination of the 36mm front and 25mm rear resulted in throttle oversteer. The GM bar allows for a much more balanced car.

Here is a picture of my new rear end for my car. It is a bit dirty and rusty. I am going to grind it down to the bare metal and use several coats of Rust Control paint. That way, it looks in place with the rest of the new suspension stuff that is going in.
10-19-2005
Got the power grinder today. No more rust by Saturday. Pix then.

I ordered my new brake pads a couple of days ago. The pads are Hawks HPS from Thunderracing.com . I have been told by many that they brake great, don't fade, and are pretty easy on rotors. For $65 just for the rear, I hope they are good.

Eventually,I want to get WilWood 4 piston brakes for the front. They are on a 13 inch rotor to offset the 12 inch in the rear. They are going to be a tight squeese in my stock 16 inch wheel, but I have seen it in real life, and it looks impressive.

11-11-05
I finally got the rear painted and installed.

The bad thing about it is that is a 4th Gen rear. The 4th Gens were a little wider in the rear of the car that the 3rd gens, so the rear end is longer from wheel to wheel. That means that the wheels stick out a little on each side. I went a road trip to Parris Island SC this week and the car was loaded pretty heavy. So, the wheels wells rubbed alot on the wheels. I am planning to replace the springs ASAP to fix that. I am also going to clean up the rear bars soon. They look bad with the clean black differential. I learned something interested while he was taking it off. I had overtightened the end links on the rear sway bar. The bushings were smashed and one of the endlink bolts were stripped. That is why my rear was feeling loose.

One of my favorite parts of the rear (other than it being a posi and geared lower than the stock 2.73s) is the disk brakes. They are much smoother than the drums, brakes better and are a WHLOE lot quieter (drums needed wheel cylinders and shoes). They seem not to fade either. Well, at least not yet. Look at the difference between the 1LE rears (12") and the stock RS fronts (10.5").

Pro-Kit springs, new end links,correct speedo gears, new ball joints going in next week.

Ok, finally got them in. Improvements all around. The steering is much less sloppy and more responsive. The ride is better and the cornoring is much better. The car has less body roll and seems to be going slower when I am handling at high speeds. The sway bar (new endlinks) actually doing what it is supposed to, so that helps. All in all, I am very pleased.

I got a WS6 36mm front sway bar. Painted it red to match, got some poly bushings and installed it. I am happy with it. Wanted the Spohn, but I bought a WS6 Formula Firebird parts car. Turns out the WS6 bar is lighter but just as stiff (if not stiffer) than Spohn part. The downside of the large Spohn rear bar is that once I got the front bar and KONIs on, it made the car want to oversteer. I plan to go to a smaller bar. I currently have a 19 and a 24 solid GM bars. Kept what I wanted from the parts car, and sold the rest. I kept the glass t-tops, the fast ratio steering box and the front/rear sway bars.

Here is a pair of pictures. First is from sometime in July or August. Before the springs, shocks, and rear end. Second is a picture with the listed mods. Stance is lower in the rear, and more level than before. Overall, a better look, in my opinion.

Ok, I got some used Spohn LCAs. They are dual polyurathane ended and squeak in the winter (or when not greased) and bind from time to time. I'm thinking on selling these and making some of my own. Pics:

My Christmas '06 (well, part me/part Christmas):
I got the front KONI SA Yellows and new J&M camber/caster plates.
Pictures of the J&M plates

 
 
Installed pics:

02-25-07

I decided to sell the the Spohn LCAs and build my own set. These are hollow aluminum. One end is right hand threaded and the other is left handed. You can adjust them while on the car by loosening the jam nuts and turning the tube. One end is a QA1 rod end and the other is a rubber bushing for nicer ride.
Unassembled:

Rod end with spacers:

Rubber end:

I had to get new hardware for the new ends. These are 1/2 inch diameter bolts, Grade 9. Also had to cut the reducers for the rubber ends to fit.

Pics of the new rear tires and the clearances around them:

My front a-arm bushins have started to pop, indicating they need replacing. I wanted to replace them with the Del a Lums from Global West, but they are a little too pricey for the other mods I have budgeted for this summer. So, I went with some Energy Suspension polyurathane pieces.

Here are some pics of my Spohn LCA relocation brackets and weld-in SFCs. Really glad I finally made both of these modifications. I also installed a GM 24mm rear sway bar in place of the Spohn 25.4.

I'm planning on upgrading my front brakes. My Hawks pads are on their way out and I'm pretty sure I'll need new rotors. I decided to go with the WilWood kit offered by Ed Miller on TGO. They consist of a 4 piston WilWood caliper and a 13x1.25 inch rotor. I am getting Ferodo DS2500 brake pads and ATE "Typ 200" brake fluid. According to Ed, they will fit in the stock 16 inch wheel. I'll be using the spindles from my parts Firebird to modify to fit the caliper brackets and rotors to make hubs for the rotors to slip over.

Well, I did upgrade my front brakes, but it's not the upgrade I really wanted. The calipers on the front of the car weren't functioning properly and they destroyed my front pads. Near the same time, I found a wrecked 02 Z28 at a local junk yard and got the front calipers, pads, and rotors all for $100. So... I get this....

Parts cost: (Estimates w/shipping)
Sway bar: $165
Panhardbar: $175
Wonderbar $75
Flowmaster and installation: $175
Rear end: $300 even (picked it up)
K&N air filter: $45
Hawks HPS pads: $65.56 (recent enough to remember)
Eibach Pro-Kit and
new rear sway bar endlinks $292
Parts Car: $150 (got it for the fast ratio
steering box and the 36mm sway bar, glass
t-tops, etc)
Front Sway BarBushings and enlinks, $75
Rear Lower Control Arms and relocation Brackets,
$200
Koni Yellows: around $700
J&M Camber/Caster plates: $180