oops.....

No . . . f*cking . . . way!?!?!

You, sir, are my hero.

Go run and hide BAN3:_paranoid

Ancient Chinese secret huh? The rear link bars are only an illusion. Do not believe your eyes.


There's a reason you can't see the full pic of the rear. :unibrow:

how much modification of the body is needed to fit the frame? I see you retain the original rear frame rails. Will you be using the stock shock mount locations in the rear?

I had a similar idea of doing a chassis for second gens when I was in college, but decided that integrate the frame into the body would yield a stronger application since the body is designed as a structural member being a subframe platform. However your frame seems to be 'slightly' more rigid than what GM had designed. Great work in any event. Will this frame work on all second gens are just 75-81 as the 70-74's have a narrower subframe b/c they did not have cats yet.

No body mods to make the frame fit the car. If you wish to min-tub to get 12.5 inch wheels back there, no problem. The shock mounts are part of the chassis and use a coil over or an Air-Ride setup. Jeff's T/A will use the Air-Ride on all 4 corners. With this design, you retain the ability to use the stock fuel tank. I will have to ask him about the narrower subframe issue on the 70-74 cars.

Will fit all 1970-1981. We do not use stock shock mounts.
Dedicated web page for this project:
www.schwartzperformance.com/TTtransam.htm

Jeff:

I really like your chassis, and the Trans Am you are building.

If someone wanted too do away with the subframes altogether and sit the body directly onto the chassis to lower the center of gravity as much as possible, it that something you could do?

If so, do you think it would have a big effect on the handling of the car?

Put another way:
(I guess channeling would be the right term. Say you wanted to have 5.0 inches of clearance for running at the track and from the side you didn't see the frame rails/Tubes.)

What would be involved in doing this other than removing the original frame rails and redoing the floor?

Have you done this, and what effect did it have on the car?

Thanks,

Ty

Ty, What we're doing is creating a stiffer, stronger foundation to attach your suspesion to. No matter how good a subframe, the floor still flexes at it's attachment points. With a full frame there are more attachment points and the load gets spread over a wider area, less flex, better. We designed it to not cut the floor as that doesn't fit everyone's capabilities or budget.
As far as channeling the body over the chassis, There is some advantage due to lowering the CG. OUr chassis could be welded into slots cut in the floor.
If the body is too low on the chassis then one needs to add humps on the top of the fenders, and the wheel wells need to be raised, like Bob J Cuda, so the tires dont hit. To do all this cost's a lot of money for a tiny benefit. Happy to do it for the right customer.
Jeff

Finally got around to setting up a dedicated page: http://www.schwartzperformance.com/TTtransam.htm
This car will hit the street early this summer and serve as a demonstrator for the chassis, engine, brake, and other products we have and sell.