1970 Firebird - Pro Touring Project

[jtwoods4]

Originally Posted by carbuff

Just one thing to consider before you finalize this plan (from someone who has one). Make a plan for your exhaust routing before you commit. I run dual 3" pipes under the car and all the way out to the back. The Torque Arm prevents you from tucking the pipes into the driveshaft tunnel. For clearance on mine, about 1/2 of the intermediate pipes was re-made from oval tubing to add clearance.

Note that I don't have the BMR setup, but I don't think it will offer a lot more clearance in the tunnel. I also have a Watt's Link which added to the complexity. You will have to deal with some of that with any coilover setup as compared to the original leafs though...

This said, I like my Torque Arm setup. It just adds to the complexity of exhaust routing and ever having to remove the driveshaft...

Yeah I hear you. The main reason I chose the Torque arm setup is because all the other 3 and 4 link setups require significant fabrication and modification to the rear frame rails / trunk pan. The torque arm setup supposedly provides awesome handling compared to leaf springs but does not require custom fabrication to install.

What setup did you uses and what rear end?

[carbuff]

I have the JRS Apex torque arm setup. Eric did some work on the front mount to allow it to do double duty as my transmission mount also. This TA is a heavy sucker, and the Watt's Link creates some nice challenges for exhaust routing. Here is one example: you can see most of the welds in this one tube, although I think there are 2 others behind the axle (at least 1 for sure).



Somewhere I have a bunch of recent pictures of the entire underside of the car. I'll try to dig those up if you're interested... They must be on my phone.

[jtwoods4]

That would be great. Other than exhaust routing, which can be overcome with a custom exhaust pipe install, what other issues did you encounter with the torque arm setup? Were you able to run a 3.5 inch driveshaft?

[carbuff]

Off the top of my head, I cannot remember for sure if it's a 3.5" or 4" driveshaft. But you should be able to fit either. There's a pretty good amount of height above my torque arm to the driveshaft...

I'll work on finding those pics.

[jtwoods4]

Thanks

[jtwoods4]

Oh my god, and just when I thought my decision was final I saw this on the speedtech site..... full front and rear kit... looks kit ass

http://www.speedtechperformance.com/...prod/prd50.htm

[Panteracer]

I have the speed tech setup but no spindles
yet. Works pretty good

Bob. Dreaming Ta's 70 bird

[jtwoods4]

Originally Posted by Panteracer

I have the speed tech setup but no spindles
yet. Works pretty good

Bob. Dreaming Ta's 70 bird

"Pretty Good".... Its not totally awesome?

[OLDFLM]

I have BMRs Torque Arm on my car with 3" exhaust out the back...





I also have BMR's upper and lowers as well as their sway bar up front.

FWIW a 440-stroker = 4.185" x 4" bore/stroke = a LOT of fun!!

[jtwoods4]

Originally Posted by OLDFLM

FWIW a 440-stroker = 4.185" x 4" bore/stroke = a LOT of fun!!

Funny you mention that. I was planning the exact same engine build