exline

I was just wondering how many places make the C4 suspension conversion for the C2 or C3 .either convert the original frame, or a new frame.
anyone have any experience with any of these guys? how was it? what would you like to have done different?
thanks

JohnZ

SRIII Motorsports makes a tube frame for the C2 that uses C4 suspension - John McGraw is building one - he'll chime in if he sees this.

John McGraw

Yep, I am building my second SRIII framed car rght now, and I think that Mike Stockdale builds the best value in a custom chassis.
Newman will rework your existing chassis, but a good chassis will bring $2500-$3000, and then you have shipping both ways on top of that.
The SRIII chassis comes out at least $2000 less expensive than reworking the stock frame, and I like it better than the stock design as well. Mine uses C5 front and C4 D44 rear suspension with a LS2 powerplant and a 4L65E trans. You do have to cut away the tool wells and modify the rear floor a little to clear the rearend.
Here are some pics of both of my SRIII chassis projects:

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubgallery.asp?id_=339303


Regards, John McGraw

Islander21

John, I know you sprayed it with black gelcoat on the outside, but what's that you sprayed on the inside?

1coolC2

I also chose the SRIII chassis for the same reasons John mentioned above. As he says...it's not a "bolt on" deal. There is allot of work to this type of conversion but certainly worth the effort. Like John, mine uses C5 front C4 Dana 44 rear. I opted for a LS7 and T56 to push mine around Here are a couple of shots of mine in the earlier stages.

vstol

I have also looked at Jaminson's frame and it looks very simialr to the SRIII frame

John McGraw

Ferdy,

That is called Lizzard skin. The streetrod guys swear by this stuff, but I have never used it before. It is a ceramic, water-based spray-on insulation, that they claim will drop interior temps by 20-30 degrees. It is thin, and the reccomended thickness is only 0.040". I sprayed a 0.040 layer on both sides of the passenger compartment, and only time will tell how good it is.
When I first saw it a couple of years ago, I lumped it together with all the other snake oils being sold out there, but after so many people have told me that it is good stuff, I figured I would give it a try. I will tell you that I sprayed a piece of sheetmetal with it, and put that peice of metal and another peice of uncoated metal out in the sun with the bare side up toward the sun. After baking in the sun for an hour, I could not handle the uncoated peice, but the coated piece was barely warm on the insulation side. The un-insulated side was just as hot as the uncoated piece. Only time will tell! I am going to fabricate heat shields for the exhaust pipes as well, and that should help. When I have the 2 1/2" stainless pipes mandrel bent, I will have some 3" pipes bent to match the centerline of the ehaust pipes, and will fabricate some stand-offs to hold them above the pipes. This should reflect a bunch of heat back away from the floor, and GM did this same thing, to a more limited degree on original C2 exhaust systems.


Regards, John McGraw

Islander21

Ah! I had my suspicions that 's what it was. I saw their website about a year ago and decided I was going that way. Problem is I don't have a distributor in town (Orlando) and the shipping costs are a bear. I think it goes for about $190 for the 2gal tub, right? What did you use to spray it? I have an old spray gun that may do the job, certainly don't want to spend $140 for their sprayer. I wonder if it rolls OK as well as I want to put some inside the doors. I look forward to seeing pictures of your sidepipe installs and fabs.

Cheers,

Ferdy

John McGraw

No, you pretty much have to use their gun to shoot it with. I am lucky that Billy Dawson's shop is only about 20 minutes away from my place, and he let me borrow his. I hear that you can get almost full value back on a purchased gun when you sell it. I get it down here for about $150 for a 2 gal pail. I used 2 pails on my car, one inside and one underneath.
Nope, no side pipes on this car, it is getting a full under-car system.


Regards, John McGraw