Hey Fellas! I got a bit of a DOOZY for y'all. Well a buddy of mine (who's a repo man by trade) is sellin' my a complete 1984 Chevy Corvette with 80K original miles that been rained on (only because he didn't have any T-Tops for it & the interior is completely spent) for just $1k!! He actually lost a bet too, so its all in my favor.

Anyways I have been searching high & low to some Low-Budget IFS systems but no avail. I was going to option out gettin' a SIDS Drop axle for $300, but other fellas say there are more parts to get besides the axle. So my buddy asked if i wanted his Corvette for 1k? Sweet deal ryt? But what concerns me is the suspension. So my questions are these:

#1 - Welding on the ENTIRE front end, will it be worth it?
#2 - How cheap is it to SOUP-UP the 350ci?
#3 - I know all u FORD heads are strictly FORDS...should I just leave in my 272 Y-Block with 3 on the tree & call it a day?

Let me know Fellas!! oh & also....any TECHY help is highly appreciated!!

~Cheers!

 

The first question to ask is, what do you really want to do with your truck? Do you want a hot rod pickup? Or would you be happy with, or rather have more of a stocker? The Corvette suspension is popular in certain circles. You could also buy a custom effie chassis that would utilize the vette suspension as bolt on components, add your body and the vette drivetrain and you're on the road. Selling your original parts would bring in about enough cash to pay for it. I'm not a big fan of clip jobs. There is a lot more hassles with them than most people realize, until their truck is cut in half.

Not being a chevy guy, I don't know much about hop up parts for 350 FI stuff, but being a vette engine, it probably goes pretty good, as is.

OTOH, if you want a stocker, part out the vette and use the money towards a real restoration. ;-)

 

84 vette 350 wasen`t one of its strongest years but definately no a slug, as for suspension, i`ve never played around with one but if you do measure axle to axle width and compare it to your truck, anything can be modified with a welder, sawsall and cutting torch,just have a good game plan, lots of measurements and the way you go, but before you do anything measure that IRS hub to hub, then you`ll know if you can do this or not.

 

If you are interested in using the corvette suspension, give the folks at Flat Out Engineering a call. They are located in Orange, not too far from L.A.They have crossmember kits that use the vette suspension parts and probably can answer any question you might have

 

Thanks Bud!! after reading a few of their articles it turns out i can use most of the front end including the rack & pinion!! I'm assuming i can use the rear as well but some of the brackets i'll need to buy from Flat Out Engineering. Thanks for the insight fellas! Although my plans were to keep it stock...There's no harm givin' her some MAJOR HP under the hood! Cheers!

 

I have done a few of these installs both in F100s and in a 1950 Merc...before you start be sure to do your homework! A C4 Corvette is designed to have the engine set back from the front of the vehicle. This allows the hood of the Corvette to sit lower and it improves the weight ratio of the vehicle because the engine sits closer to the center of the vehicle. What this means to you is that IF you install a C4 IFS in your F100 then you will have to compensate for this engine setback. Look at the picture I have attached...see the rack and pinion unit? The R&P sits high off the crossmember and will surely contact your harmonic balancer or your oil pan...even a rear sump pan. If you stay with the LT1/350 Corvette engine and stock motor mounts then you will have to recess your firewall to get the clearance needed for the back of the engine. The crossmember in this truck is one from Don M at Flat-Out.

 

A picture (with the brief explanation) says it all, good info!

 

Thanks CharlieLED!! One question:

Should i just purchase the prefabbed kits for the front & rear on Flat-Out & just swap the components from the Corvette?

I think its safe to say that should be my #1 option. Thanks again for the input.

 

If you are OK with the engine placement and want to move forward with the C4 IFS then I would go with the Flat Out crossmember kit. I used shockwaves on my IFS and IRS so I had a bit more work to do to make them fit but if you are going to use coilovers then the install will be more straightforward. Here is a pic of the IRS install (using the Flat Out kit and a tie rod asssembly from Paul Newman) and a copy of the drawing I made up to use to spec my wheel spacings for this install.

 

Don't know if this helps but here is some info for you; the 84 vette has the stiffest spring ratio of the C4's, and if it is a Z-51 option car they are even stiffer. The crossfire injection system put out a claimed 205 hp at the flywheel, they have a good amout of torque (can't remember the figure at the moment). The CFI intake runners are extremely too small to support a decent flow as they are only about 2/3's the size of the head runner. The CFI is very reliable if you take the time to get to know the system, if you intend to keep it fuel injected.

Here's a picture of the manifold ports, you can see where the port work needs to be;



Hope that was useful to you