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Engine Swap

JonnybravoM3 said:
I have a question, can our cars handle the swap? Say my 302 puts down 370hp. I've upgraded my brakes to discs, will get a new distributer and water pump etc... but will chassis/ body / system in general handle all that power?
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As with everything else, the weakest link(s) will show up. These cars, being uni-bodies, tend to flex and twist. You start laying down bigger power levels and things will need upgraded. First and foremost you need to tie the front and back together better with subframe connectors. Yours being a convertible it is a bit more solid due to the extra sheetmetal bits in the floor structure but it can still benefit from the typical underbody connectors. You have no roof afterall!

The stock rearend is a 8" design and has fair weak axles that could be a problem is you were to hook well with say north of 300 ft/lbs of torque. It's also likely a peg leg which is no fun at all when it comes to laying down rubber. The stock auto (C4) is weak as well but with some good investment can live and perform nicely behind a spirited small block. You will want to upgrade the converter and have some tweaking done to the valvebody. All the usual stuff.

You start down that path it usually ends up with just about everything being gone over. $$$ BUT it is a whole lot of fun!
 
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