1968 Chevrolet Camaro - Subframe - Framed!

We are living in the second golden age of musclecars. Detroit is pumping out new performance rides that smoke the fastest cars built in the late '60s. Additionally, today's aftermarket is churning out a constant flow of go-fast goodies to help bring classic musclecars up to high-tech standards. 21st Century Street Machines saw the limitations of late '60s technology and decided to do something about it.

First off, there is nothing terribly wrong with the stock subframe on a First Gen Camaro or Firebird. Deficiencies in the suspension geometry can be helped quite a bit with a set of re-engineered control arms or even by something as simple as the Guldstrand Modification that we detailed in PHR's July '06 issue. However, these "fixes" can only take you so far, and when you get into areas like adding rack-and-pinion steering, the word "compromise" quickly enters your vocabulary.

Ed Bednar of 21st Century Street Machines knew there were other replacement subframes on the market, but he saw a better way to build the mousetrap. He decided to engineer a subframe that would be fairly easy to install, yet bring the front suspension firmly into the new millennium. His new front clip slides directly into the spot occupied by the old stamped-steel clip and runs the track-proven C5 Corvette suspension. He also made sure to incorporate several suspension tuning features that have not shown up in previous aftermarket subframes. Additionally, it's also designed to work with modern rack-and-pinion steering without major compromises.

Besides the better feel afforded by rack-and-pinion steering, another advantage is that it really cleans up the engine bay and allows a greater choice in engine packages. Their subframe can be ordered with multiple engine mount configurations to accommodate everything from a 572 big-block to a modern LS7. 21st Century even offers custom stepped headers for whatever mill you decide to run. In fact, depending on your needs and budget, 21st Century can ship you a clip in just about any level of trim, from a bare frame and modified rack all the way up to a completely assembled system that includes brakes, headers and even the engine if you're willing to pay the shipping.

For our install, we ordered the subframe, new C5 Vette suspension parts, splined sway bar, and headers. Since we will be running a T56 six-speed transmission, they also included the necessary sheetmetal for raising the tunnel for clearance. This procedure also has to be done with a big-block install. If you are going with a small-block or with a different trans like a 4L60e or 700R4, then your stock tunnel dimensions will be fine.

Since the system uses factory C5 suspension pieces, replacing worn parts down the line is painless. For brakes you can use anything designed to work on a newer Vette, from the economical factory brakes all the way up to big racing binders. Since our '68 Camaro plans to hit the road course as well as the drag strip, we went with Wilwood's 14-inch C5 big-brake package and new aluminum tandem master cylinder. After a quick call to Chris Alston Chassisworks, we were the proud owners of a set of double-adjustable coilover Varishocks, complete with 9-inch long, 600-pound springs. With parts in hand, it was time to bring our '68 Camaro into the 21st Century.

Taking a page from the stock car racing manual, 21st Century added a way to adjust camber and instant center with the upper control arms. Laser cut slugs fit into the mounting holes and adjust the inner pivot location on the control arm. Changing this height is as easy as swapping in various slugs. The included slugs range from centered to half-inch offset. Since the slugs can be used in either direction, it gives one full inch of adjustability in 1/16-inch increments.	The first job is to install the lower control arms. The factory-installed bushings made for a very tight fit in the new subframe (especially with the added thickness of the powder paint), so we used a C-clamp to compress the bushing just a bit. A dead blow hammer tapped it into place. There's really no way to install this incorrectly.	Next up is the installation of the upper C5 control arms. These forged aluminum parts are incredibly lightweight, yet extremely strong. We simply bolted them to the mounts using the supplied bolts and lock nuts.
One time saver is that the factory Vette control arms come with ball joints pre-installed. The knuckle went on without any drama and was secured with the supplied hardware.	For shocks, we decided to go with Chris Alston Varishocks. They look killer and are engineered to handle whatever we throw at them. The double adjustability will let us fine-tune the handling. For springs, we went with 9-inch-long, 600-pound springs that should work well with the fairly lightweight LS2 engine.	All the hardware to install the shocks is supplied by 21st Century. They also modified the lower control arms to accept the lower shock mount.
Maybe we should have read the instructions. The lower ball joint prevents us from installing the hub into the knuckle since it blocks the lowest bolt hole. Luckily, it's easy enough to fix.	After slipping the knuckle off the lower ball joint, we were able to bolt on the hub. We also went ahead and bolted on the custom piece for the steering linkage to the knuckle.	Hooray for us! The left side is all together and ready for brakes. The entire procedure took 20 minutes.