The Sub Way

Perhaps the most sought-after car in the Chevy musclecar lineup is the early Camaro. While this model is extremely popular, as a performance platform it leaves much to be desired. The problems start when you add extra power. All that newfound torque tries to twist the unibody just aft of where the front subframe bolts to the body.

Early Camaros are built on a unibody design that uses a welded-in rear subframe to attach the rear suspension along with a bolt-in front subframe that mounts the front suspension. The two subframes are linked only by the thin sheetmetal of the Camaro floor, door frames, and top structure. If you are lucky enough to own an early Camaro convertible, there’s even less structure to tie the car together.

While rollbars and rollcages do an excellent job of creating structure, not everyone wants to put a ’cage in their street car. This is why subframe connectors are a great option. The idea is to use heavy-duty round tubing to link the front and rear subframes together.

A properly designed subframe connector will tie the front and rear chassis pieces together without hanging down below the rocker panels. The result is a stiffer chassis, a better-handling Camaro, and fewer squeaks and rattles.

Global West Suspension Components has been building suspension and chassis parts for early Camaros for over 20 years, and owner Doug Norrdin knows how to >> improve the early models. This particular ’67 RS Camaro convertible needed some help to allow the rest of the suspension pieces to perform up to expectations. The installation is relatively easy. Let’s take a look at what it takes.