Who? If you mean "me", you misread or misunderstand my previous reply. Sure, I'd love to do it, and even be "first" if not "only", but my point is "someday, someone may actually do this"... and I'd like to be around to see it when/if it DOES.
Pat, certainly it's a durability issue if the intent is to focus on drag racing. The B-body 4-link rear is simple yet hardly sophisticated, by today's standards, and even compared to the C4 design, from 1984, with roots all the way back to the 1963 Corvette Stingray (C2). Maybe if we looked at doing a C5/C6 transaxle setup--surely the ZR1 transaxle, built to handle 638 HP, has the durability for drag-strip abuse.
However, I am confident that a proper marriage of C4/5/6 powertrain, suspension & brakes with the B-body, a la Newman-style, would ultimately yield a far more satisfying vehicle to enjoy as a total package--not withstanding the shortcomings you are concerned about. I'll happily take the "touring car" approach, and will not miss the drag strip at all.
The Newman 55-57 Chevy sedan package is a prime example--the C4 bits look like they belong there. That car has 117" WB, but it doesn't weigh as much (as a B-body). I'm reminded of the "rat" '56 Chevy wagon that someone re-fitted with a complete 94-96 B-body frame and powertrain (I think the donor was a 9C1)--it was featured in Hot Rod, and made one of the Power Tour events, maybe 2006. My point is, if the B-body frame will fit the '56 wagon, how hard would it be to make the Newman 55-57 frame fit a B-body?
FWIW...Rick Williams, in Reno, has a long-term project to marry a B-chassis with a '57 (I think) body, but I don't know anything about it, as far as current status.
-Josh
