69 Camaro at Best of Show

[Matt@BOS]

Hi everyone, I've been lurking around here for quite some time and figured it was time to finally start a progress thread for our car. Those of you that have picked up the latest issue of Camaro Performers might have noticed it in the F-body garage section, its the one pictured with the Detroit Speed subframe and LS2. Anyway, big thanks to Steve Rupp for the ink. We're thrilled and honored you thought our car was cool enough to include.

I posted an introduction of the car a while back, but didn't feel like digging it up again so here is a brief rundown of the parts, but first thanks to a bunch of vendors from this forum, namely Jon at Driverz inc, Tobin at Kore 3, as well as Tyler and the Anvil gang. Doing this for the first time has been a learning experience and all of you have been beyond helpful.

The big parts:

DSE sub and quadralink with minitubs
Forgeline ZX3Ps, 18x9 and 18x12
C6 Z06 brakes
510 hp LS2 from Turnkey
Vintage Air front runner
billet brushed valve covers from nasty performance
t56 with viper internals
Anvil hood and cowl panel
Marquez front valance

Most of the major parts have already been ordered so the project is going to be moving along pretty quickly from here on out, so if you guys aren't tired of '69 camaros, I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures to look at over the next several months.

On to the pictures. It's kind of hard to tell at first how for the car has come, but it started as a shell and is now close to paint.

this was from the ebay ad
[IMG]http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo103/69MSA/8533_1JPG.jpg[/IM
G]

quadralink installed:



trans tunnel modified:



wheels, I never get tired of looking at these wheels:




here it is mocked up with the suspension and engine/ tans


LS2 being fired up for the first time. We were hoping it would sound nasty, but the truck muffler kept it sounding rather benign



From here the car from Hot Rods and Custom Stuff to Best of Show. Hot Rods did a great job installing the tubs, etc. but I'll be honest, we just love the atmosphere at Best of Show, not to mention they're nicer, they're cheaper, they're genuinely interested in the project and they do amazing work. After arrival the car got taken apart to be soda blasted, as you can see it was pretty clean under all of the bondo, the previous owner had the quarters and fenders replaced, and work was pretty good.



the aftermarket fenders have needed a little bit of work, and are still being fit now. Here we found that Hot Rods had decided to cut them, it was a bit of a surprise.

[Matt@BOS]

Since everything else was so nice, we had to smooth the firewall, here it is coming together:

[Matt@BOS]

Then the shell got blocked and primed:






Undercoating:



Finally coming back together:

the Anvil good is great:


the Marquez Valance needed a little something to complement it so I sketched up some ideas, and with some practical knowledge from the Best of Show guys, we ended up with this idea.

without anything:


Chin Spoiler mocked up in cardboard:





I think that takes the project all the way up to its current progress. We've got an RS grill in boxes inside the car, and some Mercedes SL exhaust tips on order. once the exhaust gets fit into the tail panel it will be time for paint. I can't wait

Once again, for all of you guys out there that have had a hand in helping us get our parts, or in working on the car, we can't thank you enough. I wrote for Camaro performers that my dad and I had more passion than knowledge, and while we've learned a ton, it really is true. The car wouldn't be anywhere close to what it is now without everyone's knowledge.

Matt

[Steve1968LS2]

Cool.. I can even post progress pics in here.. lol

That's the Track Rat behind Matt's car in some of those shots..

That thing has the perfect stance right now, hopefully you can keep it that low.

[70rs]

Nice work! Thanks for posting so much info and pics. Keep it coming!

[tmadden]

The dash and interior work looks killer. This will be a super car when its complete. Keep the pics coming.

[ironworks]

Sharp lookin camaro.

[makindue84]

GregWeld. I think that a set of 6.70 X 15 - 2 ply nylon tires will be effective in our car. I hope there will be no issues back then.

[Matt@BOS]

Well, I took the car out to the track last week with the group that went out to Adam's Motorsports park in Riverside. The track is pretty much just a big kart track, which isn't such a bad thing as it's quite technical and has got a good mix of turns. All of the changes we made to the car made a huge difference - I mean a night and day difference. The car might understeer a little turning in now, but it's not bad at all. Exiting corners is insanely easy the way it is set up too. I can almost plant the gas and take off, when it's almost straight I can let it go wide open, and the car will step out just enough to straighten out. Then it just goes. The only issue I had was bad pad knockback issues. I had to tap the brakes once to get reasonable feel back, and twice to get the pedal all the way back to the top. On my last lap I forgot to tap the brakes up after a long straight and the pedal fell almost to the floor, needless to say, I put the front two wheels off track.

So, I've been talking to Cris G and his Wilwood friends, as well as Tobin at Kore 3 and have decided to try a somewhat affordable solution to lessen the apparent knockback. For now, I'm just going to go with a C6 Z51 rear brake setup and see how it works. It's a floating rear caliper, and I don't think I need the huge 4 piston setup on there now. It's not like I'm doing any serious, sustained roadracing, and even then I ran a Z51 'Vette at Bondurant, and never really noticed the brakes fading badly. If I'm not happy with that I'll swap to a 1" bore master and if the problem still persists I'll try the SET20 bearings that are shipping on Moser's axles now. I also decided to swap pads to the Hawk HP+ instead of the ceramics because the ceramics don't have much of an initial bite to them, especially when using manual brakes.

If none of this works, I think I'll be going Greg's route and getting a pair of 6.70 x 15s or maybe I can trade Doug for his rear drum brakes.

Matt

[DFRESH]

Hey, those are "Bear" one-off self energizing rear drum brakes on my car. Just need to paint those drums red. That's the one and only problem I don't have on the car, pad knock back.

You sure looked good out at Adams track---car sounded great also---

Doug