The gold paint on the wheel centers was a good choice. Glad the car is performing well for you, Chad

I was reflecting back on the past 13 months since I got my 68 Camaro back on the road with all of the v3.0 upgrades sorted out and realized just how many events I was able to attend, how the car performed and it really got me stoked.

Between late October 2014 and the beginning of December 2015 I:
- put over 9,000 miles the car
- attended 6 Open track days
- attended two Optima USCA events
- attended my first SCCA autocross
- attended around 25 different days of autocross total
- all done without trailering the car to the events

I embarked on the upgrade path to make the car more fun to drive at the track and autocross which was a 100% success. The car is indeed so much more fun to drive now and also so much faster. Four of the road coarse tracks I attended this year, I had attended in previous years and at each of them I dropped my lap times considerably. I won my first autocross and went on to win a few of them and even more top 3 / podium finishes.

I can't wait for some events in 2016!!

Will you start on Sunday? There is a new CAM title up for grabs...

Chad that's awesome man. And inspiring to the Jackstand Class in 2016!

Reflecting
 

Cool stuff.. much respect to driving to the events!... :clap:

Just don't know how you do it on that upright seat.

Art, this ain't Lowrider-G.net :lol:

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/r...ed-posture.gif

ok.. I'm sure sitting up right gets a bit difficult after 4 - 5 hours in the hot seat.

Not to mention trying to eat, and text on your phone!.

My beer belly can handle only so much pressure!.. :lol:


.

ha ha you guys crack me up. Maybe my ability to handle the "upright" seat is the fact its a fairly comfortable seat. Compared to some of the seats I sat in and especially the aluminum seats I probably wouldn't of been able.

Tom, I like your photo choice. Gee I wonder why you picked those two cars ha ha. I'd like to start the season off strong but Sunday will be a game time decision. I should know for sure Saturday but I won't know before then :/

nice build

So it has been a while since I updated this thread so I thought I would catch it up on two events I've attended in 2016.

First up I attended the Vintage Auto Racing (VARA) University in January. I heard through the grapevine this was a great event and for $400 to take a two day school in my own car i was pretty pumped. I was really looking forward to honing my driving skills. Sadly, I didn't do more research and the event itself left me with mixed impressions. On the positive side, the classroom and in car instructors were all super friendly and VARA goes out of its way to make things safe.

The biggest con for me was that these instructors really only teach very basic fundamentals. If you have the basic line down and aren't a mess behind the wheel there isn't a lot they will teach you. My class instructor finally hooked me up with my 4th incar instructor who really could provide some solid feedback on driving and gave me an area to really focus on (braking zones and some trail braking advise). This has sent me in search of a way to make toe heel shifting possible again. Since moving to manual brakes and changing to a DBW throttle pedal it hasn't been possible.

The other nits I have about the VARA U is that they had a record turn out of 120+ cars and the off track drills were way overcrowded. The on track wouldn't of been too crowded but between period correct (i.e. slow) vintage cars and drivers with zero track experience I was held up in lap traffic all weekend.

The format of the event is:
Saturday
- 5 cone slalom (similar speeds and spacing) to a standard slalom at an SCCA autocross.
- Skid pad exercise where you are supposed to exceed cornering grip and get a feel for what it feels like.
- Braking exercise. Very similar to an Optima USCA speed stop challenge but on a shorter course.
- 2 sessions on the road course
Sunday
- 3 or 4 sessions on the road course
- a couple of practice race starts if you have a race prepped car

Due to the crowds I only got two attempts at the slalom and a single attempt on the skid pad. The brake challenge I could of done more but I only did it 2 or 3 times to dial in my rear brake bias.

If you are new to track driving and are looking to get a solid understanding of the basic fundamentals then the class might be a good fit for you.

Here is video of some laps from the event.


Oh and one other negative, is that I now want to try vintage racing :D which my pocket book and current storage capacity don't need...

This past weekend I attended my first autocross of 2016 and first autocross in 3 months. Of course it was at one of my new favorite events, the San Diego SCCA. There are a great group of CAM compeititors that battle it out each event as well as for the season's points. In fact I think this past Sunday may have been a record with 16 CAM T drivers and it for sure is the first time I've seen 3 first gen camaros show up (myself included).

I was actually quite rusty the first lap or two out but put down a 4th lap that I was happy with and was good enough for 2nd place overall in CAM T. As another competitor said I need to point out that I lost to a guy wearing pink corduroy driving a mustang II. In my defense Alcino can drive is consistently a contender for first in any given Sunday.

Here is a video of my best run and what the San Diego Autocross courses can be like.

Congrats again on the win at the NMCA event Chad!

I finally got around to editing all the videos from NMCA and Del Mar. I chose a cleaner run than the pitched sideways full opposite lock video.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRvqZmGGVaw

Man I've super neglected my poor thread. However, a post by USCA reminded me that one of the things I'm most proud of this year is back to back podium finishes in overall GTV class at the two Optima USCA events I've attended. I've had first place finishes in NMCA autocross and local SCCA autocross events in 2016 but the USCA series is such a harder test on car and driver that getting on the podium at one of those events is an amazing feeling.

At the February USCA event at Thunderhill I placed second overall and at the April Vegas event I placed third overall. Given the level of competition at these series and the seriousness of the cars I feel pretty damn good to be in that company. Especially, since my car is truly a street car that I drove all the way to each Optima event and back home and continue to rack up a ton of miles a year!

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psw3otizx4.jpg

Bingo!!! I was just gonna comment on that before i read it the whole way thru. You DRIVE to the events and DRIVE home, that alone should be worth extra points, you have a STREET car, ultimately. You inspire me to have bigger Kohenes driving mine too and fro at more events....now thats is finally running.

Cheers, mike

Stoked to see you doing so well Chad and kickin butt out there and having a great time. Keep it up bro :thumbsup:

The car is awesome, but you are an amazing driver Chad, and one top notch guy. Highlights of my Optima experience so far is meeting great guys like you.

Congrats on your success this year, you totally deserve it.

Sean

Thanks Mike. I certainly don't blame anyone for trailering or hold it against them but just because trailering might be a prudent choice it doesn't mean I can't take a little pride in my Camaro competing and not needing the trailer :) Hope to see you again at another event.

Thanks Dave! I can't wait for you to get your race car finished :p I've had more fun with my car and attended more events than I can count (6 autocross events in the month of June alone lol) since getting it mostly sorted at the end of 2014. It sure makes the painful build up a distant memory. I'm looking forward to the day you can say the same. Its great to see some real progress pics in your thread on a somewhat consistent basis too!

It was great meeting you Sean and you are no slouch in the driver's seat either! You started off strong and have only improved since that first event. I totally dig seeing all the track days you have been attending in your truck. It's fun when I attend a track day in the Camaro and can raise some eyebrows with the car's performance so I can just imagine how much surprise you and your truck create at a typical track day where it is all modern cars.

Chad,
Are you running the mast or autokraft oil pan?

I'm running the autokraft pan (made by champ FYI). I debated between the Mast pan and the Autokraft pan but decided on the Autokraft pan because it uses trap doors while the Mast ban uses baffles. I've had no oil starvation issues in any of the tracks I've run. Though on street tires I see a maximum g load of about 1.2.

Trackspec hood louver install.
 

I've been eyeballing hood vents for quite a while and was stoked when Trackspec released a set of vents specifically designed for the 67-69 Camaro cowl hood.
http://trackspe.nextmp.net/1st-gener...d-louvers.html

I just installed a set on my painted steel cowl hood and wanted to share the install. Detaolils beliw and a howto on my blog. Trackspec Motorsports 1stgen Camaro hood vents.

Here is the hood off the car with the supplied templates taped down. The template is the same outer diameter as the vent and has "cut line" cutouts where you need to cut. Trackspec recommended using a grinder with a "thin cut" cutoff wheel.

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psppw2uhfr.jpg

I decided on hood vent placement based on three variables. 1) I wanted the vents placed inboard towards the center of the hood to avoid cutting the strength rib running down the sides of the hood.

See this pic for the rib:
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...pska4z9za3.jpg

2) Placing the vents closer to the front of the hood but behind the radiator fan shroud opening and 3) far enough foward so that the inside front rivet would not have to pass through the small bump in the below circled area and instead be flat.
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...pst0ngyndn.jpg

The angle grinder worked well. The paint about 1/8" from the cut line was burned in spots but is easily covered by the hood vent. I did some basic edge prep and taped off the cut openings about 1/8" back on top and bottom and hit it with touch up spray paint to keep it from rusting. Also, because my hood understructure was body color this helped pain some of the now exposed understrcuture so it would be red when looking though the vent from the top of the hood.

Following the template means you have about at least 1/4" larger hole than the louver part of the vent. This gives you room to position just right. We then taped it down and proceeded to drill and rivet the louver. My louvers matched the slop of the hood perfectly side to side. However front to back the vent was slightly bowed more than my hood. Therefore, when drilling and riveting I started at one end and installed one at a time so that as the vent laid down and conformed to the hood I didn't have to worry about the last set of holes getting out of alignment which might have happened if you drilled all the holes and then installed the rivets. Drill slow and apply light pressure! Will help minimize any jagged metal on the hole exit.
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psvg4vyd5i.jpg

Here are some pics of the finished product.
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...pswettgeoz.jpg

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psjli34tiq.jpg

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/...psvvamfx9f.jpg

Looks great!!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Nice, Chad. Didn't know they made one for the 1st gens. Cool.

Can you get 2 "passenger side" pieces though so no logo? :sieg: :stirthepot:

Those turned out awesome Chad....takes some :confused59: to cut into a painted hood.

See you next weekend.

Sean

Thanks!

Haha. They are side specific but I'm sure you could work something out with TRACKSPEC if you really didn't want the logo. They just released the first gen model in the last week or two.

You are telling me! It was painful but it came out good!

Nothing to see here.......

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/a...pszd4tfdju.jpg

-J

Upgrading to a 9"?

Is this what you meant by doing some "Maintenance"??

Better get that thing back together in the next week.

Sean

Someone is getting ready for a special event!!

Somehow I missed this until reading the entry list this morning, Congrats!!!

Now, get that thing back together and go Get Er Done...

Chad, who makes those rear brake hose bolt on tabs? my cousin totally forgot about the tabs on his build and his housing is powder coated already.

Thanks,

Jeff

Jeff,

I'm not sure what version of clamps he's using, but JCG makes a set.

http://www.jcgrestorationandcustoms....e-line-clamps/

Jeds called it. Mine are from JCG.

Thanks Lance! It was a great weekend. I have a few updates to share on the car.

So what's the verdict with the vents and lower temps? Any significant differences in a A/B testing?

I need to do more testing. The same week I did the hood louvers I added a splitter that extends back to the cross member and I think it is forcing more air through the lower valence and *under* the core support and radiator and creating a higher pressure zone behind the radiator than was there before.

I'm going to do some testing without the splitter as well as try to duct the radiator or block off the core support to the splitter.

Great, I look forward to the results.

I'm not sure if we met or not this last weekend but I sure enjoyed seeing you and the car in action. The car and driver are flat out working! Kudos to you for not only your driving skill but your ability to build a car that can be driven to and from these events and perform on track so well.

:thumbsup:

I forgot to ask you when you installed the hood vents. Is that an AMD hood ??? How is the fit ??? Looks real good in the pics! Thx

thanks, going to pass the info along!

Hey Chad, just read through your thread, I never put two and two together on who you were vs screen names, Duh! Wish I would have made vegas to hang out with you guys. I was so close!
Mills

The fit of the vents are great. It does require some cutting of the under structure but not structurally critical areas I was okay with that as I want enlarger openings than otherwise would be possible. The hood is a reproduction purchased from Classic Industries but I don't recall if it was an AMD or not.

You got damn close to making it Mills. Are you going to compete again next year?