Some random parking lot shots from today (and yes, I forgot almost everything Steve taught me yesterday, especially wrt the front wheel)...

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/californ...0hotel%201.jpg

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/californ...0hotel%202.jpg

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/californ...0hotel%203.jpg

Very nice, like the color and I have always liked HRE's.

James, that car of yours is absolutely beautiful. Great color too. What kind, and what sizes are your wheels and tires? Just beautiful. :hail:

Wanna build a 72 NOVA HAHA just kidding unless you want to. Congrats on the ink that I'm sure is on its way.

man james...I never get tired of seeing your car! for me its deffinatly the baddest 67-68 there is!!!1:thumbsup:

Jay thats a sharp looking second gen youve got there too:thumbsup:

Your wheel is turned perfect if your shooting a tire advertisement.. lol

Wish the weather was a sunny today and as always your car looks great.

After another day like today I might need to do some advertising for a tire company... at least I have a start.

Thanks buddy, maybe tomorrow we'll have some sun...

Can I ask did you fabricate the front and rear spoilers? If not where did you get them? I'm looking for something along that very line for my 68 Trans Am Race Replica I'm building.

Thanks

The rear spoiler came from Jake's and we fabricated the front spoiler and splitter ourselves.

I agree it sounds like a tire balance issue.

However I would check for a bent wheel.

The car looks Awesome.

After reviewing some video from todays autocross and taking Mark (Lateral Dynamics), Jon (Best of Show), and David Pozzi for some quick spins, I think that there might be an issue with the rear end... sigh

It's going to take a bit more sorting out but I was pleased with my times on the autocross course so it's not 'terminal' at this point - more like teething pains.

Was that the thumping
 

I heard on the video? Are you running a locker in the rear?

James Congrats on the Muscle Car Finalist award. You deserve it. Your car is totally amazing, The fit and finish and details never end and the fact you have and will continue to use it for what it is for. You and the car were really progressing in the Autocross this weekend. I had a great time hangin out last week and Your welcome to come back to wrench on your ride any time. I guess when you get back to Calgary, I will see you on Iracing since the camaro will be vacationing in Sunny Southern California.

Congrats and drive safe.

Rodger

And so the fun continues...

There is some really cool stuff coming up for the Camaro over the next month so I thought I should probably bring this post up to date with our 'progress' since Costa Mesa...

We resolved a couple of problems and found a couple of new issues at the autocross in Costa Mesa...

The good news is that the transmission problem seems to be resolved - both the clutch and the TOB are behaving themselves.

Unresolved... the brakes are better than they were at Spring Mountain but they are still less than 100%.

The bad news is that the car has developed an irregular miss. It's popping through the exhaust every once and a while... seems like a plug issue but I don't think it's major.

Really new... and really bad... was an exciting new sound that rally bstood out in some of the on car videos from the event... a fairly regular but inconsistent "whack whack whack" noise from under the car... which turned out to be

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/california/shop%20060.jpg

There was some significant deflection (one thing or a combination? the jury is out) in the front corners. Although there is lots of static clearance it seems that under dynamic conditions the bolt attaching the tie rod end to the steering arm is grazing (to put it mildly) the inside lip of the wheel.

HRE wound up rehooping the fronts and giving some additional clearance on the inside. In the future some ZR1 hubs may be the order of the day)

***
When I got to Best of Show in San Marcos I found that three plug wires had hit the exhaust and were intermittently shorting out. Three bad plugs - three bad wires. I was able to piece together some replacement wires with a small block ford set that Steve had brought for D!ck and reusing the LSx colil ends from the old wires. A bit of a bandaid but it should be functional for now.

WOW!!
It never ends huh James??
Bad ass car.:thumbsup: :cheers:

Thanks to the help of everybody at Best of Show Coachworks we were able to get the car to the Goodguys show in Del Mar where we were fortunate to be able to split our time between the OPTIMA Batteries display and the autocross course...

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/californ...%20mar%201.jpg

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/californ...%20mar%202.jpg

I had the chance to get a lot of time on the Autocross course on Friday and Saturday...

Taken by Hotchkis who were are behind the Autocross 110%... and a great bunch of guys to boot
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...NotPenny01.jpg

Taken by the guys at RideTech (www.ridetech.com)
http://www.ridetech.com/more/wp-cont...2009%20037.jpg

And, not unexpectedly, a couple more issues came to light...

On Friday we found that the front end was too tight to the wheel - the ride height settled a bit over time (or so it would appear) - and the front tire got cut up by a fender bolt. Nothing disasterous and we were able to raise the ride height.

On Saturday we found that one of the valve stems worked loose over two days of abuse (it was new following the rehoop earlier that week). Luckily the tire went flat at the end of my last run... close call but again nothing disasterous.

The best news... no more whack whack whack.

The car is at an undisclosed location in Norther California getting an adjustable rear bar fabbed up from a stock Hotchkis peice as well as some select other improvements at Pozzi Racing.

Spring rates are going up... ride height is going up... bump steer is being fixed up... some new safety and communications gear is being installed... and some other, undisclosed, improvements are coming.

Next up... the Streets of Willow and a couple of open track days.

And then... ?

that's great James, getting it all sorted is part of the process. You'll end up with a completely dialed in car, much more so than most guys who don't push and use their cars as hard as you do.

Congrats!

Jody

And Then, And Then, and Then...... NO More "and then" Just tell everyone you will be going back to the indoor show car seen.....

Looking forward to seeing the Camaro at Willow Springs very soon.

Rodger

Thanks Jody, it gets better every time we take it out and I am sure that it will be twice the car that it was two weeks ago with the new bar, springs, alignment, and ride height. Willow Springs should be a great test next weekend.

Dude... that hurts... especially coming from the guy who is going to a "detailing course" Saturday while we're out on the road course...

Hay what can I say Corporate sponsorship will do wonders to a guy, Just kick me if you see my with any kind of collared shirt that is tucked in, Then I need an real ass kicking.

I know your not an indoor show car guy, but hay you left the door open. I heard from your corporate sponsor today, I'm sure you will be doing something for them soon also.

:D Hi, My name is James and I own the "BAD WHEAT PENNY " from Canada A and I love ______ batteries.:D

Jim's going to start sporting "sponsor" patches all over his clothes.. May should be a busy month for the One Lap Camaro.. :yes:

Yeah... May is going to a big month... it would be a lot easier if everything wasn't 2000 miles away.
I could use a couple more of those patches... they really do help take away some of the pain.

James,
What is the main problem with the brakes?

Well, your case of Torco "super oil" should be there today or tomorrow.. I will ask them for a patch ;)

Very cool... :thumbsup:
make sure you send me a jpg of their logo (along with that paperwork) before you leave.

I don't know for sure yet if there is a 'main' problem or just a couple of little problems or things that need to be better adjusted. The brakes are there but they are definately not exceeding my expectations if you get my drift. We are going to rebleed the system and change out the fluid and I want to look at the pedal travel length (which, like the clutch might have been adjusted too far inboard) and I need a place to work on the bias adjustment.

We'll see... just more things to get 'right'.

I would also have high expectations of AP brakes. I hope you get the car sorted out.

I don't think that the AP's are anything short of awesome brakes... but to be realistic, any time that you build something from scratch you're (at least I am) going to have teething issues - sometimes obvious ones, sometimes subtle ones. It could be as simple as too aggressive pads and not enough heat... it could be physical bias... or it could be MC sizing.

Regarless, we'll get them sorted out soon :)

That car is simply gorgeous! Whatever I say would do no justice to that blessed thing. Made my car looks like those crap you buy from junk shops. I am so envious :)

What size masters are you running
 

front and rear, pedal ratio, piston sizes and pads?

Master Cylinders (front and rear) are 13/16" bore
Pedal Ratio is 6.25:1
Pads are Mintex Xtreme (which appear to want higher temps)

I had the same problem with my
 

twin set-up. With a 6:1 ratio I ended up with a 5/8 on the front and 3/4 on the rear. There is plenty of fluid volume, so do not let someone scare you off with that. With gauges at the calipers, I am developing 1200 psi on front and 1100 psi on the rear with about 100 lbs of leg pressure, which is a hard push. I am running Wilwood 6 psitons up front and 4 pistons in the rear.

Because of brake bias you want the rear master to usually one size larger(more volume, less pressure) than the front to keep the rears from locking first, then use the balance bar to fine tune.

Where I think the size is sometimes missed, assuming the balance bar is set neatural in the center, your leg pressure is being divided by 2. Each system is different and you will need to play with the sizes to get it just right. Huge rear tires and smaller fronts may take the same size front and rear to get maxium braking out to the car.

Put a set of gauges on and get a reading. I would size the front down to 3/4 and leave the 13/16 and see if it gets any better. You should be able to lock the fronts with 1000 or so psi.

I am not familiar with the pad, but it may be a combination of not enough pressure along with the pad. If it is a track pad it will kill your rotors if you are not generating enough heat. I would get a set with a compound you can use on the street and maybe autocross and save those for open track stuff.

Not that it is the same but I have BP-10's for the street and a set of "b" pads for track days.

I can tell you I have messed with mine for at least a year to get it right. Numerous phone calls and hours spent on calculators. Ron (guy with the 68 and the twin turbo mustang motor) runs 3/4 front and rear on his dual set-up.

Wow – what a great weekend!

It’s hard to put the last five days into words but I’ll take a shot at doing it justice.

As many of you know, after the Goodguys show in Del Mar, the Camaro went home with David and Mary Pozzi for some much needed tweaking. The car was coming around but there were still some suspension setup issues that needed to be addressed – a rear bar being first and foremost on the list of must dos – and the Pozzis were the more than up for the task. When I got to California on Wednesday the new rate adjustable rear bar (a modified Hotchkis second gen piece) was in place and ready to go and we were going to finish up a couple of things Thursday and leave for Willow Springs mid day on Friday. That was the plan…

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/WillowSp...rear%20bar.JPG

Thursday and Friday we made wholesale changes to the suspension tuning. David picked out some new springs – stiffening the car up front and rear – and we added proper bump rubbers to the shocks for some added protection. We reset bump steer up front, adding “some” additional spacing between the steering arm and the end links.

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/WillowSp...mp%20steer.JPG

We increased the ride height by ¾” of an inch front and back and corner balanced the car properly (for what it’s worth, we wound up with a 49.7% cross weight and 54 / 46 % front to rear). Finally we aligned the car and completed a nut and bolt inspection, (which necessitated a minor, last minute tweak)…

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/WillowSp...clearance2.jpg

…eventually giving the car a clean bill of health for the weekend. At 9 pm on Friday we loaded up the trailer and, after a quick dinner and a couple of hours of sleep, we hit the road at 2 am for the 6 hour drive to Willow Springs.

Despite all of us being completely bagged, the drive to the track was smooth sailing. Mary made it to the track first with the car and had it though tech when David and I arrived in the motor home – with about 5 minutes to spare before the drivers meeting.

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/WillowSp...Willow%201.JPG

After filling the car with some 100 octane race fuel David took the first lap of the weekend in the ‘beginner’ group (sorry about that David)

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/WillowSp...t%20MP%201.JPG

and came back with a big grin and suggested only a minor adjustment to the brake bias.

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/WillowSp...Willow%202.JPG

I was up next and after getting settled in the car had only a brief moment of panic and frustration when, upon turning the key – absolutely nothing happened. After some quick diagnosis – made a bunch easier thanks to the self diagnostics of the ISIS system – found that I had knocked some relays loose when I was adjusting the brakes. The rest of the day was as close to “flawless” as I could have hoped.

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/WillowSp...t%20MP%202.JPG

David and I continued to alternate sessions, making minor brake and ride height adjustments through the day (Mary thought the car looked like a “backwards stinkbug” when the front end came up onto the straightaway).

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/WillowSp...t%20MP%203.JPG

The only hiccup for me occurred in the final session of the day – as I approached the rumble strips on the far end of the track the car ‘hesitated’ briefly; it wasn’t much but I pulled off a couple laps early to try to see if there was a problem. Nothing was obvious so we parked the car and called it a day.

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/WillowSp...f%20Willow.JPG

I took the opportunity that evening to walk the track and make some more detailed notes on lines and how far I thought I could push things here and there. There are a lot of elevation changes on the track so some things were a little deceptive from inside the car. Finally (ok, it was 8 o’clock) I retired to the trailer and called it a day.

Sunday morning was more of the same. Up bright and early (just barely beating Carl and Chad) and back onto the car. There was one point that morning, as everyone was getting settled at the track, when First Gens probably outnumbered any other group in the pits – I had never seen so many great cars together in one place outside a show – it was really cool. Back to business - fill with gas again, drop the car another ¼”, dial in a little more rear brake and back on the track.

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/WillowSp...%20Sun%201.JPG

Since we were lapping most of the red group we moved up to the intermediate group which gave us a chance to play tag with Carl and his awesome ’68.

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/WillowSp...%20Sun%202.JPG

For the most part Sunday was a repeat of Saturday – no real problems but a lot of fun. I did have a nagging warning light coming on throughout the day and seemed to be a little bit slower than I had been on Saturday but I couldn’t see anything wrong on the dash so kept an eye on it and continued until the last session. There were three outings in a row where Carl and I seemed to be in a world of our own out there – we were swapping spots every few laps and pushing each other every lap, passing Mustangs, ‘Vettes and everything else we could get around like they weren’t even there. It was honestly the most fun that I have had in the OneLap car since the day I started the project.

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/WillowSp...%20Sun%203.JPG

In kind of a repeat of the previous day, the last session ended a bit early for me… I was noticing that the warning lights were becoming more frequent and the car was hesitating more often. There was also a bit of a noise coming from the front end that I couldn’t put my finger on so, after nearly looping it once on the straight and finding it difficult to keep up to Carl and Rocco, I reluctantly pulled into the pits and called it a weekend.

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/WillowSp...Willow%204.JPG

It didn’t take long to find the first problem… with the car running the dash was showing less than11.5 volts – definitely not enough to keep an LS engine happy. Monday we found the other minor issue of the day – the front brakes were dragging (a lot). It turns out that the last bias adjustment took the front pushrod just slightly out of its comfort zone and the MC wasn’t fully releasing the front brakes – hence the squeak and the sudden desire for the back end of the car to try to pass the now slower front of the car. Likewise, the charging problem was traced to a failed regulator in the alternator.

SO… trying to shorten a really long story…

Thank you so much to David and Mary for their help, hospitality, and patience. David’s mentoring, advice, and input helped me a ton both in setting up the car as well as driving it and seeing where improvements can be made. Mary’s enthusiasm, drive, and screaming (including the incredible hissing gopher incident) went a long way to help maintain focus and make the weekend an overwhelming success.

The car is now getting prepped for the Nevada Open Road Challenge next week. Repairs have been made to the brake bias and the alternator and a couple of subtle improvements are being worked in.

Thanks again to everybody and to the LA Shelby Club for putting on an awesome event. Hopefully we have an opportunity to do it again sometime soon.

And some video from Sunday - mostly chasing Carl around...

SplitterVision with Carl (Camaro) and Rocco (Mustang)


Vent Windows... gotta love 'em...

WOW! You had one hell of a weekend. What lap times did you run compared to David? Good luck in the SilverState :thumbsup:

the car looks awesome.

I can't tell you how N V US i am to see you having a good old time with your car. Thank you for sharing the pictures.

Very jealous myself! Car looks great.