Awesome pics Seig! Awesome job Jake, the car looks fantastic. Softer is usually faster and more consistent!

All said and done with RAFT approved racers.........it really doesn't matter what car you put them in. :D

Congrats Jake on securing you OUSCI invite! It amazes me on how much of a damm good driver you are.. Thanks to Roy of allowing to be part of this great build & watch Jake win his way into events!!

There are two key factors that have allowed JCG to build a more competitive car.. One is Danny Popp! he has given me an education on what it takes to build a car to endure a race on the road course.. He has been very generous with me & Jake with his knowledge on driving & car set ups.. This morning when Danny called me to compliment JCG on Jakes win.. He stated that we got a few more things for Jake learn.. But he has natural talent as a driver!

JJ Furillo from Ultimate Performance! I consider him to be the back bone of our set ups... from shocks, to sway bars & spring rates.. JJ brings parts on the plane with him to build our custom valved shocks in house, He will be the first one to say let's replace springs knowing that it will be difficult to change them out, he will jack the car up or put it on ramps make shock adjustments & change sway bar setting as required.. When I had the car @ the shop getting it ready for Thunder Hill.. I had the car on scales & was doing corner balancing.. I saw something I didn't like so I called JJ to confirm that if I made that change it would get us on the right path for balance of the car.. I called Jake & told him of the change before we made it & let him know that JJ agrees that we need to make that change for proper set-up.. I could not make the Thunder Hill event so I asked JJ to make sure that took care of the Rozelle's for me since I was not attending the events! His service to the community will soon catch on & other people will benefit as we have!


http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/...ps69v7kbda.jpg

Great job Jake...car and driver looked good in the pictures and videos I saw from last weekend.

Speaking of videos, during the in car video that was posted of you during the hot lap sessions, you seem to be talking to someone and doing some gesturing with your hands...was that some self motivation going on there or were you animating your frustrations with another car on the track? :D

:popcorn2: :popcorn2: :popcorn2:
:popcorn2: :popcorn2: :popcorn2:
:popcorn2: :popcorn2: :popcorn2:



:unibrow:

Anyone that knows me knows I'm not all OK in the head, I must have just been talking to myself :innocent: If anything it was just some self motivation after my least favorite corner where I was in an awkward gearing all day.

Here's another in car video which includes my two fastest laps of the day, and I promise its clean of any craziness:lol:



Like Cris said, Danny and JJ from Ultimate Performance are a huge part of our program and that car setup is the result of the work of JJ all weekend long. There was rarely a run where we didn't make any changes and you can see throughout the day as our times dropped his expertise was paying off.

Sieg great pics thanks you! You're right you can really see the car using the roll to get some good forward bite, and like you said it really pays off not only on the track but also driving it to church on Sundays, it is a street car afterall. :relax:

Sorry I missed you this weekend Greg! I finally got to check out that sweet mustang of yours but you weren't around, hope to catch you at the next one.

Awesome driving at TH! Just watching your lines helped but I couldn't get mine to flow like yours. Congrats on the invite!

Jake,
Good job.

Are you still running the Z06 brakes on 4 corners? Which pads are you using?

Holey blind elevation changes!!! That track looks like a BLAST! I bet the first three or four times around it was nut check time in a couple of places though. Nice driving...I can see the Danny Popp influences in your style.

Interesting line that you took cutting the one corner completely out. Looks like it was kind of rough through there but you were going in a straight line and it sure set you up nice for the next corner.

Man, that track is wide open, doesn't look like there is much to hit almost anywhere if you had an off. How was the tire wear? It is pretty easy on tires or do the long sweeping corners work on the right front a bit?

Yep C6 Z06 brakes from Kore3 with Hawk HP plus pads. Overall I'm very happy with our brake setup at the moment but we really need to get brake ducts on the car soon as pedal feel quality does go away throughout the day. It is next on the list and should be done before our next USCA event.



Lance as far as tire wear goes I just unloaded the car, parked it, and drove back to college monday morning so I haven't had a chance to check. With how soft we had the car setup and the number of sustained left hand sweepers though I would bet the right front especially took a beating. Gotta love Falkens though they took it all day like a champ and provided tons of grip.

its actually not that scary when you are looking at the track through your drivers side door window. fun story

Jake you're head is just fine!

If you're not yelling at yourself, good or bad, you're not pushing hard enough in my opinion. Personally I loved that moment in the video, took me back to my desert racing days. I'm sure there were times my yelling scared some of the local wildlife more than the bike. :sieg: :thumbsup:

Car looks great! I have a lot of "compliance" in my car too, but it sticks where ever I point it. Nice job on the win!

Alright here we go updates on the car from our win at USCA Fontana up until SEMA 2014 and the OUSCI. A lot happened and after this the build thread is pretty current(ish).

After Fontana we wanted to do something to help our chances in Vegas and needed to decide what. More horsepower and less weight were the obvious options and after we considered both we decided that although big power would be much appreciated on the road course, if we were able to drop weight it would help us on the autocross and the speed stop as well as on the road course so that is the route we decided to take.

Making the decision even easier was the option of running Anvil fenders which would bolt on and not only drop weight but allow us to fit a 315mm Falken front tire setup. Anvil's headquarters is less than half hour from our house so my dad and I met up there after work one day and did our best to clean out their 69 Camaro inventory. The owner was cool to work with and we ended up getting a good deal on everything by picking up 'blem' items which was fine with us since we would be covering all the panels with wrap or paint anyways. In total we left with a Carbon cowl hood, carbon flared fenders, carbon valence, carbon cowl panel, carbon trunk, and carbon rear spoiler which completely filled my dads truck and my mustang.


After talking with Matt A. about his experience with the Anvil stuff we decided to have the fenders fitted up and run them for awhile unfinished to allow any settling of the material that would cause changes in fitment. Best of Show in Escondido took care of fitting all the panels for the first time for us and did an excellent job. We then ran the car like this for a month or two which was fun since driving around southern California in a 69 camaro with a carbon clip definitely gets some funny looks.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps725310d9.jpg

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps9c91b964.jpg

With the fenders on we measured and ordered up another pair of 18" Forgeline front wheels for the car. We could have rehooped our original wheels but we knew we would be able to repurpose the old ones for another project.
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...psec52be62.jpg

After testing was complete and with SEMA fast approaching we sent the car to JCG for bodywork and prep. As it always seems things were happening way too last minute and Cris and the crew only had 3 days to refit all the body panels and prep the body for its wrap appointment. Somehow they got the whole car straight and looking perfect and also found time to make hood vents that we requested out of aluminum and epoxy them in place.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps41035508.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps119bdc23.jpg


Here are the pics of the wrap process done by Troy Weeks, we collaborated on the phone and tried to create a design that was different and mean looking while also having the feel that it could have been an actual design option in 1969. I really like the Baldwin Motion cars in particular and you can see that influence as well. The colors are primarily white and matte black with gloss black accents. The whole wrap was completed in less than 48 hours and sent back to JCG for final assembly.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps8c005318.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...psdb38ec78.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...psfa901f73.jpg

In an attempt to boost design score we had our front Recaro seat's centers reupholstered with houndstooth to match our back seat, and also had the trunk redone with lightweight close-our panels covered in the lightest black carpet possible. JCG also fabbed up an aluminum center console to keep all our track junk in as well as hold a couple drinks, including a Big Gulp if need be.
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps3fab226b.jpg

To help aero Primo at JCG quickly knocked out a new front spoiler out of aluminum which went down significantly more than the stock spoiler and went out wider to hopefully keep some of the air from lifting those big 315s up front. Since it is a streetcar it was still high enough for speed bumps and what not.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps75bf7888.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps9c8a7e97.jpg

Completed shot:
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps40deb9bf.jpg

Huge thanks to JCG, Troy and Best of Show for doing such a great job on the car and especially to Cris and the guys at JCG for knocking out an insane amount of work in a completely unreasonable time frame right before SEMA. Some day we'll bring them an easy job... maybe.:)
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...psrixh6roj.jpg

Looks good Jake. Do you know how much weight you saved with the carbon fiber stuff?

Good question! Its hard to say exactly since so much changed but it was about 100 pounds worth of weight savings.

Very cool Jake. Did the handling balance change much with the lighter front and 315 front tires? And did you manage to keep the RS doors operative with the Anvil front end? I've been eyeing the Anvil stuff off and on for a couple of years now ...

Man, this thread reminds me so much of my dad and I and the process of building my truck.

Difference is, you two were smart enough to build a Camaro. I feel that speaks volumes about the differences in our thought processes and life choice :hitaxeonthehead:

There was a HUGE change in handling balance. Pre-updates the car was fairly balanced with a tendency to under-steer slightly and drive off the back tires. With the wider front tires and weight reduction with the same suspension setup the car was almost uncontrollably loose. We expected this to an extent but without time to test we were caught quite off guard at OUSCI by just how off the previous setup was with all the changes.

This really hurt our result in Vegas but since then we have really been able to dial in the new setup with help from JJ at Ultimate Performance and it is now leaps and bounds better than ever so the changes were definitely worth the effort.

The RS doors do still operate with the Anvil front end. We have been using the DSE electric headlight door conversion for years and just transferred it all over. We have been really happy with the Anvil stuff so far, surprisingly good fit with very little modification needed. Just a heads up though I have heard the carbon Anvil stuff fits better than their fiberglass versions for some reason.

Moderate hp equals reliability.

Less weight equals more hp, improved handling, better braking, and reduced component stress.

What's not to like with that logic? :D

Good decision making! :thumbsup:

Jake what took you out of the game during the vega OUSCI?

You had mentioned a weld broke on INSTAGRAM.

can't get more critical than a panhard bar mount. just a guess

Bump.

Jake,
Is the entire car wrapped? How has the wrap held up to rock chip and other misc battle wounds?

Do you have any pics of the cage? I've checked your website and this build thread, but I can't find any pics.

Also, good job this weekend.

Yep the entire car is wrapped. It's held up really well to chips but I've been disappointed by how hard it is to clean. Cone marks and road course rubber usually rub right off paint but with the wrap I have to spend hours with a polishing pad to get off a lot of stuff. It still looks darn good though when clean.
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...psflbyvwae.jpg
I'll see if I can dig up some cage pics... It's a 4 point that JCG made us and is the exact same as the one in blu balz.

And thanks this weekend was a blast! For those of you on the fence about doing these USCA events I can't recommend them enough, and the pikes peak CO facility this past weekend was incredible.

It wasn't. Just a LCA bracket. Pretty common issue for solid axle cars that articulate as much as ours and it was taken care of with some extra bracing.

This is all I can find.

It ties into the rear frame rails and the harness bar comes out in seconds with a couple of pins which is nice for fitting more stuff back there.


http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps97dd52d2.jpg

The car is now on its way to Lingenfelter HQ in Michigan so I won't be able to get good pics for a while, sorry!

That pic works. Thanks

Thanks!
 

Jake ... it was really nice to meet you and your family this weekend. Watching you wheel that Camaro was something ... :king: I had a blast at PPIR as did the competitors, and Congrats on the win! Hopefully I'll join the novice group next year!!!!!

Wow, long time no update! Time to get this thread back up to date. To be competitive in the USCA we are constantly making the car better otherwise we would quickly fall behind so there's a lot to cover over the next few posts.

The next big change after my last update was the motor. We started running USCA events with a GM crate LS7. It held up well and was very easy to drive fast but when you’re going up against guys like Mike Maier who are great drivers and have 700 hp, it is time to step up your game!

Lingenfelter Performance was at all the USCA events in 2015 and when we talked to them about a solution to our “problem” this is what they came up with:

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...pszhuugf8p.jpg

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...psixnnqfgl.jpg

Its an LS7 block with a full forged rotating assembly so I can spin it nice and high in the RPM range like I wanted. It’s still 427ci displacement, naturally aspirated, and is setup to run on the 91 octane premium gasoline we have out here in California. Being naturally aspirated, it is super fun to drive and helps the reliability while keeping underhood temperatures under control.

The numbers:
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...psujpq123f.jpg

In the words of the guys at Lingenfelter “That should make driving fun.” Ya if you find 65+ mph burnouts with ease fun, this is definitely fun!

Even though it sounds nasty my dad is very particular about all our cars being very streetable. No lightweight clutches or crazy cams. Even with those numbers the car idles through LA traffic (which I do too often) like a champ and I wouldn’t hesitate to drive it anywhere.

And of course it’s more than enough power for me to have fun killing tires:

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...skswxu7by.jpeg

We did some different underhood stuff on the install that I thought was cool that I’ll cover in my next post. If you have any questions or want specific pictures let me know, I’m attempting to keep this thread more current so let me know what you want to see and I will do my best!

Motor install pics!

Since we had the car apart anyways we decided to make some changes while the motor was out. The more driving I do the more particular I get about where the weight is at in our car. Previously our dry sump tank was located between the motor and radiator. For packaging and ease of access it was nice but it wasn’t where I liked it from a weight bias standpoint so back it went.

Cris and the JCG crew ordered a new, shorter dry sump tank and placed it along the firewall above the frame on the passenger side. Once it was as far back as possible they cut the tank apart and added volume to it so that our system holds a bit over 11 quarts of oil total. Thats a lot of weight!
Better pics of the completed tank at the end of this post.

Before:
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps01489676.jpg


After:
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...pss0nrj1fs.jpg


Why not put it farther back behind the fender like Mr. Stielow did? For us ease of access was too important to put it back there. This car gets flogged hard and we want everything easy to access and take in and out. Also, although his tank is likely 6” farther back so better for weight distribution it is also off to the very outside of the vehicle. Typically you want all the weight towards the center so by my logic it wasn’t worth the extra work for our car.

We also wanted to get the radiator back and lower. Ideally we would have laid it so the top went forward relative to the bottom and ducted air through the radiator then out the hood. However, under the time constraint before the next event and fearing messing up the classic good looks of the car we laid it the opposite way and moved it as far back as possible. JCG then made good ducting and clean closeout panels to make it look clean and like it belonged.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...psd19mm9fa.jpg

Cris then had the idea of using a C6 K&N air intake tube to draw air from on the other side of the radiator as this is how the modern vettes are set-up to draw cool air. Rumor has it the K&N C6 air intake tube makes pretty incredible power so in it went, some modification required. A little more aluminum ducting and it draws cool air separate from the heat of the engine now.
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...psxcfpold1.jpg

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...pspnkiiebf.jpg


http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...psacjlvniq.jpg

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...psbrztv1rt.jpg

And as it looks now complete. Way cleaner than before and everything is still super easy to work on. Also this last pic is the best shot of how much volume was added to the dry sump tank.
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...psnzxzg8lo.jpg

After this install the car immediately went to Pikes Peak International Raceway for the USCA event for trial by fire of the Lingenfelter engine and all the work done by JCG. With 7000+rpm shifts and close to 700 hp being delivered all weekend long everything was definitely put to the test!

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p...pso6x91wg5.jpg

Luckily we had zero issues which allowed us to take the class win in every event and the overall GTV class win. Super fun weekend and a huge relief once we realized everything survived. Definitely a testament to the team that works on this car and the parts used.

More updates on their way! Let me know if there’s anything you want to see...

Hey Jake do you know the cam specs ? also what compression are you running?

Those are some pretty good numbers.

The radiator mods look great.

Love this car! The straight shot intake over the radiator on a high HP LS engine over one with a 90* bend will add an easy 20rwhp+.

We have tested this on a number of conversion cars running LSx swaps.

Weight
 

Jake,
What is the weight of the car now? How close are you to the #3,200?

I'll let Jake answer if he wants to but it is quite a ways from the 3,200 minimum for the USCA.

Thanks! The cam specs are proprietary to the guys over at Lingenfelter. If you're interested in purchasing something I would highly recommend giving them a call, they have been very helpful. I don't remember what the compression was off the top of my head but its nothing crazy since it was built to race on 91 octane. The cam isn't crazy either. Sadly living in L.A. means this car sits in a lot of traffic when I drive it to events.

They did a lot of head work to get those numbers and the MSD intake also contributes to why the numbers are so good.

Thanks! And like gnx7 mentioned its pretty cool how it was able to help us with our intake tube performance. Win Win!

Not as close as I would like! haha

With under a half tank of gas at the last SCCA event the car weighed about 3350 lbs. Not terrible but If I could drop another hundred pounds I would be happy.

At least if anyone ever wants to challenge my car's weight at an event I have nothing to worry about:lol:

The oil, trans, power steering and diff cooler along with the fire suppression bottles and the 13ish quart dry sump all make it so this car runs incredible and safely on the road course but they certainly add a lot of weight.
At least the driver doesn't weigh much...

Jake,

Great job on the car for far, and thanks for sharing. I saw you ran a 1:58.2 lap at the Thunderhill USCA - that is flat out hauling the mail and a big tribute to both driver and car.

Based on your and Stielow's experience, I finally decided to pull the trigger on some Anvil fenders and inners. No matter what I do, my car ultimately seems to be limited by front grip, and I'm hoping 40mm more tire and less weight will be just the ticket. What backspacing did you end up with on the 18x11 front wheels? And did they rub anywhere? Trying to figure out my wheel options ... And of course I understand I still need to measure for myself :)

Thanks much for any info,

Scott

Hey Scott thanks for the props! I love Thunderhill and can't wait to go back and am pretty pleased with that lap. We've made some more improvements and I'm hoping for a 57 next year with some luck :relax: Come by and say hi at an event sometime.

We are running 18x11s up front with 6 1/4 backspace and it is a very tight fit in and out. If we had gone a quarter inch more or less it would have been bad as right now there is just light rub on both sides of the tire.

Another little tip on the Anvil stuff is to run it on the car for a bit before doing paint/bodywork if possible as it does seem to shift and settle at first. Ours did fit pretty well though so no complaints.

Any more questions just let me know!