Update time - two successful trips in the books!

Got back out weekend before last for the North Texas Camaro Club's autocross, had an absolute blast and got a ton of seat time, which is exactly what I needed at this point with the car.

The majority of our changes made for positive results. Brakes are much improved thanks to both bias adjustment and a change to Polymatrix B pads, as you can tell by a few lockups in the video. Rear grip was much better with the rear sway bar disconnected, as well.

Moving to the stiffer springs up front reduced a lot of the dive, but the car is still way loose all over both in corners and lateral acceleration.

We have some plans on the drawing board for both issues, including building some adjustment into the front sway bar and eventually moving to an outboard mounted coilover vs. the QA1 ProCoils as we're at the max spring rate already.

On to the video..



And a few pictures that illustrate the roll/dive/squat issues reasonably well..

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2941/...d7a3d91c_z.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3930/...8bff3e50_z.jpg

Offseason update time!


After a pretty unsuccessful trip to finish the year due to some (hopefully since resolved) steering issues, we went into winter with a few goals.

- Rolling flat - getting adjustability in the front sway bar, whether that meant buying a Speedway setup or modifying our current conventional bar

- Rolling fat - get the new wheels and tires sorted out

- Stopping reliably - new Wilwood 6-piston binders up front will take the heat of track work much better than the current 4-pistons, which will move to the back in place of the uber-budget stock metric front calipers

Swaybar Mod

So, swaybar adjustability. In the interest of cost, modifying the existing bar was the best option. One of the more interesting setups I've seen was on an IROC race car that Legendary Motorcar restored several years ago, which used a sleeve that slid back and forth at the end of the bar, and we set about replicating this in our own way.


Using some chrome round stock that was leftover from our hydraulic business, a sleeve was machined to the proper inside diameter, split, and drilled for a crossbolt. A heim attaches to tabs at the bottom, which attaches to the lower control arm.

5 positions are available, and even the first one should be substantially stiffer than the original. This will hopefully bring the rear bar back into play, as we disconnected it early on to help rear grip.

Rolling Fat

On to the rolling stock situation. Our original plan, thinking that space was limited more than it ended up being in front, was for 10/275 up front, and 12/315 or 335 out back. After some test fitting and measuring, a much, much cheaper set of 18x11s were sourced from XXR. We'll be rocking 315s all the way around, and there's room in the budget for brake upgrades.

Since we initially got it on the road, the wheels we've had have never been what I had in mind, but what we could work with at the time. I'm..in love with these already.


The plan for the year is hitting several autocrosses before late March, when we'll head to TMS for the Ultimate Street Car Association event. New brakes will be worked out before then (I'd feel much better with more caliper all the way around for the road course and speed stop).

Our season is supposed to start this weekend, and the plan was to test out new datalogging equipment in my daily driver Z. It's not looking like the weather is going to cooperate despite the fact it was 80 degrees here today, though (sorry, Northerners :confused18:). Ready to get going..

I really like this car and can't wait to see it with the 315's all the way around.

Thanks Marty - that means a lot coming from you. Both of your builds have been outstanding!

Love the new look, Duston. Good luck with the coming season.

Thanks Trey! I'm even more pumped after yesterday.

Was supposed to be autocrossing Saturday, but Mother Nature had other plans. So, I did the next best thing and headed up to the shop and got busy.

Put the last touch on the exhaust - turnouts to help it not pump the car full of hydrocarbons. These are clamped and spot welded for now, when we have a free day the system will come off for full welding and paint. Seems even quieter now than before - still sings nicely at 7 grand, though.


And then the carnage began. The tires cleared pretty well at ride height - but the pesky suspension insists on having down travel, which created a problem at the back when turned.

So, took a deep breath, made peace with various deities, and got to work..


And, a few minutes later..clearance, Clarence.


We did a matching cut on the drivers side, which is a reproduction fender that is made completely different at the back, but still lacked a bit to be desired for clearance. We'll paint these exposed edges with POR-15 to protect against rust, and maybe add an aluminum trim piece to tidy it up later.

Then, it was time for road testing - and gratuitous amounts of pictures, just because. It actually drives great on the highway, way better than I expected with a bit a toe out and that much rubber up front.

It also feels like the swaybar adjustability made a good deal of difference too. Much flatter in a bit of unoccupied highway slalom testing. The rear bar is now hooked back up, and hopefully we'll have solved a lot of the boat-ishness in transition.

Anyway, on to the picture binge..


Still on the to-do list:
- Wilwood 6-pistons for the front are on the way
- Finishing mounting our datalogger Android tablet on the dash
- OUSCI-legal rear spoiler, and possibly a bit of flat black attitude if it works out like I'm thinking

Could you post up the full specs of the wheels? Backspacing, width, cost etc?

Looks badass!

Thanks, and sure thing. The one catch on them is they're Ford car pattern, which worked for us since we've had that on the rear from the start with the 9" and were able to switch the pattern on the Wilwood hubs.

Here's the info from NLMotoring, where we ordered them:

Wheel Size
18x11

Color
Flat Black

Bolt Pattern
5-100/5-114.3

Offset
+20

Backspacing
6.79

Lip Specs
3.5" Flat Black Lip

Centerbore
73.1

Load Rating (LBS)
1580

TPMS Compatible
Yes

Approx. Weight
27.3

JWL/VIA Certified
Yes

Required Lug Nuts
Tuner Style

So the plan for this weekend is to hit the first event of the year with it..but I'm not sure if mother nature is going to cooperate. Rain chances have been up and down the past few days, and taking it in the rain won't really tell us anything.

It was 80 and sunny last weekend..sorry, Northerners. Got to spend two days at the incredible Texas World Speedway beating the crap out of my daily driver.

This place is an absolute treasure, and sadly, the property will become a master planned community filled with cookie cutter homes and generic retail in the next few years.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7407/...4c4ac592_z.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7388/...974cef98_z.jpg

Best lap -



Think dry thoughts for us..

I really like the direction you are going and those new wheels are perfect. You should fab up a front splitter to compliment the spoiler you're planning. Good luck in the upcoming events you're planning on attending.

Hey Duston,

I love the fact that you cut the fenders. Now go back and cut them a few more inches.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7283/...18b8fc6a_z.jpg

Here is the rendering that Bob Thrash did for me on the front fender modification. Which I think would work perfectly on your car.

http://garagescene.net/gallery3/var/...maro%20012.jpg

Thanks! Splitter has been on my mind, but I don't know that we can legally do anything besides a stock Z/28 style and still be USCA-legal. It's going to be a stretch to get anything aero-wise done in time for the Texas event either way, but I need to dig up some clarification on it.

That sectioning idea is crazy cool! It would take some planning to make the grill work right on a rubber nose, but it could be done.

The cut we did could definitely be opened up and brought all the way up to the crease and look better straight on from the side, but it's so low and tucked under it's hardly noticeable as is. Combined with the fact that we're just touching up the paint on the edge down there vs. getting them re-sprayed (our paint guy doesn't need any tradeouts right now, sadly), it has to stay like this for a while.

Eventually I'd like to build some custom lower arms and bring the lower ball joint forward a bit - with the caster we're running the wheel sits farther back in the opening than it should. But that's a ways off..

The way they worded their rulebook confused a lot of people. You can run a custom splitter, side skirts, diffuser etc. Anything you want. They are just limiting the size and dimensions of the rear spoilers or wings. I talked with an official about it because I am doing similar things with my '69. I think a satin black front splitter and NASCAR blade style rear spoiler would look great on this car.

Interesting. Yeah, the way it's worded it sounds like if it's not factory it's out. I think I'm too used to SCCA rules that are overly specific..

A blade type deal is pretty much what we have in mind on the spoiler, just a matter of finding the cleanest/simplest way to do it. We've got a second decklid and factory Z/28 spoiler that will probably be the base for everything, but still thinking on it.

Car looks good. I have planned on running the 315/30/18 Falkens on all 4 corners of my TA. They look taller and better than I thought they would.

awesome build, love to see another guy rocking a c10 and a camaro

Thanks! Purely for looks it should really be a little bit lower, but we would run into massive rub issues.

Thanks! We can't all have such good taste, haha.


Soo, trip 1 for the season didn't go to plan. The forecast was hit or miss all week, and as we got closer it was apparent that we would need some luck on the run order to get a dry session (as we all know, the best way to ensure perfect weather is to leave the car at home). Sure enough, our luck held true to form and we drew last group, running during the heaviest rain of the day.


With no wipers, and the goal being to learn a bit about the changes to our setup, it just wasn't possible or logical to try to run it, so we hopped into the Z and splish-splashed some of the slowest, driftiest runs of the day.

Next up is an event with a different club at the same venue next weekend, hopefully Mother Nature will play ball this time.

In other news, I went ahead and took the plunge and registered for the USCA event at TMS. The car is a giant question mark, but if worse comes to worse I'll stuff the 315s under the Z and just drive it :headspin:

Was pretty bummed to miss out on this last year, especially after hearing how much track time everyone got, so I'm pretty excited. Hopefully the beast will cooperate..

Success! Outing two was much better, thanks to fancy modern conveniences like: Windshield wipers!

On to the play in a second, first up was some shop time Saturday. The fiberglass hood has a lip all the way around that prevented the wipers from moving, so that was the first item on the list. To the bodysaw, again..


After a few times on and off and some extra trimming, things were motivating properly. Seeing in the rain: check.

On to issues of slightly less pressing importance: aero. A spoiler has always been a part of the plan, and getting it on before Optima would be lovely, so we nabbed some posterboard and started the mockup process.

This measures 8" high in the center, and will be mounted on piano hinge with adjustable struts running forward about the way the tape is done for support.


So we registered for outing 2 a while back, and of course the weather forecast deteriorated all week, leading up to morning showers the day of the event. I was hopeful of getting some dry runs in, and thankfully the rain moved out and provided a mostly dry session in the afternoon.

The only minor issue was some tire rub on the drivers side front under load, but some, ahem, finessing, with a small crescent wrench and a big hammer between sessions seems to have solved the problem.


And finally, video of the fastest run, which was good for 3rd in class behind a Z06 and an M3 (I'll take that!).

I've got a lot of work to do on my driving. I'm still overcompensating for the differences from my 350Z, which results in a lot of overdriving and anticipating some of the more evil things that it thankfully doesn't do anymore.

The drastic increase in swaybar stiffness, combined with adjusting the uppers in the front has calmed the car down drastically. There's very, very little roll side to side, and it seems to have cured the front dive/rear end hike under braking as well. Much more responsive turning, and way more predictable through the corner.


Super excited to get some warm dry pavement under it - I think it's going to be a ton of fun once I get caught up to it.

Love the car.It's cool that you pretty much do everything with it.My question is with front wheel & tire combo.How much clearance do you have near the control arms, sway bar & frame etc. at full lock?

Mike,

78 Camaro
 

Just wondering what offsets you
have on the 18" wheels

Thanks. Bob

Thanks! We had to do a little bit of clearancing on the swaybar, which is a 1.25" Suspension Techniques piece. We also welded a small piece of metal (1/8" or so) on the steering stops to gain a little more clearance there. Doesn't appear to have hurt the travel much.

I feel like they would probably hit on the stock inner fenders in the rear, but I don't know for sure.

They are 18x11, +20 all the way around.

79 Camaro
 

Thanks for the info on the wheel sizes and offsets

Bob

More progress! We took the weekend off from playing to get the spoiler built and wrap up some other miscellaneous things. Of course, the SCCA event on Sunday had lovely dry, warm weather, but so it goes.

Little items included chasing down a leak in the front which turned out to be accumulated rain water, swapping rear brake pads to Wilwood Polymatrix Bs from a stock compound, and doing some interior cleaning.

The big ticket item was out back, and I'm extremely happy with the results.

After scrounging our scrap pile, we didn't have a suitable piece of aluminum, so we hit up OnlineMetals for a piece cut to our specs. This provided us with a square, straight-edged piece, and eliminated a ton of work - all for around $60. The material itself is .100" thick 6061-T6.


We sourced two pairs of Wehr's struts from Performance Bodies to provide the strength for the setup, along with some piano hinge from the Lowe's cabinetry department for lower mounts.


Our secondary decklid was swapped on (the tail-less look is still cool for drag racing and the street, so drilling into the painted one wasn't an attractive option), and the marks we made previously for the template were recreated.


Each mounting screw required a hole all the way through both layers, which was then opened to 5/8" on the inside to accommodate a washer - 4 separate drilling tasks per screw.

Placement was determined in part by how the inner structure is made - we lucked out with the holes falling outside the weatherstrip for the most part.


With the hinges in place, the blade was sat in position and marked for some additional clearancing. We added a relief cut at each hinge, allowing the aluminum to sit down over each and flush with the deck.

Once everything was happy there, we marked and drilled holes for the hinges, starting from the center and working out.


Finally, we placed the outside struts in about the spot that felt right and attached them to the blade, then moved to the bottom side of the decklid to evaluate our options. This ended up being our one 'oops', as they were a bit too short to make it where they needed to be on the deck. The secondary holes will be useful if we ever want to stand it up higher, at least.


Our original plan was to use 4 struts, but looking at the beefy hardware included and how busy things got with all 4 of them up there, we settled on 3. There is some give in the blade thanks to the tolerances of the rod ends, but nothing too bad.

With 16 #10 screws on the bottom, and the 3 rod ends having 1/4" screws in them, I don't think we have anything to worry about strength-wise. Nights this week will be about getting it painted along with getting some of the interior pieces (shifter boot cover, dead pedal, and gas pedal cover) that never got finished out properly coated in black as well.

Last item of business was safety-related - I've had a HANS for a while, but never had gotten my non-drilled Impact helmet prepped for it. Turned out to be pretty easy. Along with a firesuit and some schweet Alpinestars gloves, we are officially ready for the road course.


Next weekend will serve as final assembly, then it's on to a mid-week Optima test and tune set up by the local Camaro club on the 24th.

Optima and the 28th of March coming up fast!

Pre-test-n-tune / Optima Week update time!

So, the plan for the second decklid was to add a matte black stripe down the hood using vinyl wrap to match the width of the black decklid and filler panel under the back glass.

A low cost (red flag) eBay (red flag) listing for wrap material was found, and ordered. After many days in limbo, the material arrived on Friday – a WEEK and 2 days from Florida, on 2-day priority. Thanks USPS!

Once the material was unrolled and the first section peeled back, problems were immediately apparent. Modern wrap material has a whole host of features that make it possible to, you know, actually wrap a car. This had none of those, as it was regular old sign vinyl (live and learn). Time is of the essence, so the spoiler will be permanent on the painted decklid.


Still came out pretty cool (we think, at least).

It's off to Lone Star Park bright and early in the morning for a load of seat time and some fine tuning - and DRY PAVEMENT! To missapproriate a phrase from Roadkill - Best week not at work ever.

A couple bonus images, just because.


We'll eventually build a splitter/air dam/chin spoiler thing to balance everything out (both aero-wise and visually), but there's no time left for this time. Can't wait to wring it's neck this week!

spoiler looks good I think. Hope it works well for you, Duston.

Wow, what an incredible two days of absolute awesomeness! That's a lot of adjectives, but still not enough. From the running of the event, great people, and a cooperative and capable car, this weekend will be a tough one to top.

I'll do a full writeup of our experience with more pictures and video later this week, but I wanted to get something in here while it's fresh.


This car just continues to amaze. For something that is mostly unchanged from a foundation standpoint from what we took on Drag Week, it's an absolute monster around the cones and on the road course. I can't wait to see what we can do with it with more tuning, there's still so much left in it.


Before I finish this, we have to give a HUGE shout out to Mike from Wilwood. He took a ton of time to discuss our setup, some upgrades and tuning ideas, and even pitched in and got dirty when we were reassembling the shifter after it unceremoniously ended our first road course session.

Excited to get some changes made to make the brakes even better, and I'll cover that as we go.

It was absolutely amazing to step up to the podium twice. Just mind-blowing. We ended up 2nd on the hot lap, between the Ridetech cars, and 3rd overall in GTV - far and away better than even my wildest hopes for the event. Not enough words to express how happy we are with the little red Camaro.


More later this week..

Congrats dude, nice job. I bet it was a lot of fun.

I promised more, so here we go!


This is all also on our website, with links to high res versions of all the images and such -

Day 1 Recap: http://www.acmeautopartsonline.com/b...s-day-1-recap/

Day 2 Recap: http://www.acmeautopartsonline.com/b...s-day-2-recap/

So, let's dive in. Where to even start? First of all, if there’s an Optima USCA event in your area, and you’re on the fence about going – GET OFF THE FENCE! Everything about this weekend was just fantastic, from the operation to the attitude and helpfulness of all involved both within USCA and the participants, it’s one of the most fun experiences we’ve ever had with the car.

Ok, with that out of the way, how did things go? We couldn’t be happier with the results. Let’s start with Saturday today, and wrap up Sunday in a second post (there’s kind of a lot to cover).

Saturday: Tech Inspection, Autocross, Speed Stop, & Judging

We arrived at the crack of dawn. Well, before the crack. Way before. The schedule to said to arrive no later than 7, and that turned out to mean that gates would open at 7 (live and learn, better early than late, etc.) Once in the gates, we scrambled to get the truck parked, the car unloaded and into the garage, and soon we were off to tech inspection.

The process was fairly thorough, and no major hiccups were found so we were on our way to getting the various decals put on. This was one part I was kind of dreading, but everything went smoothly and we had plenty of time to stand around and BS a bit before the drivers meeting.

The meeting started promptly at the time prescribed, and Jimi welcomed everyone and explained how the weekend would go. Saturday, everyone would split up based on car number, with odds heading to speed stop and evens to the autocross in the morning. Being #51 this really worked to our favor. I was able to get the feel for everything in the speed stop, which I assumed going in would be our weaker event given that I hadn’t done it before.


This ended up being the case, and we managed a 10.991 on the 4th of 8 runs. While this event started as a pure test of acceleration and braking, it’s morphed into a very simple autocross over the years. This was one was a run out that had us tickling the rev limited in first before a hard braking zone, then a right turn back almost 180 degrees, hard acceleration into an offset, and finally the 40×20 stop box. It’s much more a handling and braking test rather than pure braking now, but still fun.

Seeing a short line for judging, we decided to hop over there and get that taken care of. The hope was to get back and get a few more shots at it afterward, but we weren’t able to get back in time.

Speed Stop final: 10.991 – 7th in GTV


Design & Engineering Judging:

You get funny looks when you mention that the car you’re autocrossing also did the distance on Drag Week. You get even funnier looks when you say basically the only things that are different are the front springs and the differential in the back. These looks can be good or bad, but in the case of Mike Copeland from Lingenfelter and Bangshift Chad, the host of the MAV TV series that covers the events, I think it worked in our favor. Each remembered the car, and in the case of Chad at least, it paid dividends before the weekend was over (more on that later).

Judging went smoothly after we got our turn, with the admission that it’s no Rolls, but I’d drive it pretty much anywhere with a great big sweaty/shivering smile on my face.


Autocross


After a brief lunch, and a quick walk through the (by Texas autocross standards) pretty tight course, it was time to take on the cones. The first several runs were really frustrating, as it’s been forever since I’ve run a really tight course, and on top of that, I’ve never had to negotiate elements anywhere near as tight as the 180s and offsets along the back were.

After a few runs, several cones, and some head scratching, things started to fall into place. Five runs in, a 45.559 was the best we had, and we decided to head to the garage to investigate some unusual sounds coming from the rear end. No major issues were found, so it was back to the course to get a few more laps before time was up. This paid off, as the next to last run we picked up nearly 2 tenths.


Autocross final: 45.361 – 4th in GTV

Video from the Autocross and Speed Stop


Road Rally


This was one of the best parts of the event for me, as it’s been forever since we’ve just driven the car. As hard as it is to get in and out of, and as loud as it is going down the road (though, not nearly as loud as it used to be), it’s still an absolute joy to just cruise in. The seats are incredibly comfortable, it trucks along at 70 around 2,600 RPM, and it’s just fun in general to ride around in a full caged car with 5 points on if I’m honest.


The route took us to Pole Position indoor karting, where Holley had sponsored discounted karting and Rudy’s BBQ for everyone. Since none of us had had enough driving that day, the karting was on shortly after the group arrived. Lots of good racing, both of the kart and bench varieties. A great end to a fantastic day (even if I didn’t manage to take home a first place time in any of the 3 races).

After the short drive back up the road, it was time to call it a day and get some sleep – the big track and a bit of uncertainty was up next. More on that in the next post!

...and, part 2!

And Sunday's Hot Lap Challenge:

Now, on to day 2: the Falken Tire hot lap challenge, on the 1.1 mile, 7-turn road course.

Sunday may have been our most anticipated and unsure part of the weekend. I was anxious to get some track time in the car, but also a bit leery of how well the relatively puny 12-inch Wilwood brakes would hold up. I was also unsure of what the relatively small road course in the infield of TMS would be like, particularly after running at the most epic 2.9 mile Texas World Speedway last month.

In the drivers meeting (started promptly according to the schedule again – these guys are good), rules were set forth for each run group, flags were explained, pretty much the standard track day fare. We were running intermediate, or blue, which meant point-by passing on the straight, and each group would get a total of 5 15-minute sessions. Expert and novice were split into two groups each, while intermediate would be a somewhat crowded 18-car single group.


The first part of the day started a little rocky, with cars going off or breaking down in each of the first two groups and leading to some delays. Big time credit to the USCA, as this could have set the whole day askew and led to a late finish or lost sessions, but they kept the grind going and still ended the day ahead of schedule.


Things started with a 3 lap orientation at around 50 mph, led by Jimi in a big bad..Dodge 200 rental fleet special! We had found oil in the engine bay that morning, so this brief trip out allowed us to be reassured that it was just from the high-G, high-rev autocross tossing the breather reservoir around and dumping a little out the day before.

Intermediate Group to Pre-grid

Before long it was our turn to head out. Session 1 was a bit of a mess, with the blue group being 18 cars deep and no times to go on for grid procedure. The bigger mess, however, came on lap 6 as I reached for 4th gear on the front straight and was greeted by a shifter that was attached to – nothing.


All 4 bolts had managed to back out of the top section, allowing the stalk, two pieces of aluminum, the bolts, and the two steel pieces that locate the stalk and their respective springs to all come undone on track. Something was on our side, as the pieces that fell out did so in the hot pit and not at 90+ mph going into turn 1.

The missing bits were returned by two different people (thanks to Lance and the other gentleman whose name I didn’t get!).

While we were in the process of putting the puzzle back together, Mike from Wilwood came up to chat with us and ended up getting his hands dirty helping us keep all the pieces together and back in the car. He would end up sharing a wealth of knowledge with us, and I’m looking forward to putting it to good use – big time thanks!


We ended up with a fairly unrepresentative 47.5 in that session, which would haunt me for the next two as it was used to grid us in both 2nd and 3rd sessions. Going into the 4th, we were sitting on a 43.588, which was reasonably competitive in GTV – but I knew there was a lot more to be had with some luck on traffic.


In the 4th, through a bit of work creating space, I was able to get a mostly clean lap and a 43.001 (video below). By this time, the car was getting exceedingly warm about lap 5 or 6. I actually pulled off to let it cool this time, but couldn’t better the 43 after going back out and catching traffic again.

Finally, the last session of the day arrived, and after some thoughts of skipping it the temptation of open track was too much to bear. This paid big dividends, as only 7 or so cars went out, and we were gridded 2nd behind Jay in his 2015 Vette.

Jay and I had been pretty close in time on open track, so I knew this would be a fun one. It proved to be just that, as we both turned in our best times of the day, mine being a 42.982.


Unfortunately, the GoPro wasn’t cooperating during that session, so here’s the 43.001 from the third.


Awards Ceremony and Thoughts

Un-freakin-believable. Throughout the awards ceremony we were hearing the names we’ve heard on the shows and read on the website posts and blogs. Then, on to the Hot Lap challenge in GTV – 3rd place goes to Bret Voelkel with a 43.9. Dad and I looked at each other, knowing our time of 42.9, and exchanged dumfounded looks – SECOND. We got freakin second in something!

The biggest surprise came later, though, when the results for each class were announced. Car number 51, 3rd overall in GTV. No words.


Going into the weekend, I had two goals: finish somewhere in the top half of the 19-entry class, and roll the car back into the trailer in one piece Sunday afternoon. For all that our little Camaro has done, this has to be the hardest it’s been run in the 6 years it’s been together, and it took every bit of it like a champ.

The exciting thing is, there’s still a ton of work to be done. The suspension, the brakes, and the driver all have a lot of development work left to be done, and it’s going to be an absolute blast every step of the way.

Thanks for reading, and a huge thanks to everyone who offered kind words and helping hands this weekend – is it time to do it again yet?!?

I somehow completely missed this build thread... Nice work on all of it. I love this car and the work you all are putting into it.

Great job on the great showing at the Texas USCA event. And fantastic write up...thanks for sharing.

I'll watch the videos when I get home on a better connections, but I can't wait to see them. Congrats...

Awesome write up Duston. CONGRATS ON YOUR 2nd place finish in GTV!!!!

It was an absolute blast running together in the intermediate class. Even though its been a week since the event, reading through your thread put me right back in the drivers seat on the road course with your high winding Camaro, Meekers Mustang, and Tony's Viper. We were all having a great run during the final session. All within tenths of one another or even hundredths. Man you are right...if you are on the fence for one of these events...GET OFF THE FENCE!!!!

Hope to see you and your dad out an event soon.

Nice recap. Thanks for letting me relive it through your experience.

Nice build thread. Im now subscribed. Let us know if/when you have another event to do. Maybe we can join you.

Thanks Lance - I've gotten into your thread a few times but never managed to get more than a few pages before something comes up - very cool build. Always loved those Montes, and seeing one going around corners is even better!

Thanks Jay, my plan is to run the wheels off of it this season. Brake work and some other smaller things are already on the to-do list!

Thanks, Chris. April is kind of screwed thanks to a sparse calendar and a busy schedule outside the car, but my plan is to at least make the Equipe Rapide and probably several NTAXS events from May on with it.

I'll definitely post in here as we go - love having more old iron out with the Miatas!

Congrats on the podium finish. Your car has come along ways from being a drag queen. I love a corner carver. Great build.

Awesome! Congrats, Duston.

Do you have any more pictures of the cage? it looks nicely made

Thanks! We set out to be able to do both - I'm pretty pleased with how adaptable and tuneable it's been.

Thanks, Trey!

It's got some compromises in some places, as we didn't have a bender and were working with a kit originally intended for an S-10 that we had on hand.

We've learned a lot since the original build - there's several places it could be pushed out closer to the body to free up passenger space, and it could stand to have gussets in many of the joints. To the best of our ability and knowledge it's structurally sound.

Here's a few more pics.


There's quite a few more in the old photo galleries on our site -

Early build - http://www.acmeautopartsonline.com/camaro/beginning/

Finishing up - http://www.acmeautopartsonline.com/c...slideshow.html

Kind of last minute, but it appears we'll be getting back at it this weekend at the second Texas SCCA autocross of the year at TMS. We've done literally nothing to the car since Optima, but it will hopefully get at least a wash before Sunday.

First time getting back around the cones, and first time back in the car at all in over a month - should be interesting!


Should be fun - come join us!

Also, since I'm here, a few more pics from Optima that have surfaced since my last post.


In other track-related but less Camaro-related news, got one more trip to Texas World Speedway in the Z this past weekend with NASA. Still sick to think about it going away..support your local racetrack!

Camaro
 

Dustin,
heading out form Cali the week after next 16/17th to run TWS with the
Pantera group... I guess it will be one of the last weekends
for that track... hate to see any track go away.
It will be my first time on the high banks

Bob

Very cool - you will definitely enjoy it. Dropping off of the front straight banking into 1, banked uphill 7, and really fast sweeper 11 are the highlights for me. Managed to do 7 without braking (still lifted a long way out) a few times this time, it is terrifying and awesome.

Have a safe trip!