Well....I've been enjoying my car all week. Bought an inexpensive castor/camber gauge and aligned it myself last night. I just don't trust a shop that won't let me be involved with alignment process. And I don't give a hoot about their legal concerns. Went with Camber: -1.3 Castor: +6.0 Toe: 1/8". And I am absolutley tickled with this suspension. Wow! And plenty of clearance now in the wheel house.

And it rides like a dream! These pictures are once again with it laid out. I'll get some good pictures this weekend.

Very nice ! I like the way you knocked it out in a reasonable time and did everything yourself. The stance is killer !!

Thank you. I'm doing this in three phases over the course of three years. This year was suspension brakes, next year engine and transmission, and the next body, cage, interior, paint. It's been fun so far.

Looks great laid out! Glad the car rides well for you, too.

Looking good.

Excellent work on the designing and building your own rear set-up. Fab ninja status for sure, and in a very reasonable amount of time.
I'm gonna be running a similar torque arm/floater set up in my car and I think I've been collecting the bolt on parts for about as long as it took you to build yours from scratch..lol
The car looks great with the red paint gold rim combo. I had a red subaru SVX once and I always wanted to put the gold BBS STI wheels on it.
Nice build!

Thanks everyone. As you all know, even in times of aggrevation......it's still a labor of love, or is it love of labor. Lol.

I think I'll pull the center section and check my clearances again. I fully expected the normal clicking and binding sounds out of the locker, but not the heat. Wow. Drive 20 miles and the housing is hot. I'm seeing conversation here and there on forums indication this is normal, but now after 150 miles it seems like my pinion backlash has changed, which could only mean wear. I'm a little nervous to find out the results.

Car looks awesome! Even better that you have no rubbing and are happy with the performance. Plus you made it! :thumbsup:

Looks like the caster is moving the front wheel back a bit in the wheel well or is it just the pic angle? In reality, it shouldn't matter if everything fits and you get the performance you're looking for. :cheers:

Thanks Ron. I hope it's the picture. No really I noticed this the other day. At one point the tire is touching the firewall. Barely. Just enough to mar the tar rubbish previous owner used all over the underside of car. Do you think 6 is too much? I was just going off of what Bret suggested. The other side matches. I really dislike wheels that aren't centered in their wheel openings. Lol.

I could go with the 3.7 built into the spindles and use the nice single flat shims to get my camber. At this time I have a stack of 3/4" of shims on the back bolts to get the 6 degrees.

I'll have think about this one.

Car looks great by the way!

I would keep the 6 degrees. Sub frame should have enough adjustment to move it forward. Make sure when you are moving it forward you have the core support loose, and steering column at the firewall seal and under the dash. No need to take it off of the steering box.

You're welcome Sir and I hope I didn't cause you any concern. If Brett said six, then that will be best for handling based on their geometry and spindle KPI. As far as looks...that's a compromise only you can make. If it's rubbing, you gotta look into that and see what can be done. Caster can be gotten in more than one way. Call RT and I guarantee you'll be happy with their service.

I say function over form these days. I blame 'Secret Sauce' for that :D

:cheers:

Thanks Payton. I still have a long road ahead but by doing it in stages I enjoy it in between. Lol.

I didn't realize there was adjustment in the frame to body mounts. That's great to hear because I have a set of stock height aluminum frame bushings waiting for me at the shop. :D

David

Oh I'm really not a worry wort. Or am I? <A.D.D kicks in> What were we talking about? Oh yeah....beer Friday. :cheers:

David

Nice job Dave, the shot of it layed out has got to be the money shot!!

What are your overall plans for the car? I love how your building it in stages, keeps it from being a loooong project for sure.

Thanks Rick. Overall plans.....next year LS3 with Procharger and 6speed....year after body, paint, interior. Probably do a few custom metal mods for the body here and there. I'm really liking some of the mods I'm seeing in here. If I can pull off mild side skirts, a milder wing (really like Razor), and custom valence I'll be happy. Its all just for fun for me. I love fabricating. Its my favorite part of the build.

David

This is at suggested ride height.

I hate cameras but I have to prove my girls wrong and post this. Lol.

Had a great day with these little ladies. They loved the car.

And Aisha was my chauffeur all day. She did great. Likes to ride reeeeal close to the right curb.....but otherwise did fine. No mishaps. She loves the car.

Car looks great David! As does the fam. :cheers:

Well thanks Dave. So does yours....and congrats on the new member of the family! 👍

David

The family looks great and so does the car. My father used to tell me I was too close to the parked cars but luckily I never got one. Nice job.

Thanks. Its amazing just what you see from the passenger seat perspective. Lol.

Dave that's great pics with the family enjoying the car,cars looking really good.Also sounds like you have a smart plan in place,good luck:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Thanks. I need the luck....and my wife could use just a bit more patience. Lol. :catfight:

David

By the seat of the pants
 

Yesterday I took the car out on a very curvy road......in the sticks and pushed it a little through some 15MPH curves. Yes we have lots of them in the rural areas. All I can say....Wow. That 'By the seat of the pants' feel. Late brake.....on the throttle hard mid apex. The big block, auto in 2nd with 3.80 diff, really puts the car through its pace in slow curves. I can't imagine how hard you guys push these cars at the track. Can the point of no return even be noticed with these huge tires? Lol.

Happy to report....no rubbing. Brakes are performing perfectly. Love this car. Ready for the LS and 6 speed. Ok. Maybe not....kind of worn out. Need the break.

David

mini tube
 

I think I am going to have to mini tub my car now. they look so much better with those fat meats under them.

The best part is they remain functional, unlike the Pro Street era. They weren't much for handling with the big and littles back then. Lol.

Great looking car! I see you stuck with the 5.75" BS even though your wheels are a little narrower than the 10" Ridetech says will fit with that BS and the Tru-turn set-up on stock subframe. Even though you are still running 275/35/18 tires, do you think this gave you a little more clearance so you don't have rubbing issues? I'm trying to decide on rim width and BS at the moment and don't want to push the limits to much and then find out I have to modify my fenders. I'll thinking about either 9" - 9.5" wide in the front with 265/35/18.

What tire size are you running on the rear and is the backspacing 6"? I know your rims are 18x12 but didn't see any tire size or BS. I'm looking at 19's for the rear and debating on 11" - 12" as I want to run a 325/30/19 tire. Just looking for help to determine what will fit with as little problems as possible on my 69 Firebird. Obviously a shortened rear end will be needed, but not sure if i'll go with a floater. I'm also running the RT air set up for the exact reason you can see in your photos!:excited:

Happy to report....no rubbing. Brakes are performing perfectly. Love this car. Ready for the LS and 6 speed. Ok. Maybe not....kind of worn out. Need the break.

David[/QUOTE]

Great news! Its so nice when you take them out and come back with a minimal punch list.

I believe it gave me the clearance I needed, but I have to stress that I did modify the inner fender considerably. I personally can't see how even a 1" narrower wheel would clear the factory inner with anything lower than a stock height suspension. As far as rear, I'm running the 335s on the rear with 6" bs. Let me tell you.....its tight in there with the 335s. Lol. I think I have 1/4" of clearance on either side of my tire of both wheels. But....the previous owner had rolled the lips of both wheels wells. If I were you....I would plan on rolling the lips on the rear openings.....and plan on modifying the inner wheel house. I rolled my fronts until they were straight up....split the inner in several places up to the highest point of housing and cut at the flange, allowing me to push each piece up and added a filler piece behind the flange.

If I could do it over again, personally I would stay with the 9.5's and add 1/2" of bs. Then I would notch and fill the needed space at the frame under full lock. But that's just my car. After a lot of measuring i determined that I was lucky to have a frame in perfect shape.

The only thing that I have found that disappoints me is the turning radius of this car. I can't remember how the car felt in parking lots before the Ridetech Trueturn conversion. That may just be the nature of the 1rs gen Camaro? I even left out the stops on the a arms....still wish my tires would turn in more.

Great news! Its so nice when you take them out and come back with a minimal punch list.[/QUOTE]

Wayne,

Other than the turning radius being bigger than I would like......I love this set up! I also have to do some tuning on the torque arm. Good thing I built a lot of adjustment into this thing and had help from members here (thanks to Payton, Ron, and Jay) in judging where to start for mounting points. I have a little bit of wheel hop but not severe.

David

What an Awesome project. You have a beautiful Family.Keep up the great work.:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Thanks Scott.

Thanks for all your help. I'm looking at running 18 x 9.5" w/5.5" BS in the front with a 265/35/18 Pilot Super Sport tire. For the rear I'm looking at a 19 x 11.5" w/5" BS in the rear with a 325/30/19 Pilot Super Sport. These will be going on some Forgeline 2" Concave series wheels, so hopefully I'll get the look I want and still have a decent lip in the rear. With Foreglines sale going on, I'm trying to get this pinned down to place my order.

Taking in the difference in brakes that has been long discussed and how much the rotor hat can change the width in the front, I'm hoping we are somewhat close as you are running the Kore C6 Z06 calipers which I believe increase width on the front? I'm running the Baer 6P 14" which is the same setup Ridetech used on their mockup so hopefully I should be okay. A little modification to the front inner fenders is okay, I just don't want a WHOLE lot of problems getting them to fit. You said your turning radius has changed, but if you don't have much rubbing on the frame or control arms how did your turning radius become affected?

Yes...I think Tobins rotors add 1/4" per side in track width but it would be best to ask him. As far as turning radius....I think it's because I'm use to driving modern cars with rack and pinion steering. Lol. But seriously.....it seems like my turning radius is worse. I've got myself in a couple situations where I had to make two stabs at turning into a business. Think I may be spoiled with modern car-itis.

When you were mocking up your rear end and placed the wheels/tires under the car, how much room did you leave between the tire and outer fender? Also between the inner fender and tire?

I just placed my order for some Forgelines 19x11.5 with 5"BS and i'm planning to run 325/30/19 Super Sport tires so i'm hopeful with the 69 fenders I also won't have any rubbing issues if I measure correctly to order a shortened rear end.

I mounted my tires on the wheels, placed them in the wheel wells, dropped the car to ride height and measured between the wheels. That's the same suggestion others on here gave me. And it worked out for me. It will tell you what you need for distance wheel mount to wheel mount. BTW....you should have a little extra room with the 325s and a mini tub compared to my set up.