you know you gotta kinda tune those suspensions right? Its not like a leafs where you toss em on and yell giddy up. :thumbsup: nice job on the RC!!

Biggest part in the car worth working on ..... the driver.

Glassman... talk to Bad Ron Myers... he will help you plan out many changes to the car before your next event! :D

Mike you did really well out there for one of your first events! LVMS is a bit of a technical track that requires a little bit of everything. You need to be able to brake hard, rotate through all the 180s and be able to pick up the throttle early on corner exit, and have horsepower and driver ability to make it all come together.

With DSE suspension front and rear, I would want to be in the ballpark of 600/400 fr to rr, if you are using DSE's standard anti roll bars. I would get a set of 400lb rear springs from Maier, and let that be your first tuning modification. After an autocross day with that setup, then change the front to 600 or 650 if you aren't happy. Sometimes on the DSE subframes more front spring rate or a stiffer front sway bar will help make the car easier feeling to drive, and a bit faster for the driver on an autocross. Those rates will probably still give you something that is relatively easy to drive, which (in my opinion) is a good place to start until you have a ton of seat time.

I assume Ron concurs or you wouldn't have posted this. :peepwall:

Nah, rather than change springs Ron just bought a C5 Z06.
Actually, if I remember right, we put 450s in the back of his car. He did say it was easier to drive than the other setup that someone gave as a baseline.

I didn't know you had a thread here, Mike . . . what somebody said above. You just need to wheel the crap out of this thing and learn what it does and when (Skyline? My 'hood?). If all else fails, you'll always be the guy who passed me on my first track day . . .

Don't feel so bad about (potentially overreacting to) the adjustment thing. Because my Falcon seems to like corner diving, and because I'm too stupid/diverted (presently) to deal with my leaf spring situation (too light), I've decided to just rip the whole chassis out from under thing thing . . .

I've got an LS motor with a 6-speed auto sitting in front of my hot water heater now, partly because I'm just old now, but mostly just because I lack sufficient impulse control . . .

Hey Mike,

It was nice meeting you this past weekend. I hope to see you at other events.

Yep all true. We also added more front spring, better tires and a decent baseline shock adjustment. Once that happened it became a different car. Now the mantra is seat time and tire pressures.

Hang in there Mike. You'll get there! And congrats on making it out to Vegas!

:cheers:

BTW --- Don't take my "fix the driver" comment as negative... it's just a fact. Unless you're car is just HORRIBLE... which it's probably not... Just go out and have fun - Screw "where you finished" or getting caught up in lap times. Go out - have fun - see if you can improve with what you got... and then as your brain catches up to the car - you'll be able to come in and say "on corner entry the right front dives" or it "porpoises" or "at corner exit it steps out" or something else..... and THEN someone with KNOWLEDGE (not the idiot next to you) can say 'try this'. Now you'll go out and pay attention to what happened with that change....

Right now -- my guess (I'm the idiot next to you) - is that you're just trying to survive the sessions -- and there's very little concentration on how the car is actually handling...

It's like Charlie used to ask me when I'd come in -- "what's your oil temp"? And I'd look at him like a deer in a headlight and say "I don't know". Once I got some seat time and things slowed down a bit == THEN I started paying attention to all these little details.... It's called SEAT TIME for a reason.

70 camaro
 

Mike,
you are doing exactly what you should be doing
and that is running the car.. seat time and knowing
the car take time
I am have the same issue with my Firebird.. I think
it and I should be faster.. not there yet..It was a
long time ago but now all different
I can get
in my Pantera and run it anywhere but have been
running that car for 10 years now

I think learning how to tune the suspension is
the most challenging part and today it is key
to going fast.. I have never seen Mike Maier
run an event where is not tweaking something
on his car...

Have fun, run the car often to know it
Learn what does what to the handling.. get a book
keep a log and change things to see if it is better or worse
even if it is adjusting the clickers on shocks..that's why
we have them
You can run an Autocross almost every weekend
in Norcal.. I once raced against a guy who ran
46 weekends in one year!

Bob

yep, now the learning curve begins...thanx Vince...

Thats what Matt was telling me out there...Good Ron has much to say/write too...my brain explodes when reading his data,

thanx Matt, i was gonna pm you re this, but that sums it up right there. And thats exactly what Maier told me....

Ha, i only passed you (on my first track day too :poke: ) because my instructor told me too (rather, he yelled at me too lol). BTW, hence the name "dis-traction", you'll understand...

Thanx, we will. I'll be at Fontana and some more events in that neck of the woods. Two of my three kids live down there...


Seat time for sure, and tires r key, working on the spring rates in progress. Still like your 69 probably my fave. Looks and performance, total package baby!!!

None taken. I agree with almost everything you say, your approach to this (and life) is very much my perspective as well. I dont know about you, but i'm my worst critic. I pay attention to the times to make me a better driver, just really suprised me how sh$itty i did.


I drove the car much better on leafs, now the learning begins. All this just because i wanted bigger tires for the looks lol. These cars (2nds gens) do amazingly well on leafs. I was faster on leafs, hence the curve....which is part of the fun...I love this car. I love driving it.
Sometimes i bitch about the tuning aspect and forget about the big picture. i think the key word is "focus", we tend to look down at the minor innuendos, and forget about the mountains...

I remember a saying we used in dirt biking, "the older i get the faster i was", but tell that to Paul Newman who competed at a very high level in the 24 hours of Daytona at I believe 78 years young....

Cool Paul Newman reference. :thumbsup:

And likely you don't suck at driving as bad as you think you suck at driving...


:hello:

Your problem is too many cooks in the Kitchen. I set your car up based on my experience, from what you told me you wished to do with your car. Your invoice states you have 600# front springs, which is what we run on cars that see a lot of street time and a bit of autocross and track stuff, which is what you explained to me was your intentions for the car. The combination of parts you have shouldn't be anywhere near a last place car by any means. You need to get some instruction time and more experience behind the wheel before you start replacing parts and pieces and spending money on things you may not need. Gauging your performance at an event like the USCA events is tough. The top 10 cars are usually big hitters with cars that are set up well and drivers that know how to use them.

yeah, you have the base just start tweaking the recipe.

70 Camaro
 

Mike,
Yes there are some heavy hitters in the group
that run these events... Maier, Hobaugh, Popp, Posey
are all SCCA National Champions and some several times
over...then a guy like Jake who was a motorcycle champ
it is easy for them....

Bob

Can't believe its been 7 months since my last update. Alot has happened to the car since. Drove it hard the first half of 015, and wanted more power and to do some engine accessory work (from the Wegner kit i've had) and some more engine bay clean up.

First was the Wegner accessory drive, black ano with clear ano "slots". This kit is first class primo. WAAAAY worth the coin (funny enough, its the same price as all the other kits).

Well, you know how the story goes, "since we're taking off the drive assembly and balancer, lets do head and cam. So, second was/is Texas Speed and Performance PNC heads and a Comp cam as part of a package, which included a trunion upgrade.

And since we're doing the new accessories, lets move the hoses. Since we're moving the hoses under the fender, oh the computer has too move (it was under the passenger fender and the harness used the fender void as the "conduit"). And since we're moving the computer, most likely to the inside, i must finish the "almost done" wiring harness under the dash. So a new AAW wiring update was/is in order as well. Well, i ended up rewiring the entire car.

Oh, and while we're under the hood, lets install the carbon hood i got last year from Anvil, oh and new valve covers, oh and new Baer remaster (which i believe will require new/different diameters???). So also redid the fire wall...

Waiting on CJ's garage to finalize/do the engine & computer harness. And i've got some odd's and ends to do....air feed redo and fluids....

Heres one pic for now....

http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/...EE0F50A245.jpg

S

I like the wegner set up. comes with everything.

Well....at least it didn't get out of control. :lmao:

Mike, man o' glass, for a second, I thought you'd applied some crazy engine setback, but then I realized that you do not have two engines in the front of your Cam-arrow. That's one shiny firewall!

Nice build Mike, but without you incorporating used NASCAR parts in your 'Maro, it doesn't hold my interest.

Sorry...

#spoiledby2muchWinning



:P

Looks good. The front drive looks killer definitely going to go with that accessory drive.

Very nice job Mike,It is impossible to do just one thing without doing several more.

And you know the quality of their stuff. Great fit with the machining...

Ha, never. Or are we supposed to be in control? i'm asking a pilot about control? "do we have clearance clarance?,"

And i forgot to color sand it!!! may be before the DSE wiper kit...

I'm sorry Skipper, you sportin a #8 tatoo?

thanx Zach....it still needs to be detailed....

Yep, hip bones connected to the water pump lol....
any luck on your sale???

I really like my Wegner front drive kit... My only problem has been PS pumps. I've gone through a couple, but I don't think that's Wegner's fault. It's a compact kit that has quality components.

I also like the kit that Sutton is now selling. I would do that as a similar option if I were building another engine from scratch.

we put that s*** on everything. LOL hope you got a good price. you buy through matts?

LOVE THEM

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/a...psp2gbiizb.jpg

Looks great Mike. How much power you expecting from the upgrades?

Nice set of upgrades... #Whileimatititis

:D

Target completion date?

Nice upgrade Mike.

Tu

Yep, hip bones connected to the water pump lol....
any luck on your sale???[/QUOTE]

Mike I sold my red car to a real nice guy in Texas and bought the car I was building for a friend.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Yep. Price, not sure, but they have really great service, all their other pricing has been good.

:thumbsup:

I'm hoping for 560 +/- at the crank, hoping for 500 or so at the wheels, i'm not sure i'm going to make it with the 12bolt, but i'll have to learn how to drive the car again....

:thumbsup: umm september of 15 lol, seriously, only thing left is the computer harness and dash reassembly so, end of Jan? OUSCI T-hill is at the end of Feb, and i'm reluctant to sign up with a non' finished car....or i can take the carrera s, hehehe

thanx Tu

Jer....:thumbsup:

So this is why Greg is scrapping his 550 hp Mustang..... :bigun2:

This is like another "racer" on here... He too, has more of everything... except what's needed. :lol:

Looking good, Mike. Be sure to post up some more pictures once it's out driving around. Good luck!

well, trey.. we haven't lowered it off the jackstands yet.. but it was late, and Mike values his neighbors.. :headscratch:

we did get it fired, and it's been a long road. Lots of changes. I'll see what I can find photos for and load them up. I'll also be making a thread in the wiring section detailing the wiring work.. there's just too many photos to post.. they would hijack the thread.

okay. here goes:

I'm not really sure where this started. I'm pretty sure it stared with "I need more power" or "I don't like the accessories..". Whatever it was, the hip bone is very much connected to the leg bone here (tubbed69)..

Mike deliberated a long time, and I finally set him up with a heads and cam package. Beyond that, he was really itching to change the accessories. The old stuff hung way out to the sides and wasn't the look we were going for.

But like Mike said, once we knew what we wanted to clean up, it plowed tracks through a bunch of other systems. We would now have to move the majority of the wires in the car and the ECM that runs the engine because they lived where we wanted to run the heater and A/C lines, and some other stuff. Does everyone's cars snowball like this?

Anywho.. Mike stripped the car down in his garage.. pulled the accessories, intake, headers, heads and knick knacks around those items. I pulled the harmonic balancer with my special tool. We found this cleaning the piston tops.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...d%20piston.jpg

After a chat with my machinist, we determined that it wasn't close enough to the piston edge that it would affect anything. After further review, it was apparent the valve had contacted the piston in its previous life.. the valve had been replaced by the dealer I'm guessing (this engine started life in an 04 GTO and only reached 45,000 miles).

so we stabbed the cam and assembled the timing cover with a new crank seal and gasket.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...0the%20cam.jpg

Getting the oil pump pickup tube back in with the oil pan still installed was not fun. We ended up having to drop it anyway because I dropped the o-ring on my fourth or fifth attempt to try to start the bolt.


we wanted to put the heads on, but first I checked them out.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...cc%20heads.jpg

looking good so far. But then I found this in almost all the combustion chambers.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ng%20flaws.jpg

So I got out the porting and polishing kit and went to work. I got the chambers perfect and perfected the exhaust ports as well.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...t%20runner.jpg

oh yeah.. and while I was in there I found this just hanging out in the water jackets..
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...20shavings.jpg

Here they are all cleaned, reassembled and ready to install
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...0225cc%202.jpg

We slapped them back on, cleaned the head bolts holes and installed and torqued new head bolts.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...0installed.jpg

Somehow we missed getting photographs of doing the trunnion upgrade.. and the rockers installed. Must have had our hands busy.. :EmoteClueless:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...0installed.jpg

I left it to Mike here for the accessory installation and the valve covers and whatnot.