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Introducing: Project 1/2-TRAK
Greetings everyone,
I joined Lateral-G.net in 2005. Since then I have had the good fortune of meeting a bunch of wonderful folks and have learned quite a lot from a number of people. In that time much has changed in my life. I got married, changed jobs (twice), moved twice, built a house and we are currently in the process of selling another. Finally, life has begun to settle into a situation in which I can move my project from the planning stages to an active project. I joined with a rather general plan in mind based on an experience gained nearly 30 years ago. Sometime around 1976-77 my father took me to a race at Laguna Seca. I distinctly recall box-fender flared BMW 3-series cars, Datsun 510's & 240-Z's, FIA bodied Corvettes and those wild Chevy Monza's. But what struck me the most was not these high-dollar pro racers but the cars in some of the support races being run by local SCCA members. Particularly if I recall correctly the A-sedan group. This group was populated by hobby road-racers driving cars that were slightly older. Much like what you'd see at an SCCA or NASA event today. But instead of Miata's, Bimmers and CMC cars, these were late 1960's Musclecars. Mustangs, a few Mopars and Camaros. I was totally blown away. At the tender age of 10 or so I'd seen enough copies of Hot-Rod that I was aware that these cars were frequently used for drag racing. But the fact that they could be road-raced was entirely new to me. The cars were as amazing to me at the time as they are now. Pared down to their base elements, nothing there except what absolutely HAD to be there. Low, loud and mean looking with FOUR instead of two fat tires! Many of them had the "bubble" type fender flares that you can see on David Pozzi's old T/A car Heck, David's car may have even been out on the track that day, who knows? I knew then that someday I wanted to have a car like one of those. And, I knew just where to start. In July of 1969 my Grandparents purchased a 1968 Camaro that had been sitting a while on the lot at Courtesy Chevrolet in Santa Clara, CA. They needed a new car to drive to Arizona where I was to be born in a couple of months and since the car had been slow to sell the price was right. The car was a bit different in that it was a special order that wound up not being delivered to the customer it was originally intended for. Playboy had placed an order through COPO for 50 pink 1968 Camaros to be distributed to playmates through the year. They only took delivery of about 30-40 of them. The rest wound up being sent to dealers. This was one of them....and yes, I said it was pink. This was my Grandmothers car for close to 35 years. They drove it all over CA on vacations and fishing trips. In fact, to this day there are bait shops and mountain lodges that I go to and when I mention my Grandparents people say, "Oh the couple with the pink Camaro!" The car was nothing special other than by virtue of it's color. A basic 327 coupe with a powerglide. But it was cool and I knew that eventually this car would be the basis for my Camaro road-racer project. Fast forward to the year 2000. I was getting out of the Coast Guard after eleven years and moving back home to the Bay Area. My grandparents at that point decided to give me the car. A couple of years earlier some redneck had yelled something vulgar to my Grandfather while he was driving it and it scared him so he had a cheapo Earl Schieb spray-job done on it so it was now blue rather than pink. http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778128098.jpg The gifting of the Camaro roughly coincided with the "rise" of Pro-Touring. Jeff Smith and Mark Stielow had finally put a name to what had been in my head for years. A classic Musclecar with an updated suspension and drivetrain. Finally, I didn't feel like such a geek for wanting a corner-carving Camaro! And, with websites like this one popping up, magazine coverage for PT builds becoming more common and increased aftermarket support for this type of car it was going to be a whole lot easier than I had originally imagined!!!! So essentially I have spent the last few years in "planning mode" speaking with various vendors about different suspension configurations. Considering a number of different powertrain options. Asking countless questions of people like David Pozzi, Steve Chryssos, Mark Magers, Steve Rupp, Carl Cassanova, Frank Serafine, Tom Holt, Tyler @ ATS and many others. Weighing my intentions for the car and how that impacts parts selections, build style and how much to spend and where? Further, there has been the debate of the style of build. Street car vs. race car vs. Streetfighter. All of which has brought me to this. A finalized plan for and an opportunity to build the car I have dreamt of for nearly 3/4 of my life. Introducing: http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778128099.jpgThe car will have a decidedly "Streetfighter" vibe to it and that is by design. I intend to drive the heck out of this thing. It will see auto-x action in and around the Bay Area whenever I get the chance and it will be taken to the many fine tracks (Sears Pt. Thunderhill, Buttonwillow and Laguna Seca) around the area as well. The money will be spent on performance first and appearance second as I care far more about how the car negotiates a corner than about what some judge at a Goodguys event thinks. Project 1/2 TRAK will feature the following: Drivetrain:
Many of the items on the list above are still open to change based on new product releases, pricing changes etc therefore, any vendor wishing to discuss partnership in this project is welcome to contact me via Private Message here at PT.com Pretty damned excited. I can't wait to get started on this thing. First order of business will be to rip the front end off of it so I can finish the welds on the front sub and install the body mounts. Then subframe connectors, then tubs, then the 3-link rear. All of which I have the parts for on hand. By the time that is done I hope to have purchased enough of the front suspension bits so I can put the car back on the ground so I can roll it onto a tow truck and take it to TC Design-Fab for the cage install. http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778128117.jpg I should be able to get crackin in about a month or so. Once the garage is organized a bit better. I will do my best to update this build thread every two weeks or so and look forward to sharing this build with the membership here at www.Lateral-g.net |
Looks like a solid car to start with and good plan:thumbsup:
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awesome plan.
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Sweet project, I love the rendering. :yes: Nice that you can finally get started on the car when life gives you some space. :lol: Have fun and keep us posted. :thumbsup:
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it's gonna be fun!!!!!! :thumbsup:
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Nice color combo, keep us updated.
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OOH! I like it a lot
I can't wait to watch this one come together. Love the wheels and the front air dam
I have seen you on the boards for a long time both here and pt.com. Glad you are finally starting |
That is going to be one wicked ass car! I absolutely give it a big :thumbsup: I'll be watching this build!!!
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Very Nice,I was doing a similar rendering for jake parrot a while back
http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs23/f/20...zvtdesigns.jpg Another great job by carter |
Nice. I like those stripes. They accentuate the curves of the fenders (best looking pony-car body IMO) without cluttering the car.
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Cool,
can't wait to see the pics of the project underway. |
Awesome. :cheers:
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1/2 trac on the right track
Flat out awesome! Im old enough to remember the old SCCA racers. Heck I test drove a "new 69" we wont go there LOL. SWEET ride, its going to be neat, Im sure. Its amazing some of the tricks the old racers used to go faster and farther, true innovators of that time. Keep us posted how its comming along.
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Well I didn't think it was going to take so long to get crackin on this thing but life happens. It took us longer than we'd thought to get the old house ready to sell. Thankfully it was on the market for a total of 48hrs and is due to close in the next week or so.
With that....I decided to get started on dissasembly. http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778183393.jpg It came apart pretty easilly. No broken bolts. The only rust at all was a tiny bit of surface rust between panel edges. Like between the fender extension and fender. Came right off with a wire brush. No corrosion penetration at all. Started labeling stuff as it came off. Put small parts in those clear plastic totes. Tried to put bolts in their home hole whenever possible. Even better than bagging. http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778183391.jpg I haven't worked on an old car in quite a few years. Got a big kick out of how much hardware there is and how big the hardware is. They sure don't make 'em like this anymore. Not to mention how thick the material is compared to new cars. Those fenders are 16ga!!! Wow. Did you think I was kidding about it being pink? Its pretty darn clean. That discoloration is dirt, not rust. Wipes right off. http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778183396.jpg http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778183397.jpg This week I'll strip all the suspension and steering off the sub and take it to get sandblasted. Once I'm done with that I can finish weld the seams. Then I'll be able to do my suspension fabrication. I have one or two decisions to make in that regard this week. Still not sure what system I'll be using. Then I can prime/paint and install the sub. After that will be subframe connectors. |
Gotta love the hub-caps!!!
http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778128120.jpg Views of my workspace not previously visible http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778183394.jpg http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778183390.jpg |
Damn,
Will you be running the Lateral Dynamics 3-link? Why did you pick this rear over the others? |
Yes. For what I intend to do with the car it was the only viable choice.
Adjustability/performance. The ability to run rod-end links vs bushings. Any 4-link is going to roll-steer and bind. Didn't want that. The car will be caged which precludes the use of the rear seat, thus the cockpit intrusion is a non-issue. It's not going to be easy to install, but ultimately it'll be worth it. |
I vote for painting it the original Pink again.
A tribute to your Grand parents |
I will integrate some pink on the car. Not sure just where yet.
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Had the day off of work so the front suspension bits were removed from the front sub. Everything came off smoothly. Still (knocking on wood) no broken or stripped fasteners. Though I do have a brake line union (hard line to flex line at left front wheel) that is putting up a fight.
It got too hot in the garage so I shut it down for the afternoon. I'll probably take some measurements and pull the subframe tonight after it cools off. |
How are you going to run a 275 front tire on a stock sub?
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That's a really neat project and a great story behind it. Be careful with the black/satin paint on the hood and front end. With my track cars, I've always had to use wax to get the rubber streaks (from race tires) off the front end and from behind the tires.
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You see, I firmly believe in letting other people do my R&D for me. The simple reason for this is that I really cannot afford to experiment. So for the most part, I am using what I know to work. Thankfully, one of our own, Carl Cassanova has already sussed out the details of running a 275 on the front of a '68. You can find all the required information on his excellent website: http://www.geocities.com/casanoc/ The only differences in my setup will be the use of an ATS spindle and wheels/brakes. I will be duplicating his wheel dimensions and also will be using the Speed Tech upper and lower control arm. More about those later though. I don't want to get ahead of my next update. |
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So....not a lot happened in September. It was a busy month at work because I was only AT work for about 2 weeks out of the four. My wife and I spent a week in Hawaii, and another week fishing and camping in the Sierra's. She treated me pretty good for my birthday. All things considered I'd have preferred Camaro stuff to going to Hawaii. Having lived there for seven years it feels more like going home than going on a vacation. But it was nice to get out of the office. The fishing trip though was awesome. The planks are 2"x12" for reference.
http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778197360.jpg So as I said a few posts back, I got the sheet metal stripped from the car pretty easily. No broken or stripped hardware and no rust to speak of. As you can see though, the subframe is really grungy. http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778197358.jpg Not bad considering the age of the car. Really stoked about the lack of rust. This really was a "grandma car" and as such it was never really driven hard so I'm not even finding evidence of severe wear or any kind of stress cracks. http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778197357.jpg So I stripped all the suspension off and yanked the subframe in preparation for sandblasting and then finish welding. Here's what we started with http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778197343.jpg A little quick work with a wire wheel allowed me to inspect the potential trouble spots for cracks before sandblasting and allows me to explain what I'm up to here. You see how the subframe is only partially welded? Well each unwelded bit is a flex point and the beginning of each weld is a stress riser. http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778197344.jpg |
So what we are going to do is link all of the factory welds and tie the whole thing together.
I thought this was going to be easy, but nooooo. It seems that a 40 year old lap joint is nigh impossible to clean. I sandblasted it. I wire brushed it. I sprayed solvent in there and blew it around with a blow-gun. I heated the joint with a torch to burn off contaminants but my welds were just looking like rubbish. This thread catalogs me figuring out the problem with the help of Jake and Matt... http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46863 So with the problem solved the welds came out pretty well. You can see the factory lap weld above my weld in this picture. It looks like they were stick welding these things and doing so very quickly. http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778197348.jpg Now remember, these are flux-core welds on a dirty, 40 year old lap joint. My torch technique is as you can see "rusty" to say the least. But, the welds are super solid and fully penetrated. http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778197347.jpg |
In addition I also finish welded the seams inside the LCA pocket and the entire K-member. Overkill? Maybe. But it couldn't hurt.
http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778197369.jpg You can see the string of itty-bitty spot welds that were originally used to join the upper and lower halves of the K-member here. Running the bead along both sides really made the assembly into a very solid unit. http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778197368.jpg I had to roll the subframe over a few times while doing all this work the difference in the stiffness of the assembly was very noticeable. Early in the process I could feel the thing wobble around a bit if I grabbed it by one corner and shook. I mean it felt like grabbing one corner of a sheet of 3/4 plywood. Strong, yet with some springiness to it. With everything welded up it is completely rigid. More like a sheet of 1-1/8 subfloor. Yeah, my welds still kinda suck and the flux-core wire is messy, but they got better through the process and functionally the welds are good. Next step....... Installing the ATS coilover conversion system....... |
Nice progress! Boy, that takes me back a year!!
Cant wait to see the next round of pics!! :thumbsup: |
I'm really glad I'm doing this work myself it's so much damn fun!
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I really enjoy the design/planning stages...but it's also fun to get the hands dirty!! As long as things are going well that is!! I'll let ya know what the driving stage is like and if I like that too next year!! :unibrow:
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Just the act of using my hands to alter something tangible is, I'm finding, very rewarding. I spent eleven years as a helo mechanic and air crewman in the Coast Guard. I'd show up to the air station and a couple helo's would be broken and by the time I headed home stuff was fixed. Very satisfying.
But for the last eight years I've been in Marketing Communication. The work I do now oftentimes does not produce a measurable result for months. Sometimes the result is immeasurable and it's rarely if ever something tangible that I can see and feel like "I made that." |
So while you were busy ripping your pink car apart we were busy modifying your lower control arms to a double shear mount for our coil over kit.
We took your tubular control arms and setup our lower mount: http://i37.tinypic.com/29q1uzb.jpg Then we ground down the powder coating off the top and bottom so that we could TIG the mounts in place: http://i34.tinypic.com/nc05me.jpg http://i35.tinypic.com/fdy77l.jpg The frame gets modified by cutting off the single shear shock mount from the upper control arm bracket, plasma cutting the spring pocket out to allow for the coil over to pass through, and then welding the new upper coil over mount itno place inside the control arm bracket. Final results look like this: http://i33.tinypic.com/258qx37.jpg |
Back to the lower control arms, we TIG weld the spacer into one side of the double shear mount; the other side gets a zinc plated floater.
http://i35.tinypic.com/2rf378o.jpg http://i37.tinypic.com/2hzpjme.jpg http://i37.tinypic.com/28kk7fd.jpg The lower mount is ready to be welded to the lower control arm pocket: http://i33.tinypic.com/sl1ikw.jpg The arms are fully welded; TIG around the brackets, and MIG in the center to plug weld them in place. Now they go off to get re-finished. http://i34.tinypic.com/30t1ac7.jpg Next we will assemble your AFX spindles using the LG Motorsports brake cooling ducts. I'll post those up when the parts arrive. Tyler |
Hey Tyler, thanks for posting that stuff. If you'd sent me the photos I don't think anyone would have believed it was me making those welds.
Important feature of the Speed-Tech arms that I really want to point out [white arrow] http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...7778202482.jpg That bolt is the key to getting the 275x17" tire on a 9.5" rim on the front of a 1st Gen with a stock subframe. It's a steering limit adjuster and it allows you to slightly limit the steering angle such that the tire will not rub the subframe. The loss of steering angle is negligible. Speed-Tech is the only aftermarket UCA/LCA manufacturer to offer this feature. Strap gussets on the bushing housings are a nice addition as well. Stronger with a minimal increase in weight. Of course, the Acetron (delerin) bushings will offer little/no deflection, exceptionally long wear, no squeaking and have a convienently mounted zerk fitting as well. Tyler informs me that the modification shown above was significantly easier on the Speed-Tech arms than on other available products. |
I will be watching this build. :thumbsup:
Tyler, Nice welds. |
Thanks, stay tuned. There'll be more stuff in a few days.
The perception is that it's one thing for Tyler and his guys to install the Chicane-LM stuff in their shop and something else entirely for a home builder to do it. I am doing the remainder of the install myself, with the intention of illustrating how easy it is for someone to do this install even with basic home fabrication equipment......and trust me, my capabilities (skill & equipment) are VERY basic. I only had Tyler install the LCA double shear mounts because I don't have my shocks yet and thus cannot correctly set the spacing. I don't have a videography department (just kidding Frank) but I'll try to give you guys as much stuff as I can. |
Looking great True. :thumbsup:
You'll have no problems with the rest of the assembly. |
I get the sweats thinking about installing that rear system....I'll be calling you....a lot.
Gotta see if I can't talk Matt into spending a weekend in Mountain View. |
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Are those upper shock mount systems available seperatly and would they work on an A-body? |
Dan-
The mounts are available by themselves but they might be too tall to work on an A body. Tyler |
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