The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro - Final Preparations
 

With the 2010 Tire Rack One Lap of America coming up in less than two months, David and I thought we would start a post on the final preparations of the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro. We’ll run down some of the work that we’ve done over the last year to dial in the front suspension - all the way to the work we did last weekend (updating the car with new Speed Tech upper and lower control arms) - through the next six and a half weeks of last minute preparation.

Looking back almost a year ago today, the car was just about a mess; I wish I could be kinder about that but it had a lot of issues. Don’t get me wrong, it was far and away the best First Gen that I had ever driven and was more than capable of holding it’s own but it had a ton of issues… first and foremost was a clearance problem between the outer tie rod ends and the inner hoop of the wheel. Admittedly at 5.9” of backspacing we were pushing the envelope but despite having nearly 3/8” of static clearance, there was contact due to deflection under load:

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/california/shop%20060.jpg

If you notice in the picture (looking past the disturbing trail of aluminum) you’ll see that we were not running any bump stop spacers (mostly for space) at this point. The car felt good on the road 9 times out of 10 but hit a big bump and that 1 out of 10 times was ‘alarming’. HRE helped us out by rehooping the inner wheels so that we could gain some clearance and properly space the rod end for bumpsteer but that left us running a narrow tire (255/35) on a narrow rim (8”) which was less than ideal. We also had no rear sway bar (so the car was rolling pretty badly) and a very conservative alignment.

This was the starting point for David.

The first thing that we addressed at Pozzi Racing was the rear sway bar. We went through (seemingly) countless renditions to get us to where we are now. We started with an off the shelf Second Gen Camaro rear bar that David modified to work with the Lateral Dynamics 3-link:

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/WillowSp...rear%20bar.JPG

He cut the ends off and welded on an extension which allowed for adjustability. This setup was really good on the road and pretty decent (a huge improvement) on the track but we were fighting an understeer at autocrosses and the car was simply not rotating the way that we wanted it to. David modified this bar three times - progressively getting shorter and shorter - until it was working fairly well but unfortunately, the packaging was no longer working out.

Taking a step back, David then designed a completely new rear bar starting with a piece of old rebar that was kicking around the shop. One he had the geometry that he was looking for and got it to fit in the car, he called up David Wheeler and the guys at Hellwig Products who built us new rear bar that worked great!

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...20Rear%201.JPG

…it was a long (but fun) process of ‘trial and error’ to get it dialed in. We would go to an autocross and run the car, try an adjustment on the rear bar, and run again. We did that for probably three events until we had the rear bar exactly where we wanted it.

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...20Rear%202.JPG

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...20Rear%203.JPG

At which point we determined that we had just slightly too much front bar. Hellwig Products had built us a great hollow front bar that was working really well with the untuned rear but as we got the car to start turning in better, we wanted to soften the front a touch. Hellwig again came to our rescue and built us a new front bar with a slightly thinner tubing that reduced the rate about 10%. It took nearly 11 months and seven or eight different renditions but we finally have a car that turns.

While all of the sway bar tuning is going on, David is working on his own Skunk Works style project – reengineering the steering on the car to provide clearance for wider front wheels and tires as well as near ideal bumpsteer and alignment.

We were starting with this:

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...ng%20start.jpg

And hoping for something like this:

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...ing%20goal.jpg

To do that he created a new center link, repositioning the inner tie rod end pickup points:

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...Comparison.JPG

Rebuilt the steering arms – moving the outer tie rod end pickup point up:

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep/steering%20mod.jpg

And found a new inner tie rod end that worked with a custom fabricated adjustor sleeve and a rod end for the outer…

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...dification.JPG

The result was near ideal bumpsteer characteristics, no shims (but the ability to add them if need be) and more than enough clearance for the wheels:

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...ing%20done.jpg

And while all of this is going on, we are closing in on springs and shocks and looking at how we were going to shove another inch of tire on the front (and, ok, the back too). We went through a couple of different spring rates and added some progressive (but modified) shock mounted bump stops bet were still looking for increased travel on the front. We were borderline on the compression height and wanted to add an inch of travel just to be on the safe side; it wasn’t bad but we wanted a little bit more travel to allow the car to set and go rather than worry about bottoming on a hard corner.

The solution came from Blake Foster and the guys at Speed Tech Performance. We decided to change out our old Global West control arms in favor of a new set from Speed Tech for a couple of reasons…

First - Speed Tech’s high clearance upper control arms allow for more backspacing and still give lots of wheel clearance:

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...pper%20Arm.JPG

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...%20Arm%202.JPG

And second - Speed Tech’s lower control arms have a generous spring pocket which, when combined with ATS Chicane coil over lower mounts, place the lower shock mount about ¾” lower than the GW’s. David and I had toyed with cutting the GW’s up to lower the mount but this was a much easier solution.

Lower shock mounts welded, waiting for paint…
http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...ane%20Weld.JPG

One thing that we found with the high clearance upper arms was that we needed a bit more clearance on the frame while at full droop. Mary was quick to come to the rescue…

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...er%20Mount.JPG

Shaping the frame mount just a bit
http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...unt%20Done.JPG

Giving us a perfect fit
http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...20Together.JPG

Keeping in mind that we needed that clearance at full droop on the hoist, a condition that we acknowledge we’ll only encounter if we’re sailing through the air. But, we thought, better safe than sorry.

At the end of the day, the Speed Tech upper and lower control arms went in with minimal fuss and took (significantly) fewer shims to align than we had used previously. Ultimately we decided on a conservative alignment for the car – settling in at just over 5.5° of caster (slightly more than that on the right side) and slightly more than 1.5° of negative camber; toe in is set at 1/16”.

The finished product:

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...rms%20Done.JPG

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...0CA%20Done.JPG

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...ion%20Done.JPG

I can’t say enough about the great product and outstanding customer service that Blake and everybody at Speed Tech provided! It’s really nice to have people like them supporting the hobby with great products and advice!

We were hoping to get our new ZR1 stlye front hubs installed over the weekend as well, but UPS did not share our sense of urgency. Instead we tweaked the exhaust a bit to make sure that we had all the clearance we wanted and then tacked everything to hold it in place. Once again, Mary was quick to come to the rescue:

Same line, different context… it stuck.
http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010prep...You%20Btch.JPG

We also took the opportunity to raise the ride height a half inch on the front and ¾ or so on the back – just for bit more road clearance. We rescaled the car (3,582 pounds with a 49.8% cross weight) and tightened the rolls bars up and are one step closer to the One Lap of America starting line on April 30th.

David is working on the pinion angle now – trying to eliminate the slight driveline harmonic that has been annoying us since day 1. The ‘funny’ thing is that the pinion angle is technically correct but the driveshaft angle is a bit steep. We’ll get it figured out…

Coming next (hopefully) will be the ZR1 hub install and a quick check of pinion angle at the new ride height. Then we wait for new wheels and tires and we should be good to go at the Run To The Coast in three weeks! Oh… and I guess the trailer hitch and trailer setup have to be squeezed in here too…

We’ll keep you posted.

It's looking very good James. You've got an amazing car there.

great info James, thanks a lot. :thumbsup:

Jody

Nothing but IMPRESSIVE!

James, you sure have an amazing group helping you out there between Pozzi's and Blake (and the guys at SpeedTech)---it's kinda like the PT dream team---should I have thrown Rupp's name in there as well--LOL.

Great info---I'm really looking forward to seeing the car again (at the RTTH event here in So Cal) and seeing it perform. I'll admit, it is frightning how much tweaking you have done to make the car better, and how many changes you've had to make. It makes me realize that I have a lot of work ahead of me to begin optimizing my setup---perhaps the Pozzi's have room in their shop for another 1st gen---

Great car and info as always--you are living my dream--looking forward to seeing you and the car in a couple weeks.

Doug

Thanks Doug. I wouldn't put too much stock in the "amount" of tweaking that we have done. I'll be the first to admit that we have been chasing the last little bit of performance for most of the year. I could have called it close enough at almost any point in the last six months but we're taking our One Lap of America effort pretty seriously... Besides, hopefully others can learn from our work.

On that note though... I should probably state that I don't recommend most of these modifications for the average enthusiast... they should be considered to be for off road use only and what works and fits on the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro may not fit or work on any other car on the planet...

Hey, that last paragraph above sounds like the slogan I get from Summit Racing everytime I make a phone order---:lol:

I'm really interested in the rear sway bar and how the adjustments, and eventually a new bar, came into being to get the car to work the way it needed to. I'll pick your brain a bit more if you have time (maybe Dave's also) when you are down for the event. I've installed one as well this past week when I put the G/Bar in--will try to mess with it some before the event and see what works best.

Doug

OLC kept telling me it wanted more rear bar so we kept at it.
I also raised the Watts bellcrank pivot to nearly the highest hole. There is one more left that might have been enough with the first bar, but using it would have required relocating the fuel filter and fuel lines coming out of the tank.

This car has way more rear stiffness than Penny with the same rear suspension. Front tires are smaller than Penny and also the weight is higher. The amazing thing about OLC is it puts the power down VERY well, and is very nimble for it's weight, it doesn't feel heavy at all, and that engine makes loads of torque and HP!

In past posts James mentioned we worked on brake balance. After changing to a smaller rear master cyl TWICE! We finally have the brakes balanced and can hit them way harder now.

About the steering mods, I raised the outer steering arms by cutting and welding. This is a prototype setup for testing and although they passed magnaflux testing, they should eventually be replaced with a billet part. The inner pieces on the tie rods I have a lot more confidence in due to their thickness, but still, welding on steering parts is a race car trick, not something I take lightly and I WON'T do it for anyone else, it just isn't worth the liability. I trust the job enough to plunk my own butt in the driver's seat, but I check them carefully every time the car is up on the lift, which is after nearly every outing we have.

I think the Speed Tech arms, especially the uppers are a better match for the tall ATS spindles. The arm is flat and the balljoint angle is much better. We also found a tiny bit of extra wheel to fender clearance, maybe 1/4" per side for some reason.
David

Have you guys played with any of the data acquisition stuff with track mapping and or track vision yet? (with all that extra time on your hands lol)

James has recorded it. I had a file but couldn't open it on my laptop for some reason. I have the basic G2X data system I use in Mary's Camaro and the Lola T-70. It's useful in comparing one driver to another. I like to look at the MPH plot all around the track, that tells me the most. Then look at lateral G's and braking/accel G's.

I'm starting to wish I had shock sensor data, but it's a lot of data to digest and understand so for now I'm probably better off without that.

I can't even turn the camera on right, usually I press the darn button slightly too long and it goes into time lapse mode.
David

Thanks for taking the time to post all your troubles and wins. It's insane the amount of work that goes into these cars to get them "Just Right". At the end of the day it's a bunch of bastard parts that need finessed to work together and be to your liking. I'm definitely behind you guys in race tuning but I'm a perfectionist and my car get's so much better every time I race. Best of luck to you guys in the One Lap.:thumbsup:

Thanks Todd - and thanks for chiming in Mr. Co-Driver.

As David elluded to there is a bunch of "little" stuff that we worked through over the last year as well...

• The brakes - as David mentioned, the rear master cylinder was changed twice before we had the "ideal"(?) balance. We started at 0.8125" before trying 0.750" and finally settling on 0.700".
• The clutch - we changed the clutch master once, going from 0.75" to 0.8125".
• The transmission - replacing the Rockland T-56 with a very street civilized T-56 Magnum.
• The Tuning - we went from being untuned (completely untuned to begin with - no map, no nothing below 3500 rpm) to a well tuned open loop to a great closed loop setup.
• The steering wheel - yes... even the steering wheel! The combination of the ATS steering box and the relatively small MOMO wheel was a little "too quick" so after some hunting we found a 15" Sparco race wheel that slowed everything down a little bit.

And that is forgetting about all of the truly small "challenges" that we worked through... the alternator, mystery grounds, binding MC push rods, and a host of others.

None of it was insurmountable - nor unexpected - but a lot of it was puzzling at the time. Thankfully, the solution was to hammer on the car every chance we got!

James thanks for the info:thumbsup:

Curious, knowing what you now know, if you were to do it over, would you recommend going with a DSE or the likes, instead of trying to modify the existing sub?

If I were to do it all again I would definately use an aftermarket subframe - but not because I think that there is a significant performance advantage from the suspension geometry. The advantage of an aftermarket sub, IMHO, is the ability to run a larger wheel and tire combination on the front. I would call Speed Tech in a heartbeat (and will for my other '67) and don't think you will go wrong with DSE or AME.

That being said, when I was working on the front sub for the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro there were very few - if any - proven aftermarket subs available. Some of the "older" designs weren't readily available and the "new" generation of subs were available on paper but were still 8 months from delivery.

At the end of the day, I am happy with the capabilities of the stock sub but wish there was another two inches of clearance for 315s...

Excellent stuff---thanks for all that info---I have a lot of work ahead ---

Doug

Thanks for taking the time
 

post all of this up and it is very well documented.

Looking forward to many more updates during the race.

What sizing did you end up on the front for a master? I know your pedal ratio and piston sizes are probably different than mine, but I ended up .70 front and .75 rear after 2.5 years of messing with mine.

We're actually opposite of that - 0.75" in the front and 0.70" in the rear. Set up like that the bias control is "neutral" and we can dial in more or less front or rear if needed.

Hi James,

Awesome mods! I just got my zr1 hubs too...

Just a couple of questions:

What new wheels are you getting?? and any pics?

Also, what color and product is the bottom of your car sprayed?? ....wheelwells, pans, etc.

Thanks!

Tires arrived today...

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/OLoA/tires.jpg

Hopefully wheels are not far behind!

I wish I had my new hubs - I ordered them three weeks ago and today, after hounding them for a tracking number, they admit they they don't have any in stock (despite telling me that they did). If you don't mind, PM me your source, if it's different maybe I can still find a pair in time.

The wheels are new Rushforth Night Trains - dark Titnanium centers with brushed hoops. Can't wait!

The bottom of the car was sprayed with a reduced rock guard (nothing special just thinned out) and then just single stage grey.

PM sent, James.

What sizes are those PS2's?

Sadly - same source.

The rears are 335/30-18s and the fronts are 275/35-18s - should be a nice improvement, especially on the front.

275 on the front really what is the BS for the wheels you are still using the stock "ATS: frame right

Front wheels are 18 x 9 with 6.4" of backspacing.

As I have said before - what works on the OLC may not work on an other car and I do not recommend trying to do the same without testing it on your own car first.

When we first mocked up the car, I bought a dirt cheap 18 x 8.5" wheel from summit with 6.25" BS and used those to test clearance and fit. With the exception of the outer tie rod end clearance we had no issues. With the extra 0.15" we may need to increase the steering stops a touch but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

Subframe is "stock" ATS - SpeedTech.

Here are some new photos of recent repairs to OLC.
Radiator plug was leaking and galled, had to drill it out and chase the threads.
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o...o/IMG_1362.jpg

New petcock installed.
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o...o/IMG_1372.jpg

Reverse solenoid was not working, found a bent terminal on the left hand side of the photo. This will be a big relief!
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o...ransplugsm.jpg

Thanks David!

The drain plug on the rad has been "on the list" since SEMA '08... the original drain that we had wouldn't clear the oil filter and got swapped out to the pipe plug at the last minute. Unfortunately the pipe plug galled the threads on the way in and wouldn't come out so, function over form, we ended up sealing it up and only thought about it when we noticed a little bit of moisture in the corner of the rad.

I'm guessing that the reverse lockout plug got tweaked when the Magnum went in over the summer. Another thing that was on the list to look at but since it wasn't keeping us from doing anything was put off and put off. Last week David switched out the brake light switch (from a pressure switch that was getting flakey to a modified electric one) and when he couldn't hear the solenoid clicking when he was done we decided it was time to dive in and see what was happening.

While David was busy in the shop, I was busy at the computer - almost finishing the update on out website - www.OneLapCamaro.com. It's a complete redo and is 90% finished and 90% functional at this point. Check it out if you have a chance.[/URL]

This week... final prep for the Run To The Coast next weekend then we're wrapping the car next week. We had a bunch of issues getting the ZR1 hubs but they are finally here - I found an alternative source for them after the high profile vendor for these strung us along for three weeks before admitting they had no stock. I'm going through the same thing now with brakes (whatever happened to customer service?) but we should have that sorted out soon.

No wonder your car gets confused with mine.. they took the same track of "build it then fix it" lol

Personally I think just about every car needs to be built like this.. unless it's built at first by an engineer. There are just so many little things that "could be better" after the initial build.

I like your disclaimer, same as mine.. Can't wait to run with her at events this summer..

Most of these guys think when the build is "Finished" it's finished. :lol:

Update, petcock wouldn't clear the oil filter so I had to switch to a plug, but it's a brass plug with teflon so it won't gall. New PS pump came, so I'll get than on the car next.

David started working on the trailer over the last couple of days... after hunting around for a few days he found this one literally in his own back yard. It needs a repaint so David took the sand blaster to it yesterday:

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/california/trailer1.jpg

It should do the job once it's cleaned up and a couple of minor issues are addressed. Best part is that it has two enclosable, lockable compartments and should be able to fit all of our gear, tools, spares, and supplies.

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/california/trailer2.jpg

Work on the hitch for the Camaro will resume after Del Mar.

Very Cool.. you know how our readers LOVE Camaros with trailers!!! :lol:

It was a tough choice Steve ... tow the trailer or run with a roof rack... and try as i might I still can't picture the OLC driving down the Jersey Turnpike with a 335/30 strapped to the roof.

Wait... now that I typed that I CAN picture that... :D

Big changes over the last week... the most prominent of which is our new look...

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010/wrap1.jpg

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010/wrap2.jpg

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010/wrap3.jpg

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2010/wrap4.jpg

Love the "POZZI TUNED" logo ....lol:rofl:

It'll either get me a lot of credit, or a lot of blame! :_paranoid