2012 OneLapCamaro Updates... we're at it again...
 

With the 2012 Tire Rack One Lap of America quickly sneaking up on us I thought I would update everyone (who’s interested) on our progress with The OneLapCamaro. It’s been a challenging off season and we ended last year with a bang (followed by a depressing trickle of hydraulic fluid) at the OUSCI so we have our work cut our for us to get everything ready.

The first thing that needed attention (aside from the aforementioned bang that we’ll get to later) was the rear end. Last year we had “issues” with the axle bearings during the One Lap of America which put us down for a day (thanks again Frank) doing emergency repairs (and missing our turn on the high banks of Daytona). The failure was all the more frustrating because we had one of the (if not the) first Baer Floaters kits sitting back at the shop waiting on the final piece of the puzzle to become available. We also had one of the (if not the) last known Lateral Dynamics 3-Link housings sitting in wait.

Well, long story short, the final parts for the floater assembly came available in the fall and we immediately shipped everything to the crew at Currie Enterprises for final fabrication and assembly. After rebuilding the center section (which “Mary and I” managed to fill with real neat looking bearing mush) the Lateral Dynamics housing got laid out on the jig and the Baer Floater assembly was installed and new axles were ordered from Speedway Engineering (for the record, and just in case anyone wants some tech out of this, we are using the wide-5 style axles which are identical in most respects to the NASCAR and Nationwide axles, just without the machining for an inner seal).

About a month ago the (almost ready to go) assembly arrived:

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/...rrie%20Box.JPG

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/...m%20Currie.JPG

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/...%20Floater.JPG

One of the first things that we noticed was that at some point in time Lateral Dynamics changed the bracing they used and we (well… David) were going to have to make some minor(ish) modifications to the housing to allow for the Hellwig adjustable rear sway bar to mount up in the same way that it does on the existing housing.

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/...am%20brace.jpg

This brace in particular was going to have to go

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/...Close%20Up.jpg

Well in no time flat it was out of the way

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/...20Modified.jpg

And brake lines were being bent

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/...ke%20Lines.jpg

And finally today the housing was painted and is ready to be installed

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/...%20Housing.jpg

Hopefully we’ll get the rear end installed over the next few days. I’m in California this weekend doing my part in improving The OLC Team (by attending Skip Barbers’ three day race school at Laguna Seca) so I’ll be helping out at night on this and the R&R of the transmission for a new Centerforce DYAD Clutch and a badly needed throw out bearing).

I’ll try to post some detailed shots of the Floater mechanics tomorrow…

I see overspray ...

"Must clean off!!"

Mary Pozzi

As the owner of a full floater, I can honestly say you are going to LOVE it. One downside I have found is the need to grease the endcaps. to keep the splines of the driveplate and the mushroomed end of the axle lubed. I tapped both my end caps and installed zerk fittings. That is the case for any "long distance" (more than 300 miles between axle pulls) Speedway Floater setup, I haven't had the time to examine the Baer setup.

That will buff out!

I love how you continue to upgrade this car, and keep it fresh.

As promised – some more detailed pics… David got the housing installed in The OLC today so we’ll try to have some more final assembly pics soon. I have to say that the more I see this setup, the more I like it!

An emergency brake might be cool one day – if nothing else it’s great to have the option.
http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/b%20Bearings.jpg

An assembled end
http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/c%20Bearings.jpg

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/a%20Bearings.jpg

A complete end less the drive plate
http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/d%20Bearings.jpg

The drive plate
http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/e%20Bearings.jpg

Bearing
http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/f%20Bearings.jpg

Bearing
http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/g%20Bearings.jpg

Assembled with axle, less drive plate
http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/h%20Bearings.jpg

Them are some great lookin parts...

Good job on having some up close pics on the floater. It looks like a very nice piece.

Hey James,

The car looks like its coming along great. I was wondering if you could tell me who's hyd throw out bearing you are using on the centerforce DYAD set up and are you running a magnum t56? I tried to pm you but your box is full.

Thanks Rich

Hey Rich - sorry about the PMbox... It's cleared out now.

We're going to use a stock GM slave cylinder. The last one lasted four years, two transmissions, three clutch rebuilds and a bunch of abuse... Plus Centerforce said that's what they recommend :)

And yes - its a T-56 Magnum transmission.

So David got the rear end assembled and installed in the OneLapCamaro last weekend while I was “at school” down the road…

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/...installled.jpg

One thing to note is that the calipers are mounted in a trailing position and not in a leading position as we had them last year… our bad… we had them on backwards! The old APs were set up to be leading but the Baer 6R’s (and, I assume all 6 series) are designed to be trailing (as delivered). While it’s possible to set them up to be leading (the piston sizes determine orientation) we assumed… incorrectly. All better now!

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/...talled%201.jpg

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/...talled%202.jpg

At the end of the day the floater rear weighed about 20 pounds more than the fixed axle – most of that is attributable to the E-brake pieces but the axles contributed a bit as well. While I really didn’t need the extra weight, it’s probably best to have it on the back of the car.

At last years OUSCI we lost the throwout bearing in the second run of the speed stop challenge. Not really sure what happened but besides dumping all of the hydraulic fluid out behind it, we did learn that a high torque starter is capable of rolling the car enough to bump start it without the clutch… Someday, somehow that information might be helpful.

I ordered up a new (stock) GM slave cylinder and decided to change to clutch out at that same time. I had never been happy with the McLeod RST clutch to it was an easy call to seek out a new Centerforce DYAD clutch as an upgrade.

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/1%20Centerforce.jpg

I’m actually still waiting for the clutch to arrive, but since Mary had one ready to go for the ’73 that was waiting for a couple of other parts… well… ok… I borrowed it for a few days….

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/2%20Centerforce.jpg

This is a work of art….

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/3%20Centerforce.jpg

and is rated to hold over 1,300 ft.lbs….

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/4%20Centerforce.jpg

This is the first clutch that I ever bought (ok… stole) that came with a blueprint sheet complete with not only build specs but installation guidelines as well – awesome customer service from Centerforce. It even has a couple of patents behind it…

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/5%20Centerforce.jpg

The layout of the disks make it practically impossible to mess up the installation and gets around the often frustrating dual disk alignment issues that came with the old clutch…

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/6%20Centerforce.jpg

The inner disk sits within the flywheel…

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/7%20Centerforce.jpg

which has been substantially lightened. Although it’s not a fair comparison because of inertial considerations, the steel Centerforce flywheel weights only 1 pound more than the old aluminum flywheel. The removal of the weight from the outer edge should reduce the rotating inertia substantially…

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/8%20Centerforce.jpg

It feels like I’ve posted this picture before…

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/...ansmission.jpg

When we pulled the transmission we found a small bit of pilot bearing on the input shaft… well… in for a penny…

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/10%20Pilot.jpg

And for the record… a half wrap weighs about 5 pounds…

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/2012OLC/no%20wrap.jpg

Your parts make me :drool:

James.. The car still looks awsome!! I love it without the wrap!!

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the paint has held up under the wrap - and although it's bittersweet to see the car without it, I think the car "still" presents well... after all, it's been on the road for five years and has been drove hard and... well... not put away at all... more than once.

The weight of the wrap was a little bit of a surprise and we did (I did) pull up a silver dollar sized piece of paint on the lower fender by the rocker panel but overall you can't tell the wrap was ever there. There have been a couple of discussions in the past about wraps and after pulling this one off I have to admit that I am re-evaluating my thoughts of wrapping the OLC2 over primer... I think that anything less than a "good" quality paint job (i.e. smooth with good adhesion) will make removal without damage almost impossible.

On the whole though I think that everything is coming together well and I'm looking forward to stretching it's legs again soon...

Nice work James, David and Mary!
Always a inspiration to see the upgrades and refinements.

Really looking foward to hearing how that DYAD clutch works out. I have a McLeod street twin that has been bulletproof for years, but I could never figure out why I always seemed to have so much drivetrain/gear noise despite different rearends, transmissions, driveshafts, and engines. the only constant has been the clutch and I was finally told because it doesn't have sprung hubs it will always be noisy. Heard a lot of good things about the streetability and quietness of the new DYAD.

I was at BAER yesterday and Dutch took me for a little tour... Then I asked him to show me all about the floater rear --- which he kindly did a nice job of and I learned a few things. That's a bunch of nice looking parts!

Car is looking great as usual James!

X2 :thumbsup:

James,

Ever since I learned about your car and the OLOA, I've dreamed of participating in the event. I enjoy the car updates and would to see you guys post more info about the event.

Check your U joint angles with car weight on the wheels. Even if the pinion yoke matches the trans angle closely, check out how much total angle you have per joint. We had something like 8.5 deg per yoke, and it rattled the trans gears a lot at certain speeds.

Thank you James for very intresting topic, that clutch set up is really cool. Cant wait to hear how you like it.