69 Camaro for trackdays
 

Hello
My names Pete and i have been looking at this forum for a few years and i can't remember if i ever introduced myself , so iam now . I have i 69 Camaro which has been in my hands for about 7 years , 3 of which were used to rebuild it . Its not a mega money thing which why i have not put it on here before but it does get used on trackdays and is a work in progress car . I have tried show and shines but found that boring and i have had i go at drag racing but its circuit stuff that floats my boat . The car has had not much spent on it because not much is my budget but i do try to do something every winter . The first thing i did was to replace all the bushings with poly ones apart from the uca's which are Delrin and to weld in subframe connectors . I then replaced the diff with an Eaton possi which iam well pleased with as it works great on the track . Last winter i changed the TH350(yes i used a 3 speed auto on trackdays, not great) with a TKO600 which has a .82 fifth gear . I brought it cheap unused and still in the box for the equivalent of $1600 and fitted it with an ACT lightweight flywheel . The TKO has had some bad press but i find it ok even though its not the quietest of boxes and reverse is a bit of a job to get without grinding it . This winter i plan to upgrade the brakes as the stock disc/drum setup is only average for 3 laps then non existent after that , i am also going for better tyres on larger rims . I forgot to add that i have done the Goldstrand mod and altered the geometry a bit and fitted rack and pinion steering . I can't stretch to 10k subframes or forged rims in fact i still have the 307 under the bonnet. So if you think that you cannot show your face at the track because your not running an LS lump , dont worry just get out there and give it a go. I am lucky as i live only 3 miles from a really cool circuit , and heres a picture of myself on it.Pete
http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/x...bbd3b159_o.jpg

Welcome!! What circuit is that? Beautiful!!

Hi
I should have put in that the circuit is in the UK , on that particular day the sun was out and it was a real pleasant day . The circuit is called Snetterton and used to be an airfield during WW2 , its just had a new infield section added and its a real good circuit and is generally regarded as a fast track . They do have a website but iam not clever enough with the pc to do a link but if your interested just a search for www. snetterton .co.uk . Pete

welcome,

that must turn alot of heads out there.

Yes it does turn heads because there aren't many used on trackdays and in the 2 years that i have been doing them i have yet to see another old school muscle car on track . You do see some in the classic car races over here where they are with other cars of the period like mini's , Aston Martin's and mustang's .
This link should show a clip from Silverstone of a pair of Camaro's in a heritage race if i have done it correctly . Pete

Good on ya Pete!

Welcome to Lat-g :cheers:

Welcome aboard Pete, car looks great out there :thumbsup:

Thanks for the welcome guys , i have to say that the track junky Camaro is my favourite car on here and is the sort of thing iam aiming for . Pete

Pete, considering your climate and budget I'm curious as to what tires are you running?

Yes its usually damp or cold and damp so i have some federal road tyres which are ok for the performance level i have . With something like a r888 you need to get them warmed up before letting loose because generally the temperature is below 15 deg for half the year and only hits 25 deg sometimes during the summer . I have seen cars hit the armco on their first lap for not warming their tyres first , yes sometimes we despair at our weather . I was advised to try with road tyres first as 60's suspension wouldn't be able to deal with grippy track tyres , and to learn about lines and braking points first .I have also been trying different castor and camber settings etc so trackday tyres would have been wasted on me . Next year iam going to try some federal 595's on bigger rims to see how i get on . Pete

I appreciate the compliment Pete. Old School Soldiers like us have to give these other guys a handicap and let them have their aftermarket frames otherwise it just wouldn't be fair. :unibrow: :thumbsup: :lol:

:wow: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

You picked a very good target. :thumbsup:

ORANGE Old Schooler's ROCK!

Very nice Camaro you have there Pete and doing some track day with it is what I like most. I also doing track time on the Zandvoort circuit with my 69 here in The Netherlands.
Mike

http://www.forum.mikes-amp.nl/images...0-20121217.JPG

Thats a nice looking car you have there Mike , have you done a build thread or have anymore pictures of it . Is Zandvoort the one thats near the sand dunes i remember seeing it on the TV and also Assen . Some of the trackday companies here do trips to Spa in Belgium but i haven't seen any to Zandvoort even though its closer to the UK . Pete

Welcome! Love the old school muscle cars on the track, especially in Europe!

Yes I do you can find some pics and vids of my 69 on these links if you like.
And yes Zandvoort circuit is the one on the west coast with the sand dunes this is my favorite track also have bin on the Spa track you can see the vids on my Youtube channel .
Thanks Mike

http://www.mikes-amp.nl/index.php?op...mid=25&catid=7

https://www.youtube.com/user/ampcamaro

Hi , i've just had a quick look at your build and i like the idea of the IRS and that you do a lot of the work yourself . I assume that its going to see some track action and it will be interesting to see how it handles , no matter how much money you put into a live axle an independant rear must be better around corners .
It took me a couple of years to realise that the best fun i could get out of the Camaro was to take it on track , parts are easy to get so its not a problem if it breaks and that i only live 3 miles from a circuit . What with the internet , availability of parts and airfreight its probably easier to get parts for the Camaro than it is for some of the euro cars of the same age . People also like to see and hear it doing some laps as its not the usual type of car that we get to see on track over here , so iam quite happy to give it a blast around a circuit.
Thanks for the welcome and good luck on your build . Pete

Thanks for the links and i have had a quick look and will have a closer look when i get some time .
Its a nice looking car you have and also what i did see was the SPC upper arms and the front coilovers which are parts that i would like to fit in the future . Had a quick look a one of the videos from Spa and that seems to be a really fast track and not for the faint hearted , i can see why trips out there are popular . Pete

Me and a friend of my (with the bleu 67 on the picture) where thinking to come over to the Snatterton circuit this coming spring or summer.
We have a Pro-touring club here in the Netherlands with about 20 active members and maybe there will be more cars coming over to have some fun.
Link PT club forum, sorry its in dutch :

http://www.forum.mikes-amp.nl/index....=9&func=latest

The circuit at Snetterton has had the track extended so the surface is new and of good quaility and is quite fast , its a good circuit for bigger cars.I plan to go in the summer so i need to hurry up and start doing my brakes . Had a look at your PT forum and it looks like you have a good group of cars there , particularly like the granny nova brake upgrade . I shall need to learn some Dutch so that i can read more on the forum as it looks interesting, us brits are shamefully poor at other languages . Pete

Hi Pete, good to know about the track conditions and we are planning a trip this summer only need a date so you will be there also.
The nova tread is on Martins home page and its in english as wel.
http://www.pro-touring.nl/

Mike

Iam hoping to have the car ready by early April so i will be up for trackdays after then . There,s nothing worse than having the summer arrive and the car is
still up on stands , i should do a build thread really . Pete

Still working on my car to ,changed engine and transmission for this coming season sb 350/richmond 5 speed coming out and sb Dart 400/TKO600 going in. Hoop to be ready in february

Mike

I have fitted a TKO600 with the 0.82 5th and its ok , its not perfect but feels like a tough gearbox and works good on track and i like it . It shifts quite well and i have not had the 2nd to 3 rd problem that other people have , it also weights a bit less than a T56 .Its a noisey gearbox and sounds like its got straight cut gears , also reverse can grind if you try a bang it in . Having used the 5 speed i think 6 gears are too many and i only use 5th on the fast straights when taking it easy . The Dart 400 sounds nice , plenty of grunt .
I have managed to adapt some BMW M5 brakes for the rear axle and it looks like a good setup . We in Europe dont have to many LS Camaro's to take rear brakes from but have loads of BMW around to rob parts from , when i have mounted to brakes i will put up some pictures .Pete