Updating my '69 Camaro
 

Well this has been in the works for a while. I've been wanting to mini-tub and update my Camaro for quite some time. And get rid of my beloved TTII's which everyone online hates :lol: As you all know one thing leads to another. :lol: I've learned from the best on this site :D

I'm an oldschool, tried tested and true kind of person. I had been wanting a set of Fikse's for years. And when the company closed shop about a year ago I was crushed. :lol: Don't get me wrong, I love alot of the Forgeline, Rushforth, Boze, Newgen etc wheels. But when Frank from Prodigy posted some killer deals on some classic Fikse wheels I had to jump on it. I originally wanted the Profil 5s. But after I kept looking (many, many hours :lol: ) at Jay's (JamesS113) Killer '69 Project, I decided that the FM5's were such a classic killer look and just fit the '69 Camaro so perfectly. I've always liked them since I saw them on the Mule and SW's '69 many moons ago.

So, on with the updates. I ended up ordering 18 x 8.5 fronts and 18 x 12 rears in Technipolish from Frank. I like polished wheels with the paint colour of my car the best. Again, a little oldschool but I think it works the best. Black and and dark centers look good, but more of an undertstated race theme. Not what I want for my car.

With the re-org of the company the wheels ended up taking about 6 months to get. I was patient to wait for what I always wanted. Frank helped stay on top of them to get them completed and delivered.

In the meantime I sent Frank and a few other suppliers like Speedtech about a million emails about rear suspensions and rear end options. I really liked the Speedtech Torque Arm and DSE Quadra link, but when Frank told me that the Alston G-Link could be installed under a stock trunk floor that kind of sold it for me. The other main things were packaging. I could re-use my stock width Ricks tank, could get my rear exit tail pipes to work (the G-link seems to have the best taipipe clearance which was very important for me) and I would re-use my current sway bar and subframe connectors.

Now if the car were in the shell, builder stage I would have probably went with DSE but my car is currently complete, driving etc. I wanted a kit with the least invasive install and best exhaust clearance. And I liked the fact that the triangulated 4-link design is good for road course and drag racing applications vs the other styles.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...suspension.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...01-main-pp.jpg

I also went with the Moser 12-bolt 33 spline axles, Tru-Trak posi with 3.73's. I have not recieved this yet, just waiting to send Frank the measurements. I considered the wave-trac with 35 spline but Franks says it's overkill.

These are pics of the wheels when I first got them. I originally ordered 6.375" BS on the rears. And when I got them I just wasn't happy, I wanted a deeper lip. So I contacted the Rep Danny Gol and we made a deal to re-hoop the rears to 5.375" BS. This took a few months as well. Fikse is a little slow, but they were very good to deal with and they are local to me now under new ownership.

Anyways, onto some pics.

18 x 12 6.375" BS
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ub/18x12-1.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1.../18x12lip2.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...b/18x12lip.jpg

18 x 8.5's
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...-Tub/18x85.jpg

With Toyo R888 Rubber.
245-40-18 fronts

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...00916-1536.jpg

335-30-18 Rears

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...i-Tub/335s.jpg

So after I had the wheels Re-hooped to 5.375" BS they now look like this: :wow: :cheers:

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...0-27122059.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...01028-1030.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...01028-1030.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...01028-1031.jpg

Those should look real good and add a bit more muscle to your car

Gonna be sweet! Love the combo w your car color and wheel finish...:thumbsup:

She's gonna look awesome man!! You know I love the wheel choice:unibrow:

re-hoop was a great decision...:thumbsup:

So the other updates I have going on are some on-going minor problems. The car has been making a rattling noise under acceleration for a little while. I had a buddy go through the car trying to figure it out. He ended up doing the following:

- Installed solid motor mounts. (for some reason my car has trashed 2 sets of poly mounts)
- New poly trans mount
- Fixed some wiring and gauges
- checked the entire exhaust for leaks and tightened everything up
- new header gaskets
- installed a new GM t-stat and did a coolant flush.

While he had the car, he had a tranny shop listen to the noise, well the owner convinced him it was the tranny for sure. So he ended up pulling the Tranny and we had it rebuilt with the Stage II kit from The Gearbox Co: 600-650 hp capacity

http://www.thegearbox.org/catalog/it...17/7824166.htm

http://www.thegearbox.org/i//T56_Stage_2_kit.jpg

Once the Tranny was pulled apart it ended up needed new 5th, 6th and reverse gears and sychros. :_paranoid

I also ended up going with a brand new Spec Stage 3+ Clutch. 900+ ft lbs capacity

All in all, cost me about $2k to rebuild the tranny and clutch. But it now feels very solid, the new clutch engages really nice but the damn noise still persists. :willy: :willy: :willy:

I considering doing almost the same mods as you. Still deciding on the G-link (gonna take a better look at my frame rails first), but definitely Mini Tubs, and Fikses.

Some pics of the Tranny and clutch, sorry crappy phone pics:

Tranny pulled:
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...b/IMG00207.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...b/IMG00208.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...b/IMG00209.jpg

Old Spec Stage 3:
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...b/IMG00212.jpg

New Spec Stage 3+ cluch disc:
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...b/IMG00221.jpg

Stage II tranny rebuilt and going back in:
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...b/IMG00226.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...b/IMG00227.jpg

Those are my alll time favorite wheels! They will look sweet. How does the tranny shift now