V8TV / Royal Purple Camaro

[V8TV]

Hey all -

Here's the humble beginnings of the Royal Sport 1969 Camaro we're building on V8TV with Royal Purple. We have to finish the car by SEMA. You can find details on the build on our website, www.v8tvshow.com.

- KO

[XcYZ]

Cool, keep us posted!

[Van B]

I would love to see the show, but my cable company does not seem interested in picking up the men's channel and I have yet to meet anyone who has dish network.

[V8TV]

We'll be following the build on the show and on our website, as well as a couple other mass-media outlets we can't talk about yet until the deals get inked. There's going to be a DVD of the whole thing from start to finish as well, so anyone interested should have an opportunity to check it out.

On a side note, we put the Lateral-G link up on our site a couple weeks ago.

Thanks,

- KO

[907rs]

Cool! Should be a very trick g-machine when done.

[J2SpeedandCustom]

Damn I wish we could get V8TV!

Sorry off topic but - KO what did you guys think of the "Gearheads" suspension components for a full size Ford?

Jeff

[V8TV]

Jeff -

Here's our thoughts on the Gearheads Cruiser Products for full-size Fords.

First off, the tubular upper and lower control arms are really, REALLY nice. The build quality is first rate, and the mounting procedure is well thought out. You simply knock the rivet heads off the upper control arm mounts and use the original rivets for guide pins, then drop the new mount in place and weld it up. The lower arms are a bolt-in. The arms feature Mopar style screw-in ball joints, and the lowers feature mounts for both air springs or coil springs. They're pretty trick.

The sway bars are enormous, and the front mounts on the frame allow for a straighter sway bar. The Ford chassis required a goofy bend in the bar to reach the factory mounts, the Gearheads solution simplifys this process.

The rear bar utilizes 4 d-shaped bushings rather than links, which offers a real soild mount. They also make a rear spring shackle update which beefs-up the original s-shaped rear leaf hanger.

And now to the big question - the steering box upgrade. We're about 2/3 through the install now, and so far, we're really happy with what we've got. The steering box replaces the hydraulic ram-assist steering, eliminating the hoses, leaks, and poor road feel associated with the stock Ford system. The Gearheads conversion uses a GM 605 box and a matched Saginaw steering pump. Gearheads sells a bracket for almost every Ford V8 for this pump, but we're in the process of incorporating the GM Saginaw pump into a stock 5.0 style serpantine system on our 351. Ford used this pump in some Lincolns, we're trying to find the bracket.

The steering box mounts in the factory frame holes and slips on to the original column. It's a clean install. You have to run manual steering tie rod ends and a manual centerlink. I'll post more detials on the conversion when we finish in the next couple weeks, and the whole process will be on V8TV.

Thanks,

- Kevin

[69Nova]

The Camaro sounds like a cool project. I have seen the show before and liked it, so maby I'll start watching regulary.

[hotwheels]

damn man, i wish we got that channel up here............they call our men's channels "spike" up here and it sucks....

[Hydratech®]

Hey Kevin - instead of digging around for ultra tough to find E series van Saginaw P serp brackets, there IS a crossbreed pump available that is designed to bolt in place of the pesky / noisy Ford CII plastic pump - check it out:


* above photo courtesy of A1 Cardone







Note that this pump is produced by Cardone A1 (one of the nations largest remanufacturers) and is generally available at most auto supply houses under the same part number for about $125 + $40-ish core charge (if you don't have the Ford CII plastic POS to give 'em in exchange). We have successfully used this pump many times with stellar success - heck I even put one on my dad's '95 F350 crewcab Powerstroke dually at the same time we installed a hydraulic brake assist unit = works MUCH better than the POS plastic CII Ford pump. Some serp brackets will require some clearance mowing of the bracket, though it's not too bad in most cases. Also, we have found that you are much better off to spank the Ford banjo bolt line adaptation off of the pump as supplied, finding the classic GM female '70 - '79 spec 3/8 flare Saginaw P series pump fitting hiding in there. This allows you to connect directly the the back of the pump with a traditional 3/8 flare 90 degree hose end, instead of futzin around with the BS Ford teflon surface sealing ring style hose ends...

Remove this adaptation to connect directly to the existing GM style output:


We have carefully examined this pump to see what makes it tick, finding that they install a proprietary crossbread design pump shaft for use with the Ford spec pulleys, running essentially a '70 - '79 Saginaw P pump inside of a first gen Camaro type sheetmetal housing + a patented cast iron horseshoe adapter bracket to fit the Ford CII brackets = damn good thinking on Cardone's part! We suggest this pump conversion with most all of our hydraulic brake assist conversions when one of the POS plastic CII's is in play with great results every time.