$2500 budget for '68 Camaro suspension...could use some advice

[Track Junky]

Hold off on the rear leafs. Yours may work fine. And no, not using the cat 5 spherical bushings in my leafs. Just poly's. The Cat 5 spherical bushings are better for auto x applications allowing the rear to roll and rotate around slower speed tight turns. They also keep the leafs from binding but that's no big deal. Binding leafs will just act like a higher spring rate.
Try and take as much weight out of the car as possible. I would also go to the 1/2" drop solid body mount bushings.
I went to Hoosier slicks so if you do decide to go to the Toyo's I have two pairs of used ones and one pair of new ones in 275/40 17. Whats nice about the Toyos is when they have been warn down to slicks they are the fastest.

[spctomlin]

Originally Posted by Track Junky

Hold off on the rear leafs. Yours may work fine. And no, not using the cat 5 spherical bushings in my leafs. Just poly's. The Cat 5 spherical bushings are better for auto x applications allowing the rear to roll and rotate around slower speed tight turns. They also keep the leafs from binding but that's no big deal. Binding leafs will just act like a higher spring rate.
Try and take as much weight out of the car as possible. I would also go to the 1/2" drop solid body mount bushings.
I went to Hoosier slicks so if you do decide to go to the Toyo's I have two pairs of used ones and one pair of new ones in 275/40 17. Whats nice about the Toyos is when they have been warn down to slicks they are the fastest.

If I move up to 17" wheels any time soon I'll give them consideration. Might be something to think about for the Fox body if I decide to time trial it before I start wheel to wheel racing. Hell, the class might even allow 17" wheels now...been a while since I've looked at the rules.

[Vince@Meanstreets]

The things that I can see is geometry improvents up front.
Your leafs are fine.

I'd be going after better shocks, fixing the bump steer issue and replace the graphite bushings up front. Tall ball joint or tall spindle will give you ther camber gain. I would look at a spindle cause it will fix two issues.

For your budget you can do a set of Koni reds, Ridetech Tru turn or ATS AFX spindle.

The only issues is you'll have to upgrade your front brakes with the ATS AFX or you may need new headers with the Ride tech Tru turn.

Everything else you listed can do for now.

[jeff71]

spctomlin are you in CA?

I have a buddy with a 69 Camaro who when I met him would do a handful of trackdays 4-8 a year I suppose & about the same for autocross.

I was really impressed how fast he is with such basic "budget" boltons. Going based off my 5 beers in memory....

Front:

*Stock control arms
*Global West Del-A-lum's
*800lb springs
*Koni adjustable shocks
*Iroc steering box
*Arning drop
*Spindle (dunno)
*C4 Brakes 12" rotor
*17x8 perviously, 17x9.5 currently
*BFG Rivals

Rear:

*10 Bolt 30 splines
*Globalwest leafs Del-A-Lum's
*Koni Adjustable's
*C4 Brakes 11" rotor
*17x9.5's
*Panhard bar (I think)


If I were in your shoes I'd probably do something similar to his. Vince's advice makes sense because the goal is to try and correct some of the original geometry.

Or If you want to move towards coilovers up front heres a budget option check out....

http://scandc.com/new/node/752


Jeff

[marolf101x]

Let's look at this from what I consider the most important to the least.
Remember the overall goal here: More tire contact patch on the ground equals higher speeds, means quicker lap times.

#1: TIRES. . .even if you could afford the most trick set up out there today you'd still get your butt handed to you if you are on 225 15" TigerPaws.
Get the widest you can fit.
Stock frame can fit a 275 up front (I would of course suggest our TruTurn, as it gives you a tall spindle for improved camber gain, almost zero bumpsteer, allows you to use any brake kit for a 1st Gen OE spindle, and allows up to a 10" wheel in the front.)
I would personally not go smaller than 17" on a street tire. And I personally like the Falken RT615K as they have great grip for a 200TW street tire (pretty good cold, so they work well for autocross) and they wear like iron. We used to eat tires every weekend, but that has stopped with the Falkens.

#2: SHOCKS/SPRINGS. . .some think shocks should be the last thing you touch. I, however, disagree. The shock is simply a timing device. It controls how quickly or slowly the vehicle transitions weight. Again, the goal is to keep tires on the ground. A good shock allows you to get and keep weight on the tires that need grip, then release that weight as the grip requirements move (going into and through a turn you need weight on the front tires as they are turning. As you reach apex the car should be neutral, as you begin to roll on the throttle. You then need weight to transfer to the rear so you have forward bite. Make sense?)
Springs hold the car up, shocks control timing.

#3: GEOMETRY. . .again the goal is to keep the tires on the ground. Geometry makes this happen for your set up. If you have a high roll set up you need camber gain that matches so you keep the tires flat. If you have a low roll set up you need camber gains that match that.
Typically you want as much caster as you can get, little to no bumpsteer, camber gain matching your set up (I'll leave the roll center migration and more sophisticated stuff for a later post, which Ron Sutton will likely school me on like always).

Notice I left brakes off this list. I consider brakes more of a safety device. You can only go as fast as you can stop. If you cannot get that thing slowed down going into a corner after a long straight, I bet you don't drive in so fast or far the next time. Brakes should be treated like a helmet or a driver suit. . . . get the best you can afford. If you have too much and don't use them, no problem. But if you don't have enough and need them, you are in deep trouble.

[spctomlin]

Jeff...I'm actually in the DFW area. No problem finding straight line experts in these parts. Not so easy to find guys who know how to turn left and right quickly.

So a few of you have suggested the factory type leaf springs should be sufficient. I just want to make sure I won't have to worry about wheel hop since the traction devices are comin off and these leafs of mine have no provision in their design that makes the front half stiffer. My mechanic is suggesting Cal-tracs, but I haven't seen a single car that's set up with handling performance as the goal that uses them, so I'm not keen on the idea.

[Vince@Meanstreets]

The right spring can curb the wheel hop problems.

Check with Gerno and Carbuff. They should know someone around your area.