1968 Camaro "Badmotorfinger" v2.2

[Vegas69]

Originally Posted by CrossRamRich

Yes....... we will have the Blu Balz for an appetizer, then a Payback burger for the main course, and a Dougie Fresh salad. For dessert, we will have the Houbaugh cheesecake!

It's time to get out of bed and change your soaked drawers.

[sik68]

Originally Posted by Vegas69

It's time to get out of bed and change your soaked drawers.

[mrr1999]

Originally Posted by Flash68

After talking with Dave & Mary P at Marina about my bad plowing front end, we finally decided to try a smaller front bar. So a Hotchis hollow bar has replaced the solid Addco bar. Will try that next and see what difference that makes... one change at a time when tuning!

I am using the same solid Addco bar (on a much milder build) and was wondering if using that sway bar would make any first gen plow or does it depend on the combination of parts as a package that causes that result.

Did the Hotchkis bar make a big difference when you swapped it?

[Flash68]

Originally Posted by mrr1999

I am using the same solid Addco bar (on a much milder build) and was wondering if using that sway bar would make any first gen plow or does it depend on the combination of parts as a package that causes that result.

Did the Hotchkis bar make a big difference when you swapped it?

I would say that running that bar is definitely not the norm and most are running a smaller bar or a hollow bar of similar size. I would think it's the total package though as you mentioned.... and I have not driven the car yet with the Hotchkis bar installed so I cannot report anything yet.

[Flash68]

I am not even sure where to start here... first, as many of you know, I've been battling some off and on fatigue and health issues for awhile now and it has kept me from making 3 track days since September. But I was determined to give it a shot at RTTC and do as much as I could. Well I not only made it through, I felt pretty good the whole time and still feed good now that I'm back. It is quite a medical mystery if you ask me, but I will just call RTTC exactly what the doctor ordered!

Now, on to car stuff... I'll start by saying Badmotorfinger now has a bad motor... literally. Something happened mid morning on Friday on the road course. Not sure if overheating caused the problem, or a yet to be identified problem caused the overheating. Water temp was over 240 as I was pulling off the course and the coolant was empty. Not cool. First tow of he day back to the pits.

After a full body cavity search could not find an external problem so it's likely internal. Excessive blow-by is now occurring at this point at an alarming rate.

Button it up and head back out and see what happens. Power is down a bit but not terribly. Oil pressure a little low but acceptable. Make some more runs and see what happens. Went to the autoX and knocked over some cones. Man I usually don't hit an excessive amount of cones but I was on fire this weekend.

Back on the road course later in the afternoon and ran a short session but didn't get my clutchless rev matching downshift right and got the tranny stuck between gears. Tow #2 back to the pits.

Quickly got back out on track and went again.... it got a little hot and I came back in to cool and oil pressure was down to about 4 lbs. Yes, 4 lbs. Not cool again. It was mid afternoon now and decided to shut it down for the day and put some thicker oil in it for Saturday. Found some straight 50 at AutoZone and that was the life blood for another day. Oh and the battery was now dead. Add that to the shopping list.

Got back out Saturday and surprisingly the motor held its own for most of the day. Still down on power but pulling pretty good and would stumble a bit a times (also related to the float bowl adjustments for that speed stop dealio). Blow by is borderline hilarious at this point and I am getting texts and strangers coming up to me asking if my car is okay. One asked if I saw the smoke coming out of the engine... How could I not?!

After the motor injury, I was just wanted good clean runs in all 3 events and try to make the shootout. My car is terribly setup for that speed stop squared event so I knew I wouldn't make it far but I just wanted to make it, and I did. We are all anxious to see how we stack up and hopefully they post times soon. I've checked my videos and I have to say I am pretty happy with my estimated times based on my motor problems. The road course was and should be my best event and then the autocross and then I stunk up the speed stop drag race slalom deal. Was a blast though.

First report on recently installed mods:

Corbeau seats - fit great, feel great

Oil cooler system - TBD... oil temps reached high 280-290 when water temp was hitting 240+. Need to figure that out.

T101A trans - AWESOME. By the end of Saturday I was getting pretty decent at downshifting while left foot braking and right foot rev matching. Did experience some wicked wheel hop when timing was off on downshifts, but the car would stay straight as long as I was aimed straight.

Boom Tube exhaust - love it. Not too loud surprisingly due to the car chemistry inserts and it drew a lot of attention for both looks and sound. The GoPro captures the sound pretty good but definitely louder in person.

Carbotech brake pads - great pad when they are hot. They shined on the road course. Really liked them. Not sure if they helped a whole lot on autoX. Didn't feel like it even though I tried to drag the brakes quite a bit for that event and the drag/slalom/brake deal... oh yeah, as I drug the brakes people kept checking and asking what's wrong with my car again. LOL

Hotchkis front sway bar - maybe the best mod in past year. Made the turn in excellent and felt like 100 lbs were removed from front of car. I am actually excited to do the Goodguys Peanut in 2 weeks... if the motor cooperates with some oil pressure.

Ok, enough commentary already. On to the videos. These look like my best times. I never put together a super clean road course lap and I think I look slow in this vid, but the time seems to be decent from what I've seen.



And an AutoX run on Friday. Starts at about :58



We had a blast of a weekend and I can't thank enough my good friend Rich Bermea of Road Touring Customs and his sidekick Frankie Judd for their track support and good times. These guys are great guys with big hearts and make it possible for me to do this stuff. And that Frankie can drive too.

Looks like it's time to start finishing my new motor plans that were not ready yet.... good thing I already started collecting parts

[Vince@Meanstreets]

Looks good Dave, real clean. Sorry to hear about the engine troubles.

[Vegas69]

I agree with Vince, hell of a good wheel man. Your car seems to be working well and it was wounded so even more impressive. I like that little 377. Tear it apart and fix it before it BLOWS. I bet you broke a ring. A compression check will figure that one out.

Not that loud? I thought it was the 1987 Daytona 500 when Richie fired it up next to my trailer. Sounded really good!

[Payton King]

Gives you the excuse to put the one in that you have been gathering parts for this last year.

Never did see where you mentioned the brakes. Did you like the new pads?

Glad you were able to hold up physically, that has to be the brightest spot of the entire journey.

[fleetus macmullitz]

For a fat motor its not very jolly.

But I'm officially addicted to its sound and that shifting.

As far as all the cars' issues; you're a flexible problem solver so you'll come up with something creative.

[Tom.A]

Glad you made it and it was nice meeting you. Hope the motor issue gets resolved. It sounded great when I heard it.