Updating the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro for 2011 - Getting Down to Business

[tones2SS]

Very nice James. Thanks for the detailed info and pics.
Keep us posted.

[coolwelder62]

Jame's,Once again Good Luck!,You and Mary be safe.Look forward to seeing update's once you get rolling. Scott

[James OLC]

Originally Posted by 69MSA

Thanks for chronicling the upgrades for this year. You guys are a real wealth of knowledge and it's great to see the thought process going on behind all of these changes.

I'm curious about these new Ridetech shocks, are they priced similar to Penskes? I've been starting to shop shocks for my next project and hadn't heard about these until you mentioned them. They sound like a good product that is engineered with solid performance and low maintenance in mind. I guess you're good advertising for Ridetech lol.

Matt

From what I have been told pricing is very competitive... Penske double adjustable are around 850 (plus) each retail and triple adjustable are 1250 (plus) a piece. My understanding is that the RideTech triple adjustable shocks will retail for around 1400 a pair (complete). For what its worth the non adjustable mono tubes are 550 a pair and the single adjustable are 650 a pair - complete - which is a great deal.

[James OLC]

Thanks everybody- change is good (I hope) and we're feeling the pressure this year so we want to put our best foot forward. We're trying to find somewhere to do some testing now and should have some feedback soon.

[speedfreak]

Nice lookin shock !

[James OLC]

The longer front shocks are on and David scaled the car yesterday before doing a quick alignment check last night. One of the things that David found with the longer fronts was that at full droop the springs would unseat from the upper spring retainer so try stop that from happening (only an issue when on jack stands or in a really bad couple of seconds after a really big bump) he added droop stops.

Here are the corner weights "before"


and after adjustment


So - total weight is 3511 pounds (I know) and as it sits it's 53.6% front and 46.4% rear; stick my fat butt in the seat and it's just about 51.5% front 48.5%.

Should be test driving today...

[James OLC]

More progress in our One Lap of America preparations…

With the new wrap design settled on…



Mary undertook the slightly unnerving job of stripping the old wrap off the car…



No major problems and the car is ready to head out to get its new wrap on Monday.

[James OLC]

With that out of the way Carl Casanova paid the Pozzis a visit to help install the new Rick’s Stainless fuel tank with Carl’s own VaporWorx modifications. Everyone who was able to attend the RTTC deal at the beginning of the months was able to see a couple of Carl’s new designs – both my tank and his new ‘retro fit’ for stock tanks were on display. The basic mechanics of Carl’s design is that a 5th Gen Camaro or Cadillac CTS-V surge pump can be installed in the tank with dual corner pickups providing OEM reliability and eliminating fuel slosh issues:



Where Carl’s design really shines however is in the electronics behind the design. Carl has eliminated the mechanical fuel pressure regulator and gone with a voltage controller coupled with a pressure sensor – essentially sensing output pressure and controlling the voltage sent to the pump to maintain the desired pressure for a given load requirement. This should result in a pump that runs cooler and lasts longer.

The first step was removing the old fuel system:



I have always used a Rick’s Stainless tank and the original one had a Kinsler spec Bosch pump which lead to an Aeromotive filter and to an Aeromotive regulator with a return line to the tank and the main fuel line to the rails. The new tank has a 5th Gen pump, which includes the filter, and the regulator is controlled as described above so none of the old stuff was being carried over.

But the OneLapCamaro got its nickname of Tweak for a reason so it was only a matter of time until the discovery that the new tank needed a slight modification to clear the exhaust:



A quick trim:



Followed by some stainless TIG practice for David:



And we were ready to go:

[James OLC]

nce the new tank was in (I’ll post a pic as soon as I get one from Mary), the exhaust clearance was double checked and given the Pozzi seal of approval



and with new Teflon lined steel braided line run up to the rails it was time for Carl to hook up the pressure sensor that feeds his controller:



The other black line is for the vent – I run the vent at the rear of the tank to a bung we welded in the filler neck and use the factory style vented cap.

With the pressure sensor in place Carl sets the fuel pressure electronically:



And we’re ready for the test drive…

Carl monitored both pressure and pump voltage during the test drive:

At idle the pump is drawing 5.1 to 5.2 volts
Cruising at 50 mph the pump is drawing 5.9 volts
At WOT (and on the rev limiter I’m told) the pump is drawing 12 volts

Given that there is nearly 14 volts available to the pump (and it will draw as much at is needs) there is a decent safety factor at the top end so we should be good to go!

[James OLC]

During the test drive though David did also have to fight with a new issue – unwanted cruise control thanks to a rapidly shredding throttle cable…



The throttle cable issue cropped up just after RTTC while Mary was testing at Willow Springs with the crew from Hotchkis so the timing couldn’t have been better.

Today it’s time to address the header gaskets (and for Rupp’s sake, the header bolts), which have seen better days…



The car goes in for the wrap on Monday then we will be changing the single adjustables out to RideTechs new Triple Adjustable shocks and have some testing lined up to get everything settled in so it should be an interesting couple of weeks before Del Mar!