79 Camaro build update

[silver63c10]

John - they probably won't trust me with the controller, haha. There is a net around it to protect the masses, at least? We'll be happy to help find the right car for your "kids", though.

Trey - I'm in the marketing department, doing graphics and some project/traffic management. It's been a blast so far.

Greg - thanks! We've missed you guys the last few events. We've got a tough decision coming on tires for next year, I like the Falkens but the Rival S seems to have surpassed it pretty handily as far as the big tires go. Luckily there's still a good amount of meat on ours, so we've got some time.

It's surprised me how much more comfortable I've gotten in it this year, even with a few stretches of downtime. Excited to get some more spring and swaybar under it this winter.

[GrabberGT]

I was surprised to see the TMS event still going on with all the rain we had that weekend. Looks like you had fun though. Who's the new guy with the Nova? Havent seen him running yet.

I might get in 1 or 2 more events this next month before tearing down the car. Dont know which ones though.

[silver63c10]

He's cool. The car was a drag car before, he's put a Ridetech(?) 4-link under it and some front suspension work too. Spent a few events working out bugs but he's coming along pretty quick with it.

I think we're going to make the one on the 15th then start eyeing the to-do list. Two month offseasons are a blessing and a curse..

[GrabberGT]

Originally Posted by silver63c10

Two month offseasons are a blessing and a curse..

Yup. 6 weeks of planning and tear down and then "Oh Crap!"

[silver63c10]

Originally Posted by GrabberGT

Yup. 6 weeks of planning and tear down and then "Oh Crap!"

Been there! Sounds like our prep going into last season, which led to us not getting the car out til like August.

-------

Stumbled across a pretty cool pic on facebook by Brad Maxcy of Vorshlag and Texas SCCA - this looks way more composed than any other pic I have of it. This was on, I believe, the first slalom in the runs above. Very open and very fast.

Can't wait to get it stiffer and lower.

[silver63c10]

End of season update! Last event of the year for the car was last weekend. Tricky course, I was a bit tired, driver excuse bingo.

Still a fun day, but I never got a handle on the course. At all. Even on my last run, there were 4 or 5 spots I just couldn't get the car feeling right on.

My trusty crew chief was also on hand wielding the big camera. Can't wait to get started on the suspension work and tame this thing..

Now, to prioritize that winter to-do list..

[syborg tt]

Duston,

I love this thread and the fact that you are out actually using the car you built.

Keep posting pics and Updates as I am watching them all.

[awr68]

Originally Posted by syborg tt

Duston,

I love this thread and the fact that you are out actually using the car you built.

Keep posting pics and Updates as I am watching them all.

Couldn't agree more! And personally, I like the later 2nd gens. Nice to see one getting some love!

[silver63c10]

Thanks guys! We have definitely had a blast running the snot out of it this year.

Minor update - I was hoping to run the car one last time this weekend, but I ended up with a decent size cut in the passenger rear tire sidewall on a run and I'm not comfortable street driving with it.

Enter the Z! ..and its 3 year old RS-3s. High for the day was 50, strong north breeze, it was amusing all the way around. Good way to end the year, and remind me what it's like to feel totally confident and comfortable in a car.

First run of the PM session - cold tires was hilarious. HILARIOUS.

Best raw time of the day (had a cone somewhere)

In hindsight, I do a lot of tiptoeing in the Camaro, where in the Z I'm more gun it and figure it out later. What gives the confidence to do this even on worn out tires?

• 4+ years of seat time in the Z
• Neutral handling:
• Will push a bit if you overcook it driving into corners, but easily correctable with a quick brake tap
• Rotates predictably through corners with controlled throttle
• Hard initial brake bite (thanks Carbotech!) and solid, predictable ABS performance allow for stupid heavy braking

Compared to the Camaro -

• One season and some change dodging cones in it
• Handling is a mixed bag:
• Turn in is quick, but it gets into an unrecoverable push if you get in too hot
• Rotates freely (like, really freely) with the throttle, making corner exit a delicate process and delaying getting back to the power
• Hard braking (I supposed it's trail braking) into corners brings the rear around, often rather abruptly
• Manual brakes and sub-optimal master cylinder sizes are difficult to modulate (new masters that are still sitting on the bench..), initial bite is fairly soft and walking the line between no brakes and lockup is tricky

Soooooo, now we just have to figure out how to make the bottom more like the top? Season starts March 6th..

[SSLance]

Have you ever put a infrared temp sensor on your brakes rotors directly after a run on the Camaro? I had a symptom somewhat like your braking issue and turns out I had way too much rear brake which was upsetting the car on corner entry. What made mine hard to diagnose was it wouldn't happen on the early parts of runs, just later on in the runs as once the EBC yellow pads heated up they gripped way harder.

My rear rotors were about 100 degrees hotter than the fronts right after a run. Once I swapped in some parts store rear pads, it fixed it right up and gave me WAY more confidence on corner entry.