79 Camaro build update

[syborg tt]

I just watched your other two video's.

Holy crap you can drive this bitch !!!!

[WSSix]

wow! I'm honestly surprised they allowed the course to get that fast. Very impressive run Duston. Good luck out at SEMA.

[silver63c10]

Originally Posted by syborg tt

Holy crap you can drive this bitch !!!!

That put a big smile on my face, haha. We've become pretty decent dance partners the last few years. It's fun just grabbing it by the scruff of the neck and yelling LET'S GO!

Originally Posted by WSSix

wow! I'm honestly surprised they allowed the course to get that fast. Very impressive run Duston. Good luck out at SEMA.

It's a once a year event, we typically run outside the track in one of the parking lots but get to hit the road course every October. Silly fun, it's my favorite autocross of the year by far. And, thanks!

[silver63c10]

Quarterly update time! SEMA was a blur, OUSCI was a blast, and we ended up in a picture with the craziest group of cars I could possibly imagine.

We managed a 5th in class in autocross, 9th in speed stop on one session, and 8th in road course with 2 and a half sessions.

A few laps into the 3rd road course session, the rear end side of the panhard bar broke loose and our weekend was over.

We were able to get it patched back together for the photo at least (pictured at center..)

As a souvenir from the trip, I also broke my toe by dropping a jack on it during the drive home.

To finish the year off right, we even got a little time on the Vegas show thanks to a close battle down to the last run with Chad Ryker, who was nursing an ailing rear end in the afternoon runs.

Continued..

[silver63c10]

Onward and upward, 2018 was coming fast and we needed a way to close a pretty significant gap to the front of the GTV. We've scoured tons of build pictures and had some ideas for a while on how to revise the front suspension to fit a proper coilover and make it much more effective with a redesigned lower arm, along with redesigning the upper arm mounts to cure some issues with the base geometry.

Step 1: build a frame table


Step 2: disassemble car




Step 3: take a break to spot yourselves on Battle of the Builders


Step 4: hack and slash


Step 5: we will rebuild




The march of progress


Step 6: redesign upper mounts for a less aggressive camber gain and significantly lower roll center


Step 7: mount coilovers (coilovers coming later..)


Step 8: NASCAR swaybar!

For better or worse, we're changing damn near everything. The car should be significantly stiffer, with a more compliant camber curve, and a vastly improved shock package front and rear to keep it all under control.

I've also started making video updates on our progress -


Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Just under 2 months til NOLA, we'll be ready - the question is, how much testing will we be able to do before then?

[Gscherer78ta]

Looking forward to seeing how this all works for you. I love the videos and what you are sharing- Keep it up!

[Goosesdad]

Appreciate the engineering behind that effort!!

[WSSix]

Very nice! Are you going lower ride height too, Duston? Good luck making NOLA

[silver63c10]

Originally Posted by Gscherer78ta

Looking forward to seeing how this all works for you. I love the videos and what you are sharing- Keep it up!

Thanks Greg!

Originally Posted by Goosesdad

Appreciate the engineering behind that effort!!

It's been done by the seat of our pants, hopefully it will work out, haha.

Originally Posted by WSSix

Very nice! Are you going lower ride height too, Duston? Good luck making NOLA

Planning to keep it the same. We're limited underneath by the bellhousing, and up top by the fenders with so much tire underneath them. It should be more composed, so it might open up the possibility to lower it a touch more, though.

Originally Posted by 70rsss396

Hoping to come out and play in the cones next year.

Thanks, looking forward to seeing it at an event soon! We've been plugging away at setup with a lot of compromises around the stock pieces that were left, so this was the next step - we're operating based on what we've seen on a lot of other builds and some intuition. We'll see how it works out.

Originally Posted by flatoutz

Dustin,
Nice.Is this setup going to narrow the wheel track for better tire fitment?

Plan is to stay the same, but we are gaining clearance on the inside with the frame mods and new swaybar, so we'll have more freedom to move it around if needed. After going to the CPP spindles I've been pretty happy with the fitment with using a 1/4" spacer.

Originally Posted by Panteracer

When can I send mine over for the mods

You might want to wait to see the results first, haha.

Originally Posted by rickpaw

Nice upgrade there. I'm in a similar boat, 2 months to NOLA and my car is completely apart.

Plenty of time - see you there!

Originally Posted by SSLance

Nice update!!! Go get 'em!!

Thanks, Lance, that's the plan. Lotta ground to cover over the next month..

[silver63c10]

Quickie update, it's on the ground!

In the process of powdercoating suspension parts and re-assembling everything. The race is on for NOLA April 14-15!

Also put together a new video showing the process of installing the Speedway Engineering swaybar.