79 Camaro build update

[silver63c10]

Back to it.

So, it's been an interesting month or so. The car has taken every opportunity to remind us who is boss (hint: it's not us), but last weekend we got back to it on the autocross course.

We had registered for an event with the car on the 7th, and thought everything was in place. New brakes were all in, alignment checked out, and corner weights set.

A trip down the road to bed the brakes quickly revealed that all was not well, and we soon discovered that our new front master cylinder (purchased last summer, based on our old calipers) wasn't jiving with our new setup, which has 1" less piston area in the caliper. This translated to a frightening lack of braking power.

So we went from "Let's get it loaded tonight" to..this.

Well, the event registration was done, and after a strange series of events I still can't fathom, we ended up with the chance to run my mom's 2016 SS that Saturday.

When you borrow mom's car, you run lots of tape and a WIDE line

Absolutely blown away by this car. Even on stock Goodyear F1s, it was a blast to drive. We weren't able to fully defeat the traction and stability controls which led to some frustration, but overall it is one mean machine. Those CAM-C guys are definitely smarter than us..

PROTIP: Running a horizontal strip of tape at the top lets you pull it off in one piece

Converting from Digital back to Analog

Back to the red Spawn.. The new 7/8" master cylinder came in, and we were able to get the brakes bled and bedded in time to hit last weekend's Texas SCCA event.

I guess you could say the..pressure..was on

With the new master, my scrawny self can hit 1000+ psi consistently, with peaks over 1300 - much happier.

All that was left was to hit the track and see how it worked. After 3 runs to convert myself back over after multiple events in the newly tuned Z and the 2016, I finally settled back in.

Adjustments to the new double adjustable QA1s along with brake bias changes were made every run, and by the 4th things were starting to feel like home again. True to form from last year, we still proved to have an appetite for cones...

Jon's 'F-150' is actually the same LS-swapped Nova as Feras'

Including one each on two runs that would have taken the class for the day. Almost worth it for that close of a margin, but I could have stood for it to be reversed

All in all, a very good day, and we are super pumped for this weekend's adventure..

2016 Texas CAM Challenge

Been looking forward to this since it was announced, and relieved and excited that we're going to make it. Can't wait to battle it out for two days with a great group of people and cars!

[Gscherer78ta]

Good Progress Dusty! We'll see ya at the CAM Challenge!

[Juicypop]

Great build man love the color of the car.

[WSSix]

Nice job with mom's car. I've heard they feel like pigs but man can those new cars move.

Whose Nova?

[silver63c10]

Originally Posted by WSSix

Nice job with mom's car. I've heard they feel like pigs but man can those new cars move.

Whose Nova?

Yeah, I expected it to feel like a BIG car, but it controls it incredibly well. The shocks are just insane. The LT-1 is mind-bogglingly good. If we were smart we'd just sell out and get one of our own but that wouldn't be nearly as fun.

We keep telling ourselves that at least.

[Gscherer78ta]

Originally Posted by silver63c10

Yeah, I expected it to feel like a BIG car, but it controls it incredibly well. The shocks are just insane. The LT-1 is mind-bogglingly good. If we were smart we'd just sell out and get one of our own but that wouldn't be nearly as fun.

We keep telling ourselves that at least.

I just can't see you in a new car Dustin! The way your car sounds and the way you wheel that car is really fun to watch- sideways through the timing light with smoke blowing from the rear wheels!!!! Looks like all your effort paid off last weekend and you represented very well during the challenge.

[syborg tt]

Looking for the Like Button for this Thread !!!

[silver63c10]

2016 SCCA CAM Challenge Texas

Well, that was an absolute blast just as I expected.

A place for every thing, and every thing has its place

Got to the track late Friday, around 7:30. The beer had been flowing, bets were being discussed, I think a good time was had by all.

Fortunately, dad was able to get out there before me and get the car tech'd. I got to walk the -huge- course once and marvel at the wide gates and lack of Miata-centric elements, and we called it a night after swapping tires on the Z which he was driving in the worker index.

Been doing this since 09 - my first national-level helmet sticker


A good look at what the course entailed - a lot of big wide open asphalt

When everyone started heading to grid, it started to dawn on me how cool this event was.

It's.. everything I always knew an autocross event could be..

Spent the entirety of Saturday chasing the car and beating myself up. Our Falkens are pretty much at end of life after a long hot Texas summer last season, and it really wasn't sitting well in the heat of battle.

Representing the Texas chapter of the Second Gen Mafia with Greg

Finished the day 6th (they gave out 5 trophies, of course), but I did at least win a Speedway hat in the giveaway during trophy ceremony. We finished the afternoon super early, providing plenty of time for the beer to flow again before dinner arrived courtesy of Dusold Designs.

Much bench racing was had, world problems and suspension issues were put to bed, the empty bottles were disposed of and we hit the hotel before sundown.

Sunday brought a clean slate, and three more morning runs and the Challenge rounds for which the CAM Challenge is named.

Not a bad lineup..

I managed to scrounge some time together on my final run of the morning, putting me in 4th heading into the 8-car challenge. This, naturally, matched me up with Feras in the Nemesis Nova.

Everywhere I go, this black car is just ahead, just behind, or BOTH

The second round matchup pitted us against the eventual winner of CAM-T Mark Madarash. Mark has won more national championships in ESP with this car than I can count, and was deep in the trophies at last year's nationals after switching to CP by putting wider tires and flares on.

Mark was holding two seconds on my best time, so I knew I would need to pull some magic and get a little help from him to advance. I managed 64.6, .4 better than my best time of the weekend, but picked up a cone in the process. Mark was on his game, quick and clean like he'd been all weekend, with a 63.5.

What's next?

So pushing old tires around for two days was the catalyst we needed to make a few decisions:

- We now have one set of Rival S's that will be used for Optima in Austin, and a second set that will go on as soon as they arrive so we can begin suspension tuning.

- A set of Afco 850 lb standard springs are on the way. We'll use spacers to tune ride height if needed, but this pig has got to have some spring rate up front, like yesterday.

- Hopefully new springs will allow us to hook the rear swaybar back up and get things calmed way down.

Lots more work to do before August, but the last few runs Sunday got me super pumped to get this thing kicking some ass again.

[silver63c10]

Originally Posted by Gscherer78ta

I just can't see you in a new car Dustin! The way your car sounds and the way you wheel that car is really fun to watch- sideways through the timing light with smoke blowing from the rear wheels!!!! Looks like all your effort paid off last weekend and you represented very well during the challenge.

Thanks Greg! Looking back at the videos the finish cracks me up every time. As exciting as it is, it wasn't helping the time much - excited to get our new springs and hopefully tame it a bit.

Originally Posted by syborg tt

Looking for the Like Button for this Thread !!!

Haha, thanks Marty!

[pro66tour]

Love the vid - thanks for sharing bud