69 Camaro v2.0 - Project "Major Havoc"

[Matt@BOS]

Sweet! I was just going to ask how things were coming along.

[DaleTx]

Hey Chris, glad your feeling better now... sounds like your working your way through all the little issues. I have been driving my car for about a month now and I'm still doing some fine tuning. You will be loving the T56 Magnum and hydraulic clutch set up... you will forget about all the hard work once you go for that first drive, it is so nice... short throw, and effortless shifting at any RPM

The only thing new I have to pass along is that I found out the Tilton 3/4" bore x 1.1" stroke clutch master cylinder that came in my kit did not have quite enough volume to disengage the clutch at the right point. I ended up changing to a 7/8" bore master and it works perfect. The 3/4" bore took the full stroke to disengage and the clutch pedal was nearly on the floor by the time the clutch released. With the 7/8" master the clutch disengages about halfway to the floor and has a much better feel (quicker).

Look forward to more updates and an Idle video!

[chr2002ca]

Thanks Dale. I think I will be okay with the clutch engagement. The DYAD clutch has an amazingly short release distance and I already ran some tests and it seems to release just fine long before then end of the pedal travel. I actually had to add a pedal stop to keep from over-extending the fingers. So with the short release distance and the clutch assembly's shallow depth, it's fairly easy to install this setup and doesn't require shims or the trans spacer that you unfortunately had to deal with(my bellhousing had that extra 1/2 inch of depth which helped too). I just went with a standard LS throwout bearing after measuring the travel that it had and comparing with your measurements you provided for your ZR-1 throwout bearing(thanks again for that data). That made dealing with lines and fittings a bit easier. The only thing I'm a little nervous about right now is the clutch pedal effort. It's a bit stiff and I don't think it should be given the feedback I've seen about this clutch. The pedal doesn't feel spongy, so I don't think it's an 'air in the lines' issue. It might be the fittings I used to connect the supply line to the MC. They might be creating some 'restriction'. I might swap those out just to see if that makes a difference. Or, it could be the lower hole I had to use on the pedal to connect the pushrod. I couldn't use the upper hole because the angle on the rod going into the MC would not have been parallel. Anyway, I'm sure I'll get it figured out soon enough. If it ends up being a little stiff, so be it.

I checked out your thread yesterday and your new pics of your ride in the outdoors look awesome. Congrats on getting it back on the road. I'm hopefully right behind you.

[mdprovee]

Glad to see your making progress Chris. Soon you will screaming down the road.

[intocarss]

Originally Posted by mdprovee

Glad to see your making progress Chris. Soon you will screaming down the road.

Him or the car??

[chr2002ca]

Originally Posted by intocarss

Him or the car??

It'll be both, but you'll be able to clearly hear me over the car.

[Flash68]

Chris, you stud.

[Flash68]

Dude... what's up?

[chr2002ca]

Was a bit burnt out and took a break. Doing these things yourself takes dedication, and after 5 years of dedicating myself to this car(version 1.0 and now this 2.0) in my garage, my "get up and go" has just about "got up and went". These things are very consuming. It's much different for folks who have the money to have someone work on it for them. I envy them, persistently. I really do. No way I could afford this car if I had to pay for labor too, so I had to do it myself. First few years was fun, but now I'm ready for it to be done so I can get the f_ck out of the garage. I'm a car guy, but I'm also a fishing guy, surfing guy, golf, tennis, travel, weekend road trips, and whole lot of other sh_t, and I'd like to get back to some of those which I'll be able to do shortly.

These past few weeks I've just been wrapping up some finishing touches and trying to dial things in to my liking by taking her for short drives around the neighborhood and then back to the garage for checking and tinkering and getting her just right. Lots of little things as most of you all know about. Some of the things thing knocked out since the last update:

Front wheels widened to 18x9 with new Dunlop Direzza ZII's(265s). Will replace rear tires also as soon as I've burned through(quickly) the Nitto 555s that are on there now.
Removable transmission tunnel panels completed and installed(took a lot of time due to me already having a full interior with sound deadener)
Center console re-installed with short stick and custom carbon fiber and chrome trim plate and leather boot
Front carpet and driver's side kick plate reinstalled
Center arm rest modified(lower)
Pedals changed to preferred height
Continue to bleed brakes to reduce spongy feel as much as possible
Parking brake modified to avoid suspension travel issues
Pre-load increased on lifters to decrease noisy valvetrain as instructed by Comp Cams but it didn't help much. Steep ramp on this cam's lobes makes it noisy, like a solid cam. Popular complaint from Comp Cams XE cam owners with large lift. Great power over a large range but a bit "clacky". Oh well.
Alignment and camber work
Increasing bump stops slightly on turning radius to avoid tie rods hitting oil pan
Toggle button installed on console for reverse lockout on T56
Trying to solve slight oil drip from rear of oil pan near rear 2 passenger side oil pan bolts. I'll get it figured out eventually.
Accusump oil accumulator pre-charged and hooked back up after initial oil change

Next week I'll be doing some longer drives to break everything in and get those 500 miles under her belt so I can put the hammer down and create some smoke and skid marks. Also gets her ready for the chassis dyno.

Then I'm going fishing. Permanently.

[Vegas69]

Hang in there buddy. I got to your point and well beyond. That's why I have no desire for another project at this stage in my life. I'm enjoying my simple hobbies. Your car is more refined and will be less maintenence, I hope. I'm sure there will be plenty of days where you'll forget all the pain and enjoy the hell out of it. Remember, it's supposed to be fun.

You changed the oil, time to lay the pedal to the metal.