What is "Best"?

[tyoneal]

Great Set of post you all!!

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your input.

Also, the items that you are personally putting on your own cars are VERY revealing and helpful. Anyone else who wants to offer information about their Street and/or Track Ride, your input would be very welcome.

Let me give you some refinement. I should of throne this in earlier, but I just didn't think to do it. I do plan on spending some decent money learning to drive this beast. I'm big on education.I shoot competitively and you cannot be worth a damn without good instruction and practice, so that will definitly be part of my driving equation.

As far as my car goes, I want it to perform very good on the street, but I want to be able to maintain some sort of comfort level by being able to drive the Power Tour and Have Fun without Being beaten to death by the end of the day, but as you said, "Taking entrance ramps fast or curves at 70 mph" easily.

Turning and cornering should be awesome for a street car. Acceleration should equallaly be as impressive.

As I was reading the post, perhaps a better solution would be a Intercooled Banks Twin Turbo SBC, instead of the BBC. The weight savings, economy, and power on demand might make a better cat and still have a hell of a punch.

Learning to adjust my driving skills to the fat 275-295 front wheels, managing the different spring rates of the coil overs and balancing all of it with a bunch of 600+ (Maybe 7-800+) power should be a great and fun learning experiance.

Would this be a better place and goal to try to meet?

How about the engine idea?

Anything else??

Thanks,

tyoneal

[tyoneal]

Correction:

OLD
The weight savings, economy, and power on demand might make a better cat and still have a hell of a punch.

NEW
The weight savings, economy, and power on demand might make a better set up and still have a hell of a punch.

I have no idea where "cat" came from. I think my keyboard was the victim of a critter by the same name.

tyoneal

[Mean 69]

I applaud you for looking for as much input into a big decision, the whole deal is really tough given all of the the info out there, products offered, opinions, etc. It's not easy, but hopefully it's really fun for you.

There are some things in terms of performance that few folks would ever argue with, and are worth consideration no matter which specific direction you decide to go with any of the stuff you're trying to pull off. With regard to handling, in "general" terms, here are a few guidelines that nature seems to have established for us.

Newton's Laws of Motion are true. All three of them. And fundamental to all is one very important, and at some level, controllable variable: mass. If you are looking to control motion at any level, minimizing mass makes all things easier. This is in general not terribly easy to overcome with early Muscle cars, they're big and heavy to begin with, but things done to reduce this aspect of the car are almost always worthwhile, if they are safe, and not "stupid." And don't just think in terms of overall mass, lowering the center of gravity, and placing as much mass towards the center of the car as practical never hurts, ever.

Technology is a really good thing. Use it, others have worked hard to develop it, there's no downside. One really, really good example is contemporary fuel injection. Why on earth would one use a carb these days? Two reasons, cost, and lack of capability to deal with FI. Both, in the big picture, are not good excuses at all, but without question, can have a HUGE influence in the short term picture. I still run a carb on at least a few of my cars because the cost benefit of performance, economy, and effort just hasn't panned out (these are cars that don't get driven too often). If you are going to build a "fresh" car, use the best available stuff, and if you can't afford it, make sure there's a path to upgrade in a practical fashion (i.e. sell the old stuff off to some one else on a budget).

Ask "why," at least four or five times. If you ever get an answer like "because it's really cool," that should tell you something. Why is it better than the stock stuff? Why is it better than brand D? H? Etc. A very wise mentor told me that if a designer/engineer/spokesperson couldn't walk you through the specifics of a product, they probably didn't know what it was that they were attempting to solve. And as a result, highly likely that they missed the target (whatever that might have been).

M

[Teetoe_Jones]

I am blown away by some of these great responses on here, especially from Mark and Steevo. That was some great advice from guys who have finished vehicles and driven them. Hard.
So far your list look very good Tyoneal. You can't be disapointed with a front suspension with hydroformed rails.
Suggestion wise, look into Mean69's rear suspension setup very closely. I also suggest reading up on a bunch of his old suspension posts regarding the Lateral Dynamics 3-Link. In my opinion, this is the 'Best' rear setup you can purchase as an 'off the shelf' item for a 69 Camaro. The only things that can top it (and I'm sure even Mark will agree here) is scratch built tube frame cars, as they have no initial package or sheetmetal limitations.

Engine- Ditch the BBC for something lighter.
I personally think an LS6 engine with some slight breathing-over would do the trick. They can be very reliable, make great power, and weigh next to nothing. You can even use that 4L80E with the Shrifter too.

Tyler

[tyoneal]

Tyler:

First, thanks for taking the time to add some thoughts to the discussion.

I'm wanting to clarify your statement, "Engine- Ditch the BBC for something lighter. I personally think an LS6 engine with some slight breathing-over would do the trick. They can be very reliable, make great power, and weigh next to nothing."

Isn't the LS-6, a closed chambered, iron headed 454? (Popular in the 1970 Chevelle, and Corvette) I had mentioned an Aluminum Block 565, or, more recently a TT, EFI,SBC would either one of these not be a good choice?

If I've missed something critical, excuse me, as I mentioned earlier it's been quite a while since I was able to enjoy this type of thing.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

tyoneal

[tyoneal]

Mean69

Thanks for the great post.

I agree whole heartedly with your statement reguarding EFI. It is a definite must if at all possible. I am planning having it installed at the beginning of the build. At the time I did my early car, that type of technology was considered pretty high end stuff w/ no one I know having it. (In their HotRods)

With regards to lowering the center of gravity, what are you feelings about a Dry Sump Pump?

I have heard that the installation of the C5 Corvette Engine in their Cars is fairly involved and expensive. If this is true what is the big attraction of doing this with such good SBC technology to choose from that makes plenty of inexpensive horsepower?

Other than moving the engine back, reducing the weight of the engine and reducing the weight of the driver, (sigh) what other items should someone focus on to maximize the performance of the cars handling?(oops, I forgot lowering the weight itself)

Thanks again.

tyoneal

[Bowtieracing]

Thank you Mark for a good lesson !! Can you give us more info of your camaros 3 link suspension ?

[XcYZ]

Originally Posted by Bowtieracing

Thank you Mark for a good lesson !! Can you give us more info of your camaros 3 link suspension ?

Mark's website is VERY close to going public, it has a ton of detailed info on 3-Link suspension technology.

[MarkM66]

Tyler wrote LS6, not LS-6 . Gen 3 vs. BBC .

[Mean 69]

And who would have thought such an open ended question could have been this fun!?!? As Scott said, our site is basically done, and we are very, very proud of it, and it will only improve going forward. I am running out the door, but I'll check back into this one a bit later. 'til then, have a blast!

Mark