IRONWORKS is building my custom C6 suspension 69 camaro

[nvr2fst]

Hey Guys,
Im redoing one of the camaro's Ive had for years now and I decided to commission Ironworks in Bakersfield CA to do there magic!
Rodger and his crew with the help of Eric Turner have spent several hours designing the chassis set up through Solidworks and initiating fabrication to where it is today.

Ironworks will be posting most of the photos so enjoy!

[nvr2fst]

RPM TRANSMISSIONS provided the trans/diff set up as follows;

TR6060 trans with 3.42 diff, geared equivalent to ZR1

Both the trans and diff were set up per RPM transmissions version of a Stage V set up which is as follows;
Full micropolish of internals components of trans and diff gear set
Hand fit sliders and hubs, bronze fork pads
Internal lube system modifications
Extreme duty pump modifications to improve cooling and fluid flow
QUAIFE upgrade in lieu of standard clutches
300M output shafts, left shaft modified to fit Quaife

Thanks Rodney and the guys at RPM for there support. These guys are top notch in the tranny world!

http://www.rpmtransmissions.com/index.html

[Motown 454]

They build some beautiful stuff at Ironworks . This sounds like asweet project to watch. Thats some serious drive train.

[ironworks]

Alright Guys I have been holding out on your for alittle bit. We got a 1969 Camaro body in here a few month ago on a pallet. After doing an initial mock up of the car, we decided on running 335 20's in the rear and 285-19's in the front, Like a ZR-1 Corvette. The customer supplied the C6 transaxle from RPM transmission. Here is the initial mock up.

The Overall Tire sizes are not exact since we dont have 335/25/20's just laying around, but you will catch the vibe we are going for.

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As you can see the blue tape stripe on the bottom of the rocker, we decided that wedge sectioning the car 1" would give us the desired stance. By doing this we made the bottom of the rocker, the door gap and the speedline of the front fender all parallel and level at ride height. We made the cut inbetween the door hinges. Here are some pics.

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The cut through the door
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The door reinstalled
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More to come, Enjoy

[ironworks]

Once we had the car mocked up on the table at ride height we started mocking up the basics of the car to get and game plan for the floor and front suspension pickup points.

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Just a mock up engine we had laying around.
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We landed the engine where the bell housing line is even with the windshield wipers, if that gives you an idea of how far we set the engine back. About 4 inches. :D

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[ironworks]

Then we started to lay out the design for the floor and how we would incorporate the suspension design for the pick up points into this. So we decided to build the main framerail structure inside the rocker to act as the frame rails that would go inside the Rocker and build low profile crossmembers that would be even with the bottom of the rocker. So nothing would hang below the rocker. Plus the design of these allows our floor to be 2" below the stock height of the original floor. Plus it will give us tons of lateral support and resist chassis flex. :thumbsup:

Paper mock up from the blue print printer.
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Crossmember jig fixture
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Floor mocked up on table
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Mocking up the Floor in the car
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We should begin to start bending tubes and getting the lower suspension pick up points located in the next few weeks.

Enjoy

[ironworks]

Good monday morning, I have few pics of the floor mocked up in the car. You can see the beginning of the tubing getting slid through the holes and bent and fit into poistion. We hope to finalize the front suspension pick up points this week to get to cutting the front cradle and really start with the tubing lay out. In the pics you can see the openings in the floor for the billet floor panels that will go in the car. I plan to incorporate things like the mounting bosses for the seat and pedals into the top side of the billet plates.



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Thanks

[ironworks]

The floor is looking really good. We have been fine tuning the suspension Geometry in the Optimum G with Bobby Alley. We located the Front bar and have begun to design the Lower control arm pick Up points in Solidworks. We are going to have to modify the Trans axle mount on the Rear diff to clear the Lower control arms with the instant center angle the lower control arm create.

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[ironworks]

This is the Solidworks modeled floor section coming togther, getting ready to pull the trigger to get the car caught up with this. The Front cradle is kicking my ass and we will have to machine the rear transaxle mounts off the diff for the desired track width, But all is well.

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[ironworks]

We took some Inspiration from The war project and make some recess pockets into the trans tunnel. The front and rear crossmembers have been tack and landed and the plates have been fit to the main tubes. Plus in the back of the dark pictures you will see the start of the tubes for the Airjack.

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You will also see the modified rear transaxle mounts.

[ironworks]

We are going to town on the rollcage, You will notice we notched the body to suck the rollcage into the quarter panel even further. We rolled the rear down bars and those will land in the wheel tub support that will go out to the tail panel. We have been working on some things like removing all the interior structure and prepping to build that structure to our taste. We have some tubes out to the rear tailpan and just working to locating everything. Enjoy the pics.

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Just to be clear the "dirt track","Max Max" window cages will not be staying. We used that for the exterior structure to support the body as we removed the interior structure. Spot weld after spot weld.

[Motown 454]

Every time I check out these sites I'm more and more amazed . Dave this is going to be an awesome ride. I can't wait to see more..

[nicks67camaro]

Wow that floor looks awesome. Its a shame to cover it in carpet!

[Samckitt]

Awesome build.

[SamHatco]

Holy engineering, Batman! That is certainly spectacular is the only thing that comes to mind. Great work. This will most definitely be a one off resto mod. :1st:

Sam

[srh3trinity]

I know the use of dimple dyes is more for strength and structure, but it adds so much visual interest to these Ironworks projects. It looks awesome, this should be a great project to follow.

[tones2SS]

WOW! Dave that is going to be one mean car!
Rodger and the guys @IRONWORKS can really do some great work!

[Bryce]

im curious, what is the final weight of this car?

i really like that subtle bend on that roll bar. does that still pass NHRA and SCCA rules. I know NHRA has a 30* max bend.

[ironworks]

Probably 3200 3300 lbs. Depends on drivetrain and interior components.

As far as NHRA goes it will never go fast enough to require a Certified cage. 9.99 is pretty fast for and IRS street car.

The SCCA the rules state 1.75" .120... so we are good. If he is ever going to do anything that will require an SCCA cert. It would sure be cool, but with all this effort put into the car I really doubt it.

How could you build any cage with out going over a 30* bend. I have heard of maximum number of bends in like a main hoop but never and Bend angle max. The total degrees for the main hoop pretty much has to be 180* with 4 bends and way you go. The front down bars have to total 90 degrees with 2 bends.

[Bryce]

Probably 3200 3300 lbs. Depends on drivetrain and interior components.

As far as NHRA goes it will never go fast enough to require a Certified cage. 9.99 is pretty fast for and IRS street car.

The SCCA the rules state 1.75" .120... so we are good. If he is ever going to do anything that will require an SCCA cert. It would sure be cool, but with all this effort put into the car I really doubt it.

How could you build any cage with out going over a 30* bend. I have heard of maximum number of bends in like a main hoop but never and Bend angle max. The total degrees for the main hoop pretty much has to be 180* with 4 bends and way you go. The front down bars have to total 90 degrees with 2 bends.


good point the IRS is not allowed faster than a 11.90 (open track days are different than a NHRA race) if i remember correctly. And that is the same point a 4pt is needed.

the 30* was the rear support bars that connect to the main hoop and go to the trunk. It was a new rule for NHRA last year.

[nvr2fst]

good point the IRS is not allowed faster than a 11.90 (open track days are different than a NHRA race) if i remember correctly. And that is the same point a 4pt is needed.

the 30* was the rear support bars that connect to the main hoop and go to the trunk. It was a new rule for NHRA last year.

First off I have never heard of a ruling that an IRS car is not allowed to run faster than 11.90, NHRA rules apply the same weather IRS or not. Unless something changed over the last year that I dont know about.
However you need to have axleshaft safety hoop at 10.99 or quicker.
Check out corvette forum sometime You'd be amazed at how fast the IRS vettes are going without breaking or snapping something.

Either way as Rodger stated our goal is NOT intended to be the fastest car out there or the corner carving king. Just a sweet looking all around performance car.

[WS6]

That's awesome, Dave. I can't believe you're putting airjacks on the car. That is too cool. With such a low ride height, that's a great idea too. Will you show off a rendering or keep us in suspense?

Rodger, you guys amaze me. Just wow!

Oh and the new ZR1 goes way faster than 11.90. Hell the C6 Z06 beats that. That's a new rule to me too if it's true

[nvr2fst]

That's awesome, Dave. I can't believe you're putting airjacks on the car. That is too cool. With such a low ride height, that's a great idea too. Will you show off a rendering or keep us in suspense?

Rodger, you guys amaze me. Just wow!

Oh and the new ZR1 goes way faster than 11.90. Hell the C6 Z06 beats that. That's a new rule to me too if it's true

Thanks Trey,
The air jacks were something I wanted in the car from day 1. The supplied air will be provided though a mock up nitrous bottle.
Leighten Reese courtesly provided the product. He has designed custom racing parts for drivers and is a driver himself. He is best known for his Banner racing team in the speed world challange and multitudes of T.A. series. He has automotive shops in the Minneapolis/St.Paul area.
www.airjacs.com

The rendering is in mine and Rodger head for now. sorry about the suspense.

[Bryce]

i guess i will make a correction to my statement. The IRS is not allowed in certain classes. The sportsman class does not allow an IRS on a car that weighs more than 2000lbs and is faster than 10.99. this was from the NHRA rulebook that i have. I also found with a quick google search than infineon raceway does not allow an IRS quicker than 11.00.

anyway, i wasnt trying to start an argument, just triyng to shed some light from my experiences. I really like the car, and the metal work is fantastic.

[Van B]

Holy crap! Nice build. I don't want you to see my junk now. :hail:

[nvr2fst]

i guess i will make a correction to my statement. The IRS is not allowed in certain classes. The sportsman class does not allow an IRS on a car that weighs more than 2000lbs and is faster than 10.99. this was from the NHRA rulebook that i have. I also found with a quick google search than infineon raceway does not allow an IRS quicker than 11.00.

anyway, i wasnt trying to start an argument, just triyng to shed some light from my experiences. I really like the car, and the metal work is fantastic.

Never thought arguement was being started and I appreciate your updated info. Thanks

[nvr2fst]

Holy crap! Nice build. I don't want you to see my junk now. :hail:

Come on Jeff At least yours is on the road. Youve probably been criusin all around town or at least stealing the father in laws new ride.
Going to Joliet?

[tellyv]

awsome ride Dave!!

[Puregroove_Org]

OMG... that's what's up. That is a build!

[bsclark]

Awesome! Nothing quite beats looking at stuff that makes me want to get back to work!

[ironworks]

Thanks for the props guys. Thsi is a team effort, my guys in the shop, Eric Turner and Dave paying the bills.

There is much more to come the ideas are flowing steady on this one for sure.

Rodger

[ironworks]

Well we have the main section for the halo of the rollcage wrapped up. We have began boxing the rear wheel tub structure and the rear crossmember to go behind the diff of the transaxle. Things should go pretty fast this week in the the rear.

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[railin93]

i've watched a few builds with cages built in them and have one question...how do you upholster around the cage after it's welded in?

[ironworks]

We plan to build the cage as part of the headliner.

[ironworks]

Some pics to give you the idea of what we are going for.

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The trunk floor transition

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There will be a plate welded onto the side of the Hoop for the rear section of the cage to land onto. There will also be a mount to brace up the trunk hinge bracing for the trunk hinges. We are working on the rear crossmember to fit into behing the differental to hold the diff and also spread out to this hoop for the rocker system for the shocks and the upper control arm mounts. Complicated, YES, but it all works in my head I just need to make it work in Solidworks.

Thanks for checking it out.

[bonecrrusher]

That mad max rear window looks awesome!

[ironworks]

Quick Update

1.5" wider at the fender lips per side
1" wedge section
5" ride height
19" front wheel with a 285 front tire

plus few move cuts and slices here and there.

Some pics taken last night after work.
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[CruizinKev]

Wow awesome!

[novanutcase]

So Dave's building this for the next "Death Race" movie? Will he be Frank? Where will the gun turrets be? LOL!!

Rodger the fender mod is SICK! The lines flow so nicely!

John

[Young Gun]

lines of the car look great... not that im surprised! has any thought been put into color yet?

[rlplive]

You guys have some insane skills.

[nvr2fst]

So Dave's building this for the next "Death Race" movie? Will he be Frank? Where will the gun turrets be? LOL!!

Rodger the fender mod is SICK! The lines flow so nicely!

John

John, I told Rodger I need to try out my welding skills so Im going to do the same window treatment bars on your Nova when I head down there LOL Then we can have a CAGE MATCH in the octagon.

[nvr2fst]

lines of the car look great... not that im surprised! has any thought been put into color yet?

I have my ideas but right now the only color ideas Im playing with is for the powder coating of the chassis and drivetrain.

[Motown 454]

Dave That is looking awesome.

[WS6]

I really like the widen fender and enhanced crease

[ironworks]

Enjoy
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Some shots of the rear suspension coming togther
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Rodger

[LeighP]

Love the work you guys do....awesome engineering!

[ironworks]

AHHHHH..... Good thing Daves out of town and away from the Computer..

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Rodger

[ironworks]

We just cut the back off. That all nothing big....

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Rodger

[WS6]

lol that's funny.

[CruizinKev]

omg sekks :drool:

[ProTour69Bird]

omg, you guys are dominating this car!

i hope you leave the mad max lookin windows, hahah

that wideden fender turned out bitchin, are you doin anything to the rear or just a tubb

whats the plan for that rear panel...

love this build already!

[ramlinman]

What happened to this build!!!!!?

[ironworks]

Still Hammering away, We decide keep some aspects under wraps. I think there are more pics on Lat-g then on here. Not for sure though

[ramlinman]

thanks for the reply that is some fine work

[1969CamaroRS]

Wow that floor looks awesome. Its a shame to cover it in carpet!

I was thinking the same thing, give it a brush finish and clear powder coat it :naughty:

[Mudweizer]

Love the metal work!

[sik68]

Wow, first time I've seen this thread and that is the most fearless fabrication I've ever seen. Seriously amazing stuff and it is too bad it will be hidden by upholstery.

I fully understand that this car isn't trying to be built to a Spec like SCCA or other, so I don't want to bring up irrelevant rules. But I do believe sanctioning bodies require the main hoop to be made of 1 continuous tube. Again, if the car doesn't need to be tech'd, the point is moot but just thought I'd point it out in case the owner wants to track it. NASA seems particularly picky when it comes to cages.

[Hellrace]

Nothing wrong with your metal skills, impressive build

[Bryce]

Wow, first time I've seen this thread and that is the most fearless fabrication I've ever seen. Seriously amazing stuff and it is too bad it will be hidden by upholstery.

I fully understand that this car isn't trying to be built to a Spec like SCCA or other, so I don't want to bring up irrelevant rules. But I do believe sanctioning bodies require the main hoop to be made of 1 continuous tube. Again, if the car doesn't need to be tech'd, the point is moot but just thought I'd point it out in case the owner wants to track it. NASA seems particularly picky when it comes to cages.

This was discussed back on the first page. I noticed that too.

[rrrcustom]

No THAT is an awesome build. How much is thing gonna weigh?!?!?

[ramlinman]

people are interested how about that lol

[ironworks]

No THAT is an awesome build. How much is thing gonna weigh?!?!?

My guess is 3000 - 3200 depending on what options he does on the engine and interior

[rrrcustom]

EVen with all that extra steel?

[61ragtop]

Damn this is a sick build!!!! Now I am off to the garage to stare and DREAM about transforming mine into a machine like that!! lol

[ironworks]

Sure we took alot took alot of steel out also. Plus the entire engine and drivetrain are aluminum. This car weighted 2689 as you see it. I would say these cars are similar. It probably lacks about 500lbs in stuff to complete.

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[ramlinman]

well it's february how much dust has settled on the car?

[nvr2fst]

well it's february how much dust has settled on the car?

The build is coming along fine. Planning on visiting during Delmar Goodguys to see progress.

[TheKingOTW]

Very Cool Build.

[68_sweden]

impressive metal work!

[Motown 454]

Its looking great.

[S Griffin]

very impressive work on this build!

Is there any updates on this car or that Chevy II as well?

[ramlinman]

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzz

[Hunter68]

damn this car is looking good i love it! how do you guys come up with all your ideas and designs? i just cant imagine sitting there and coming up with something this nice

[robertjra]

can we get an update????????

[rfalker1]

I wll also ask for an update!!!! Please.... I love the design, and will offer myself to be your co-pilot in the next death race!!! Love the car though love love love love love love love!!!

[andrewb70]

How will the transaxle come out if it needs to be serviced?

Andrew