Project "Dust Off" then and now.

[TheJDMan]

Here are some pics of project Dust Off then and now. Let me start by saying that I purchased this car in Phoenix in 1973. The first two photos were taken in the late 70's when the car was in drag racing trim. It was then stored in mom's garage for the next 30 odd years collecting dust. The others are how it looks in 2010 after being dusted off (hence the name) to start the current build with the G-Link rear suspension, Moser 9" w/floating hubs, DSE subframe, Corvette C6 Z06 brakes and Forgelines all around. And for reference I included the rendering Shawn did for me.

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Still have a long ways to go before it hits the street but I'm happy with the start.

[RicerwannaB]

Good looking car!

[bhcustomdesigns]

Looks Good I like the stance!

[Buryingthesun]

Im bringing this back from the dead because it deserves so much more attention than what it has

[makoshark]

I agree...Great car!

[gflo]

Do you have a build thread? Love that car!

[TheJDMan]

I had forgotten about this thread, here are some updated photos of Dust Off on RT129 The Tail of the Dragon in Deals Gap, TN.

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[TheJDMan]

Some build pics.

DSE subframe pics
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Wheels just delivered at work.
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Rear wheel hubs used to mock up rear end.
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Installing rear 4 link suspension and mini-tubs.
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Mocked up rear to check WMS to WMS dimension.
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[TheJDMan]

More pics.

Moser 9" floater rear install.
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[wyattroa]

whats the color code?

[TheJDMan]

One year only 1968 Camaro color code "D" Grotto Blue with the D91 nose stripe.

[Damn True]

Always loved this car. Clean. Understated. Very, very cool.

[Gmc427]

hi ,what wheel /tire sizes are you running,thanks and regards

[andrewb70]

Figured this can go here as well:


https://youtu.be/fx9lqo1yilU

Andrew

[TheJDMan]

hi ,what wheel /tire sizes are you running,thanks and regards

Front 275/35R-18 on 18x10 wheels, rear 335/30R-18 on 18x12 wheel. BTW, Thanks Andrew! I keep forgetting about this thread.

[TheJDMan]

Some on track pics.

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[DWC]

Great photos. I love this car. It was the inspiration for my build.

Keep flogging it!

Daniel

[ryeguy2006a]

Love that color!

[DWC]

How loud are the exhaust dumps before the axle? I'd like to run a setup like that, but I'm concerned about noise, drone and fumes.

Thanks,

Daniel

[ilikeike]

I bet they're louder and stinkier than if you ran them out the back.

[TheJDMan]

I don't notice any smell but the drone can be a bit much especially since I'm running all 3" exhaust. Problem is that there is just not enough real estate to route 3" pipes over the axle. I was looking for side pipes early on but they are no longer offered. I also considered dumping the exhaust out in front of the rear wheels. Fact is the exhaust was intended to be temporary going on 7 years now.

[DWC]

Thanks for the response Steve.

Daniel

[c4racer2]

I added some 12” extensions and downturns to route the exhaust out from under the car better. I also have real estate issues with the fuel system on my car built by previous owner. Just this extra section made a huge difference in the sound. It’s not bad at all. This is a 2.5” Pypes with a crossover.
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[TOlsenAK]

Out of curiosity, what offset/backspacing are you running on the wheels? And is that rear end still a 60in track width? Trying to get about the same wheel fittament as what you have but I'm fabricating in a 64.9in rear end, so trying to get a decent basis of what I might be able to pull off without doing crazy work to the rear wheel arches.

Love the build, one of my favorite camaros I've seen.

[StravaigCamaro]

Love the stance on this car.. low and aggressive!

[70CougarXr7]

I see you got the total control rear coilover suspension.
What is your pinion angle on the rearend?
Got the same kit for my cougar and have a pinion angle of 2.6, upper control arms at the shortest lenght possible..still acceptable but was just wondering what yours was.

Also wondering how it is handling on your car?

Got the same rearend from moser aswell.

Great looking car you have!

[andrewb70]

Saying your pinion angle is 2.6° is meaningless without a reference point. Is it relative to the earth? Is the chassis level? Is the angle relative to the chassis?

Need more information.

Andrew

[70CougarXr7]

Saying your pinion angle is 2.6° is meaningless without a reference point. Is it relative to the earth? Is the chassis level? Is the angle relative to the chassis?

Need more information.

Andrew

This is measured when the car is standing on its wheels.
Still need to measure the angle of the transmission.

[andrewb70]

This is measured when the car is standing on its wheels.
Still need to measure the angle of the transmission.

Again, that's not relevant.

If you are trying to determine the proper pinion angle, what you're actually interested in is measuring the u joint operating angles. The operating angles are the angles of misalignment between the drive shaft and the transmission output shaft (front operating angle) and the pinion gear (rear operating angle).

For smooth high-speed operation you want the front and rear operating angles to be equal and opposite and as small as possible, but not zero. They should definitely be less than 3°.

So in addition to measuring the pinion angle and the transmission angle, you need to measure the driveshaft angle, be cause it is your reference.

Andrew

[70CougarXr7]

Again, that's not relevant.

If you are trying to determine the proper pinion angle, what you're actually interested in is measuring the u joint operating angles. The operating angles are the angles of misalignment between the drive shaft and the transmission output shaft (front operating angle) and the pinion gear (rear operating angle).

For smooth high-speed operation you want the front and rear operating angles to be equal and opposite and as small as possible, but not zero. They should definitely be less than 3°.

So in addition to measuring the pinion angle and the transmission angle, you need to measure the driveshaft angle, be cause it is your reference.

Andrew

Apologies for hijacking this thread.
In the progress of measuring the lenght for the new driveshaft, once i have that and installed the new one i will measure it.
Just always thought you could never exceed the 3degrees on the rearend itself...thanks for the explanation!

[TheJDMan]

Well the center section started leaking gear oil so it had to come out to fix the leak. While it was out I decided to install an oil pump and plumb in a cooler. Here is a pic of the center section with the pump installed ready to go back in the rear end housing. This is a surplus NASCAR center section which was already machined to accept the pump. All that was necessary to install the pump was to have the pump drive hex machined into the end of the pinion gear.

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[Build-It-Break-It]

I bought the same surplus nascar center section for my camaro as well. Im in the process of assembly of my camaro and haven't decided where I was going to put the cooler for the rear end. Im curious as to what you'll come up with.

[KCR]

JDMan did you go with a different set of rear shocks. By the looks of it i have the same rear kit but I cant get my car that low. My car sets about 1.5 inches off the top of the tire with my shock adjusters turned all the way down.

[btmatt]

I believe that in previous post/thread, he noted that he changed shocks. We have the same chassisworks setup with 200lb/in springs and swapped to 130lb springs. Greatly improved the ride and weight transfer when leaving from a dead stop (ie drag racing). Also, it lowered the car considerably and we have been able to add pre-load as the springs settle.
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[TheJDMan]

JDMan did you go with a different set of rear shocks. By the looks of it i have the same rear kit but I cant get my car that low. My car sets about 1.5 inches off the top of the tire with my shock adjusters turned all the way down.

The short answer is Yes. One of the problems with buying suspension parts from different manufacturers is that you end up with some non-matching components that you have to make happy. The coil-over shocks were one of the areas I really struggled with and no matter what I did they just were not happy working together. The front DSE shocks were non-adjustable and the rear Vari-shocks were double adjustable. No matter what I did I could not get the suspension to work the way it needed to. In addition, the rear coil-overs were simply too long to get my desired ride height. I finally just got tired of messing with what I had and scrapped both front and rear coil-overs and replaced them with four AFCO double adjustable shocks. I went with four inch stroke shocks front and rear in order to get the shock in the center of the stroke at ride height. Once the shocks were in place and I was regularly driving on track it became obvious that the springs were far too soft. The last major suspension change was to up the spring rates from 600lb to 800lb front and 200lb to 300lb rear. I'm pretty happy with the way the car handles now even with the 800lb springs the street ride is surprisingly smooth and with a quick shock adjustment it's ready for the track. I have had people ask why I went with AFCO coil-overs and it is simply because I have a circle track background and AFCO is a major player in circle track racing. In addition, AFCO recently entered the Pro-Touring segment by offering specific a line of specifically tuned shocks for just for us at very reasonable prices. Finally, Matt at MCB is an AFCO dealer and can make you a great deal on them.

[TheJDMan]

I was contacted by a writer from HotRod online who wanted to do a feature on Dust Off so I worked with him for a few weeks and he recently published the article. You can read it here.

https://www.hotrodhotline.com/steves-68-chevy-camaro-ss

[minendrews68]

Congrats Steve! Well deserved and a very nice car..