AintQik
04-29-2013, 05:14 AM
Ok, so as I rant here understand I do have a point. That point is to confide in you all I'm an idiot and possibly arm the next 67 Camaro guy with a nugget that may help them along in their build process. I am blessed and have a corral of neat cars to play with. I'm also cursed and me and Murphy are old drinking buddies. There is never a dull moment around here and most times it is painful.
So, fast forward to 2013 and I am finishing up this 67 Camaro that I have been fighting with for 3 years. Most of the time the military got in the way of finishing it and it’s been a long road with the birth of 2 kids, 2 moves yadda yadda yadda, a story I probably share with many of you.
1st off, many of my "new parts" that had been sitting on a shelf were failing and it was very hard to troubleshoot because, well hell they are new. Master cylinder, Steering box, all the seals were bad and these were sitting in a controlled environment, I don't live in a swamp or desert. But, they were bad and I had to replace all kinds of new stuff. Bummer. Many of the vendors were pretty cool and offered to rebuild the parts for free. So, props to this community and the people that are a part of it.
Tip 1: When troubleshooting remember unlikely does not mean impossible.
So, I finally get the thing on the ground and I take it down the driveway. It had a leak here and there but otherwise it was successful. The sun was setting, I was all proud of myself and I stood with hands on hips admiring my progress. Then, with the long light dancing on the beautiful lines of the 67, I notice the dents and crap myself. To this day I do not know how they got there, but they were there all over the rear quarter and door. Car is always locked up in my shop and access is limited to me and my wife. Who knows.
Tip 2: Those paintless dent guys can be worth their weight in gold.
Shake down ride 2 led me out to the street by my house which is under construction. Unfortunately the bottom of my pristine car and the earth met rather uncomfortably on several occasions during that trip. This made me very concerned as I did not build the car to stare at it and I certainly cannot drive it if I can't traverse the one and only road to my residence. I was deep in this thought and rather upset when I pulled into my driveway. The power steering hose burst, spraying fluid everywhere including my long tubes, and instantly burst the car into flames. I can tell you the snow white smoke power steering fluid makes when it realizes combustion temperatures is rather hard on the eyes and throat. I ran into the shop and grabbed my fire extinguisher and managed to get the fire out before any paint damage. There was enough fluid to keep most of the fire satisfied before digging into my car proper. Had I been 200 yards farther down the driveway she would be gone. AN hose failure is not something I have ever experienced, but I guess it happens.
Tip 3: Always carry an extinguisher. Always. Oh, and have good insurance.
All fixed up I’m now faced with the fact that I can’t drive this car comfortably. If every time I hit a divot in the road I experience what I can best describe as butt hole pucker factor level 10, I’m thinking this is not fun. I am on suspension version 5 now. A 67 Camaro, or maybe it’s my 67 Camaro, is the hardest car in the world to get to sit low. Sitting low is a must. Don’t know how the rest of you are doing it. Maybe your roads are better, maybe you trailer your car, maybe you put bags of cement in the trunk and engine bay for photo shoots. I don’t know, but I do know it aint working for me. After several manufacturers failed miserably I found success in Fbody Dave’s arms, L&H spindles and Ridetech coilovers and 4 link. I finally got the geometry right and it sat at a respectable level. But when pushed hard, the rear end cover will hit the 4 link (easy fix) and the headers will slam into momma earth (not so easy fix). I could crank the coilovers up, but then I would sit like every other 67 Camaro around here and the gobs of money I spent on suspension would be for visual naught. I want to look cool. Sorry, but I get off on old cars that hug pavement. I realize that not everyone needs a car that is low but I do.
Tip 4: 67 and probably 68 Camaros will be significantly challenged to sit visually low. It’s in the fenders. Maybe it’s just my car, but keep this in mind as you build. Ya get to the end and you are screwed.
Well, almost screwed. So for reference at my desired “ride height” I had 2.75” of clearance between the header flange and the ground. Remarkably, that is not where it hit. The front header tube hits first. 650# spring with a big block and it is pretty stiff. Maybe I could have screwed with the rates to get it better, but I gave up. It also hit the Air Bar between the shock cross member and a Moser aluminum rear end girdle. I could have notched the cross bar, but my other issues would still exist. To be honest I still will fix this with some grinding and pulling the rear a tad closer the front when I go through and re-weld the 4 link. I also probably have a less then optional pinion angle, but its only off a hair. Again, I post this for people who are building as a possible issue they need to think about in the fab stage, not in the assembly stage like I am. So, another issue is the space between the driveshaft and floor at the rear yoke.
To try and fix all this I sold my beloved Ridetech coilovers and got Shockwaves. I have no experience with this stuff, always seemed like too much crap to stick in a car, but I can think of no other way to meet my goals with the roads this bad around here. I can think of a bunch more things that will probably go wrong, shock range not able to give me a “low” low enough as well as a “high” high enough, too much spring rate at “high”, not enough rate at “low” shocks not clearing the exhaust now but I am hoping for the best. Hopefully I will be able to report back that I have a well suspended car that I can drop where I want it when at a track, or show. We will see. I know it is hard to have your cake and eat it too, but maybe there is some compromise here. Not looking forward to running airlines everywhere tomorrow, but I do get some neat computer looking thingy to stick in my ashtray that does not want to stay closed. Pretty expensive ashtray fix if you ask me.
Happy Motoring.
So, fast forward to 2013 and I am finishing up this 67 Camaro that I have been fighting with for 3 years. Most of the time the military got in the way of finishing it and it’s been a long road with the birth of 2 kids, 2 moves yadda yadda yadda, a story I probably share with many of you.
1st off, many of my "new parts" that had been sitting on a shelf were failing and it was very hard to troubleshoot because, well hell they are new. Master cylinder, Steering box, all the seals were bad and these were sitting in a controlled environment, I don't live in a swamp or desert. But, they were bad and I had to replace all kinds of new stuff. Bummer. Many of the vendors were pretty cool and offered to rebuild the parts for free. So, props to this community and the people that are a part of it.
Tip 1: When troubleshooting remember unlikely does not mean impossible.
So, I finally get the thing on the ground and I take it down the driveway. It had a leak here and there but otherwise it was successful. The sun was setting, I was all proud of myself and I stood with hands on hips admiring my progress. Then, with the long light dancing on the beautiful lines of the 67, I notice the dents and crap myself. To this day I do not know how they got there, but they were there all over the rear quarter and door. Car is always locked up in my shop and access is limited to me and my wife. Who knows.
Tip 2: Those paintless dent guys can be worth their weight in gold.
Shake down ride 2 led me out to the street by my house which is under construction. Unfortunately the bottom of my pristine car and the earth met rather uncomfortably on several occasions during that trip. This made me very concerned as I did not build the car to stare at it and I certainly cannot drive it if I can't traverse the one and only road to my residence. I was deep in this thought and rather upset when I pulled into my driveway. The power steering hose burst, spraying fluid everywhere including my long tubes, and instantly burst the car into flames. I can tell you the snow white smoke power steering fluid makes when it realizes combustion temperatures is rather hard on the eyes and throat. I ran into the shop and grabbed my fire extinguisher and managed to get the fire out before any paint damage. There was enough fluid to keep most of the fire satisfied before digging into my car proper. Had I been 200 yards farther down the driveway she would be gone. AN hose failure is not something I have ever experienced, but I guess it happens.
Tip 3: Always carry an extinguisher. Always. Oh, and have good insurance.
All fixed up I’m now faced with the fact that I can’t drive this car comfortably. If every time I hit a divot in the road I experience what I can best describe as butt hole pucker factor level 10, I’m thinking this is not fun. I am on suspension version 5 now. A 67 Camaro, or maybe it’s my 67 Camaro, is the hardest car in the world to get to sit low. Sitting low is a must. Don’t know how the rest of you are doing it. Maybe your roads are better, maybe you trailer your car, maybe you put bags of cement in the trunk and engine bay for photo shoots. I don’t know, but I do know it aint working for me. After several manufacturers failed miserably I found success in Fbody Dave’s arms, L&H spindles and Ridetech coilovers and 4 link. I finally got the geometry right and it sat at a respectable level. But when pushed hard, the rear end cover will hit the 4 link (easy fix) and the headers will slam into momma earth (not so easy fix). I could crank the coilovers up, but then I would sit like every other 67 Camaro around here and the gobs of money I spent on suspension would be for visual naught. I want to look cool. Sorry, but I get off on old cars that hug pavement. I realize that not everyone needs a car that is low but I do.
Tip 4: 67 and probably 68 Camaros will be significantly challenged to sit visually low. It’s in the fenders. Maybe it’s just my car, but keep this in mind as you build. Ya get to the end and you are screwed.
Well, almost screwed. So for reference at my desired “ride height” I had 2.75” of clearance between the header flange and the ground. Remarkably, that is not where it hit. The front header tube hits first. 650# spring with a big block and it is pretty stiff. Maybe I could have screwed with the rates to get it better, but I gave up. It also hit the Air Bar between the shock cross member and a Moser aluminum rear end girdle. I could have notched the cross bar, but my other issues would still exist. To be honest I still will fix this with some grinding and pulling the rear a tad closer the front when I go through and re-weld the 4 link. I also probably have a less then optional pinion angle, but its only off a hair. Again, I post this for people who are building as a possible issue they need to think about in the fab stage, not in the assembly stage like I am. So, another issue is the space between the driveshaft and floor at the rear yoke.
To try and fix all this I sold my beloved Ridetech coilovers and got Shockwaves. I have no experience with this stuff, always seemed like too much crap to stick in a car, but I can think of no other way to meet my goals with the roads this bad around here. I can think of a bunch more things that will probably go wrong, shock range not able to give me a “low” low enough as well as a “high” high enough, too much spring rate at “high”, not enough rate at “low” shocks not clearing the exhaust now but I am hoping for the best. Hopefully I will be able to report back that I have a well suspended car that I can drop where I want it when at a track, or show. We will see. I know it is hard to have your cake and eat it too, but maybe there is some compromise here. Not looking forward to running airlines everywhere tomorrow, but I do get some neat computer looking thingy to stick in my ashtray that does not want to stay closed. Pretty expensive ashtray fix if you ask me.
Happy Motoring.