1968 Pontiac GTO

[the450r]

Here's a video from last weekend. https://youtu.be/nD4I0e-lHDw

I started with nt05s but now I'm on Falkens rt615k+ and they make a huge difference. I wish I would of bought 18" wheels instead. Maybe this winter I'll buy some wheels and Bridgestone pozenta re71s.
I'm having big problems with speedtech getting my parts. I ordered in March and still don't have everything.



The front brace from SC and c made a Huge difference!!! Just backing it off the drive on lift I used to install it I could tell a difference in improved steering. It's crazy how much the boxed frame flexes from the steering box. Less steering wheel input needed to make the car turn. You could make your own easy enough. Mark worked for years to develop that bar because all the a body frames are different. They were made by 6-8 different plants and then shipped to gm for assembly. So once he prototyped a Chevelle bar he'd take to a 442 or even another Chevelle and it wouldn't fit. The location of the welds on the bottom of the frame changed frame to frame even on the same make and year. The bar being sold now has been verified to fit all the cars it took some time to do all of that. Make sure you have the weight of car on the tires and not the frame when installing it. The frames on these cars flex alot more than they should.

[the450r]

Car looks great. Agreed the SPC suspension is so good it makes you just forget how old the car is. The PMT kit looks like great value, how is the fit and finish?

I really like the pmt kit it doesn't appear on their website pmtfabrication.com the arms are available with the Johnny joints anymore.
I finally got the Currie kit pictures uploaded. Very nice pieces. I also upgraded to a Johnny joint in the upper axle housing mounts

[the450r]

I contacted pmt and they said "we will build them any way you want. We build almost as many custom sets as we do production. If you call Monday and ask for Mark, he will get you taken care of. Thank you. 260.497.9797"
I went with pmt they were a little cheaper than the Currie set and came with the frame connectors

[the450r]

[jetmech442]

Just went through you entire build thread over on LS1Tech. Looking back at it, I'm pretty sure I went through your thread when I started -you were mid-build around 2012. I know its primarily a function of wheel width and backspacing, but do you have any rub on the front Hellwig bar? I brought mine out first time this year after installing them and the driver side only tried to climb up the bar. I love the updates, life has been a little tough lately and seeing someone else win and having fun is hugely motivational. Still hoping to get mine to an SCCA or TSSCC event before the season is over.

EDIT 4/2019: Just wanted to update- the Sway bar rub was easily fixed by shortening the mounting height by about 3/4''. Tracked the car in Oct and no rub. Just don't want anyone to think the bar isn't awesome, cause I think it is.

[the450r]

There is some black marks on the sway bar at the front I've noticed after autocross but I don't hear or feel it. with the new afx spindles and GTO brakes my wheels require a spacer to clear the spokes which should fix the little rub that is happening.

[jetmech442]

There is some black marks on the sway bar at the front I've noticed after autocross but I don't hear or feel it. with the new afx spindles and GTO brakes my wheels require a spacer to clear the spokes which should fix the little rub that is happening.

Thanks for the reply. looks like both sides rub,but only when the suspension is compressed,so probably just lowspeed driveways and such.i might not worry too much about it right now then.

[the450r]

Led taillights
https://youtu.be/M50eYkH7mec

Good guys few years ago
https://youtu.be/fK9oLz69-Lo

Dyno tune
https://youtu.be/ZvSM9t1TGfI

[the450r]

Adding some more pictures. I added a monster stage 2 clutch over last winter. Added some more pics of my 3" exhaust x pipe to 2.5" mufflers and ,3" cutouts. Couple pics of the air compressor. I added Johnny joints in the rear axle housing for better articulation. And upgraded to the Holley crossmember. And added a oil pan trap door baffle.

[the450r]

The last two are a trick with a piece of all thread to spread the mounting parts of the frame so your new parts drop in and you don't have to hammer your brand new parts into place or shave good bushing material off the sides.

[the450r]

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/newton-davenport-road-trip-gallery-hot-rod-power-tour-2017/
im in the highlight video from powertour 2017 last year.

[the450r]

Going under the knife again. Afx spindles and steering arms, stop tech rotors, GTO calipers. I have the other side still to do. I also switched out the ball joint studs from the stage 2+ to factory length. With the Howe extended ball joints from SC and c. I can take them apart and install a new stud. They worked great with the factory spindle to correct geometry, and basically make. Tall spindle out of a factory spindle. Since the afx is a tall spindle and has some drop built in. I don't need tall upper or lower ball joints any more.

[the450r]

https://www.hotrodhotline.com/scyler...r#.W0v35XNOmdP

[the450r]

Fall is here and driving days are literally numbered. Actually had some snow already. I wanted to dodo so real testing of the new spindles before posting. It drives much better and I believe there steering arms changed the rate or turn in. The front feels great. I did have to add all my shims into the lower control arm to get ride height back up where it was before with stock spindles and tall ball joints. The steering arms with ball joints installed rubbed my 17"wheels even with 6mm spacer. so after going back and forth with speedtech I purchased 18" fronts with 275/35/18 re71s I can tell they are stickier than the falkens. I had the spacer machined down to 3mm just to have more than 1mm between the spokes and 13" GTO/c5/c6 brakes. I was planning on going to 18s anyway so I knew what I wanted but wasn't planning on spending the money so soon.
I've had multiple issues with the brake booster rod hanging up on the booster body and I finally fixed it. I bought a booster from mpbrakes. It moves the booster in line with the firewall is no longer pointed up. It make the brakes feel more precise and I can modulate the pressure. Vs on/off the way it felt before. I also found my brake booster hose wasnt sealing correctly and I believe it was causing low vacuum in the booster after hard braking or repeated brake use. I did have to modify the aluminum adaptor on the tick master cylinder for clearance.

[the450r]

Pics of new parts and from Autocross from a few weeks ago I was in the first group 40-50degrees and windy and I think the warmest it got all dayday 65. One event left but I don't think I will be able to make it.
https://youtu.be/JRma1IxpJ7k
My Magnetic numbers would not sick to the curved body panels. I broke the outside gopro mount. Not sure if it was temp related. And found it a few times with only one suction cup holding it. Making the videos Shakey. I finished 2nd in my class. I've been struggling finding grip at the rear. I'm considering switching to ridetech coil overs single or triple with secret sauce valving. I hope to dial in some traction. I can't apply throttle mid corner at all and corner exit until it's almost straight. I was running the sway bar on medium but I had allot of body roll with the same traction issues. With the bar on the stuffest setting it's more tail happy but I can go into corners and slaloms faster. My friend thought I should go to softest seeing because he had the best luck with his Skylark on the soft setting on same sway bar.

[the450r]

First autocross of the year last Sunday. Did really well. 1.3 seconds faster than 2nd. And I kept improving after every run. Hopefully I can keep that up. Next event is the 28th and I have not really done anything else to the car. But not for lack of trying. I have some new rear shocks and want to try a new front sway bar and came across some updated stronger version of the SPC lower arm. But I need more parts to complete all those projects.

You Tube
https://youtu.be/LhPL17a5wds
Go pro mount started rattling sorry for the poor audio

Fastest run
You Tube
https://youtu.be/tCKcemwPYWk

[jetmech442]

Nice save at 0:45! I like the overlayed gages on that last one too! For clean audio I mounted the Olympus me-51s dual microphone onto the license plate with with the fuzzy windscreen muff over each side. Not much wind noise by the plate, and the muffs give it a real clean exhaust note. All of it is in Amazon (of course).

Been following your thread for a while. Love to see you getting to thrash the car and hear it is preforming so well. Curious why your looking for stronger lower front arms?

[the450r]

I bought an external microphone and it was on my car that day. That's when I found out my cameras do not support that feature.
The overlay works on the torque app and track addict app. I've had issues with the tach actually working so I didn't bother using it this time.
I couldn't pass up the deal I got on the newer version of the lower arms. I may do coilovers and a different sway bar in the future. Never had a problem with my current arms they have been on the car for 10years.

[the450r]

My fuel sending unit decided to fail this spring. I've been driving all over with it showing 1/2-full. I figured full was wrong and half was correct. When I tested the wires. The gauge is fine and calibrated correctly and the tank tested correct 50ohms about half 90-0 ohm sender. And it still wasn't working. I tested the sender again and it's really high mega ohm high so I pull the pump and re test. The sending unit board is fine but something between the board and the unit has a problem and it reads way off. I checked I installed this unit in 2015. So I ordered another one.

Sometimes I wonder if anyone else works on A body cars. I researched on here all fall about ridetech shocks and ordered rear coilovers on a Xmas discount. When I got the car out of storage to put them on the ridetech moser bracket doesn't fit my quick performance housing so I'm making plates and spacers to make that bracket fit. And flipping the shocks like the g body thread I saw so the rest are in the trunk and the rebound is behind the tire. My tail pipes have to come off and need modified to not hit the coil overs.

[the450r]

The lower mount caused some head scratching. I have a quick performance 9inch and ordered with Moser style axle mounts which are very similar but not quite. Quick performance said they are developing a mount with ridetech and advised to just make spacers to make the one I have work.

I will have to redo my tailpipes to clear them but that's probably a good thing cuz they were prebent and not the best anyway.

Still tuning the rear shocks.
The first autocross this year went well. It was cool but the tires for warm and I was 1.3 seconds faster than the rest of my class with my old rear shock setup. The second event was rough. It was the first time it with the coilovers and it was 40-45 degrees. Unable to get any heat in the tires I was in 3rd and making small adjustments on rebound made the car go faster each lap put a bunch of compression in and tried to find more time last lap out and I went slower. When it was over I noticed a bolt missing from the left front sway bar mount and the bracket was bent. Definitely not helping my times!!