Derek Kiefer's 69 Malibu build

[Derek69SS]

2020, all things considered, turned out to be a pretty awesome season. The change to manual brakes resulted in more consistency, and with more focus on driving better I made noticeable gains against the laptimes some of my faster friends. At the beginning of the 2020 season, with things getting shut down due to COVID, I was unsure how many events I would be able to attend, so I made the decision to run cheap tires (Federal 595RS-PRO) By the end of the season, I was finally within range where better tires might have made up the rest of the difference. I had a few hiccups and breakdowns, but got lucky with some easy repairs and only needing the trailer once for less than 60 miles.

We also spent a lot of time with some really fun people...

[Derek69SS]

With no karting league at the beginning of winter due to covid, and waiting for parts to come in I made a decision to cut up the rear suspension and change the converging 4-link to a parallel 3-link. Getting decent geometry while keeping the back seat is a challenge. The result is an 11" upper link, offset 9" from center, and a lot of adjustability for anti-squat.

Instant center location is improved a lot over stock, all roll-bind is eliminated, and I have full freedom to adjust roll-center height. The only unknown is whether the 9" offset will work... I'm not smart enough to figure out the math needed to calculate that, so I will just try it and if it doesn't work, I will add a link to the other side and turn it into a parallel 4-link.

I also added a drain plug while it was apart... If you ever put a Ford 9" in anything, get the drain plug option. You're welcome.

[Derek69SS]

Spring of 2021, I decided to finally do a project I had wanted to do for about 12 years.

I bought a fiberglass hood from Glasstek, and modified it for functional heat extractors that I moulded into the hood and tied into the shape of the SS bulges. The holes are right behind the radiator, located in a low-pressure area and will help pull high-pressure air out from under the hood, significantly reducing aero-lift at high speeds, reducing under-hood temperatures, and increasing air flow through the radiator.

The fiberglass hood also removed 40 lbs of high-centered weight off the front of the car. (Stock hood 72.3 lbs, FG 32.3 lbs)

[wfo guy]

Makes me itch just to look at it.

[andrewb70]

That hood turned out awesome!

Andrew

[Derek69SS]

Thanks! It was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed building it. It was my first time doing anything with Fiberglass so it took a lot more time than it should have, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.

[Derek69SS]

Over the years I had changed my opinion on a few things, and wasn't real fond of the smoothed rear tail panel painted body color anymore, so in 2021 I added the trim back on, and painted the panel satin black like a factory SS car.

I also moved the battery to the trunk to help balance the car, and bought a fiberglass trunk lid to help shed some weight.

I wanted to take advantage of the aero allowances for the classes I intend to run with. What you see here is a ridiculous looking 10" SCCA CAMT-legal spoiler. I also made an 8" version for USCA events. It will be easy enough to swap out size and adjust AOA depending on use... Big one at steep angle for low-speed events (autocross) and smaller ones laid back more for higher speeds (roadcourse)

I don't expect everyone to like it, but it is there for a purpose, and I will take any performance advantage I can get.

[andrewb70]

So...is that spoiler actually doing anything at autocross speeds or is it for looks?

[Derek69SS]

The difference becomes noticeable at about 40mph with the 10" spoiler.

It really works great for autocross because you can set the balance of the car up kind of loose in mechanical grip for the small tight places where you want a lot of rotation, which is where the spoiler isn't doing anything. On the higher speed sweepers where the spoiler starts to work is also where you want the balance of grip to move slightly to the rear and keep the car more stable.

[68Formula]

Me following the build and seeing post #47


Like what you did with the hood though.

[Jk918]

Very nice build, would like to know more about your manual brake setup and how they perform overall. Thanks

[Derek69SS]

Me following the build and seeing post #47
Like what you did with the hood though.

It looks a lot better once I painted it black. The smaller 8" spoiler I used at optima Road America looks pretty decent too.

It's all functional though, and probably wouldn't have won an invite to KOTM without it.

Very nice build, would like to know more about your manual brake setup and how they perform overall. Thanks

I love the way they feel. 7/8" Wilwood MC.

It did require changing to an aggressive pad compound (currently on Raybestos ST43, and will probably use Hawk HP+ next time). The pads are hard on rotors, my wheels are constantly dirty now, and they squeak a lot, but they work amazing and I have way better pedal feel than ever before.

[Derek69SS]

As usual, completely changing the car meant re-learning how to drive and set it up the following season. The 3-link took a few events to get dialed in, but when I did, it really helped the car everywhere.

Having conventional spring/shock in the rear was limiting my ability to take advantage of the adjustable rear roll center as I could only find "rear" springs up to 250lb rate. I discovered that I could use a "front" spring from a QA1 hybrid coilover setup, which opened up a lot of options for spring rates. I moved to 350lb with great results, and plan to try 450lb next.

Changing anti-squat from 180% down to 110% really helped in both braking and driving off the corner. Eliminating all of the roll-bind made it more predictable mid corner.

I ran a few events with the steel hood and trunk back on it as I ran out of time doing the body work on the fiberglass parts.



Still a street car doing street car things...



Drove my Chevy to the Levee but the Levee was dry... stopped at the Buddy Holly crash site on the way home from Goodguys Des Moines.

[Derek69SS]

I was signed up for UMI Autocross Challenge 2021, and decided if I wanted a shot at winning an invite to KOTM, I'd need the fiberglass parts and the spoiler mounted. I didn't have time to get blocked smooth and painted, so I shot them with black epoxy primer and installed them unfinished for the rest of the summer.

Fresh 295/35/18 squared Yokohama A052s, as well as taking 40lbs off the front, 18.5lbs off the back, and adding the spoiler did the trick, as I won the invite by 0.059 second over 2 days.

[wfo guy]

Did you explain to the children what the value of Buddy Holly was?

[Derek69SS]

Did you explain to the children what the value of Buddy Holly was?

Yeah, but they are young enough that they didn't really know who he was. I grew up with parents who listened to that era of music, and remember watching the movie about Richie Valens when I was really young, so I always had an interest. I've been to the Surf Ballroom a few times, but this was my first time going to the crash site.

Don McLean is on my playlist in the shop, so they got that connection at least.

[Derek69SS]

Summer of 2021 I decided with all the uncertainty in the world, I had to do some things while I still could... I didn't want to be that old guy in 40 years saying "I wish I would have..."

I registered for my first Ultimate Street Car Association event at Road America. I put my old tires back on for Road America, so I could save the Yokes for KOTM. This hurt my times quite a bit, but being my first time on a big roadcourse, I was more concerned with being smart and keeping the car together than my finishing position. Of 21 cars in GTV class, I finished 11th overall. 6th in the Autocross, 7th on speed-stop, 13th on the road course, and dead-last on Design & Engineering judging... that was kind of a kick in the pants, but I knew having no radio, horn, or reverse-lights would hurt the score there.

My best lap at RA was a 2:56.379 (full course + the "bend" motorcycle chicane instead of running the "kink")
My last lap, I was finally comfortable enough to put down a flyer, but accelerating up the hill out of T5 the car started billowing smoke. I thought I blew it up, but oil pressure was good and no knocking sounds... I had less than a week to fix it before KOTM, but hadn't really figured out the problem yet. I thought I filled the catchcan and burped oil onto the header, but was wrong about that...

[Derek69SS]

One other highlight of the optima event at Road America for me was the karting enduro. My team didn't win it, but I narrowly beat out pro-driver Billy Johnson on lap-time, scoring the fastest lap out of everyone!

[Joris69velle]

This thread motivates me alot to keep working on my 69 chevelle. The car looks great and its nice to read the updates. Keep them coming
Joris

[Derek69SS]

The night I had to load up and leave for UMI King of the Mountain 3.0, I discovered the real reason for all the smoke. The rear seal on the T56 was leaking really bad on acceleration, and the driveshaft was throwing trans fluid onto the exhaust. I didn't have a new seal, but I loaded up anyway and headed to Pennsylvania. Thinking about the problem on the way, I realized I'd be driving right past Summit Racing in Talmadge OH, and would have no problem getting a new seal on short notice there. I replaced the seal at UMI Motorsports Park, but also discovered another problem. The lower brace connecting my 3-link upper frame mount to the lower mount was starting to buckle. I had made it out of too thin of metal for the stresses I was putting it through, and braking into T5 at Road America from 135mph had pushed the driveshaft too far into the trans, wiping out the seal.

It was too late to fix the brace, so the decision was made just to replace the seal and run it for the weekend and weld in a new brace when I got home.

I finished 14th of 33 in the vintage class at KOTM among some really fast competition, being the fastest A-body there.