48 Hour build

[James OLC]

Brilliant Bret - glad to hear that you will be offering it as a kit!

[barraza]

Bret
I noticed the outer steering arms were a heim joint attachment, will the center link, and steering arms be made with tapered holes for a normal tie rod end?

[bret]

Bret
I noticed the outer steering arms were a heim joint attachment, will the center link, and steering arms be made with tapered holes for a normal tie rod end?

Haven't finalized that yet...I'm leaning toward making both ends a heim joint just to pretty it up and eliminate an additional BOM component. The steering arm attachment is a heim to get enough wheel clearance. We use a high quality kevlar lined heim in several other applications with great success in durabilty and quietness...no reason not to use it here as well.

[MattG]

Brett,

Great build and looking forward to the future of this car. I am drooling over the thought of getting a 10" wheel on the front of my '69 after seeing this. Do you think the steering arm will allow a 17" wheel or is an 18 as small as will fit (already have 17's and buying only new fronts would be nice).

Thanks again for the 48 hour build...it kept reminding me of Overhaulin' without all the crap added in! I want MORE!

Matt

[Z06vet]

I've been wanting to see how you ran the exhaust under the axle. I watched quite a bit of the build, but never did see the tailpipes go in or the final routing. Was a flange used so they can be removed easliy? I have mini tubs & Gbar w/notched tank. I have tailpipes over the axle now, but had to make a small section of 2.25" over the axle before going back to 2.5". Will the car be on the powertour? Hope to see it there
Scott

[cspecken]

Bret, great build. Can you provide a little more information on the rear end gear ratio and how well did the wavetrac center section work? Also, I'm interested in hearing more about the Gear Vendors product and how does it compare to a TKO 600 or T56 transmission and did you have to do anything to the muncie to make it perform well?



Thanks, Chris

[bret]

Bret, great build. Can you provide a little more information on the rear end gear ratio and how well did the wavetrac center section work? Also, I'm interested in hearing more about the Gear Vendors product and how does it compare to a TKO 600 or T56 transmission and did you have to do anything to the muncie to make it perform well?

The Moser 12bolt has a 3.50 gear. the Muncie is a brand new heavy duty M 20 unit from Autogear.
I can't say enough good things about all these parts. I've been using a Gearvendors unit behind a 700r4 in my Chevelle for 3years. It's almost an unfair advantage. I usually split first and second, and then third and fourth gear, then click it again to go into overdrive. The od ratio is .78.
I've been using Moser rear ends for years as well with great success. The wavetrac unit is a new item, but it's presence is seamless.
Why a Muncie instead of a Tremec? It's probably me, but I've never been able to get my Tremecs to shift under power (and I do that a lot). If I grab a gear at 7000 rpm, I'm not kidding...I want another gear now. The Muncie is slighty less precise than the ZF that I had in Velocity, but it shifts easily and we didnt have to spend 15 hours building a trans tunnel either.
Also, this Autogear Muncie is brand new...I'm thinking after some miles and a shifter adjustment it will get even better than it is now.

[MattG]

Bret,

Any idea if a 17" wheel will fit with this new front suspension?

Matt

[bret]

Just tried a 17x10 CCW wheel...fits fine on the suspension, but rubs the caliper slightly. By slightly I mean you could file the corner off the caliper and be fine. Or you could go to the 13" rotor instead of the 14" rotor.

[John Wright]

but rubs the caliper slightly. By slightly I mean you could file the corner off the caliper and be fine.

Bret could you use a small....7/32" or less shim between the wheel and rotor.....and space it out off the caliper and still not get into the fender?

[coolwelder62]

Bret,I saw the camaro in nashville.You guy's did an awesome job.The car worked great on the autox course.Scott M.

[bret]

Bret could you use a small....7/32" or less shim between the wheel and rotor.....and space it out off the caliper and still not get into the fender?

Good thought...didn't try that...I'll check it out today.

[John Wright]

^^I had to do that to clear my C5 calipers on my car.

[MattG]

Just tried a 17x10 CCW wheel...fits fine on the suspension, but rubs the caliper slightly. By slightly I mean you could file the corner off the caliper and be fine. Or you could go to the 13" rotor instead of the 14" rotor.

Thats awesome Bret...thanks for checking, put me on the list for the front end kit when it comes out!!!!

Matt

[bret]

Well...I've got hte 48 Hour Camaro all buttoned up and ready to leave for Nashville in the morning. Sorry, I forgot to try that spacer on the 17" wheel to see if that will cure the caliper clearnace problem...I'll have to get that next week.
We installed an oil cooler, adjusted the shifter, changed the fluids, rechecked the alignment, tilted the seats back a little, calibrated the Autometer dash, and replaced the shifter boot. Looking forward to see how the Camaro drives at over 100 on the big track!

I'm still amazed at how little we had to fix or even adjust on this brand new car. Hopefully this statement doenst jinx it!

[SicMonte]

Well...I've got hte 48 Hour Camaro all buttoned up and ready to leave for Nashville in the morning. Sorry, I forgot to try that spacer on the 17" wheel to see if that will cure the caliper clearnace problem...I'll have to get that next week.
We installed an oil cooler, adjusted the shifter, changed the fluids, rechecked the alignment, tilted the seats back a little, calibrated the Autometer dash, and replaced the shifter boot. Looking forward to see how the Camaro drives at over 100 on the big track!


I'm still amazed at how little we had to fix or even adjust on this brand new car. Hopefully this statement doenst jinx it!

Im excited to meet you down there and see the car!!!!!

[bret]

The 48 Hour Camaro did nicely at RTMC this weekend...4th overall! Not bad for such a fresh car. I was running 4th in the autocross on Saturday, but broke a front sway bar right before lunch and spent the rest of the day trying to tune and drive around that problem. We rewelded the end on Saturday night a Finch's garage so we were ready for the road course on Sunday.
The Nashville track is a blast...good corners and a couple of harsh transitions from the banked track to the infield...one of them at the end of the front straightaway at over 125mph! I was really proud of the new triple adjustable shocks on the Camaro. On the first session I was bottoming pretty hard on the harsh transitions, but the car was really good everywhere else. So I turned upcthe high speed compression adjustment...it took care of the transitions and didn't upset the rest of the handling characteristics. Very cool.
After the second session I had a severe power steering leak. We didnt install a power steering cooler yet and the extreme fluid temp had distorted the plastic reservoir. Thanks to Kyle Tucker for having a spare! Auto crossing doesn't produce enough heat to require a cooler, but several laps at nearly 135 seems to make it protest.
That Lingenfelter motor will MARCH on the top end! It took until the third session for me to gather enough sack to run full throttle the whole front straight. Spectre clocked the camaro at 121(and we ran some distance yet past their timing equipment). This is on a banked tri-oval where you dive into a fairly severe transition to the flat infield portion of the track at the end of the straightaway.
Loved, loved, loved the Gearvendors overdrive! I ran the infield portion in 2nd and 2nd overdrive, not shifting into 3rd until the long front stretch. I was on the chip at 7000 in 3rd over at the end of the front straight. That overdrive will certainly make you a better driver.
Now it's off to the Powertour...

[48hourbuild]

Begin video sequence first up autocross!

[48hourbuild]

Road Course Pt1. First half of course

[48hourbuild]

Part two!!