My 1985 Monte Carlo SS Barney...

[carguykeith]

Looks good! Have you thought about 6 point belts instead of 5 point? It was A LOT easier to package the 6 point for me.

[SSLance]

Heck, I'm still working on getting the lap belts installed...I haven't even got to the sub belt yet. My desire to retain the factory 3 point belts for street driving along with trying to make the connections as strong as possible within the tight confines takes some special hardware. I believe I have the right stuff on the way now...it just won't be here until Tues or Wed. Nobody in town carries anything larger than M10 in stock and I need M12x1.75 to use the factory attachment points.

[howehot]

Come on Dan!! You know you want one too!!! Making the decision is the hardest part, it gets much easier once it's in play. ;)

Saturday we racked up 180 miles on the Monte as we went for Easter dinner. Wife, daughter, daughters friend, and I. Hard to do with just two seats. I want one I can remove and put back in for race day. Until then, I'll live on the edge! lol

[SSLance]

Understand completely... It's a tough call.

I've only had one person ride in my back seat in the past 3-4 years...so I didn't really have that to worry about. Heck I have a hard enough time getting my wife to ride in the other front seat with me. :D

[SSLance]

It's funny...this whole interior re-work project was done basically so I could run 5 point harnesses... New seats, new roll bar, everything...and the last thing that is going in is finally in...the harnesses.



I ordered some Flanged Alloy Socket Cap Screws, M12 Size, 50MM Length, 1.75MM Pitch and some Nylon-Insert Nonmarring Flange Locknut, Zinc-Plated Class 8 Steel, M12X1.75 Thread Size nuts and was able to use them to fasten the new lap belt brackets and the factory seat belt brackets to the factory holes in the floor. The bolts were long enough that I was able to put the lock nuts on the back side of them to prevent any loosening and give an extra sense of security for the driver. The hole in the lap belt brackets was just big enough to let the bracket swivel on the bolt to desired proper angle.

This is the driver side rocker panel attachment of the harness lap belt outside the carpet and the factory belt bracket under the carpet.





Bad picture but here is the trans tunnel attachment, you can't see the factory belt because it's behind the black harness lap belt.



And the shoulder belt attachment points.



One of the brackets I needed for the submarine belt is on backorder so I haven't installed them yet. I can see the need for them though as I noticed when I was sitting in the seat and pulling the shoulder belts tight, the lap belt pulled up from across my hips into my abdomen. I'll get those in when the bracket gets here...shouldn't be a big deal.

Can't wait to see how the new belts and seats hold me in position better when out on course...this Saturday!!!

[86slicksilverss]

Looks really good Lance!

[driveit]

Man, that thing looks mean in the corners. Let me know if you ever need a rendering for anything. I would love to help you out with it.

[SSLance]

Okay, lets hope these do the trick...







They aren't exactly as I pictured them to be in my mind...but I think they should just slide into place exactly as the radial bearings did. We'll find out tonight. I'm glad to see the Timken stamp on them for sure.

[Typhoon1015]

Lance,

I have read through your setup a couple times over now. I am curious about the new alignment settings. Have you seen any issues with turning effort at 9 degrees of caster. I would assume this would be good for high speeds and road course types, but for short and smaller autocross maybe it would be a bit much force on the steering wheel to turn. Are you also planning on going back to the new sway bar to see if you can make it work?

Thanks,

[SSLance]

Naw, there is just a bit of feedback in tight parking lot like maneuvers from the steering wheel from the caster and that's about it. Never notice anything unusual anywhere else. It is not an issue at all as long as you have power steering.

I sold off the Hellwig 1" solid bar as it was just way too stiff for what I am doing. I may at some point down the road revisit some sort of less stiff chassis mounted rear bar...if for no other reason than to just have a bit of adjustability with one.

[SSLance]

5 point harnesses... #becauseracecar




Carpet... #becausestreetcar



Even fixed the horn button too.

I'm calling my offseason projects complete, and successful.

[amanzo00]

Hi there can you email me if you had issues with fitment of the frame braces and trying to get the end link not to bind on full suspension movement. Did you also notice interference with tires?

I guess we could call this "Stage 3" of master plan...

Bigger front sway bar is now installed along with matching rear springs, but I went a step further and also installed a new chassis mounted rear sway bar to replace the LCA mounted bar the car had on it.

Static camber has been dialed back to -1.2 degrees both sides and caster bumped up to +9.6 degrees both sides.

The ride height has been corrected to balance the car out with the driver only in the driver seat. New ride heights at the fender are 25 7/8s" front, 26 7/8s" rear. Front is about 1/4" lower, rear is about 1/2" lower than with the stage 2 setup. I haven't scaled the car yet but I'm betting from past experience it's pretty close to as good as it'll get without moving weight around.

Still working on a way to get some new tires though...

Here are some pics. Front MuscleBar installed









Rear bar installed







To say the car corners flatter is an understatement...it is unbelievable how much less the car rolls now. I did the front bar and rear springs first, then did some testing with the car. It's like a different car...what I notice the most is the outside front fender doesn't dip down on turn in anywhere near as much as it used to. The balance is neutral, the driver can make the car a bit tight or loose just by making subtle changes. It felt VERY good, should be much faster on the course.

I then put the new rear bar in starting with the end links on the middle of the three adjustment holes and test drove it. The car rolls EVEN LESS now...huge difference. That setting made the car loose halfway through the roll through zone and was a bit sketchy. It was rolling a lot less and changed the handle on the car.

Yesterday I was able to move the end links to the forward hole and drive it on the street a bit more and it's closer to neutral again. It felt more stable and enjoyable to drive spiritedly.

The next plan of attack is to schedule some parking lot shock tuning time and dial in my shock settings to match the new bars and springs. I have to leave town for a week so I won't be able to get on that until next week...but I can't wait.

We've wanted less roll out of the car for a long time and now I finally have it. I'm stoked to see how it races the next time out.

[SSLance]

Great Googly Moogly....

Look at this!! Barney's new front sway bar.



That's a 1.5" diameter, 0.375" wall center piece for my ridetech front MuscleBar.



Ain't she a beaut?



Now I have a dilemma though. I have a big event in 3 weeks...USCA at National Corvette Museum...and not a lot of time to prepare for it.

Last fall I swapped the last big sway bar upgrade in the car right before heading to the SCCA Solo Nationals and I swore I'd never make any big changes to the car right before a big event again.

Now, just how bad did I swear? :D

[Tomswheels]

Put it on! Fortune favors the bold...

[SSLance]

So with a big track day coming up, I took this weekend to tidy up some loose ends. First job was to replace the rear hard brake lines on the axle. My old ones had had the exhaust dropped on them a few too many times.





Think this will make a difference in brake performance?



I then flushed the old DOT3 out and replaced it with fresh Motul 600 and bled the brakes (with the wife's help).

Today I tidied up the trunk area a bit and then snugged the body bolts back up. 5-6 of them were a 1/2-3/4s turn loose.

As i was putting the rear tires back on I looked at the lug nuts and said to myself "Self, you really should replace those, they are looking kind of ragged" and then I promptly pulled the threads out of when when snugging it down.

Lugnuts are a wear item and after 250 or so torques tight (some of take our wheels off A LOT), they probably should be replaced.

Anyway, feel a lot better about the car being ready for the USCA at NCM. Now it just needs a good cleaning and some TLC in some details areas for some extry points in the D&E portion.

Oh...and I did NOT put the new sway bar in... Much as I would like to, I just can't chance an issue with it before the trip. We have a party at our house this Saturday and a local race on Sunday...then just a few days before we leave for Kentucky. No extra time to deal with issues or incidentals...

[SSLance]

So the trip to USCA at NCM went pretty well I guess...car did good, driver did okay...there are a couple of videos and pics on my event report thread.

On the cool down lap of the third session of the road course, I heard a slight grinding noise speed related. I put the car on the trailer at that point and decided to diagnose when I got home. Upon inspection today, I found this.



Driver side front inside wheel bearing was just starting to eat itself. The grease in that bearing was cooked.

Here is the pass side next to it, pass side was still tight and rotated smoothly.



Super glad I stopped when I did, it would have surely completely failed in just a couple more laps at speed.

Since I had it all apart anyway, I pulled out the brake pads to inspect. These are EBC YellowStuffR pads that are about a year and a half old with maybe 200 autocross runs on them and 1 and a half track days.







There is still plenty of pad left, but they are glazed over and actually starting to come apart around the edges. The rear pads look similar.





As I was checking the rotor temps during my post session stat taking, I noticed the rear rotors were about 100 degrees hotter than my fronts. I'm assuming this is because they are hidden behind dust shields and the front rotors aren't. Check out how hot the rear pads got...



It actually starting boiling the coating off of the back side of the pad.

Thankfully these are all pretty easy repairs and fall under the "wear and tear" category. New bearings, seals and pads will go back on soon.

The other issue will take a bit more thought...and money...to fix.



Driver side is better which makes me think the diff itself is starting to come apart. This is a 9" with a 31 spline tracloc diff that was refreshed with new bearings and seals about this time last year. I've been driving through the posi coming out of both left and right autocross turns, lifting and spinning the inside rear tire. Time to seriously consider some sort of upgrade here.

[Cobra 498]

So the trip to USCA at NCM went pretty well I guess...car did good, driver did okay...there are a couple of videos and pics on my event report thread.

On the cool down lap of the third session of the road course, I heard a slight grinding noise speed related. I put the car on the trailer at that point and decided to diagnose when I got home. Upon inspection today, I found this.



Driver side front inside wheel bearing was just starting to eat itself. The grease in that bearing was cooked.

Here is the pass side next to it, pass side was still tight and rotated smoothly.



Super glad I stopped when I did, it would have surely completely failed in just a couple more laps at speed.

Since I had it all apart anyway, I pulled out the brake pads to inspect. These are EBC YellowStuffR pads that are about a year and a half old with maybe 200 autocross runs on them and 1 and a half track days.







There is still plenty of pad left, but they are glazed over and actually starting to come apart around the edges. The rear pads look similar.





As I was checking the rotor temps during my post session stat taking, I noticed the rear rotors were about 100 degrees hotter than my fronts. I'm assuming this is because they are hidden behind dust shields and the front rotors aren't. Check out how hot the rear pads got...



It actually starting boiling the coating off of the back side of the pad.

Thankfully these are all pretty easy repairs and fall under the "wear and tear" category. New bearings, seals and pads will go back on soon.

The other issue will take a bit more thought...and money...to fix.



Driver side is better which makes me think the diff itself is starting to come apart. This is a 9" with a 31 spline tracloc diff that was refreshed with new bearings and seals about this time last year. I've been driving through the posi coming out of both left and right autocross turns, lifting and spinning the inside rear tire. Time to seriously consider some sort of upgrade here.

Get rid of that rear bar or downsize it if you are lifting a rear wheel, increase rear spring rate to re balance the car. Lifting a wheel only works on a real locker or a spool Tracloc needs contact to work but will reduce low speed understeer if done right.

[SSLance]

Pretty good day in the garage today. I started in the front and swapped out my 0.250" wall front sway bar for my 0.375" wall MonsterBar...





Install was pretty painless, the only fight I had was getting the 3 cap head bolts out of the swing arms. Ended up using a combination of heat, penetrant and patience. When I first put this bar in, these kept coming loose...so I put a dab of blue loctite on them to help keep them snug. Problem is the back side of the hole they go in is open and rust built up in there and made removal somewhat difficult. I put a liberal coat of antiseize on them before reinstall but I assume they'll start coming loose again after use. I'll just keep an eye on them for now while trying to come up with a better solution. No issues with the frame holes at all thankfully.

I then tried to install these trick front wheel bearing spacers from AllStar.





They are adjustable in length and let you preload the inner and outer bearing races so you can snug the spindle nut up tight while letting the rotor still turn freely.

AllStar has been wanting me to try these for a while so I figured since I had to replace the wheel bearings anyway, this was a good time.

Unfortunately, my rotors (which are still in fantastic shape) have too small of an ID near the outer bearing and the spacers won't work in them. I guess I could put these rotors on a lathe and trim out the inside of the rotor a bit, but with a race coming up next Sunday I need to get this thing back on the ground for now. This upgrade will have to be postponed for now, but I'll figure out a way to make them work eventually.

My last project for the front was to press out the old stock length wheel studs and replace them with 2.5" ARP wheel studs. This is where I got stalled as I need some different plates for my press to be able to get the last 4 studs in. I know I could run them in with a lugnut and if I was in a pinch I would, but I have the plates I need at work and will pick them up tonight, finish these up and pack the outer bearings and reinstall the rotors.



I had a rebuilt TracLoc installed into my third member and this fixed the backlash issue. Just a quick reinstall of the third member, then the axles..and lastly swap 250# springs in the rear for the 200# springs to match the rear roll resistance with the new stiffer front sway bar and the rear is just about tidied up as well.



Still waiting on my new brake pads to show up, should be here on Monday. Then I can get this thing back down on the ground, bed the new pads in and spend some time getting used to the new Stage 4 Ron Sutton Race Technology high travel, lower roll setup before next weekend.

BTW,Check out this little blurb about the car from the guys at BangShift Apex that came out yesterday...

http://bangshift.com/bangshiftapex/b...itchin-g-body/

[eric1967]

Lance the bearing spacers are a neat idea. I have never saw those before.

[Cobra 498]

Pretty good day in the garage today. I started in the front and swapped out my 0.250" wall front sway bar for my 0.375" wall MonsterBar...





Install was pretty painless, the only fight I had was getting the 3 cap head bolts out of the swing arms. Ended up using a combination of heat, penetrant and patience. When I first put this bar in, these kept coming loose...so I put a dab of blue loctite on them to help keep them snug. Problem is the back side of the hole they go in is open and rust built up in there and made removal somewhat difficult. I put a liberal coat of antiseize on them before reinstall but I assume they'll start coming loose again after use. I'll just keep an eye on them for now while trying to come up with a better solution. No issues with the frame holes at all thankfully.

I then tried to install these trick front wheel bearing spacers from AllStar.





They are adjustable in length and let you preload the inner and outer bearing races so you can snug the spindle nut up tight while letting the rotor still turn freely.

AllStar has been wanting me to try these for a while so I figured since I had to replace the wheel bearings anyway, this was a good time.

Unfortunately, my rotors (which are still in fantastic shape) have too small of an ID near the outer bearing and the spacers won't work in them. I guess I could put these rotors on a lathe and trim out the inside of the rotor a bit, but with a race coming up next Sunday I need to get this thing back on the ground for now. This upgrade will have to be postponed for now, but I'll figure out a way to make them work eventually.

My last project for the front was to press out the old stock length wheel studs and replace them with 2.5" ARP wheel studs. This is where I got stalled as I need some different plates for my press to be able to get the last 4 studs in. I know I could run them in with a lugnut and if I was in a pinch I would, but I have the plates I need at work and will pick them up tonight, finish these up and pack the outer bearings and reinstall the rotors.



I had a rebuilt TracLoc installed into my third member and this fixed the backlash issue. Just a quick reinstall of the third member, then the axles..and lastly swap 250# springs in the rear for the 200# springs to match the rear roll resistance with the new stiffer front sway bar and the rear is just about tidied up as well.



Still waiting on my new brake pads to show up, should be here on Monday. Then I can get this thing back down on the ground, bed the new pads in and spend some time getting used to the new Stage 4 Ron Sutton Race Technology high travel, lower roll setup before next weekend.

BTW,Check out this little blurb about the car from the guys at BangShift Apex that came out yesterday...

http://bangshift.com/bangshiftapex/b...itchin-g-body/

Am I misreading the photo of the front bar, it looks like it is mounted in rubber bushings instead of pillow blocks. If it really is rubber you will be losing roll stiffness through the bar mounts.
.