[Project] ESP Camaro

[landstuhltaylor]

Might as well start this after recent events. To start off the car is a 98 Z28, I got it from Virginia back in 2010 to replace my last F-body. At the time it had a full exhaust, LS6 intake and ported TB, 4.10 gear and some other goodies on it. I replaced the Sportlines with a Strano/Koni setup and installed cats and a GMMG catback. Rear seat is gone as well as the windshield fluid reservoir and it had a half-assed wire tuck up front. Up until this weekend that's how it sat.



Fast forward to now and it has some fresh body damage with surprisingly little suspension damage. I will be hammering out the rear quarter panel to the correct general shape and reevaluating from there if I want to put more time into making it look right. The panhard bar is broken as well as the steering rack and one wheel.



Over the winter it is getting a set of Global West upper control arms, new bushings and ball joints for the lowers, new rack, tie rods, and a revalved steering pump. Depending on how many people actually buy my interior, the car will either be getting a Watts link or another tubular panhard bar. Either way my wheel hop issues have convinced me of the need for LCAs and relocation brackets. I think the aluminum Hotpart LCAs should do nicely there.

I will also be continuing the diet I have started the car on. When I bought it, I had it weighed at 3480lbs with me and half a tank. I have since removed everything from the interior except for one seat. I still need to pull the dash and HVAC as well as trim the wiring harness back to just the essentials. I'm shooting for a 3250lb race weight for next season using only free mods. The end goal is to have it prepped for national competition in the SCCA for C Prepared. Something like 450whp, 3000lbs and 315/335 slicks with aero. Eventually all the suspension will have to be custom built including spindles and all control arms.

I'll be updating this as I go, or in other words very slowly. In the mean time, here is a picture of my inspiration.

[/URL]

[mcalus]

Im all about being on 2 wheels but I'd have to prefer them being the back 2 or on a motorcycle lol. Should be a pretty sweet outcome! Any pics of the interior? When you say you have everything out, how far did you go?

Should be a fun project.

Details on the damage?!

[meissen]

Damn tat inspiration photo is bad ass!

[landstuhltaylor]

http://www.mifbody.com/vbulletin/sho...l=1#post845127

I still have a ton of work to do, but this is how the interior looks today.




Instead it's all taking up space in my garage. It would be nice if someone would come take it all off my hands.

[landstuhltaylor]

Damn tat inspiration photo is bad ass!

The craziest thing is that car was still 2-3 seconds off the pace on an average course when that was taken. The new recipe is to basically slam it on it's face for the lowest center of gravity possible. You then have to create all new suspension pickup points with all custom hardware to optimize the suspension geometry at that ride height. His rear control arms are something like 6-8 feet long to minimize the angle change with bumps and roll.

The important stuff was covered here: http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/index.php?showtopic=16237

[nooncha]

awesome job! I am currently trying to do the same thing with my V6. But with it being a daily, changes are coming along slowly. Sounds like those rear control arms would have a lot of bending/compliance in them being that long.

edit: yeah your right. Stupid me was thinking of front LCA's and not rear longitudinal lca's

[landstuhltaylor]

LCAs should never see any bending loads, they are purely for tension and compression. The only way you would see a bending load would be if there was binding going on, like if you are running poly/poly bushings.

[landstuhltaylor]

Watts link came in today. This thing is very beefy and will add some weight, but the heaviest part is sprung so it shouldn't be too bad. The dog insisted on photobombing.




Seeing as I went over budget by going with the Watts, I'm leaning towards slotting the front LCAs to gain camber instead of getting new uppers. This depends on how much of a PITA putting new bushings and ball joints in them turns out to be. Thanks to [MENTION=1771]ktl711[/MENTION] I have a replacement bumper cover. It'll take some work to get it looking anywhere near decent but I won't complain about free.

[ktl711]

Thanks to @ktl711 I have a replacement bumper cover. It'll take some work to get it looking anywhere near decent but I won't complain about free.

Hey, it's better than nothing, and definitely better than a sharp stick in the eye!

[JoeliusZ28]

The craziest thing is that car was still 2-3 seconds off the pace on an average course when that was taken. The new recipe is to basically slam it on it's face for the lowest center of gravity possible. You then have to create all new suspension pickup points with all custom hardware to optimize the suspension geometry at that ride height. His rear control arms are something like 6-8 feet long to minimize the angle change with bumps and roll.

The important stuff was covered here: http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/index.php?showtopic=16237

Link no longer works did it get deleted? I'd like to see that build! frrax is a good site i need to spend more time on there.

[landstuhltaylor]

Link no longer works did it get deleted? I'd like to see that build! frrax is a good site i need to spend more time on there.

Looks like you have to be logged in to be able to see it. Corner Carvers has even more technical information but you have to beware of their insane outlook on noobs. Best to just lurk there until you have a solid engineering background.

[landstuhltaylor]

Does anyone know what a roller or even a shell goes for? I'm thinking about just getting another frame and swapping the good bits over so I don't have to deal with all rust and bodywork issues.

[mcalus]

If its clean and rust free, anywhere from 1000-3000. It really all depends on what suspension they do and don't have, rear end (gears, 9"/12bolt) what k member is in it, brakes, wheels, ds loop etc. As well as interior condition. Just my opinion.

[landstuhltaylor]

If its clean and rust free, anywhere from 1000-3000. It really all depends on what suspension they do and don't have, rear end (gears, 9"/12bolt) what k member is in it, brakes, wheels, ds loop etc. As well as interior condition. Just my opinion.

Well I don't even want an interior so the cheaper the better. I'm really just looking for something that can be dropped off at the house without too much work and still has all the body panels and parts required to run that aren't easily swapped.


Edit: This would be perfect. If I had cash and a place to put it I would be all over it right now. http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/cto/4290238697.html

[TylerT/AZ28]

interested in how that watts link works out, is that from fayes2? i always contemplated getting one.