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I will be participating in an open road rally starting in Billings, MT in July. It's the Big Sky Rally hosted by Rally North America. I bought (traded for) a 1990 RS Camaro to build as my rally car. It's a stock 305 car with an automatic and 162k on the clock. This rally will kick-off at the local dragstip near Billings, MT and end at the Portland International Raceway. I will start posting pictures here when the car is presentable.
I did a similar rally in 2014 driving my 2006 dually Silverado (https://i.imgur.com/jKf4bAR.jpg) from Austin, TX to Chicago, IL driving round trip from my home in Billings, MT. Needless to say it was a lot of miles to throw down in 1 week. I'm pretty excited to give this a go in my home state driving a car I picked off of craigslist, right after registering. I also talked my Dad into joining me this year as my navigator which should be a lot of fun. I have already begun the process of rebuilding the steering and suspension. I would gladly take any advice on problem spots on these cars, so that I'm not left stranded.
Each team is challenged with raising money for Camp Sunshine, a charity that helps families that have children with life-threatening illnesses. Please visit my page [here](http://events.campsunshine.org/site/...eam&fr_id=1250) and help our team out, if you can. 100% of your donation goes to the charity. Also please feel free to stop by in July for the kick-off in Billings. They will be closing a few streets downtown to show off all the cars, and of course my team will be there.
Parts I've purchased since I picked up the car in December:
17x8 Torque thrust wheels
Pro-Forged complete steering kit
KYB GR2 shocks and struts
PowerStop rotor/pad/caliper kit
T-top, door, and rear hatch seal kit
Spark plugs, cap, and rotor
UMI on-car adjustable panhard bar
DANA 3.23 ring and pinion
Ground Control front and rear weight jacks
UMI rear control arms
Parts to be ordered:
New 245/45-17 tires
New x-pipe
More supportive front seats (I would like suggestions on any budget friendly good looking seats)
Sub-frame connectors
This weekend I tore out the entire front suspension, and after reading through the countless suspension threads on here decided to order Ground Control weight jacks for all four corners. I was a little hesitant because I don't want a harsh ride since my Dad and I will be rallying this car for over 2k miles, but since there is such large selection of spring rates with this setup I figured I would be able to find a right balance before we depart.
Does anyone out there have suggestions on a spring rate that would be competitive in the corners, but not kill us during a full week of driving? The guys at Ground Force included 1000# 8" coils for the front and 200# 9" coils for the rear.
Nothing big, but my budget front brake kit came in the mail last night. Its a Power Stop Z26 package. I have a similar setup on my 1-ton Duramax, and I have been very happy with the performance on it. I would have liked to do a Brembo or Wilwood package, but I have put myself on a tight budget, so they will have to wait.
Well I took another big bite out of my budget today. Since the weight jacks should come in sometime next week, and lowering the car will require re-centering the rear I ordered the UMI adjustable panhard bar. I decided to go with the one that is adjustable while on the car since I have the ability to raise and lower my car with the new suspension setup.
I also decided to order 3.23 gears and an installation kit. I decided to go with the 3.23 versus 3.42 because it will put me at a more tolerable RPM while cruising down the interstate, which we will see a lot of during the Big Sky Rally. This will be the first time I have ever cracked open a differential, so I'm a little anxious about the whole swap. However between youtube and the information on this site I'm hoping I can handle the task. I did consider doing a 4th gen rear end swap (which I really wanted to do), but after measuring where the lip of my wheels lined up, my fenders wouldn't accommodate the 3"+ additional width.
Well I've been fighting one ball joint on the driver side inner tie-rod for the past couple of days (I only have a few hrs each night). I tried a wheel puller, pickle fork, and beating the hell out of it with a hammer. Finally I found the right wrench.....
Once out I was able to compare new to old
The new tie rods are about 4mm thicker than the old ones, and the drag link is 2mm thicker. As you can see there is no comparison to the new and old adjuster sleeves. From looks and build quality alone this seems to be a worth while upgrade.
The new weight jack kit also came in the mail today. As you can see in the side-by-side comparison there is a big difference between the stock front coil, and the one from Ground Control. I should be getting the rear differential out over the next few nights.
Finally tore out the rear differential so I can make way for the 3.23 gears. I also noticed that the lower control arm bushings were practically dust, so reluctantly I ordered new UMI control arms. For $100 shipped this seemed like a pretty economical option as opposed to spending my time pressing out 4 bushings and replacing them at $17/ea for stock replacements. This way I get grease-able poly bushings and stronger control arms for $32 more with less work.
I also pulled the front a-arms out so I can replace the ball joints and bushings. The bushings are a HUGE pain.
We plan to. The one I did in 2014 was the most fun I've ever had, and I expect to enjoy this one a little more since I will be driving something that can turn and stop.
Sounds like a fun event, and nice progress on the build.
Thanks the only part that has been a pain so far has been the control arm bushings and ball joints. It's been a refreshing project coming from the high performance prices of my Duramax.
I fully assembled the front passenger side, and put the wheel on. When I put it at ride height I had about 1" of clearance between the bumpstop and the frame. I'm going to leave it for now, because I want to see where it sits once everything is back together, and sitting level on the ground.
dlinger, since you are close by, hopefully you can come checkout the lineup in July. They are going to close a few streets in downtown Billings for the start of the rally. Come down and see 82 pretty sweet cars.
July 10th we will all be at the Yellowstone drag strip and then the start will be on the 11th.
dlinger, since you are close by, hopefully you can come checkout the lineup in July. They are going to close a few streets in downtown Billings for the start of the rally. Come down and see 82 pretty sweet cars.
July 10th we will all be at the Yellowstone drag strip and then the start will be on the 11th.
I would love to stop by, but we have to be out of town that weekend. Let me know if you are planning any other outings. Pretty much in Billings almost every day. I try to stop by Hardee's every Thursday night to see if any new stuff shows up.
Finally got the gears swapped in and new bearings and seals installed in the tired old 10-bolt.
After that it was a mad rush to get all the rear suspension assembled, drum brakes installed and brakes bled.
I got the car back on the ground Sunday evening and took it for a quick shake-down drive.
All in all I'm very happy with everything, except the brakes. Don't get me wrong they are much better than they were I would just like some more aggressive stopping power to match my much improved handling and acceleration.
I drove the Camaro to work this morning to get it aligned, and to see how I liked the ride and check for any bugs. I will see if it settles any, but I think I'm going to bring the front up an inch and drop the rear an inch. As it sits now I only have about 1.5" of suspension travel in the front, I haven't been bottoming out but I would like more travel than that.
Took the Craigslist Special on a quick mountain pass run to check for bugs, and test the suspension and brakes. All together it was a 270 mile round trip, and I averaged a nice 23mpg.
Although I don't have any rubbing or scraping problems I put the car back in the garage for some fine tuning on the suspension. I'm going to square up the ride height a little bit by bringing the front up about an 1". I also noticed while measuring everything that the rearend is about 1/2" from centered, so I'm going to correct that as well.
I will also be installing a newly bored TBI and injector spacer, as well as a different fuel pressure regulator spring. Hopefully it will make a little difference, but if not the old unit was well worn anyway.
All in all I'm very happy with everything, except the brakes. Don't get me wrong they are much better than they were I would just like some more aggressive stopping power to match my much improved handling and acceleration.
Put on my first aesthetic piece. I picked up an IROC grille from ebay. I think it looks a lot better than the widow blinds that came off of the car.
I also mocked up my driving light bar from my Silverado. I think I will run with it during the rally to give the car a little extra flair, and some much needed light for the long return drive home. It bolts up using the holes for the license plate, so nothing will be permanent, I will just have to add some temporary bracing behind the grille piece.
Thanks! I've looked into this, it's just out of my budget for now. Does anyone know if the 4th gen brakes are worth the cost, or should I go with C5 or better?
Got the bored throttle body on without any issues. To be honest I really can't tell any seat-of-the-pants difference. I also got my light bar permanently attached. I did it just for fun for the rally, but I might leave it. Strangely I kind of like it.
Even though the car only has a 305 I felt it should make at least a little bit of noise when I step on the gas, and after reading the many threads talking about the restrictive stock exhaust, it was time for a change. I was going to wait until after the rally to do any exhaust work, but my dad offered to cover the bill, so to the shop it went.
I wish I would have taken a picture of the exhaust while it was on the rack, but you will have to take my word for it. The guy did amazing work. I got 2.5" primaries feeding into a nicely made collector which then goes into a 3" high-flow cat with 3" pipe that leads to a flowmaster. It sounds incredible now, and there is a noticeable seat-of-the-pants difference.
Over Father's Day weekend I put a little over 900 miles on the car with my fuel mileage varying from 22-26mpg, with an 80mph speed limit mind you. All in all another upgrade that I'm very happy with.
No, but I actually talked to Terry about getting it done as I used to race dirt track with him back in the day. He actually advised against doing anything to the exhaust, but to his defense the exhaust on it was almost brand new.
I ended up going to the muffler stop. They have done exhaust work on my race cars and daily drivers in the past, and have always done good work. The guy that built it had a 3rd gen, and built the same exhaust he put on his.
I saw you pull in to Silent Knight when I was dropping off dog to groomer. Saw you again I think last Friday morning with your car on the trailer (light at Moore Lane and Laurel road).
I'd like to see pictures of install if you get them. I like the replacement we had installed on ours but not real excited for the sound of the Dynamax mufflers. It's just okay.
I saw you pull in to Silent Knight when I was dropping off dog to groomer. Saw you again I think last Friday morning with your car on the trailer (light at Moore Lane and Laurel road).
I'd like to see pictures of install if you get them. I like the replacement we had installed on ours but not real excited for the sound of the Dynamax mufflers. It's just okay.
That's funny, I haven't had the car out much but I guess it kind of stands out. I'm putting the car back in the air tonight to work on some bugs, so I will see if I can get some decent pictures while I'm underneath.
I trailered the car to the muffler stop in hopes of convincing them it wasn't a street car so I could surpass getting a cat and hopefully save $300, but no luck.
Did some minor cosmetic work on the car this weekend. I wanted to break up the red a little bit so I decided to plasti dip the mirrors, spoiler, and headlight buckets.
Just got back from the rally. I abused the old girl for 6 days and 2587 miles. She held up pretty well, and performed better than I expected. We even got to run some hot laps at Portland International Raceway, where I discovered quickly that the brakes were not up to the task.
If I'd seen this when you were building the car up, I'd advised...
With the rear out of the car take the opportunity to replace the fuel pump!
I noticed your steering rebuild kit did not include an idler arm, that was the first piece of my steering to wear out!
You were right to upgrade the exhaust. Mods I did to my engine hardly showed any gains, then I changed my exhaust to 3" SLP and WOW!
Did you do a transmission service? Fluid and filter? I used a SLP shift kit and it made a big difference.
I had the disk brake Australian rear and I still had fade after the 2nd high speed braking test. I tried a lot of pads (stayed with stock size rotors) and found the best to be Performance Friction's carbon metalic pads. I had a hard time getting them to fade! Only thing that was 'funny' was the first stop of the day when the pads were dead cold... not much friction! Not a problem, I just lightly rode the brakes as I left my driveway to put some heat in them!
From the pictures it looks like your tires are too small. Both in width and sidewall. I ran the stock size on my Formula, 245/50zr16, and they rode hard enough and never felt any sidewall flex or delay in steering input.
I'm happy that you had a fun and safe trip, especially spending time with your dad.
If I'd seen this when you were building the car up, I'd advised...
With the rear out of the car take the opportunity to replace the fuel pump!
I noticed your steering rebuild kit did not include an idler arm, that was the first piece of my steering to wear out!
You were right to upgrade the exhaust. Mods I did to my engine hardly showed any gains, then I changed my exhaust to 3" SLP and WOW!
Did you do a transmission service? Fluid and filter? I used a SLP shift kit and it made a big difference.
I had the disk brake Australian rear and I still had fade after the 2nd high speed braking test. I tried a lot of pads (stayed with stock size rotors) and found the best to be Performance Friction's carbon metalic pads. I had a hard time getting them to fade! Only thing that was 'funny' was the first stop of the day when the pads were dead cold... not much friction! Not a problem, I just lightly rode the brakes as I left my driveway to put some heat in them!
From the pictures it looks like your tires are too small. Both in width and sidewall. I ran the stock size on my Formula, 245/50zr16, and they rode hard enough and never felt any sidewall flex or delay in steering input.
I'm happy that you had a fun and safe trip, especially spending time with your dad.
I did end up replacing the fuel pump shortly after returning from the trip, and yes it would have been much easier with e rear already out.
I did do a complete flush and filter replacement on the transmission, but no upgrades. I have high aspirations of doing a manual swap down the road.
The steering kit did actually include a new idler arm, and the old was quite worn when I took it out.
The tire size I chose is 245/45-17, and I'm actually happy with them so far. The car isn't fast or powerful enough to out drive this size, so they work for now.
02-09-2016, 05:48 PM
