GC99TA

iTrader: (30)

No. Kind of a long story but.....here it goes. I am running a Strange S-trac diff unit in my 9 inch. Early this spring it stopped kicking out in turns and was basically locked solid like a spool. I called Strange and found out they had redesigned the original S-trac because of this very issue/failure and after some creative negotiating, they agreed to send out a shipping case and UPS call tag for my entire center section since I had purchased a complete rear and the S-trac has a lifetime warranty.

So, the center went back to Strange, they installed a "new design" S-trac unit, and sent the center back to me. Once I finally got time to reinstall it, I went to stab the axles back in and found that the passenger-side axle was now too long! It was clearly bottoming out inside the differential before the axle bearing was seated in the bearing race. So, I called Strange yet again and asked if they knew that this new diff would require shorter axles. The guy (same guy who handled the S-trac warranty swap) promptly says, "Oh sure....the driver's side will need shortened by 1/8 and the passenger side by 1/4". Of course my natural reaction was......"Wow!...that would have been f'ing great info to have three weeks ago when I was sending you my center section!"

Anyway......long story short.....my axles are currently on their way back from Strange after being shortened the appropriate amounts. Sure I could have had them cut locally for a modest fee, but I felt this was Strange's responsibility to correct since it was caused by the failure of the original S-trac unit.

Once I get my axles back I hope to make it back out to the track and hopefully pick up where I left off with regards to refining my nitrous tune(s).

GC99TA

iTrader: (30)

And by the way, none of that was meant to bash Strange. It's been a little frustrating but they have been fairly responsive once I convince them it shouldn't be costing me money to fix this stuff and they have turned all of my stuff around within the week of receiving it. I will continue to do business with them despite a few frustrations. All in all they've stood behind their product.

speedtigger

iTrader: (16)

No worries. I have Moser axles in mine and I had some issues there too which they also stood behind and corrected.

GC99TA

iTrader: (30)

Yeah, I have a full Moser 12-bolt in the TA. All in all its been a good piece as well.

tsnow678

iTrader: (3)

What we need to do is get speedtigger and GC99TA together at the track for some good old fashion grudge matches. Pro tree no BS! Zmax in Charlotte seems to be a good middle of the road track and its only a little over an hour away for me! Yeah sounds like a great plan! What say ye?

GC99TA

iTrader: (30)

HA! Sounds like a blast Tony! But I'd have to leave with my tail between my legs after he DRIVES his car up from Florida and makes me wear my *** for a hat! Seriously.......tigger's and my car are so damn close ET-wise it would make for some great head's up racing but I'm a little jealous he's doing it with more weight, less gear, a tighter converter......and on radials to boot. I really need to consider a more efficient converter for mine some day.

speedtigger

iTrader: (16)

4 hours for Gary and 8 hours for me. What kind of deal is that Tony!? And, if you are going to instigate, you are going to have to throw your hat into the ring too!

When are you going to run that thing?

tsnow678

iTrader: (3)

I have nothing for you two that's for sure! The ET's are so close it would make for some good racing. I would love to run my car but for some odd reason I have no desire to. Not sure what happened in 2014. You two have some serious contenders and great looking cars to boot. Hats off to both of you guys!

GC99TA

iTrader: (30)

I'm sure you're just in a slump Tony. I've been in one myself for a while. The bug will bite again.....it always does. Maybe I need to bring the TA down there and run ya? Will that wake you up? A little 408/T56 on 408/T56 violence!

tsnow678

iTrader: (3)

That would be fun for sure! There are two tracks 40 minutes from the house. Go gentle on me please.

GC99TA

iTrader: (30)

We just may have to make it happen at some point then. I know before I do anything like that though, I've got to get some shifting issues ironed out. Just have to find the time and motivation to work on it.....

rsz288

Outstanding account of a very tenacious build and the 4 year long story. Amazing you managed all this so continuously while moving house and having your military responsibilities as well. Great strip results! Kudos & thank you for the effort to tell the story in detail as you went!

GC99TA

iTrader: (30)

Thanks. Hopefully some time in the not too distant future I can update this thread. The car is currently tore back down to almost a bare shell. It just returned from AMD in GA where it had some panel replacment done. The plan from here is to not reassemble the car until I can get the body work and paint complete.

GC99TA

iTrader: (30)

So.....I've decided it's time to bring this thread back from the dead.....partly because I finally have something worth posting about, but mostly because I seem to get more motivated to work on the car when others are following along.

So back in March I mentioned I had taken the car down to AMD in Georgia for some sheet metal work. AMD replaced both door skins, both rocker skins, the passenger side quarter and the tail panel. As a result of the quarter replacement, the outer wheel house and trunk drop off got replaced as well. All of these panels were rust free but were dented to the point they weren't worth repairing. Here are some pics of the car while it was at AMD.

GC99TA

iTrader: (30)

After the car came back from AMD I made the decision to do away with the three piece spoiler in favor of the 1970 style one piece design that only bolts to the deck lid. I've always favored the three piece spoiler on these cars but they typically fit horribly and the one piece has a more sleek look in my opinion.

In order to fit the one piece I had to drill new mounting holes in my deck lid (they share the same bolt pattern but in a different location) and weld the old ones shut. I also had to weld shut the two mounting holes in the driver side quarter panel. Obviously the brand new passenger side quarter had never been drilled for a spoiler so no work was needed there.

In the first pic you can see the old there piece spoiler holes (the larger holes) and the new smaller holes for the one piece. In the second pic I've welded the old holes shut.





Here are some pics of the car showing the new sheet metal and new spoiler.

GC99TA

iTrader: (30)

After mounting the new spoiler I did a few other small things on the car, but I mostly took several more months off from working on the Camaro. Some of this time was taken up with work and family obligations and some of it was taken up working on my 99 TA which had long needed a trans rebuild and clutch and hydraulics upgrades.

But about a month ago I got re-energized on the Camaro when I located a local painter that expects to get the car into his shop in late August or early September. I quickly started making a list of things that still needed done before the car goes off to paint. There were lots of little things like rolling the wheel lip on the new quarter and seam sealing the new panels.

But a few of the more time consuming things were jobs like repainting the steel portion of the dash as well as repainting the roll cage. To do these I had to pull the windshield back out of the car. The dash had been painted once but it had a few flaws I wanted to correct.

I had previously painted the cage with gloss black appliance epoxy. I really liked the look but inevitably, the cage is going to get nicks and scratches from contact with harness buckles and such. So I needed an easier way to touch it up with the interior in the car. The only real option is a product that is brushable/rollable. So I chose to use Rustoleum hammer tone paint and I'm really happy with the results.









I also added some sound deadener to the fire bulkhead on the rear dash.

dmracing

iTrader: (78)

Looks great. Was wondering about this car a while back. What color are you planning on painting it?

GC99TA

iTrader: (30)

Thanks. Its gonna be charcoal gray with black Z28 stripes. I just haven't 100% settled on an exact shade just yet. I want it a little dark, but light enough to contrast well with the black stripes. My painter said he'd spray some test panels for me before I make my final decision.

GC99TA

iTrader: (30)

Here is one of the door bars from my cage up against the paint on my truck. I want the car to be very close to this color.....or maybe just a touch lighter.

turbodarryl

iTrader: (4)

car is looking Great!