When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I've seen a few of these build threads around, so figured I'd add my own. The goal is a <3350lb curb weight F-body with most daily driver amenities that has a similar TQ/LB ratio (after accounting for all gearing) of a '18 ZL1 1LE throughout the RPM range 3000-6500 in 3rd & 4th gear on a road course. Current curb weight is 3480 with ~1/2 tank of fuel.
I pretty much plan to complete each stage before going on to the next. I like to feel the differences at each stage so if something is strange I can isolate which part(s) are the likely culprits.
1) Suspension [most parts have been received, some have been installed]
2) Wheels/tires: Forgestar F14 18x11 & BFGoodrich Rival S 315/30/18 [wheels ordered on Thanksgiving]
3) Steering [wheel bearing adapters & SKF race bearings]
4) Brakes [AP9660 template obtained]
5) Clutch, transmission & driveshaft [Looking at BC204LSX-AL clutch & T56 Magnum tranny, driveshaft and possible scattershield undecided]
* undecided on whether to order the transmission gearing before or after seeing the motor dyno curve
6) Rear-end [something like a lightweight 8.8" where it's very near the weight of the stock 10-bolt]
7) Motor update/replace
1: Suspension
Restrictions:
A] DSSV shocks are not available, and we don't have support systems for the MR shocks.
B] Triple adjustable (1x rebound and dual speed compression) shocks are:
** Costly ($6K+)
** a challenge to install remote canisters in the front
** difficult to determine the true performance benefit in advance (in terms of lap times)
C] Cortex race front SLA kit
** http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/index.php?showtopic=14781
** changes the motion ratio which requires the shocks to be revalved
** loses about 10lbs per front corner
** not sure on the street reliability
** Costly ($6K; matching coilover shocks & mounts, antisway bar, k-member, and bump steer outer tie rods all provided by customer).
/Front/
Shocks: The best remaining shocks that don't need special integration systems seem to be Penske DA's.
* Penske 7500DA (custom valved, use a weld-in upper which attaches to the OEM UCA mount, and t-bar lower mount)
Springs: The best combination of consistent rate and light weight seem to be Hypercoil.
* Hypercoil 2.25"x8"x800lb
Antisway bar: Current solid 35mm bar is too stiff for track curbing, changing to a hollow 35 will reduce weight and ease curb impact at a small penalty in slalom performance.
* StranoParts hollow 35mm
Upper control arm: Already have Global West UCA's, don't see a significant benefit to switching to another aftermarket version
Lower control arm: Due to daily driver use, don't want an excess amount of NVH added by the front LCA's, so plan to stick with the OEM LCA and just replace bushings & balljoints.
K-member: I'm not comfortable losing the skid plate on a tubular k-member for a daily driver, so I'm sticking with OEM for now.
/Rear/
Shocks: Penske 8300DA (custom valved, remote canisters wrapped by generic radiator hose and zip-tied to upper panhard brace)
Springs: Hypercoil 2.25"x7"x375lb
Torque arm: Keep existing decoupled TA
Lower control arm: Aluminum double rod-end (will replace current steel double rod-end)
Panhard bar: Keeping existing double rod-end, lowered 4"
Antisway bar: Hellwig 5817 solid adjustable (replaces 24mm solid)
Upper panhard brace: Keeping OEM because any curve in this brace can act as a spring under high G loads, which isn't desirable
Current status:
* Rear coilovers are installed, initial compression/rebound set. Need to monitor travel indicators to see if spacers need to be adjusted to optimize droop travel. Need minor lower fitment adjustments. Going to try helper springs to assist with keeping upper hat seated under droop. Going to try thrust sheets (in lieu of the thrust bearings that rust) to assist with altering ride height while springs are under load.
* Rear sway bar is installed, but there is a minor clearance issue with an axle brace used to reinforce a bracket to lower the PHB.
The rear lower shock mounts come with spacers to keep the shock away from the axle; I'm currently using all of them. I need to see how many of those spacers I can safely remove to increase the distance to the upper endlinks while trying to reduce my wheelbase. If the bar still ends up close to the shock/spring, I'll consider installing 2-piece shaft collars just outboard of the axle mounts for additional peace of mind to keep the bar from shifting laterally.
The remaining parts I wanted to use with the coilovers arrived, the fronts are now completely built. I'll need to R&R the rears to add in the helper springs, helper spring adapters & thrust sheets. I needed to do that anyway because I want to invert the shock so it's easier to access the rebound adjuster. The RR canister hose seems to be thwacking the chassis a bit so I'll need to look into that, it may resolve itself after inversion.
I had to take this photo twice because I didn't realize how much damn dog hair was on the carpet so I had to vacuum a bit
I'll schedule alignment rack time to do the rear spring R&R along with the remainder of the minor cleanup in the rear suspension. Since I'm replacing all the rod ends, I'll need to verify the axle is centered and the wheelbase is equal on both sides.
I picked up a good used pair of front OEM UCA's & mounts for $20. Discarded the rubber grommet and balljoints, couldn't get the arm separated from the mount with hand tools though. Will get that knocked out at the shop at the same time. Need to find the thread I stumbled across here that shows how to clean up the mounts, then I need to get the 1/8" steel upper rod end shock mounts welded to this OEM mount and migrate my existing UCA's to the ones I just bought. Keeping my original mounts around for when I may need to put on normal shocks/springs if I need to send these in for a rebuild.
I also ordered SKF race hubs with ARP 2.5" studs pre-pressed in to go with the Dulaney hub adapters I bought months ago. These adapters were custom order back then but later Sam started selling a similar version.
The Hellwig axle mounts are right near the 90* turn in the bar, so no room for shaft collars on the outboard side, I'll need to monitor for movement and potentially look for a way to install them inboard later.
Last edited by JimMueller; 01-09-2018 at 09:18 PM.
Yesterday I got my Global West UCA's moved to the custom upper shock mount, replaced upper balljoints and installed the front Penske coilovers. I re-used the two bolts that were in the OEM rubber mount, but couldn't re-use the nutserts, so I picked up a set of class10 flanged bolts to use with the bolts closest to the cowl. I'm trying XRF balljoints & bushings instead of Moog this time.
Remaining suspension items:
1) Install remaining bolts/nuts for front upper shock mounts
2) I have a bit of creaking/tapping that seems to be coming from rear PS, may need to check canister hose routing or confirm upper shock mount is tight. I may try this part to eliminate flexing:
3) Replace front sway bar
4) Replace front LCA balljoint & bushings
5) Replace front hubs with SKF. Waiting on compatible ARP bolts for use with my Trackbracket mount.
As of 2/2/18, my F14's were at the finisher and they were supposed to ship in 3 weeks. I'm not ordering tires until they arrive and I've confirmed there aren't any flaws. Assuming they are fine, I'll order the tires and get them mounted to the wheels, undecided on trying the road force balancing again... I have the ability to leave them off the car to ensure the glue has time to dry.
After that, I think I'm going to insert another stage for steering before I move on to brakes. My aftermarket power steering cooler lines are weeping a bit, so I want to convert to AN6 fittings & lines. Do we have any supported vendors that sell a complete, quality rack-to-steering wheel (including tilt, cruise controls & ignition switch) solution? If not, I'll post where I'm considering ordering mine.
Received the Forgestar F14 18x11 wheels today. Not terribly impressed by them. The only box I've opened has the outer barrel indicating it was painted over with alternate measurements, the hub mount edges are rough, and the damn things weigh 24lbs each. I bought them because they were just slightly heavier than the OEM Speedline Z06's and I wanted something more uncommon than the Speedlines. I'm going to inquire about returning them due to the weight.
I got off the phone with Alex at Forgestar, and before he knows I'm a customer he states an 18x11 F14 with a 40mm offset should be 19.5-20lbs with a 40mm offset. After I tell him I'm a customer and he looks up the serial numbers, he puts me on hold. He comes back and says really they should be 20-23lbs depending upon the offset. Sounds like a sales gimmick to me, tell the customer one thing before the purchase and give them a different answer after the purchase.
Edit: I bought the F14's through Stranoparts, and Sam is doing what he can to help, but his hands are mostly tied. Too many uncalibrated scales so they won't do anything regarding the weight, but I sent FS photos of the hub pads to see if they'll offer any sort of concession. I'll probably end up keeping them for street wheels, but that means I'll be looking at dedicated race wheels. Currently waiting for a quote on CCW TS12's. Looking for a set of steel lugnuts closer to the gunmetal finish.
Mocked up with SKF/Dulaney hubs and used open end nuts below. The combined exposed threads plus the open end lug nut are a little less than 45mm in length.
Last edited by JimMueller; 02-23-2018 at 12:00 AM.
My crank bolt fell out sometime in the last few days, causing a misfire condition that luckily we were diagnosing at the shop when the ATI dampener fell off. Replaced crank seal while we were in there and also replaced the ignition switch because my temp fix from a couple of months ago fell apart while at the shop.
I got the front sway bar replaced today as well as getting the remaining front upper shock mount bolts installed. I also raised the front corners about 3/8" to reach the old ride height. I'm getting near the end of the threads on the shock body so if I need to go much higher I may need to switch to a taller spring. Will need to rinse & repeat to verify the ride height is correct.
Remaining suspension items:
1) I have a bit of creaking/tapping that seems to be coming from rear PS, may need to check canister hose routing or confirm upper shock mount is tight. I may try this part to eliminate flexing:
2) Replace front LCA ball joints & bushings
3) Replace front hubs with SKF. All bolts received.
4) One of the sway bar chassis bolts is stripped, need to replace it.
5) Lube balljoints & front UCA's
Front coilover shock changes saved 15lbs
Front swaybar change saved 9lbs
Rear coilover shock changes saved 12lbs
Rear sway bar changed added 4lbs due to heavy duty axle hardware & endlinks
Rear control arm change saved 3lbs
The SKF hub is a wash, but the adapter & hardware adds about 5lbs
Car seems back to normal after the crank bolt repair. Restored my desensitized misfire tables. Received a set of used antisway bar chassis bolts.
Looking for spare front LCA's to use with these endlinks that I ordered today. They require the endlink bolt hole in the arm to be enlarged to 5/8" but I don't want to molest my only set of arms. https://www.spohn.net/shop/1998-2002...er-A-Arms.html
Ordered parts TUR5, TUR6 & TUR10 from TurnOne Steering to convert my PS hoses to AN6. Also ordered an AN hose cutter and a pair of Aeroquip 6' AN6 hoses. Will order ends after mockup.
We got the new tires & wheels mounted today, heavier than expected, but oh well. Old tire/wheels were 52/53 front, and 51 rear on the same model wheels, new is about 55.
2) I have a bit of creaking/tapping that seems to be coming from rear PS, may need to check canister hose routing or confirm upper shock mount is tight. I may try this part to eliminate flexing:
Did you figure out your creaking noise from the PS rear? Just curious what you found with the changes your making.
Originally Posted by JimMueller
We got the new tires & wheels mounted today, heavier than expected, but oh well. Old tire/wheels were 52/53 front, and 51 rear on the same model wheels, new is about 55.
I haven't figured out the rear creaking yet. I'm told the rear metal is plenty strong enough and I'll re-check that everything is tight. I'm under doctor's orders to not do specific things for about another month, so maybe we'll have time to look at it next Saturday on the lift. Edit: I loosened both upper nuts and re-tightened to 70ft-lbs, which is as tight as I could reasonably get them. They are only supposed to need hand tight.
My originals are all 17x11 +50 offset.
The new Rival S tires are impressive in 2nd gear compared to the NT05's (even when they were new).
Last edited by JimMueller; 03-25-2018 at 05:33 PM.
The 17x11's are aftermarket AFS ZR1 replicas. I've read that my old wheels should be 23-24lbs but I can't validate until I return to the shop this Saturday. Looks like the 1996 Grand Sport rear 17x11 +50mm wheels weighed 22lbs:
The 18x11 F14's were originally being delivered a while back in the 20-22lb range, but a competing manufacturer says Forgestar chose to add material to increase their strength, undoubtedly increasing the weight (which I didn't know about prior to ordering so I expected them to arrive 20-22lbs). My scale says my F14's average 23.7lbs, and the new tires average 30.9lbs (and TireRack says they weigh 29lbs on their website). If I had known about the F14 weight change ahead of time, I would have preferred to spend more for less weight, but I didn't want to deal with reselling the F14's and a long delay on replacing my bald tires.
It won't be apples to apples on the old vs new tires because of tire wear, and we could only go by the advertised weight of new 315/35/17 NT05's (30.75lbs) vs new 315/30/18 Rival S's (29lbs advertised or 30.9lbs actual).
Did it take a month or so to receive your hellwig 5817 rear bar?
Nah, I spoke with Hellwig and confirmed it was in stock before I ordered through Strano. They drop shipped it within a day or two of when I placed my order.
The largest improvements have come from the shocks and tires. I have way more tire grip than before, and I can barely spin the tires or engage ABS at this time. The latter because I have a more docile front pad to avoid brake dust from the prior dirtier pads I've tried. I'll probably go back to the Ferodo DS2500 pad (just so I don't have to change rotors to use the Ferodo track pads). Alternatively, I'm interested in trying a Pagid RS4x or Porterfield R4 series for street/autox.
Last edited by JimMueller; 03-29-2018 at 04:37 PM.
Today we finished installing the spare LCA's with new XRF bushings & ball joints, heim end links, & SKF race hubs.
We encountered a problem with the alignment. With the passenger side horizontal bolt fully slid inside, the minimum camber was -2.0*; on the driver side the minimum was -0.4*. Looking at where the outside top of the tire was in relation to the fender, the PS was noticeably further in than the DS.
The PS upper uses a spare OEM mounting bracket (that I've never used before) with the same UCA and delrin bushing that I've used for years. The bracket has a heim weld-on upper shock mount. I bought a used spare set of upper brackets to weld-on the mounts instead of using my originals (so I can easily go back to stock shock mounts when I have to send these in for service). Don't know where to start at this point. We'll chase it again in a few weeks.
Also addressed a NVH complaint in the rear suspension. The gap between the top of the end links and the coilover was too small, causing interference while driving. We moved the bottom of the shock the equivalent of two washer widths closer to the axle, we might be able to take out 1-2 more max if today's change is inadequate.
My annual bonus should arrive in mid-April (no, not a tax refund) that'll cover a portion of the BBK I'm planning to purchase. I currently use a custom bracket to allow me to use the C6 calipers, which should be compatible with any C6 BBK. But the BBK caliper side uses a different connector than OEM, so I need to use their Speigler lines... but they haven't built a brake line for this vehicle before. So I plan to buy some cheap front lines from Autozone to send to the salesperson so they can build the chassis side of the hose. I'll also give them the length of my current C6 brake lines for them to compare against they'd provide for a C6 fitment.
Weighed the old 17x11 wheels and tires:
Old bald Nitto NT05 315/35/17 tires weighed an average of 26.7lbs (front) and 25.3lbs (rear). Nitto advertise that new versions weigh 30.75lbs. The new tires average 30.9lbs.
Old AFS ZR1 +50 replicas averaged 27.8lbs, new F14's averaged 23.7lbs.
Between the tires, wheels, spacers & lugnuts, I saved 7oz per corner comparing bald tires to new tires. New NT05's to New Rivals, I would have saved 5lbs per corner.
It appears my fuel economy has gone down, could be the tire compound and/or the tire height. I'll compare GPS vs VSS at some point.
Other weights I took:
C6 Trackbrackets (used to mount C6 caliper to F-body spindle): 2lbs
Timken hub with ARP 7708's: 9lbs (race hub is 8.5lbs, but I netted a 3.5lb increase for both sides due to the adapters)
C6 slightly used 13" rotor was 19.5lbs (BBK 14" rotor is 15.1lbs plus 2.5lb hat)
C6 caliper bracket with pins installed: 3lbs (BBK is 2.4lbs)
C6 2-pot caliper: 6lbs (BBK 6-pot is 6.1lbs)
Last edited by JimMueller; 04-01-2018 at 09:20 AM.
I don't take many photos, but here are a few.
Front heim end link during install. The shiny ear in the background is part of the race hub adapter, used to mount custom brake plenums if desired. Hopefully I won't need the plenums with the BBK. Skf race hub with adapter mocked up against new unmounted wheel Front upper shock mounts welded to oem brackets, prior to enamel Installing the rear coilovers. Cover is to prevent foreign debris from damaging shaft. Without cover, prior to inverting coilover to ease access to adjuster. Looks like I didn't take any photos of the front coilovers installed. Here they are mocked up with helper springs, which I chose not to use.
* Comparing GPS vs VSS between 40-55MPH, my VSS was about 3% low, so I dropped my VSS Pulses per Mile by that percentage to compensate.
* Ordered a factory sway bar bracket ($15)to get me by until the reinforced brackets ($40) are back in stock.
* The prior creaking in the RR is much better but not completely eliminated.
* The front end still has some dull creaking/rubbing noise that has existed before I started making any of these changes. I had hoped it would be resolved by the new ball joints and bushings. Back to the drawing board there, perhaps it is related to my possible issue of the k-member not being centered.
Last edited by JimMueller; 04-20-2018 at 08:33 PM.
Reason: sp3lling
12-28-2017, 01:18 PM
Car rebuild thread 
I want to see more pics 
