Updated** - less questions, more statements

April 2019 I bought a cam only camaro from a forum member. Shortly after that I took it to a local 1/8th mile track to get a baseline with the current mods that the PO installed:

Lid, LTs, ORY, BTR stage 3 cam, Yank SS3200, milled 241 heads, ported throttle body, UDP, NT555 (non R, Non drag radial) Stock springs, Decarbon shocks (wasted), PO said 3.42 gears but the door code says 2.73 10 bolt, Auburn LSD, SFC's, full weight on 93 oct.

Results:
DA 2400 / 95% humidity / 90f
I did 4 runs but lost 1 slip. Tires @ 26psi best 1.895 60ft. Not bad for bone stock suspension and some nitto 555's

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This year my goal is to cut a 1.59-1.62 60ft. without breaking the rear axle. To reach that goal I ordered and installed:
MT 275 Drag Radials
Adjustable LCA's, adjustable Panhard bar, and Panhard rod.
and a Milwaukee battery powered air pump. Plan to run 18psi +/-

Some other parts that wont help with the launch include:
Optima Red Top
Replaced the pinion bearings/seal and axle bearings/seals which made the rear pretty quiet. Set lash to .025 - didn't check the gear ratio at that time
Moog Inner and Outter Tie rods

I'll update after I can get to the track in July.

 

Have you purchased a good adjustable torque arm and relocated it off the trans? This would be the next step along with establishing a negative pinion angle.

I run the bmr torque arm with a -2 pinion angle and cut 1.58 60’ times with a stock engine, 4K stall and 4.10s.

Next thing is tire pressure. Drag radials can be sensitive to tire pressure. You have a good tire, but I would experiment with tire pressure. 18 psi is a good starting point, and only go up or down 1-2 psi when tuning... no radical changes.

You’re right in also looking at shocks and springs. If your budget doesn’t allow for afcos maybe looking at Vikings for the rear and get the fronts when money allows.

Keep also in mind the simple things that hurt your drag times such as spinning the tires over in the water box and after your burnout you have water dripping from the fender wells on your tires. Also, get a decent burnout and roll forward a little when your letting off the gas.

Hope this helps

 

No adjustable torque arm yet but I'll add that to the list.

Its not that I'm building on a budget but trying the build in a different way. My last Camaro was a simple setup that would cut a 1.60 60ft: Yank 4k, Eibach spings, Bilstien shocks, 3.23, with MT's.

When staging: I drive around the water box, back up into it, followed by a quick spin rolling out of the box then stab the throttle while modulating the brake. Nets me a pretty decent rolling burnout.

I thought about Vikings but decided on Afcos. I'm not rushing this build

Thank you for the ideas/help!

 

Sounds like a fun project! Any pics? It's always fun to buy and then improve/make your own. Depending on your budget you could also consider a good ram air setup, potentially a larger lid/TB/intake combo, and electric water pump. I'm partial to tasteful weight reduction as well. There is ALOT you can do without being noticeable to the common folk/naked eye

 

Added Videos

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Got down to New England Dragway Sunday for a few passes. It was 79f degrees 39% humidity with a DA of 1188 ft.
MT Street SS tires @ 18psi

Coincidently; First pass I lined up against a 2007 C7 Vette M6. LS2 Tsunami cam with supporting top end, 3.73's, full exhaust, intake.
I got a decent launch - Me in the Right lane.


I parked to look over my slip and the vette parked right beside me. He said he missed 3rd and needed to adjust his AFR; the guy wanted to run them again
So we switched lanes and lined them up.

Guy was wicked nice. Told me his next plan is to go Turbo with a RPM stage 4 tranny.


I need to make some more changes to the adjustable LCA's and I'm in desperate need of shocks. I wont have those until next season though so looks like my 60ft wont improve much. Thing just doesn't want to squat without some shutter rebound.

On another note, the rear axle didn't blow up after I swapped all the bearings. This was a concern of mine considering I never checked the gear mesh after setting the backlash. Well I say concern. I never thought twice just sending it. lol

Overall I had fun and plan on running again next Sunday with a few more things up my sleeves.

 

I got down to NE Dragway for another go at getting into the 11's.

Track conditions were favorable with DA between 150ft and 450ft.
Tires @ 16 psi
5/8ths of 93oct with a bottle of Lucas Octane booster. (to make sure I have at least 93oct)
Weighed In @ 3670lbs with driver

I got 3 runs in.
First run I adjusted the LCA's to show 3 threads. It hooked and booked.
Second run I adjusted to show 4 threads. Gave it a bit more RPM at launch. Best 60' of the day.
Third run I adjusted to 5 threads. This run I was racing a friend so I went after that reaction time.
Gave it a bit more RPM and she broke loose. I pushed through the 60' with a little tire spin. Let off early.







Oddly enough I even saw my old Camaro bracket racing there. The girl won her class with it!!!


Going back In two weeks; Next up 110 octane and some more LCA adjustments.
Goal for next trip is 11.6@115. with a 1.66 60ft

 

You want the control arm as parallel with the ground as your adjustable bracket will allow on a prepped track. You only need to add bite/angle if traction is an issue.

 

Thank you for the information. I didn't do any research on LCA adjustment and I'm not to good at asking questions so I did some trial and error based on threads alone. I considered measuring the LCA's but I wanted to feel it out instead of adjusting by the numbers.


My friend got the final run on video from his POV. Looks like its running a bit rich so I will data log AFR, knock, and timing. Just need to remember the scan tool.

 

Went back to New England Dragway for some more Test and Tune. DA was super favorable but the place was packed for a charity event so I only got 3 runs in.


Fastest run of the night I made the following changes: 5 gals 93 oct. + 3 gals 109 oct.. Tires @ 14.5 PSI.. Launched @ 2100ish RPM's

MY POV:

Friends POV:

R/T: .212
60'ft: 1.668
1/8: 7.430 @ 92.62 mph
1/4: 11.692 @ 115.04 mph

Last trip of the year this Sunday. I plan on giving her hell in the 60'. I might manually shift the Auto hoping to hang the shift closer to 6800 rpm. Currently it auto shifts @ 6400 rpm. If that doesn't work HP tuners is in my future.

Thanks for following!

Note to self: Plans for next year: Shocks, cage, 12-bolt and juice. We'll see what the budget allows.

 

Nice, You called you times!

 

Nice run!

In the video it seemed your 2-3 shift flared?

 

looks good. Watching the video makes me miss my car being a street car, it was a whole lot less work and money lol

 

Thanks! Next goal is 11.635 @ 115.6 with a 1.62 60'

Your right, first time its done that. My best guess is the tranny was ice cold from sitting in the pit lanes for 2 hours but I'm open to suggestions.

Lol. I hear ya brother! I'm battling the itch to go on a diet to get the times down. Its nice to have stereo, A/C, power, leather, cruise, etc.... Trouble is 11's is only so much fun
I'm itching to get into the 10's.

 

Oct 25th 2020 I made it out to NE Drag way for one last go of the season. Unfortunately I didn't achieve my goals but I still took it as an opportunity to fail and pick myself back up.

I filled up with some 5 gals of 109 oct which left me with a full tank of fuel. Guess I was going full porker on this one.
Density Altitude: -1265 feet
Relative Density: 103.75 %

I'm car 144.
First run: I launched @ 2400ish rpms but it felt like a dog but I didn't take anytime to look anything over. Car weighed in @ 3790 with me in it after the first run
Second Run I hot lapped it: Launched @ 2600rpms felt better but something was still off. I got flagged down at the end of the track, spotter thinks he sees oil under the car. I take a look under and there is some oil but nothing leaking. I took it to the pits, wiped everything down real good and went back to the staging lanes.



Ran two more times back to back launching right around 2600-2800rpms.
After the second run I was waved off the track again and god darn it all I was covered in oil again.

I searched around and low and behold the valve cover breather was 100% clogged which pushed the lowered crank seal out causing it to leak.
I made a custom catch can out of a Gatorade bottle, some duct tape, shop towel in the bottle to act as a baffle and cleaned up the underside once again.



Darn it.... Still not feeling right so I go back to the pits for lunch.



Final run was a dumpster fire. Trans was cooked, brakes couldn't hold 2800rpms and I pushed through the stage. Trans dropped to neutral on deaccel, wouldn't rev, lost brakes and almost met the sand trap. Unfortunately for me the spotter noticed my lack of stopping power and proceeded to yell at me. Oops! I apologized. After I lengthy restart, the trans decided it was okay after all. As if though nothing even happened.




Back in the pits I discovered the panhard bar was lose causing me to squat so hard, the rear wheels were rubbing on the quarter. ******* burned right though the paint and chewed into the tires.... Why the hell I didn't think of this sooner when it was "running like a dog" perplexes me. Oh well, I'm out here to learn am I right?


Thanks for following along. I'll be updating more soon.

New plans for this year: Adjust for consistancy , install B&M trans cooler , look into new rotors and pads , flush brake fluid, flush trans , flush coolant , and fix the damn shaking... its getting out of hand
no cage, no nos, no afcos, no 12-bolt for now but funds available if I decide to pull the trigger

 

I'm late to the game this year but I'm ordering parts ramping up for next year.

Parts ordered:
Afco shocks front and rear
B&M transcooler
Mickey Thompson SS drag radials
parts to rebuild the 10 bolt again

 

Ordered:
UMI adjustable LCA's
UMI LCA relocation brackets.

Afco Rear shocks are installed with stock springs and holy **** what a difference. I was a bit hesitant ordering them after hearing Afco was bought out but I couldn't find a reason to think quality went to ****, so I took a shot at them. I'm very impressed.

I need to order some front springs to complete coil overs. Any recommendations?
Only have about a month to work on the car before I park it for the winter. I hope to have the shocks installed with a fresh oil change.
Haven't decided if I'll leave the rear sway bar on since it hasn't hindered traction but I might to maximize grip.

 

On order
new z06 replica wheels
new sticky mickeys rear
new nitto nt05r fronts
new EBC slotted and dimpled rotors
new yellow stuff pads
new crank puller - finally replace the seal to stop the slow leak so I can go drag racing again!!

and fresh ceramic coating for maximum shine.

 

Update:
Full UMI suspension
Afcos
15% UDP
Yank SS4000
Franks stage 4 transmission
lost some weight #3530
HP Tuners

set the compression on the rear afcos to -10 from full stiff
Set the rebound on the front shocks to +10 from full soft
Rear tires @ 19.5psi
5/8 a tank of 93
1-2 shift @ 6250
2-3 @ 6250

DA was -123
55 degrees with wind chill in the 30’s
humidity 70%

First run launched at idle
second run launched at sub 1500



Goal for this year 11.5 @115mph with a 1.5 60ft; unfortunately next test and tune isn’t until late August.