[andrewb70]

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

Ok, you got my attention! Curious, what were some of the other motivators there?

Andrewb70 - Curious about the track time too. One thing that plagues the 68-72 A-body is the 'oscillation' in the rear suspension that occurs under hard power around a sweeping turn at speed. Have you experienced this? It's present in every A-body I've ever driven (hard), except one that had a truck-arm suspension. It's a hairy ride when it happens, and you KNOW it's happening...

.

My best time around Gingerman was 1:56. It was enough to get me in the top 16 of the Pro-Touring class. I am not sure that I have ever experienced anything like what you are describing. Then again, keep in mind that I was not really pushing the car as much as I could have. I had my son riding with me on all of the sessions and I wasn't about to do anything stupid. The car has no cage and I am was out there just for fun. I also knew that I had a road trip out west and a drive back home in front of me.

Andrew

[andrewb70]

Originally Posted by stobin

Really great thread Andrew. Love the idea of taking your daughter for a summer trip in the car. I have the same aspirations with my 14 y/o daughter in the Grand Am, which is now in the process of receiving a 440 inch LS motor thanks in part to you and your GTO story.

That will be an amazing ride. I can't wait to read about the build and the road trip. I've always loved the Grand Ams. Such neat cars!!! Good luck with the project.

Andrew

[Charlie Brengun]

so did you get the GTO up to 120 mph at the track? how did it perform?

I like the pics, some parts of the US are truly beautiful.. lots of places left for me to vacation too

[andrewb70]

Originally Posted by Charlie Brengun

so did you get the GTO up to 120 mph at the track? how did it perform?

I like the pics, some parts of the US are truly beautiful.. lots of places left for me to vacation too

I got the car up to about 110mph on the straights. The car performed very well. The handling is very predictable and stable, without any bad tendencies. It has some understeer but getting on the throttle brings the back around nicely.

Andrew

[andrewb70]

Just saw the latest issue of PHR magazine and on the last page I got a little ink from the coverage of the Motor State Challenge.



A big thanks to Robert McGaffin for covering the event and to Johnny Hunkins for including a picture of my car in the coverage.

With some luck I will be at LS Fest next weekend!

Andrew

[andrewb70]

This past weekend I drove to Bowling Green, KY to attend the Holley LS Fest. Everyone from Holley and FM3 did an amazing job with the event. It was great to see so many old friends and meet some new people. My main goal for the event was to have a good time. The LS Fest offers something for everyone: drag racing, auto cross, speed stop challenge, drift exhibition, country cruise, and show and shine.

On Saturday morning I did a session of autocrossing and it was a good reminder how much I dislike the experience. My car is really not set-up for it and it wallowed around the course like a pregnant yak. Give me a high speed road course and I'll be a smiling fool...

I also participated in the True Street class of the drag racing competition. True street is a good time because it starts with a 30 mile cruise followed by 3 rounds of drag racing. The drive really does a nice job of separating real street cars from race cars. Lingenfelter Performance was the lead sponsor and drove their LS9 powered 5th Gen Camaro, which completed the drive without any problems. Once we were back at the track everyone drove directly to the staging lanes where adjustments to the car were no longer permitted. Everyone runs on an index, meaning the goal is to get as close to a whole number time as possible without going over, over a three run average. So technically there is an unlimited number of classes, but realistically it broke down into 13 second, 12 sec, 11, 10, 9, and overall winner.

Earlier in the day, during practice sessions I ran a best of 12.65@111mph, but my very first practice pass was a 13.038, so the natural place for me to compete was in the 13 second index. On the first round pass I ran a 13.002. Second round was a 12.998. That put me at a perfect 13.000, but I had to race one more round. If I went under 13 seconds that would have been over for me, so the goal was to run as close to 13 seconds as possible without going over. On my last pass I ran a 13.038, which put me at 13.012 for a three run average. That was good enough for the win and a $100 bucks in my pocket. Good times...

I want to thank my good friend Bill Howell for bringing my car. If it wasn't for his kindness I would never be able to do this event.

[stobin]

Well that is one of the events I would like to attend in the future. It sounds like you had a lot of fun. Great to hear your getting to enjoy the GTO to it's fullest potential. I guess they dont have road coarse event?

[andrewb70]

Originally Posted by stobin

Well that is one of the events I would like to attend in the future. It sounds like you had a lot of fun. Great to hear your getting to enjoy the GTO to it's fullest potential. I guess they dont have road coarse event?

The Holley LS Fest is really a great event. The event takes place at Beech Bend Raceway, which is a 1/4 drag strip and a 3/8 mile paved oval. The autocross was setup using the oval track and its paved in-field.

There is a rumor that the Corvette Museum, which is also located in Bowling Green, KY, is going to build a road course. If that happens, it is entirely possible that LS Fest might include a road course event in the future.

Andrew

[3 Chiefs]

Originally Posted by andrewb70

The Holley LS Fest is really a great event. The event takes place at Beech Bend Raceway, which is a 1/4 drag strip and a 3/8 mile paved oval. The autocross was setup using the oval track and its paved in-field.

There is a rumor that the Corvette Museum, which is also located in Bowling Green, KY, is going to build a road course. If that happens, it is entirely possible that LS Fest might include a road course event in the future.

Andrew

Andrew I was admiring your car at LS Fest. I was looking for you but didn't see you around when I was there Friday. I know what you look like because I seen your V8 TV video. Anyway I really like your car and was explaining to my wife how much you drive this car and how much you have fun with it. She thought that was cool and thinks I should build mine to drive the wheels off of it too.
You are right, LS Fest was a good time.

Paul

[andrewb70]

Originally Posted by 3 Chiefs

Andrew I was admiring your car at LS Fest. I was looking for you but didn't see you around when I was there Friday. I know what you look like because I seen your V8 TV video. Anyway I really like your car and was explaining to my wife how much you drive this car and how much you have fun with it. She thought that was cool and thinks I should build mine to drive the wheels off of it too.
You are right, LS Fest was a good time.

Paul

Paul,

I am sorry that I missed you. I actually didn't arrive at Beech bend until about 6:00PM on Friday. My friend Bill Howell was kind enough to bring the car on Friday morning. He was the one doing the auto-cross on Friday.

Andrew

[andrewb70]

For the sake of continuity I wanted to post an update to what's been happening with my car. Since doing the LS swap, I really haven't been able to do many events due to the circumstances in my life. Also, the car has been in storage, with the kindness of friends, but I now have the car with me in Memphis. Back in March I looked at the schedule of events at Memphis International Raceway, and I noticed that the local BMW club holds regular autocrosses at the track. My girlfriend and I attended the March autocross hosted by the Rivercity Bimmers. As it turned out, any car is welcome to participate and the guys were all very friendly. We decided that for the next event we would bring the GTO and participate in the fun.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. We finally had a break from the rains and the temperature was in the high 60s. There was a slight breeze, but overall, it was a great day. The course wasn't really a true autocross. There is actually a road course setup at MIR and the autocross used a section of the road course for sections of the track. It was very fast and a lot of fun. Cars were a mix of BMWs, a Miata, and a small contingent of Subarus.

The fast time of the day was set by a lightly modified Subaru STi. He ran the course in 56.xx seconds. My first run of the day was 1:04.xx, but as I got more familiar with the course and got a few pointers from a more experienced driver, I was able to get down under a minute. My best run was 59.xx, at which point I called it a day. This was about as much fun as I have had for 30 bucks...

I had a car mount for my cell phone, and I was able to capture some decent videos of my runs. I made a compilation of a several runs. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5xewTdkzD0

Andrew

[chief455]

NICE!

[andrewb70]

I have a curse. It is the same curse that inflicts many of you. This curse makes people crazy and makes them do things for no apparent reason. I am speaking of the inability to leave well enough alone. My car is fine. It drives great, runs hard, brakes well. But I can't leave it alone.

I have never been 100% satisfied with the rear brakes. It is an older Baer Track system that uses a small C4 Corvette caliper (40mm piston bore) and a 12" rotor. When I was doing the last round of updates a few years ago, I noticed that the caliper bracket was slightly bent. I never really tracked down the reason why this might happen, but it was a little unsettling. So after doing some reading on the forum, I decided to install the 4th gen Camaro LS brake system. The LS brakes have amazingly sturdy cast iron caliper brackets, bigger calipers (45mm piston bore), and I will eventually incorporate the drum style e-brake.

Here are a few teaser shots of the components.

I sourced the brackets from a very good seller on LS1tech, who was parting out a 1999 Firebird. After a trip to the sandblaster and a couple of coats or Rustoleum Silver grill paint, they are good to go:



Being on a limited budget, I was basically forced to use re-manufactured calipers. I got on Rockauto and found that Powerstop sells a set of calipers that are powder coated red for under $150 for the pair. They look very well put together and will add a touch of matching color to the rear:





To round out the brake upgrade, I got a set of Raybestos professional grade rotors and semi-metalic pads. Raybestos is currently running a rebate of $5 per rotor and $15 for a set of pads. The rotor is coated (maybe e-coat) and should stay looking nice for a little longer than plain rotors.



The other main reason for the timing of this upgrade is that I will be having the ring and pinion gear swapped by a shop. I don't have the space or tool to do any of the work myself, and I figure that since the rear end will be completely disassembled, adding new brake components should add minimal to the cost of the swap. The main reason for swapping gears is to eliminate excessive gear whine under light load. This is very annoying when going down the highway, and after talking to several trusted people, the consensus was that a new R&P set would be needed. I am also going down to a 3.42 gear (from 3.73) to reduce highway cruising RPM.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Andrew

[Wick]

Andrew, I noticed your LS brakets don't have the anti lock hole, the hole is there but it's not machined through. I had to use a freeze plug to fill mine in but only after I massaged it a touch.

Let me know how you get the e brake to work too, the lever is very close to the shock mount.

[6 Grrrs]

Andrew...What rear end is in your car? I can't remember if you run a stock 1970 Abody rear or possibly a 12 bolt.

Also I am interested in how the ebrake works on these calipers? Is it a mini drum inside the hat of the rotor, or incorporated into the caliper (like the ratchet setup from the '80's GM cars)? That rotor does not look like it is shaped properly for a pair of shoes inside, but also I cannot see tha backside of the caliper with the ratchet assembly.

[andrewb70]

These brackets are from a 1999 Firebird. I think it might have had the 3 channel ABS system, which would explain why the brackets are not machined for the ABS sensors.

The parking brake setup has a drum style inside the brake rotor. I am not implementing the e-brake now because I don't have a pedal for the e-brake in my car (long story). I will eventually make the e-brake functional but I will have to install a hand operated lever.

I have a Chevy 12 bolt that I got many years ago.

Andrew

[69*Goat]

Originally Posted by andrewb70

I will eventually make the e-brake functional but I will have to install a hand operated lever.
Andrew

Is "Drifting" in the future of your GTO Andrew? LOL.

[andrewb70]

Originally Posted by 69*Goat

Is "Drifting" in the future of your GTO Andrew? LOL.

Not exactly. I don't have a pedal or cable installed for the e-brake due to speakers in the kick panels...

Andrew

[HWYSTR455]

Originally Posted by andrewb70

Not exactly. I don't have a pedal or cable installed for the e-brake due to speakers in the kick panels...

Andrew

Did you use the pre-formed kick panels that have provisions for speakers, or did you cut out OE ones? The ones that come with the cutouts allow for the e-brake. If you didn't use those, maybe swap over?

You can also space out the e-brake assembly to clear the speaker. It will probably get wobbly though if you go too far. The kick panel kind of guides your foot straight so you don't put a side load on the pedal.

A lot of rear disc calipers require an e-brake to maintain proper preload, but would imagine that's redundant info for you.

.

[andrewb70]

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

Did you use the pre-formed kick panels that have provisions for speakers, or did you cut out OE ones? The ones that come with the cutouts allow for the e-brake. If you didn't use those, maybe swap over?

You can also space out the e-brake assembly to clear the speaker. It will probably get wobbly though if you go too far. The kick panel kind of guides your foot straight so you don't put a side load on the pedal.

A lot of rear disc calipers require an e-brake to maintain proper preload, but would imagine that's redundant info for you.

.

I used the kick panels from whatever vendors sells them, I forget now. But I installed different speakers in them and they stick out quite a bit. At this point getting a pedal in there will require way more work than I am willing to do, so it will just stay that way for now. The LS1 rear brake calipers are completely removed from the e-brake, so I don't see any issues there.

Some progress has been made. I feel terrible having to outsource some of this work, but I really have no choice. Luckily, the shop where the work is being done came highly recommended and they allowed me to hang out while they did the work. The owner's son was doing the work, and he was doing a good job.

Here is the new gear installed:



The brakes were mounted on the passenger side without any drama. The caliper abutment was well spaced away from the rotor and there was no contact even when the axle was pulled out all the way against the C-clip.



The driver's side, for some reason, wasn't as cooperative. The caliper abutment was nowhere close to fitting and after taking some measurements, we determined that the axle offset on the driver's side was .125" more than on the passenger side. I don't know why this is the case, but we ended up using some precision washers to space the caliper bracket away from the rear housing flange. Once that was done, everything lined up great.



Luckily, the guy doing the work was paying attention and he noticed that the driver's side hard line from the center to the caliper was pinched.



There were marks on the exhaust where it looked like the rear end hit during a hard bump. Since the hard line runs over the top of the axle it got smashed. New lines will be made and they will be routed along the backside of the axle tube instead of over the top.

Andrew