1981 Camaro - C-Prepared Build

Paul-

 Great to finally meet you this past week! I think you've got a pretty solid, and quick, base to work with there. And I love Kate's comments above.

 CP!!!!

 DaveZ

 CP29/129

Living the dream with that car. Huge success!

In reply to John Welsh :

My history with the car goes back almost as far as Paul’s, and it’s sometimes very hard to remember what it used to look like.  We met shortly after he bought it and joined nastyz28.com and i think i was a moderator there and balls deep in my own 80 camaro build.

The time we made frame connectors then pigged out at white castle.

doing a v8 swap in his parents driveway with an HOA that had a no car work rule, going to the junkyard in a panic for a bracket to get it done

watching the exhaust burn through a strap with the car 5 feet in the air on the dyno at carlisle and the car lurching a little on the rollers

Running a test bead to get Paul’s new welder set up to do the subframe work

that time we put the iroc wheels on from one of Pokey’s field camaros

trying and failing to blow the tire back on the bead with wd40 and a lighter in the snow because we didn’t have starting fluid, and all i did was catch the tire on fire momentarily

then it got laid up for rebuilding and life happened.  

I got married and Paul was my best man

Paul and Kate got married and I was among his legion of groomsmen

I had a kid

I had another kid

Paul made slightly better financial choices in that department and just had a Bailey and Otto(and a cody, RIP)

And now here we are, full circle, and the camaro is back kicking ass

Good times, looking forward to swapping keys at some point and experiencing it’s new incarnation.  

Fun fact, the intake and heads from that first v8 the car had are on my belair 

Awesome car ..... awesome build. Was following you and LooseC last week....now it's the little stuff to werk on. And your sweetie digs the E36M3 outa it.....major scoreboard!!! I have one question, the rear window is required by the rules right, what is to prevent you from putting in a series of holes (top/bottom) to relieve pressure back(sail/parachute) there...or should i take off my 'sleptataholidayinn' aerodynamicist hat? 

Patrick said:

In reply to John Welsh :

My history with the car goes back almost as far as Paul’s, and it’s sometimes very hard to remember what it used to look like.  We met shortly after he bought it and joined nastyz28.com and i think i was a moderator there and balls deep in my own 80 camaro build.

 

The time we made frame connectors then pigged out at white castle.

doing a v8 swap in his parents driveway with an HOA that had a no car work rule, going to the junkyard in a panic for a bracket to get it done

watching the exhaust burn through a strap with the car 5 feet in the air on the dyno at carlisle and the car lurching a little on the rollers

Running a test bead to get Paul’s new welder set up to do the subframe work

that time we put the iroc wheels on from one of Pokey’s field camaros

trying and failing to blow the tire back on the bead with wd40 and a lighter in the snow because we didn’t have starting fluid, and all i did was catch the tire on fire momentarily

then it got laid up for rebuilding and life happened.  

I got married and Paul was my best man

Paul and Kate got married and I was among his legion of groomsmen

I had a kid

I had another kid

Paul made slightly better financial choices in that department and just had a Bailey and Otto(and a cody, RIP)

And now here we are, full circle, and the camaro is back kicking ass

Good times, looking forward to swapping keys at some point and experiencing it’s new incarnation.  

Fun fact, the intake and heads from that first v8 the car had are on my belair 

 

We do go back pretty far, don't we?  I regret we never got your 80 out there, but I'm stoked to hear the the heads and intake are onthe Belair.  I had no idea!

Thanks for eduring the countless texts, calls, and emails over the years, and always being there (for car stuff and other).  You're as mcuh a part of this build as anyone else.

759NRNG said:

Awesome car ..... awesome build. Was following you and LooseC last week....now it's the little stuff to werk on. And your sweetie digs the E36M3 outa it.....major scoreboard!!! I have one question, the rear window is required by the rules right, what is to prevent you from putting in a series of holes (top/bottom) to relieve pressure back(sail/parachute) there...or should i take off my 'sleptataholidayinn' aerodynamicist hat? 

Honestly, I'm not sure.  I don't see anything in the rules about being allowed to, so I haven't.  I'd be curious to see what others think.

z28cp said:

Paul-

 

 Great to finally meet you this past week! I think you've got a pretty solid, and quick, base to work with there. And I love Kate's comments above.

 

 CP!!!!

 

 DaveZ

 CP29/129

 

Fantastic to finally meet you!  Thanks for the compliments.  Let's do it again next year.

About the holes in the rear window, I haven't seen a single CP car with that done, so probably not legal. The old "not in the rules so no can do". Of course if you put a period correct louver on the rear window, maybe no one would notice the holes. Not that I condone this type of action.

Along that same aero line, Paul, have you figured out yet how much not having the t-tops in place affects the airflow to the rear spoiler? Well now you can think about that. Ha Ha. Okay, I'll show myself out the door.

81cpcamaro said:

Along that same aero line, Paul, have you figured out yet how much not having the t-tops in place affects the airflow to the rear spoiler? Well now you can think about that. Ha Ha. Okay, I'll show myself out the door.

I'm not saying I'm shopping for used t-tops to make carbon fiber panels from this winter.

Congrats on the whole dang thing - build, trip to lincoln, results, etc.  Great read!

Either your external camera mount is loose or some kind of image stabilization is active on the videos making them kinda wonky to watch.

RedGT said:

Congrats on the whole dang thing - build, trip to lincoln, results, etc.  Great read!

 

Either your external camera mount is loose or some kind of image stabilization is active on the videos making them kinda wonky to watch.

Stabilization.  I didn't have time to read the manaul.

Super awesome!  Your whole story is really inspiring to me, both as a builder and a driver.

Congrats and good luck as you develop the car and get to enjoy it.

Gimp said:

81cpcamaro said:

Along that same aero line, Paul, have you figured out yet how much not having the t-tops in place affects the airflow to the rear spoiler? Well now you can think about that. Ha Ha. Okay, I'll show myself out the door.

I'm not saying I'm shopping for used t-tops to make carbon fiber panels from this winter.

I have a roll of carbon fiber and want to practice.

Can't tell you how proud I am to have been a part of it (even if a lot of it later had to be redone, opps!).

Gimp said:

759NRNG said:

Awesome car ..... awesome build. Was following you and LooseC last week....now it's the little stuff to werk on. And your sweetie digs the E36M3 outa it.....major scoreboard!!! I have one question, the rear window is required by the rules right, what is to prevent you from putting in a series of holes (top/bottom) to relieve pressure back(sail/parachute) there...or should i take off my 'sleptataholidayinn' aerodynamicist hat? 

Honestly, I'm not sure.  I don't see anything in the rules about being allowed to, so I haven't.  I'd be curious to see what others think.

It's very specifically not legal and is called out in the rules.

landstuhltaylor said:

Gimp said:

759NRNG said:

Awesome car ..... awesome build. Was following you and LooseC last week....now it's the little stuff to werk on. And your sweetie digs the E36M3 outa it.....major scoreboard!!! I have one question, the rear window is required by the rules right, what is to prevent you from putting in a series of holes (top/bottom) to relieve pressure back(sail/parachute) there...or should i take off my 'sleptataholidayinn' aerodynamicist hat? 

Honestly, I'm not sure.  I don't see anything in the rules about being allowed to, so I haven't.  I'd be curious to see what others think.

It's very specifically not legal and is called out in the rules.

Boo Hiss!!!! OK is a rear window required? and no i'm not looking at the 'regs'....just askin'

I'm a little sad I never got to meet you in person and check out the car. Every year I plan on going to Nationals, be more relaxed and socialize more and every year my plans fall through. We were parked in the Canada area of paddock and never hung out under the tent for even a minute-so sad

loosecannon said:

I'm a little sad I never got to meet you in person and check out the car. Every year I plan on going to Nationals, be more relaxed and socialize more and every year my plans fall through. We were parked in the Canada area of paddock and never hung out under the tent for even a minute-so sad

Likewise. The dust kinda killed any on-site fun. Rain check for next year?

In reply to Gimp :

I'm so happy this got done.  Looks great!

I'm strongly considering bringing the MG back to Nationals next year.   Will have to get you+me+loosecannon together for stupid long term GRM forum project car picture day.  Though I'm not sure the world would be able to handle that much awesome in one spot.

In reply to nocones :

We have a year to get our bodies ready.  I'm in.

Gimp said:

In reply to nocones :

We have a year to get our bodies ready.  I'm in.

 

NOBODY wants to see a centerfold spread of you guys in bathing suits posing with your cars.  

Apexcarver said:

Gimp said:

In reply to nocones :

We have a year to get our bodies ready.  I'm in.

 

NOBODY wants to see a centerfold spread of you guys in bathing suits posing with your cars.  

Never, EVER, speak in absolutes.

So after Nationals, the Camaro and I decided that, at least for a bit, we needed to see other people.  After putting in some many frantic hours, it was time to take care of the other bits of life that were being neglected.

But, now it's 2020, and the season starts before I know it.  There are a few changes that have already happened (some spring rate related stuff), but the first major task is new mufflers.

When I ran at Nationals last year I was just over the sound limit.  Lucky for me, they weren't DQing folks for sound this time around, but I won't always be so lucky.

Out with the old (Flowmaster 40 series)

So, based on recommendations from Ron Ver Mulm, I went with a pair of Spintech 1000XP mufflers.  Evidently they use this type on stadium monster trucks, so hopefully they work for me.

Because of the, um, unique exhaust routing and mounting, I needed to make a jig off the old mufflers.  Once that was made, the new ones were set in place to prep for welding to connect them together, and add mounting points.

And, while they aren't in the exact orientation, this is what the piping looks like as it transitions over the driveshaft and out the side of the car.

A visual extravaganza as always....hey Happy Belated New Year!!!

Brackets and mounts tacked in place.  The jig looks like it worked so far.

They should go in the car tomorrow for a test fit, then final welding.