Pro Touring '69 Chevelle build thread

[Derek69SS]

Another day, another broken part... An unknown bind occurring at full compression snapped the shaft on my LF coilover. Damage to the shock body occurred from driving home with it flopping around inside the spring... I didn't realize it was broke, thought it was just a blown shock. Only decently fast way around a right-hander was to be real smooth with the brake, settling it down on the bumpstop before turn-in, and trail braking to keep it on the bumpstop through the middle of the corner.

There was a spot on the frame where the spring was rubbing inside the pocket on full compression. When I checked my clearances, I did not remove the bumpstops, so I think it interfered only when the bumpstops were compressed. I can't remember if I re-checked clearances after changing lower arms either... I did the Chicane mounts in 2019 and replaced the SPC lowers with the beefy new version in 2020. Spring making contact with the frame was putting side load on the shaft. I am NOT blaming the parts for this failure.

[Derek69SS]

Then that little project escalated quickly.

Thanks to Justin Nall at Vector Force Industries for hooking me up with Viking Crusader triple-adjustable coilovers and some 850# springs.

I got a little carried away with making room to be sure nothing would bind, which opened up the possibility to move the coilover mount further outboard on the A-arm, which will make for a significant improvement in the motion ratio.

[Derek69SS]

In 2022, I accomplished one more huge goal with this car; I qualified for the shootout at UMI's "King of the Mountain 4.0" !

That was an awesome experience, and the UMI team puts on an amazing event.
I coned out in the first round, but being part of the show, getting to do parade laps and then throw down a run on a crazy fast course in front of a couple thousand people was incredible!

Also, here's a drone video of my shootout run, with audio from my in-car added to it.
This was my one and only run on the course, and I got sloppy in several places, hit one cone, and wiggled another.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwIkDx0N3KY

[Derek69SS]

Getting to the point where there's not many upgrades left to do that don't involve cutting up the car and ruining its street-drivability... I needed more adjustability in the
rear, so I changed to these Viking Performance, Inc. Crusader triple-adjustable coilovers in the rear, giving me more options for spring rate, more adjustability in damping, and the ability to dial in the stance exactly where I want it.

I built my own lower mounts, as nobody offers a bolt-in or pre-fabricated mount for the Moser housing, and painted it all light silver to make it easy to spot cracks during race prep and inspections.

[Derek69SS]

Goodguys Des Moines 2023, I broke a spindle and jammed the driver's side wheel into the fender.

The manufacturer sent me a new spindle of a revised design, and the suspension was fixed pretty easily a few weeks ago, but the fender was pushed into the door, making it unable to open and close. I fixed that problem by making a hook that i could use to pull the fender out.

All the damage is down low, so I just touched up the paint chips, and leave it dented.

[Derek69SS]

So... that brings us to current day.

There's not much left I can do to get faster except add power. Every weakness has been found, but now we're getting to the point where things are wearing out, so the car is just getting fresh tires and basic maintenance until I can build a 416" LS3 stroker for it.

I also have bought a 2007 Corvette Z06 to build for more serious racing, so this car will pretty much stay as it is. The competition keeps getting faster, so this car doesn't have many competitive years left in it since I'm not willing to cut it for bigger tires, or ruin its streetcar manners to pull 600 lbs out of it.

I have accomplished more and gone more places with it than I ever imagined. If you told me back in 1998 what this would become, I would never have believed you.

[69M22Z]

Very cool. Thank you for sharing. You had a great run.

[RPOLS3]

Awesome - thanks for sharing

[Pro Stock John]

Fun build thread to read, thanks for sharing it.

I've thought about building a G machine as another project, Justin Nall's '66 Chevelle and Nick Barnett's '70 Nova always impress me at LS Fest East.

[Derek69SS]

Originally Posted by Pro Stock John

I've thought about building a G machine as another project, Justin Nall's '66 Chevelle and Nick Barnett's '70 Nova always impress me at LS Fest East.

Justin and I have both driven each others' cars. He drove mine at SCCA Nationals (after spinning a bearing at King of the Mountain), and I drove his after breaking the spindle at Goodguys. The turbo-lag makes his really difficult to adapt to. That's a well sorted car, and he drives it very well. Having boost that he can turn up really helps him at events like LS Fest.

I can do OK at LS Fest in the autocross and speed stop, but 434rwhp is not enough score any points in the drag racing portion of the "Grand Champion" competition. I always planned to spray a 250 shot at it if I ever go back to that event.