Last time we left off was back in 2012 when she had rust repair done and a rollcage put in and Detroit Speed (DSE) tubs. Once I received my car back I immediately started on everything under the car: suspension, brakes, differential and transmission. Initially I wanted to use all Speedtech Performance but at the time they didn’t have a front subframe for my year of Camaro. I did start out thinking of using the stock subframe and beefing it up with full welds and then installing aftermarket shocks, etc. I decided that it was just way too heavy and chose to go with a DSE subframe. I know its odd to mix vendors like this not everyone does but I really liked the torque arm setup for rear suspension. See links below to check out what parts I used going from front to rear:
Hydroformed Subframe 1970-81 Camaro
Front Brakes: Wilwood Superlite 6 Piston Drop Spindle
Speedtech performance Camaro Torque Arm
Tremec Magnum Transmission with Lightning Shifter
Currie Enterprises Camaro Rearends
Rear Brakes: Wilwood Big Ford Superlite 4 Piston 12.88
Phase Two Start
I had BentMetal primer coat it since I didn’t really know how long it would be before I could get it to body work and paint. Once I measured and welded the torque are brackets in and did a mockup. I wanted to paint the bottom of the body with something that would be rust resistant and be more resilient with rocks and debris. I spoke to SpeedTech and the recommended using Raptor Truck Liner coating. I saw what they did and liked the looks of it so went that way. I also did the engine bay the same way. The following pictures are after mockup, full welds and than Raptor coating:
Gotchas and Comments
Rear End
One note make sure you speak to whomever is doing your rear end. In my case I went through Speedtech to get the recommended setup. I used Currie Ford 9′ with 373 gears and TrueTrac. It’s really important since the size of tires/wheels will impact how long the rear differential is. You can always compensate but size and offset but getting as close as the way you want it to look and handle will save a lot of heartache and money. The Speedtech suspension was easier than I thought it would be. As long as you take your time and get the welds down you will be good to go. The two brake images are rear left and right.
Brakes
When doing the brake systems make sure and mock it up several times before applying red loctite which is recommended. Also don’t freak out if the spacers are even as far as how many you need top to bottom. When I first installed these it would not space correctly when using the same amount of spacers. After speaking with Wilwood they said its a common problem of needing more on top than bottom or visa-versa. One thing I had to do and they said it was fine was the aluminium bracket that acts as the initial spacer was actually too wide for my setup and I had to get it milled down. After that then using spacers I was able to get it correct front and rear.
Coating
If you decide to do Raptor coating or something else, I recommend using the primer coat in a different color. In my instance I had black primer than black undercoat and it made it harder to see if coverage was complete. I wish I would have had them do white or grey but I didn’t think about it.
To be Continued…
For whatever reason I cannot find any pictures of the front subframe and brake system but I will try and remember to get those when I have an opportunity. In part three I will provide information and pictures of what was done for bodywork and paint. I had this done by a neighbor Butch. At the time he had his own business Butch’s Rod and Custom in Hellertown but now he is working for a private collector.
Project: Black & Blue 