SS Camaro - Track trips, build pics etc.

[01SSRedA4]

Saved the first one as a souvenir.

[01SSRedA4]

Hit up Test And Tune Friday night. The truck actually towed decently with the lowering kit (trailer properly loaded of course), and the new found power (headers, tune, awd delete) was really noticeable.



Random staging lane pics.









At the end of the day it cut a best (random passes) 60ft of 1.45, best 1/8 mile of 6.9x @ 97mph, and quarter 10.99 @ 121. The mph on the 1/4 tells me its not pulling like it should on the backend, it definitely needs more tuning, which I plan to do soon.

And at the end of the night I made it through a Whataburger drive through and only scuffed the curbed and grazed a bush.

[01SSRedA4]

Ordered a set of MWC aluminum lower arms and matching panhard to replace the poly bushing stuff i had on the car before. More on that later, plus she is still trimming down....



Cant wait to get these babies installed and maybe make another trip to the scales. I think the front is the 3/16ths and the rear is 1/4 with the dark tint.



Couple of teaser pics, I plan on fully detailing the install, with all the install info, weights, for anyone wanting to try the install themselves. So far I can tell you the rear glass is difficult to remove, and the optic armor fits soooo nice.

[/URL]

[Weldangrind]

Did the track management politely show you the exit when you broke into the 10's? I don't see a cage inside.

[01SSRedA4]

Nah, they dont care.

[katoranger]

Weld, we need to start racing our minivans. I see giant turbo 3.8 and scattered engine parts after the first launch.

[JerryHawk250]

That looks like HPTuners you are using for tuning? Great program. I've got a lot of experience in tuning turbo and supercharged LS engines. I managed to push my 6300# turbo charge 6.0L 3/4 ton tow truck into the 13.90's . That's pretty fast for a brick lol. Good times on the Camaro

[01SSRedA4]

Thanks man, and yes its hptuners. Ive been dabbling with mostly NA engines with it for about 5 years.

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by 01SSRedA4

Thanks man, and yes its hptuners. Ive been dabbling with mostly NA engines with it for about 5 years.

I've been using it for about 15 years. It's amazing how bad most of the GM's are tuned from the Factory. Good example was I took my brother completely stock 1/2 ton 2002 Chevy to the track on test and tune night. he made a few runs and averaged 16.28. I tuned it for 87 octane because he didn't want to pay for premium fuel. his 1st run he picked up a whole second at 15.28. Could of got more out of it if he would of let me tune it for 93 octane. It's been a couple years I've stopped going to the track. HPTuners finally released tuning for my 5.7 hemi Ram so I might be going back just for fun. Wonder how much more I can get out of the 395 hp Hemi? My turbo chevy was putting out 485 hp 512tq at the rear wheels running 12# boost. I couldn't push it pass 8# boost at the track because of traction issues.

[01SSRedA4]

So on my quest to get under the 3k lbs mark I placed an order through Midwest Chassis for 1/4" front clear, and 3/16th rear in dark tint. My original plan was to pay someone to do this but ended up changing my mind and deciding to tackle it on my own. I have zero glass experience of this kind, so I just had to wing it. I'm gonna give you all the tips that I learned along the way in case you want to try it yourself one day.

Here is when they arrived. The box was kinda beat up....I'm actually surprised they weren't damaged somehow.



Made a trip to harbor freight to pick up some windshield specific tools:



This is the urethane glue I chose. No particular reason, I purchased it on ebay for about $10 per tube. You'll need about 2 per window.



You may want to hire someone to remove the glass, I chose to give it a whirl. I started on the back first. Its tougher then the Youtube videos make it out, especially without scratching the car. You need to remove the perimeter molding first thing and the inside panels then use your various tools to separate the glass from the car. I finally decided fuck this.



One of the things that makes the rear glass a real pain is in the corners there is two separate lines of urethane, which makes getting through that part super difficult to a beginning installer. You can see here, where the glass makes the curve at the bottom is a thick bead, then toward the upper edge there is another thin line.



This is the edge of the fiberglass lip at the rear (basically right in front of the spoiler). You can see the wire tool was actually chipping away at the fiberglass. Grrrrrr :mad:



This was the tool I selected to remove the urethane from the car to prep for install. I sharpened it first. Also, new urethane sticks to old urethane so there is no reason to remove every single bit. The most important thing is the surface is smooth and there is no excess old urethane left.



Here is a better picture where you can see the double spread line that traces the corners of the glass.



Here's the surface, prepped, sanded, and cleaned. I went over the entire flange with maybe 220 grit just so I knew it had some bite. The fiberglass seemed awfully slick and I was nervous about the urethane bonding.



Make sure you test fit first before you commit to the final install. I was also curious about whether it needed the stock molding back on it (it is no longer available for purchase). It looked fine with nothing, so that's what I ended up with.



These are velcro spacers x2 at the top of the window, I reinstalled them.





Lay your beads down following the factory lines.



I dropped the rear in by myself. Bottom is basically resting on the car with no room for molding, the top leading edge would be your preference. I think I'm going to leave it bare.



For the front, remove the molding that runs along both sides and the top.





Remove the cowl cover. Im also deleting the windshield wipers.



Remove the glass......

Whoops!



Same as the rear, nothing tricky up front. Prep and clean.



Make sure you test fit before you commit.



Find a work station, clean your stock molding, and reglue it to the lexan, tape it, and allow the glue to dry. I used black silicone. It is available new for about $75 if you want to replace it.



Run your beads just like the back, and drop in place, remember to have a friend help, and tape up top to keep it from sliding down while it cures.



A couple hours later it looks like stock.



The windows weighed roughly 10lbs rear, and probably 17/18 for the front. They are supposed to save about 50/55lbs for the pair. My car should weigh, after the wiper delete, somewhere around 2970 or so. Overall they look really nice and fit really well. Im pleased with them.

[Weldangrind]

Thanks for the detailed write-up. Are those windows road legal, or are they "legal"?

[01SSRedA4]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

Thanks for the detailed write-up. Are those windows road legal, or are they "legal"?

The rear I think yes, the front no, you are required to have DOT shatterproof glass in the front for safety reasons (think flying debris).

[Weldangrind]

I figured. That said, I needed a barrier for my service vehicle and the guy at the plastic shop said 1/4" polycarb is the answer. It'll stop most anything, although it's not resistant to scratches.
Congrats on getting your Camaro under 3000lbs!

[01SSRedA4]

Thanks, its been a long and expensive journey due to the fact that the car retains stock appearances (at least at a glance).

[01SSRedA4]

Not super happy with the 60ft but it did go quicker overall so......