I have a 68 Camaro (bone stock 6 cyl front springs and mono rear springs). It is mostly street driven but I want to run some autocross events. I was thinking of getting the Hotchkis front lowering springs and the matching rear springs. Also doing the Guldstrand mod and adding a front sway bar. Or should I be looking at a stiffer front spring? Another question is what should I run for shocks? Wheels and tires??? I did not want to go larger than a 16” rim. I like the styling of the old school Torque Thrust D wheels. I have found at least 4 different manufacturers of this style of wheel. Are any better than the other? What back spacing and tire size should I go with? What brand are good all around performance tires? Sorry for all the questions I am a long time drag racer and not real familiar with the handling side of these cars.

Do some searching, Matt. It's all here.
Guldstrand = YES
Hotchkiss = YES (front swaybar, too 1" or bigger)
Good shocks, new bushings ball joints rod ends(if not allready)
mid 80's iroc / trans am steering box
Tires = big as will fit!

If you want to autocross in stock class the engine must be stock, the front sway bar and shocks can be changed but not the springs.

the other end of the scale is Prepared class which is a full race stripped body like a trans-am car, or Modified which you can do just about anything you can think of.

In between are street prepared and I think there is a new street stock class or something like that.
Pick your class and prepare the car to those rules.

I think most of the common mods would put you in Street Prepared class. I'm not sure if the suspension mounting points can be moved in that class though.
David

Thanks David. I had not thought about the different classes. I went to a few events here in Detroit and really enjoyed them. Since the 68 was bone stock she did not perform well. But I still had alot of fun. Something different to try other than dragracing.

I think the 454 is going to put you into Modified.
Just do the normal susension kit and guldstrand mod route. You need discs but the fancy Baer stuff is not necessary. Sticky tires will help a ton, you can't do well without them. The BB engine will really hurt, try to run events put on by Corvette clubs rather than the small car guys.

Your ideal course would have ninety degree corners with a straight connecting them. Linked turns or 180 deg turns will really kill your times. You need to set up and drive to be able to use your horsepower out of the turns down the straight.
David

More info:
http://www.moutons.org/sccasolo/
http://www.tirerack.com/features/solo2/handbook.htm

[ 08-27-2004, 09:46 PM: Message edited by: davidpozzi ]

move as much weight rearward as possible! :D

The big block is in the 69 (Drag Car). The 68 has a mild 350 in it with a 4 spd and 3.73 gears. Unfortunatly most of the courses run linked turns with the ocassional 180 degree turn. The straight aways usually have slolam cones in them.

Matt

The SB engine will help the handling a lot. Lighten the front as much as you can, I allways ran with a full tank of gas, it helped traction and balance.

Gloabal west has some good parts and packages. Speed Tech A arms are very good and will save you money if price is an issue. The uppers will help geometry, the lower arm advantage is the spring seat can be rotated with the spring as it is cut shorter so ride height changes from trimming the coils is more predictable. Or use an adjuster on top of a circle track spring rate of 650-700.

Tires are the critical choice for autocross. If you fall into Modified class, you can run slicks on your car. I think the Hoosier tires are very good, BFG and Kuhmo are good too, but you need the top autocross tire in those lines.
David