Hey all,

I am currently building a 1971 Camaro Z/28 pro touring car and am looking for some ideas and any and all advice you guys are willing to give. Post pictures and comments about difficulties or tricks you guys found out!!

Adam.

 

I probably have the only second gen pro touring car here. There are others but they come come here as often. So with that you'll have to be more specific on what you want to know. The whole road has been difficult and usually is for everyone who builds a car. even the high dollar guys seem to be working against deadlines and such.

The best priced suspension out is from a place called Pro touring Fbody, The issue is dave is a one man band and his shipping times are so long that I'd bet he's been sued or at least threatened. I've stories of a year wait on some parts due to his inability to find a powder coater. That is always the excuse I hear at least, "its at the powder coater or I can't find one to suit my needs". My car is 100% built with his parts. They are high quality and EVERYTHING is guaranteed to be made in the USA. Thats probably part of his issues too.

My car has the competition kit. Upper+ Lower control arms, springs, shocks, SFC's, solid bushings, sway bars, and G-bars. plus stuff like Affco ball joints the are 1/2" taller and a fast ratio steering box. The price? $3300 without brakes. The wait? I got mine three years ago and waited three months for everything to trickle in. It was painful to say the least.

Then Hotchkis (expect to pay double PTFB's price) has there TVS kit.This is said to be very good and comparable to PTFB's Gt kit. They also have a 3 link rear if your into autocross. Then for the money ain't no thang group there is Detroit Speed. There cars are seen winning autocrosses everywhere. There top of the line four link is in about every second gen seen in magazines.

Check out my build thread in my sig. It has pics of all the stuff I bough on and off the car.

Good luck and welcome.

 

If you want to go with the protouring f-body parts,you can probably get them alot faster by ordering from Keith at customworks.He usually stocks the parts and alot of people said they had no problems getting them when ordered from him.

 

Crap i meant to put that in my post. Agreed, Keith is great for customer service as well as building corner carving Camaro's. Not Camaro's with Corvette suspension.

 

Hey guys, the company that Keith works for is Customworks? Where is that out of and is this reasonable if your working off a college kids budget?

 

Building a pro touring 2nd gen, and doing it on a budget is a contradiction. If your plan is a pro touring car, then you might as well wait until after college. You can build a Camaro, but taking it to that level will destroy a budget quickly.

One of the great things about building Camaros is the abundance of bolt on equipment to create a corner carver, or performance car. Unlike older cars that require lots of fab work, you can literally purchase everything you need from online sites to make your car whatever you wnt it to be. But none of it is cheap. Some is cheaper than others, but even at half the price, it can still add up quickly. Damon's build is headed toward a higher level of handling than most, and he's really watched his budget, but the $3300 is just suspension. There's still things in the drivetrain that also need to be addressed if you want to build something that not only handles, but has the engine, trans, brakes, and rearend to back it up.

 

What kind of budget? Keith id out of Cali. The PTFB stuff doesn't break the bank. If your like me. I'm on the driving side of Pro Touring. Keith can answer and of your questions. He's a racer.

It happened just like Pro Street. First there were guys building cars that were drag cars for the street. The eventually there were guys who built cars that looked like drag cars and parked them in parking lots for people to complement them on their Tweed interior.

A few guys started building cars that could road race with license plates and air conditioning. Big brakes so they could stop all that power. Now there are guys building cars with large dia wheels but there only 7" wide. They are parked at shows so other guys can compliment them on their leather interior. And red brake calipers. This is why I call my car EGO Crusher

My car is about handling like any modern exotic car. Have air (someday) and it will get driven into the dirt just so I can rebuild and fix what broke. Then do it over again. If I ever go to a car show it will be because I never had anything nice enough. Plus the I did it myself helps.

 

Here ya go,here's a link to custom works.
Custom Works products for your 2nd Gen Camaro

 

Hey guys, I appreciate the plug! We build cars as well as design and make parts. As noted above, I am a racer and the Custom Works Camaro is how we test all our stuff. We have hit several of the Run to the ..... Events, and Goodguys shows, and will be in Camaro Performers magazine near the end of the year. Give us a call, we can work around your budget, and realize that everyone can't do everything at once. You are NOT alone

Keith
Custom Works

 

Just stopping by and checking the site. Its been a while. Custom works is still expanding, and now uses almost exclusively all its own suspension and chassis components, no Chinese stuff here

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