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1967 Chevy Camaro Suspension, Brake, and Steering Upgrades - Bolt On and Go Part 2We complete the suspension, brake, and steering upgrades on this '67; then hit the test track From the May, 2012 issue of Camaro Performers
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No revelations under our '67,... No revelations under our '67, although we did find that someone in the last few decades had tossed the factory rear in favor of a newer posi 10-bolt, likely from an early '80s F-body. We pulled the disc brake parts while Source Interlink's Tech Center Manager Jason Scudellari started pulling off the old leaf springs. In the last issue we regaled you with our efforts to update the worn stock suspension, brakes, and steering on Chris Sanford's '67 Camaro. We soon found that there was too much info for just one article, so we decided to play King Solomon and split the tale down the middle. As we mentioned last issue, classic Camaros are super cool in terms of design, but the tech of the late '60s falls short when compared to today's modern incarnations. Our plan was to ditch the stock parts in favor of some which incorporated engineering knowledge gleamed over the last four decades. With that in mind, we snatched up a Stage-IV Pro-Touring kit (PN 67PTK-4) from Classic Performance Products (CPP) along with better steering components and much bigger brakes. The front half of the car went together smoothly and now it's time to tackle the back half. The goal of this exercise is to see if we can use bolt-on parts to get our '67 in line with modern standards, so we will test the finished product against the performance of a fifth-gen SS and let the chips fall where they may.  The drop leaf springs from...  The drop leaf springs from CPP came with new polyurethane bushings and enough hardware to completely replace the worn-out stock shackles.  Once the new leaf springs...  Once the new leaf springs were swung into place, we installed the lower shock plates and tightened everything down.  Then came the messy part....  Then came the messy part. The Camaro had late-model disc brakes, so we didn't want to ruin the backing plates by cutting them off the car. That meant we needed to pull the axles. After pulling the diff cover, we pulled the pin and C-clips to free the axles. When you do this remember not to spin the axles with the pin removed.  The CPP kit included new,...  The CPP kit included new, slightly longer wheel studs (center). They would have worked great with a period-correct rear, but the knurl and shoulder were way off for our newer 10-bolt. Fortunately, Currie Enterprises was just down the street and were able to hook us up with the correct studs (right).  The Pro Touring kit normally...  The Pro Touring kit normally comes with adjustable billet shocks, but we decided to try their economically priced custom-valved Bilstein tubes. If you don't need to mess with compression and rebound, these can save you a few bucks over the fancier ones.  The supplied mounting plates...  The supplied mounting plates allowed us to bolt the top of our Bilstein shocks to the Camaro.  The bottom of the shock mounted...  The bottom of the shock mounted to the '67's plate just like a stocker. Pretty sure a caveman could even pull this off.  The front brakes do the majority...  The front brakes do the majority of the work, so the rear, while important, don't need to be nearly as beefy. These 12-inch slotted, drilled, and zinc-washed rotors paired with CPP's singlepiston floating calipers should pair up nicely with the massive front brakes we bolted on in part one.  The first step was mounting...  The first step was mounting the caliper brackets using the Grade 8 T-bolts, nuts, and lock washers. CPP supplied quite a few shims of various thicknesses. After some trial and error we nailed the perfect combination to get our caliper aligned and centered over the rotor.  We were then able to install...  We were then able to install the rotor and bolt on the single-piston floating caliper. (If you see something amiss in this photo, drop us an email and we will put it in a drawing for goodies from our swag drawer.)  Our '67 shipped from The General...  Our '67 shipped from The General sans rear sway bar, but CPP came up with a slick way to get one in. The endlink mounted to the rear framerail with a Grade 8 U-bolt, which was inserted through two elongated holes that we had drilled in the frame. It looked almost factory when we finished.  With the 1-inch sway bar installed...  With the 1-inch sway bar installed we moved on to installing the new braided brake lines along with the new CPP E-brake cables. Since our rear already had disc brakes, the plumbing was cake. CPP also offers a brake line kit for those retrofitting from drums.  Now that everything was installed...  Now that everything was installed and plumbed, we worked our way around the Camaro's four corners and bled the brakes. It took a while to purge all the air from the new parts, but we were eventually rewarded with a firm pedal.  Before hitting the road, we...  Before hitting the road, we re-filled the differential with gear oil, and to keep our posi unit happy, we dropped in a bottle of Torco friction modifier.  In part one, we mentioned...  In part one, we mentioned that in order to clear the new binders, we picked up a set of polished 18-inch Show Wheels along with some Nitto 555 tires. The Nittos are a great street tire that will also hang tough if Chris decides to try out an autocross with his newly revitalized Camaro. As for the wheels, we think they help demonstrate how a set of sweet rollers, along with the right stance, can really change the whole look of a Camaro.
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