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Pozzi Racing Camaro Safety Tips - Safety DanceFollow Along As We Show You The Right Way To Safety-Wire Your Bolts. From the June, 2009 issue of Camaro Performers By Steven Rupp Photography by Steven Rupp
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•There are some things done in the racing world that translate well to our street cars, and many of these involve safety. After all, it’s just as bad to have something go wrong when cutting though a mountain road as it is on the back straight of a racetrack. While our weekend-warrior Camaros don’t require the same level of preparedness as a full-tilt race car, they can still benefit from borrowing some tricks that have been staples of the race scene for decades. One of these is the use of safety wire. As the name implies, a wire is used to prevent bolts and other fasteners from backing out from where they are supposed to be. It’s a practice that’s especially useful in critical areas such as suspension and brakes, and it’s also effective at more mundane duties like keeping header bolts from loosening up. Much like tying shoelaces, the process for wiring up bolts seems complicated at first, but once you do it a few times it’s ridiculously simple. To show us the right way to twist up safety wire, we hit up David Pozzi of Pozzi Racing for some tips. After all, the phrase “safety first” was coined for a reason. We also took a moment to secure a few other key fasteners like this one holding the lower shock mount in place. In this case, David drilled out the bolt and secured it to the shock collar.
 The ARP bolts that came with...  The ARP bolts that came with these rotors were already pre-drilled for safety wire, so it 's a shame not to wire them up. If you’re dealing with non-drilled bolts, then it’s fairly easy to drill them with the right equipment. The first step is to feed some of the 0.032-inch stainless wire (PN AL10121, $16.99) through the hole.  The goal of this job is to...  The goal of this job is to make it so the bolt can’t turn counter clockwise since it’s anchored by another bolt or wired to a part of the car. After passing the wire through the bolt, it’s wrapped around and hand-twisted as shown.  Now it’s time to use the specialized...  Now it’s time to use the specialized pliers we bought from Allstar Performance (PN ALL10120, $39.99). This can be done by hand, but it’s far more labor intensive and not nearly as secure. We gripped both wires with the pliers at a point where we thought the twisted pair would reach our target. In this case it’s the bolt to the immediate left.  He continued pulling back...  He continued pulling back until the two wires twisted together.  Next, we pulled one end of...  Next, we pulled one end of the wire though the hole that was as close as possible to the opposite of the exit hole of the first fastener. This way, if one bolt tries to loosen, it will try to tighten the bolt paired up to it.  David then clamped down on...  David then clamped down on the wires with the Allstar pliers. Since these pliers only twist in one direction, he used a screwdriver to hold the outside wire in place so it wouldn’t rotate to the top of the bolt.  Just like the other side,...  Just like the other side, the wire other than the one going through the hole, is ran around the outside of the bolt, then lightly twisted together by hand.  The two wires were then firmly...  The two wires were then firmly twisted together.  David confirmed that the twist...  David confirmed that the twist was the right length. Had it been too short, he would have twisted it a bit more. Too long, he would have untwisted it a bit. With a good amount of skill, and a little luck, the length was perfect.  Lastly, the excess was trimmed...  Lastly, the excess was trimmed off and the end twisted back on itself so that it won’t catch on anything.  If you’re lucky, the fasteners...  If you’re lucky, the fasteners that you want to safety wire will be pre-drilled, but if not, it can be a bit tricky ventilating hardened steel. Enter the Nut Saf-T-block by MTE Industries. This incredibly simple, yet effective widget lets you drill safety wire holes through the head of bolts or nuts across the diagonal. It’s designed to accept up to ¾-inch bolt heads or nuts. Just place the fastener in the “V” grove, tighten down the set screw, drill, and deburr. At around 30 bucks we can’t think of a reason not to have one in your arsenal of tools.  This same procedure was repeated...  This same procedure was repeated around the entire brake rotor.
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