Gen 1 Camaro/ASA Stock Car Build

I'm thinking to weld along the underside of the frame rail and in the "valley" on the top edge. Then, drop the body down and rivet it. 

I got the full length of the driver's side skirt formed and tacked along the bottom of the rail. The forward section of the skirt will attach directly to the 1-piece front end.   

I am happy with the shape....it seems to blend the lines well enough and it is very rigid. 
 

I got the Drivers side welded tonight. Yesterday I ordered dzus fasteners for the front clip, trunk and hood. 

On deck is the dash. I'm inspired by Crookedracer and his dash. My gauges are getting in the way and the beating can't be doing them good. 
I bought this last week.

I have not completely figured out my dash layout, but whether I end up with aluminum or fiberglass, I'm hoping this tool will help. 

Originally, my plan was to permanently fix the doors to the body and just use the window for ingress/egress.

Now I'm thinking I'd like to be able to remove them. 

I don't need to open them like a traditional door, but I'd like a way to disconnect them when I want. Maybe u-brackets with a latch?  Dzus fasteners?  Anyone blazed this trail before??
 

Dzus fastener all the things!

Some form of hinge thats easy to remove the door shell with. Like a vertical pin and tab at the front of the door. Then a latch/dzeus fastner at the back. I can say that climbing through the window gets old quick,  and doors+cage make service of the interior not fun. So anything you can do now to make getting in and out and extra clearance for service will pay huge dividends later.

Jack, sounds like removable doors buys you access for working on stuff. That might be convenient. I recall seeing a really good tutorial/video on Dzus fasteners somewhere but it was a couple years ago. I'm sure there are others out there that will help make that process easier.

Will the top of the fiberglass door support your weight during ingress/egress or will you have to add some structural support to it?

gumby (Forum Supporter) said:

Dzus fastener all the things!

I like your style. 

Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) said:

Some form of hinge thats easy to remove the door shell with. Like a vertical pin and tab at the front of the door. Then a latch/dzeus fastner at the back. I can say that climbing through the window gets old quick,  and doors+cage make service of the interior not fun. So anything you can do now to make getting in and out and extra clearance for service will pay huge dividends later.

Ok, great feedback and I like your idea. I can fix two simple pins facing down to the door and a female tube attached to the cage on the leading edge. 
Because the door is so light, I think a dzus at top and bottom of the trailing edge would be needed. This is a good working plan for the drivers side. The passenger side (cause there is no accommodation for an actual passenger) could just be 4 dzus. I appreciate the ideas!  Thanks. 

jimgood said:

Jack, sounds like removable doors buys you access for working on stuff. That might be convenient. I recall seeing a really good tutorial/video on Dzus fasteners somewhere but it was a couple years ago. I'm sure there are others out there that will help make that process easier.

Will the top of the fiberglass door support your weight during ingress/egress or will you have to add some structural support to it?

Thanks Jim...I've found a few tutorials, but if there is one you think particularly helpful, hit it!

There was a steel intrusion plate fixed to the outside of the Nascar bars on the Late Model body. It came up and supported the bottom of the door. I was planning to mimic something like this on the new body.  However, If I do end up opening the door to get in and out, it would be nice to not have that support permanently attached to the cage.  Maybe I should just make the door work well (and be easily removable) and forget the steel support. I could also beef up the top of the door itself. 

Make sure the door is attached securely or the door might be sucked off due to the difference in air pressure inside/outside at high speeds. I don't think I'd trust just two Dzus fasteners on the rear of the door. Flexing would promote cracking over time if they're just attached to the fiberglass door skin so you might need to bond reinforcement into the mounting points for the pins in front and Dzus fasteners at the rear.

Will you make plastic door windows?

In reply to NOT A TA :

The thought of the door flying off is both terrifying and exciting at the same time. I will lean toward terrifying though. 
I have thought about bonding thin aluminum on the fiberglass surfaces.  Especially with the body mounting points, but makes sense with the door mounts too. I will be doing this to the firewall this weekend and will post pictures...chime in with other ideas or a thumbs up/down. 
The NASA ST rules do not allow side lexan windows. I may add a rear lexan panel just to mount a naca duct for cockpit cooling. 

In reply to jh36 :

"I may add a rear lexan panel just to mount a naca duct for cockpit cooling."

Are you referring to a backlite ^^^ or a rear side window like the stock triangle shaped ones, or something else? 

In reply to NOT A TA :

I was thinking about the rear quarter window. I have been told these cockpits get very hot. The exhaust runs beside the driver and exits the passenger door. Although there is heat shielding there, there's lots of heat making opportunities. 
The vast majority of my racing has been in 944's which can get warm. On the advice of Scott Pruett, I gave up my cool suit about 10 years ago. This car is likely to be significantly warmer than a 944. I'm not sure I will be able to stay sharp 45 minutes to 1 hour in this car without one, but airflow will help. 
This car came with a helmet blower and a cool suit setup. When summer comes to VIR and NASA champs visit Daytona, I may need them, but if I can go without them with airflow, I will. 

 

Why did you give up the cool suit? We ran just a cool shirt in the c4 and it was awesome. 

Not trying to start an argument,  looking for an education 

In reply to jh36 :

Due to the rear side window being recessed from the C pillar I have my doubts that a NACA duct would function as they were designed to, if at all. To function as designed they require good boundary layer flow in a positive pressure gradient which probably isn't available where the rear side window is located. You may want to explore other areas to get a larger volume of air from a high pressure source into the cabin to help deal with the exhaust heat. A NACA duct opening in the rear side window area probably won't do enough to notice but you might be able to use it with a helmet blower.

I'll suggest you start a thread in the aerodynamic section of the forum to discuss the aero related topics involved in your build. You'll get recommendations from knowledgeable experienced people to help optimize things like the side skirts you made.

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :

I got the opportunity to do some collaborative marketing stuff with guitars (of all weird things) with IMSA which helped foster a relationship with Scott Pruett.  It has been a very nice friendship as he is one of the nicest guys, and best drivers I could want to know.  He gave up cool suits based on this principle: stuff breaks or starts working in a way that is not optimal, and that creates a distraction to the driver.  He found that conditioning himself to the environment was his preferred path.  That seemed to make sense to me and I took his position.  I have heard guys I race with make comments about cool suits failing and that being a distraction.  That said, everybody is different.  I drink huge amounts of water on race weekends, and sweat like a bandit, but it has worked for me for probably 6-7 years.  This new cockpit is likely to be much hotter than my old Porsche though...anyway, that's the backstory.

In reply to NOT A TA :

Thank you!  And...BTW, i have visited your website and appreciate your knowledge base.  Outstanding! 

I will do as you suggest.  Another thing I've pondered is a roof mounted duct, but it would: 1- Look weird on an old Camaro and 2: take my boxy object and make it even less aerodynamic.

You're right...i will move over to that section of the forum and see what i can learn.

In reply to jh36 :

Maybe a duct from the high pressure zone on the bottom of the windshield like Penske/Donohue did in 71?