1967 Chevy Camaro Project - Torque Box

Editor's Note: Typically, Super Chevy doesn't follow along on outside projects-you're lucky if they don't turn out to be complete disasters-but in this case, the offer was too enticing. Frank Serafine, owner of Prodigy Customs in nearby Apopka, Florida, and builder of our November 2009 cover cars, and John Parsons of II Much Fabrication, asked if we'd be interested in covering this build of a 200mph Camaro g-machine that'll run 8s in the quarter and be totally streetable. We figured we'd go along just for the heck of it.-Jim Campisano

In this issue we start our first of many build installments on our Project Unfair Camaro. Over the next dozen months or so, we will cover the complete build from start to finish. And when we are done, we will run Project Unfair at major Pro Touring and challenge events around the country. Super Chevy Shows, of course, Optima Challenge and Optima qualifiers, and Goodguys are all on the list. The final schedule of events will come later.

This is a full-on effort to build the fastest all-around Pro Touring car on the planet. That is a pretty lofty goal, especially when you see exactly what we mean by all-around. This is not only going to be a great Pro Touring car. It'll be one that can compete on a high level against the world's greatest on autocross, road race, slalom, and streetabiliy. Quite honestly, with the incredible array of aftermarket parts available, it is pretty easy for anyone with the wallet and resources to build a car to do everything mentioned extremely well.

We are throwing a couple of extra requirements on our "all-around best" project by doing some of things other g-machines cannot or have not done. For example:

(1) 8.99 dragstrip times. No one has done it yet. The suspension is the big limiting factor. Suspensions designed for handling do not hook and go at the dragstrip very well. In the spirit of being "Unfair," we will be using a two-pulley method of boost for our engine, taking our mild-mannered, 700-horse pump gas motor to a 1,200hp, high octane fuel-snorting monster. Additionally, we will be using a dual-mode suspension that within a couple hours can be converted from killer road race/autocross set-up to a killer dragstrip set-up. You will learn about the suspension in a future article.

(2) 200 MPH Maxton Mile standing run. Again, a suspension change, and pulley change on our blower will give us the power and traction needed to blow past the 200 mph barrier and more.

Project Unfair has gotten its name for many reasons. In the spirit of the Mark Donohue book, "The Unfair Advantage," we pay tribute with a few unfair tricks of our own. A literal team of engineers and some of the Pro Touring community elite are working on unfair tricks we can use. A few of these Unfair Advantages have already mentioned above. And many more will be released as we can continue. But of particular importance now is something we are doing in this step-by-step article.

The floor was completely destroyed by rust and required a quick trim, but the inner and outer rockers were surprisingly OK. Later we will be doing some modifications to the outer rockers anyway, but it was nice to have some structural integrity intact. It made it much easier to build and attach our jig to the car.
The floor was completely destroyed by rust and required a quick trim, but the inner and ou
We wanted to do a jig that someone at home might be able to build. Assuming your car is in good shape at each of the pickup points, you could build this jig for a few hundred dollars. We took a simple approach and welded the rockers to the jig. At the front and rear of the rockers we wedged some angle iron against the pinch weld and tacked it in place and made four equal length stations from 2x2-inch box tubing to support the outer body.
We wanted to do a jig that someone at home might be able to build. Assuming your car is in
We made adjustable stations for the six critical pick-up points on the undercarriage. We used 2x2-inch square tubing for the outer tubes and made a sliding inside tube made of 1.5x1.5-inch tubing. We cut 3 inches off the outer tubes, welded the 3-inch drop to the inner tube, and slid the two parts together. We had to add a piece of 1⁄8x1-inch flat bar as a shim to keep the tubes snug so they would still slide and be adjustable. We then drilled through the inner and outer tube with the tubes compressed together; this would be our stock floor height setting. We then drilled another hole in the inner tube 1.5 inches below the first hole so the tube would have a stock floor height pin location, and then could be raised and pinned 1.5 inches higher. This will allow us to build the jig to the car, trim out all the original undercarriage, and raise all the pickup points equally at once.
We made adjustable stations for the six critical pick-up points on the undercarriage. We u

The first pick-up point is the torque box under the firewall. This is the subframe mount and has an alignment pin opening used to align the front subframe. We used some angle iron and welded a 5⁄8-inch pin that goes through the alignment hole to it so the torque box could not move once we removed all the structure. Here we are lining up the pin.
The first pick-up point is the torque box under the firewall. This is the subframe mount a
You can see in this picture the torque box is mounted and locked in place by the pin.
At the front of the rear framerail, we mounted the front leaf spring bucket to the original framerail and welded one of our adjustable stations into the leaf spring bucket. For better photo purposes, we used this picture of the new frame rail bolted in place.
At the front of the rear framerail, we mounted the front leaf spring bucket to the origina

When laying out the build plan, we decided it was important that we build Project Unfair with as many off-the-shelf products as possible. This means reducing massive fabrication projects to a minimum. We want this project to be something you at home or your builder could duplicate with available aftermarket parts. Some of these parts are already available and other components being developed for Project Unfair will also be available to you soon. We think that is important.

One of the procedures we are doing that is "Unfair" is to raise the factory reproduction floor to lower the body-channel the body as is it called-to gain a lower stance. This stance will look very sinister, but also help with aerodynamics and lower the center of gravity all while maintaining complete suspension travel and best geometry.

Channeling, in most cases, requires eliminating all factory flooring, hand forming and bead rolling, all new floor panels, and redesigning every mount and provision. If you brought a car into our shop, a full custom fabricated sheetmetal floor from scratch is guestimated at 300 to 400 hours labor-it is a lot of work. Here we will show you how you can raise a factory reproduction floor 1.5-inches, effectively lowering the entire car the same amount at the rockers, and gain clearance under the car for pesky things like headers and exhaust.

You will be able to do this floor-raising in 60 to 100 hours max, and if your car needs a full floor anyway, you are only adding 30 to 60 hours to the project by raising the floor. And by using the reproduction factory floor you're going to able to use all the factory pick-up points, brackets, provisions, etc. You will also be able to use readily available aftermarket subframes, rear clips and rear suspensions-three-links, four-links, torque arms, even leafs if you so desire. There will be bumps along the way, as expected with this type of project; we are making some major changes. We will show you how we handle these hiccups; it is not as difficult as it sounds.

The advantages are substantial. Combining the floor raising/body channeling, the aftermarket suspension and additional upsweep in the frame, we're looking for 4- to 4.5-inch body drop, and a lowering of the COG (center or gravity) 2 full inches. Our donor car is rough with a capitol ROUGH, but we wanted it that way. Since we are replacing the complete floor at a different installed height, and since we want the roof off to do the best roll bar possible, and since it seems almost every Camaro left to be restored needs at least full outer sheetmetal, we figured we should find a rough one that would have been scrapped. Save another piece of Chevrolet muscle car-era history and have the most extreme rags to riches project ever, right?

We found the donor my son Michael "The Prodigy" affectionately nicknamed "Patches" in a trailer park on a dirt road with 10 other dilapidated unrestorable cars.

The majority of the structural patch work is done now, we wanted to get the floor in it ASAP to get some strength back in the body. Then we will go back to finishing little patches, then next month we will go into the firewall (and engine setback), along with the roll cage. Then comes the outer sheetmetal.

At the back of the rear framerail, we made a sandwich bracket with a piece of 1.5-inch tubing that fit precisely in the leaf spring bushing pocket on the framerail. When clamped together, the rear fame position was locked in place. Again, for photo purposes it was better to use a picture of the new framerail clamped in place. Once the six adjustable stantions were attached to the body, we welded them to the framework. We put caster wheels on our jig so we could move it around. Building our jig this way, the 10 critical pick-up points—including front and rear rockers, torque box, and front and rear spring eyes on the rear framerail—are all locked in position. The jig is square and all the pickup points are locked in proper relation to one another no matter where we roll the jig. There is no concern of whether the rolling jig is on level ground or not.
At the back of the rear framerail, we made a sandwich bracket with a piece of 1.5-inch tub
Once the body was mounted to our jig, we cut out the floors, trimmed off the quarters, rear body panel, and roof skin. We are doing this project as if we were at home without the benefit of a complete body jig. We did not want to blow the entire car apart and start building from scratch, which requires a extensive jig, so we are doing the structural repairs in sections and are retaining some critical structure areas even though some of these areas will be replaced later. For example, the roof inner structure is severely pitted and pot-holed, but still is intact enough to support the skeleton. To prevent the car from collapsing, we are leaving the roof inner structure in place and will replace it later. We then sandblasted the body skeleton to find out what other metal might need to be replaced.
Once the body was mounted to our jig, we cut out the floors, trimmed off the quarters, rea
Before we could get started on our floor-raising project, we had to do a some structural repairs.
Before we could get started on our floor-raising project, we had to do a some structural r

The outer cowl sections were in sad shape. These sections are really welded in and structurally very important.
The outer cowl sections were in sad shape. These sections are really welded in and structu
After drilling the many factory spot welds, a hammer and firm putty knife is your best friend for separating the panels.
After drilling the many factory spot welds, a hammer and firm putty knife is your best fri
The torque box in the stock floor height location.

The torque box is raised and pinned 1.5 inches.
The front back framerail...
...and the rear of the back framerail raised 1.5 inches.

We dropped the full floor in place at the stock location to show you how it fits. The Auto Metal Direct panel just fell into place.
We dropped the full floor in place at the stock location to show you how it fits. The Auto
Another picture of the floor in the stock location. Raising the floor will cause a few minor issues. You can see that when we raise the floor there will be nothing in this location to weld to, so Michael Serafine used a piece of 1⁄8-inch thick 2x3-inch box tubing to make a riser the floor could be attached to. Later this will also be our main roll bar hoop gusset.
Another picture of the floor in the stock location. Raising the floor will cause a few min
We used a piece of 1⁄4x1-inch flat bar to make a filler piece on the inner rocker near the center of the rocker so when we raise the floor we have something to weld to.
We used a piece of 1⁄4x1-inch flat bar to make a filler piece on the inner rocker near the

With the floor now raised...
...you can see how our filler pieces...
...give us something to attach to.

We welded the outer perimeter of the floor...
...and tied into the rear trunk floor section.
We did not tie into the framerails yet.

We have something special planned for the rear rails.
We drilled 5⁄16-inch holes in the floor flange and welded it into the inner rockers. You can also see the drill holes from removing the old floor, which also get welded. But this shows perfectly just how much the floor is raised.
We drilled 5⁄16-inch holes in the floor flange and welded it into the inner rockers. You c
The last thing to do is reattach the raised torque box.

After some manipulation with a hammer and dolly, the flange on the torque box is welded. Next month we will build our firewall and tie it into the floor.

After some manipulation with a hammer and dolly, the flange on the torque box is welded. N

Sidebar
Calculating the center of gravity (COG) of any car is difficult, and there are several methods available, but they are complex and require weighing the car and then lifting one side and measuring the changed weights. One formula for deriving an approximate CGH (center of gravity height) looks something like this:

CGH = (WB × FWc) / (TW × Tan)
WB = Wheelbase (inches)
TW = Total Weight
FWc = Change in weight when one side of the car is raised
Tan = Formula based on the height one end of the car is raised

For our purposes, a lower COG is always better, because a lower COG minimizes the leverage the sprung mass has on the unsprung mass, helping to keep all four tires equally loaded. The easiest way to the lower the COG is to lower the vehicle itself.

We know that lowering a car does more than improve its looks, but what methods are available? The most common way is to replace or cut the springs. That lowers the whole car and is the best way to get biggest change in COG, since all the mass in the car has been lowered. Another similar method for front suspensions on some cars is to install drop spindles. It accomplishes the same thing: it lowers the whole mass of the car. But both methods have a big drawback: they reduce the space under the car, putting the face of terror on mundane things like curbs, speedbumps, and driveways. Lowering springs also compromise your suspension geometry, since most suspensions are designed for their "sweet spot" at the factory ride height, and you lose a big chunk of the sweet spot when you drop it in the weeds.

On Unfair, we're raising the floor into the passenger compartment. That means that all the outer sheetmetal is lowered around the car's suspension and drivetrain. We won't get the full effect on our COG since much of the car's weight stays where it was, but we also aren't going to compromise our ground clearance or suspension geometry. Some might call this method "channeling," but since we're not moving framerails up into the floor, it's not quite the same.

With a vehicle weight around 3,000 pounds, and an outer sheetmetal weight of about 1,000 pounds, we are lowering one-third of the mass of the car. Our COG movement will be about one-third of what it would be if the whole car dropped, but we will make that trade for a more enjoyable driving experience.

It also makes for a better car-building experience since all the components will still bolt up at the factory locations. We've got an awesome Art Morrison Enterprises subframe on order, and it will bolt right up. Between the lowered ride height built into the AME subframe and the raised floor, we expect to lower Unfair's COG by 2 inches.

SOURCES
Prodigy Customs Apopka FL 407-832-1752 www.prodigycustoms.com	II Much Fabrication Germantown MD www.iimuchfabrication.com
Auto Metal Direct 940 Sherwin Parkway Suite 180 Buford GA 30518 866-684-5942 www.autometaldirect.com