If you recall last year, after 30-plus years of autocrossing by various owners and others in my 1982 Camaro, a crack in the frame developed where the steering box mounts. I had it fixed then -- mainly welding the crack -- and sent it.
A couple months ago, I did a test-and-tune with the SCCA Washington D.C. Region on the autocross pad at Summit Point, and the steering didn't feel right. I chalked it up to old Hoosiers (2019 construction!) or maybe my new steering box wasn't up to snuff.
After getting the car back home, I went over the front suspension and found one sway bar bracket wasn't tight, and the same for one end of the new UMI bump steer kit. Took it for a test drive after snugging those and ... the steering still didn't feel crisp.
I did the same thing this time as I did last year -- put my phone under the car to shoot video as I turned the steering wheel. Sure enough, the steering box was flexing like when the frame was cracked the last time.
I posted the video on Facebook and whined about it. One of my "Facebook friends" Matt Walter chimed in and said he could fix it.
I had never met Matt before but knew him through the "Mullet Militia" Facebook page for thirdgen F-Bodies. He has a thirdgen Camaro that he drag races, and he has a side hustle out of his home garage working on (mainly) crappy old GM products. I've also bought a few things through his other side hustle of selling thirdgen-related parts.
He had a few other customer cars he was working on, plus putting the engine back in his car, so we arranged for me to drop the car off at his house two weeks ago.
When the crack developed last time, I posted about it on an F-Body Facebook group (can't remember which one). Someone posted pictures of a brace in their car that basically connected the driver's side and passenger side frame rails. I showed the pics to Matt, and he figured it would be easy to fab up.
Since the car would be at his house for a little while, I mentioned that I had been thinking of a harness bar so the harness mounts a little safer. Plus if I wanted to put the passenger seat in for ride alongs or schools, I could install a harness on that side, too.
Matt suggested fabricating a four-point rollbar instead. He said it wouldn't be too heavy -- about 40 pounds -- and the car already has ballast to make the 3,000-pound minimum for C Prepared. It would be good for mounting harnesses and a little more piece-of-mind as far as safety is concerned if I wanted to try trackcrosses.
He finished everything up this week, and I picked the car up yesterday. As you can see in the following pics, the brace and rollbar look fantastic!
In addition to fixing the frame rail and the safety of the rollbar, it should stiffen the car for better handling. It's a flexible flyer 1980s GM product, and newer, heavier (by A LOT) Camaros are faster out of the gate. The Fancy Camaro on skreet tires is pretty close to my car on Hoosiers.
Now it's off to paint the rollbar white to match the rest of the interior.
Again using foam brushes and marine polyurethane paint. It will definitely look awesome from five feet away!
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