Proportioning Valve
Fluid
Project: Brake System Assembly
Chapter 7: Tires and Wheels
Tire Sizing and Ratings
Wheel Sizing and Construction
What Will Fit?
Chapter 8: Engine and Drivetrain
GM LS-Series Engine
Ford Modular Engine
Modern Hemi Engine
Crate Engines
Engine Upgrades
Making the Swap
Transmission
Project: Engine Installation
Chapter 9: Wiring and Plumbing
Power Source
Wiring Harness
Plumbing
Project: Wiring Harness Installation
Chapter 10: Pro Touring Cars
1969 Camaro: COPO Conversion
1966 Mustang: Fastback Flyer
1963 Chevy II: Size Matters
1965 Chevelle: Simplicity Wins
The Camaros: Eternal Test Cars
As a NASCAR driver, touring the country, I spend my fair share of time behind the wheel, and it’s where I feel at home. I’ve always been a fan of all kinds of cars. I love muscle cars, old hot rods, and luxury cars.
Whether it’s on the racetrack or out on the open road, I demand a lot from any car that I’m driving. Many of the same characteristics that I challenge my crew chiefs to provide are what I was looking for when I took my 1969 Camaro to Detroit Speed for a Pro Touring makeover. I wanted them to turn a car that was an old beater into a car that drives, rides, accelerates, shifts, and stops better than any other car I had ever driven. I knew this would be a tough task and never dreamed that they could take a car built in 1969 and turn it into something that outperforms vehicles of the modern era.
The first time I drove my original 1969 Camaro, it wasn’t a pleasant experience, and even for a professional race car driver it was a rough adjustment. The car drove like a boat—the front and rear floated up and down, and I was never sure which way it was going to go next. The thing bounced from one side of the road to the other, and with an old worn-out steering box, I struggled just trying to keep it in my own lane. With a not-so-smooth-shifting transmission that felt like it had 24 inches of shifter throw, I definitely would never be able to beat another competitor down the strip. With all the up-and-down and side-to-side motion, you’d hope that the thing would at least have good stopping power, but I could write this whole foreword before I got it to stop, especially when slowing down from highway speeds.
Enter Detroit Speed and the Pro Touring package that turned my Camaro from an old boat into my dream yacht. My list of demands where high: I wanted to go all out with this car and turn it into something I would never want to get rid of. I wanted something that looked cool and drove like a dream, and that’s exactly what I ended up with. After watching this build happen at Detroit speed in Mooresville, close to my KBM shop, I couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel and drive!
First, it looked amazing! I love the paint colors and all the accents that make this car mine. It truly is a work of art.
Next, the sound. We fired it up and it came to life with a punch. It got my heart racing with how loud it was and how smooth it rumbled at idle.
Sitting in it and feeling the sunken seats with leather wrapped around you, the four-point belts holding you in tight, the gauges in your face, and the pedals at your feet is an experience that mixes the practical and safe features of my race cars with the comfort of a high-end sports car.
Finally, the drive. I grabbed first gear and let out the clutch to something much better than I could have ever imagined. It was awesome to feel it roll. As I turned the steering wheel with the new rack-and-pinion steering, it was responsive and ate up the road as I drove the car away. It felt great.
Then I had to check out how well it stopped. Wow! On a dime. Again, it actually was better than I expected. It didn’t take a ton of pressure or have a ton of pedal travel to make it stop.
It was nothing like what it was before. The engine sounds great, acceleration feels great, brakes are awesome. The car had a sports car feel in the suspension that allowed you to have a ton of confidence in driving it in your own lane and going where you wanted to go, not where it wanted to go. It is a smooth and comfortable ride, while also being able to corner hard and keep all four tires under you. It always teases you to drive it harder.
I can’t thank everyone at Detroit Speed enough for the job they did with putting the Pro Touring treatment on my 1969 Camaro. The thing is a blast to drive and something that I will never part with.
Because the first-generation Camaro is still the most popular choice for a Pro Touring build, this book provides step-by-step instructions for taking a stock 1969 Camaro and making it handle and perform better than a new sports car. The buildup features the most generic platform and provides outstanding results when complete.
These steps can be used for other builds also, as most muscle cars feature a coil-spring independent front suspension and a solid rear axle, with either a leaf-spring or multi-link coil-spring rear suspension. This buildup also includes braking systems, tires and wheels, engine upgrades, and much more, in an effort to squeeze every ounce of performance out of a classic Camaro.
Chapter 1 gives you an overview of Pro Touring by answering these questions: What does Pro Touring have to offer you? Which makes and models are best suited for Pro Touring? Who is Detroit Speed?
Chapter 2 discusses the skills you need to accomplish a successful Pro Touring build and where is best to take on the project. Also, a fairly complete list of needed tools is provided.
Other important factors in a Pro Touring build involve the chassis structure: whether your car rides on a full frame or features a unibody construction. Many modifications provide rigidity to the chassis, which helps high-performance suspension components do their jobs efficiently. If the chassis isn’t strong enough to handle the abuse, the best parts in the world do not provide the ideal result. Braces and other support brackets are a great addition to any full-frame car, although subframe connectors are a must-have for anyone using a unibody vehicle, such as a Camaro, Mustang, or any of the popular midsize Mopars. Chassis and structural bracing are covered in Chapter 3.
All front suspension styles and components are discussed in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 covers everything for the rear suspension.
Chapters