Butt dyno gains!! BMR to the rescue!!

[LaN-]

I've been on a quest for the past year to change the IMHO Buick with a LS3 into a Camaro. Like a lot of us here I threw more power at the problem with some bolt on's.

My mods (CAI, headers, cam 3.91, tune) helped, but when I found a good entrance ramp to enjoy I felt like I was at home in the lazy boy watching a YouTube video. The speedo on my TV would jump, but I've got my feet up relaxing.

Initially my mind went straight to boost, turbo, LSA, NOS, etc....but after driving the car more it kinda pissed me off. I've got roughly 450rwhp and yes this car is a big girl, but come on where is the "muscle". It doesn't take very long at all to hit 100mph on the free way and that number is only going to get higher with boost. So wanting to keep my license and stay out of jail I went to suspension mods.

**Side track**
Months ago I took my buddies basically stock mini cooper for a ride and was blown away by how much of a blast it was. Sure it was lacking a good amount of power, but it was still fun. The best part however was the extremely scientific fun/butt dyno to actual speed ratio LOL. Feel like you're going fast without having to go an insane speed.....Anywho

BMR to the rescue!!!

So not wanting to rip the car apart more than once I purchased pretty much every product BMR offers for my car. (Mod list is in my signature) Although I'm still craving a tad more power I would say this was the smartest thing I could have ever done. Not only does the car feel 10x faster, but it feels 10x safer now as well.

Sure if I'm in a subdivision that has some crappy roads, or are driving down one of Michigan's many neglected roads you'll get throw around a bit, but IMHO that's what owning a sports car is all about. The other 90% of the time its a very enjoyable ride.

Engine Mounts
Although I don't have any pictures here, I wanted to make a specific note regarding the poly engine mounts. Initially I did not purchase them due to the conflicting responses regarding NVH, but since I was in the middle of tearing everything apart I figured I'd take a gamble.

I too was a bit surprised by the added NVH upon the first startup, but after a few hundred miles I love them. They have mellowed out a bit and just like the suspension mods you "feel" more of the car. I can't comment on any added noise though. Whenever I drive the car the top is down so I wouldn't be able to hear them anyway. Also I have electric steering so I'm not sure if there would be more NVH for the manual racks.


So in closing, if anyone is like me and doesn't want to just throw power at the car to have more fun suspension mods are for you!

Convertible Side Note
If you're a convertible you'll need to do some more research on what parts to buy. I ran into some issues since the 2014 (maybe 2015) convertible has the FE3 suspension not the newer FE4. The majority of places only list parts based on year, not year and SS body style. I'm going to do another post in the convertible forum when i have some more time to review my mistakes.


P.S - If anyone is looking for a way to fit their lawnmower and Camaro in the garage pulleys work great...(last picture) LOL

[BMR Sales]

Car Looks Great!

[briancamaross]

So whats the easy bushing and hard bushing to do ? I plan to do the cradle bushings very soon.

[LaN-]

So apparently I didn't have notifications setup for this thread.....

The short of it is.....it's all pretty easy, but a torch, a press and the proper tools are your friends.

The long is....

-----The Rear-----

Subframe Bushings

These were pretty simple. I used a large socket, a torch and the weight of the car to push these out.

Rear Trailing Arm Bushings

These were kinda a pain since the knuckle is bulky. I heated them up and drill them out with a hole saw.

Sway Bars

These are a simple bolt on if you're not a convertible. I ordered the 2013 - 2015 Sway Bar kit and found out the hard way that I didn't have any FE4 end links.

Springs and Shocks

Easy enough except 1 of my springs came off the upper mount and i had to tear it all apart and put it back together once. Koni's instructions suck BTW

Toe Rods, Trailer Arms, Lower Control Arms, Delrin Upper Control Arm Bushings

Unbolt old and bolt in the new.

Diff Bushings

I did these last year, but don't try to do this with the diff in the car. It's almost impossible. Pull the diff, drain it and heat them up and drill them out. Finally sawzall the steel sleeve and fold them in with a hammer.

Subframe Connectors

These were pretty straight forward, BUT!!!! prior to even putting these on the car run a tap, or a wire brush through all of the bolts. Paint was on some of the threads and I didn't notice until it was to late. I somehow cross threaded one of the bolts and had put the impact on it to get it out. With the bolt and nut ruined I had to cut it off and get a buddy to weld on a new nut. After that one happened, I noticed the paint and almost did it again, but caught it and cleaned up all of the nuts before I screwed myself again.


-----The Front-----

Per BMR's website the Front Suspension Bushing Kit is for 2010 - 2015 models. This is only 2/3 true. I have the electric steering rack so I didn't need the poly steering rack bushing. Ordering the 2 of the 3 that are actually for my model would have saved me 20 bucks, but whatever.

Radius Rod Bushing

This was a PITA. Even with my little harbor freight 6 ton press I couldn't push the steel sleeves out. I ended up pushing out the inner bushing and cut the sleeve with the sawzall and beat it out.

Lower Control Arm Bushing

These were easy to get out, but kinda scary putting the new ones in. Press the OEM ones out and then try to squeeze the new ones in. The bushings are larger than the opening so you really have to "squeeze" them in. I had the press and pieces i was using to push everything together explode on me a few times, but i eventually got it.

Front Sway bar Endlinks

These are an easy bolt in, but you need to be real careful to not mess up the boots. You have to get a wrench in-between the strut tower and the end link, but there isn't much space so you end up compressing the boot a little. I messed up one, but was able to repair it.

Engine mounts

Just thinking about these still boils my blood a little. I had to remove the drivers side header just to gain access to 1 of the bolts. The rest of the bolts are such a pain to get out. Putting the new mounts back in wasn't as bad, but it still wasn't fun. Torquing them to spec was even harder. Although this was such a pain, I honestly love these.

-----Clocking the Bushings-----

Once everything was on and snug it came time to torque it all to spec. I cut 2x12's into 2 feet sections (24 in total). Took 3 at a time and screwed them together with 8 really long bolts. Ended up with 8 "blocks" which i used to set the car on. I used 2 blocks per wheel which worked out well since there was roughly 1 inch of horizontal movement when the car started to settle. It was a slow and painful process, but eventually the car was sitting on the wheels 10-12 inches in the air.

At this point you have to go through BMR's instructions 1 at a time to figure out what bolts get torqued to what spec.


Finally when it was all done the car was just ready for an alignment. I had some rubbing on the front wheels and strut tower, but that was due to the camber was all the way in. Just in case I got some 5mm spacers, but this was really more for looks. I wanted to wheels to be more flush with the body.

SO yeah.....it was a blast, but 150% worth it. I'm still playing around with the Koni Yellows and what settings are the best, I'll also need to play with the swaybar adjustment, but I'm still somewhat recovering from the entire ordeal and the thought of jacking the car up just makes me cringe right now LOL.

[LaN-]

Originally Posted by BMR Sales

Car Looks Great!

Thanks, you guys do great work and I'll always recommend you, but your website needs some convertible love.

[LaN-]

Originally Posted by briancamaross

So whats the easy bushing and hard bushing to do ? I plan to do the cradle bushings very soon.

I hope my giant post answers your questions, but if you're going to drop the subframe do the upper control arm bushings (I went with the delrin kit) and the diff bushings if you haven't already. It's one of those things you only ever want to do once in a great while. You also have the opportunity to put synthetic fluid in the diff.

Finally do it right and get solid bushings. Again I got the stupid expensive delrin for fear of long term issues with mixing metals. Something about aluminum bushings in the steel subframe just didn't give me warm fuzzies.

[Todd808]

This thread reminded me of my experience. My friends wife's Mini Cooper. We went for a long ride up his twisty rode. Car felt like a go cart and thought we were flying. So then he said "this mini will kill you on the twisties". So we went. I absolutely destroyed that thing. Out cornered him with ease. Just totally different feel in both cars. Even though it felt like we were flying in his car, we were not.
Great mods you did by the way. Car looks great

[LaN-]

Originally Posted by Todd808

This thread reminded me of my experience. My friends wife's Mini Cooper. We went for a long ride up his twisty rode. Car felt like a go cart and thought we were flying. So then he said "this mini will kill you on the twisties". So we went. I absolutely destroyed that thing. Out cornered him with ease. Just totally different feel in both cars. Even though it felt like we were flying in his car, we were not.
Great mods you did by the way. Car looks great

Thanks!

I'm starting to experiment with the shock settings and sway bars, but so far I've found a few things to do that really change the driving experience.

1.) wanna feel more of the car....drive with 2 hands on the wheel. You're physically more connected and the movement between the steering wheel and the shifter is just plain fun. Gotta be quick and so you can get back to the wheel.

2.) Rev matching for downshifts. Although I'm sure others already do this, it's a blast. With the npp open and both hands on the wheel you get a pleasant noise and more interaction. Sure sometimes I'm just coming up to a red light or a Michigan left, but damnit it's fun

3.) Heel Toe for corners....I've been practicing this for about a week now and can't really do it with the current setup so I ordered a set of racing pedals. Although when I have been able to accomplish this I'm coming out of a turn in 1st or 2nd gear with no delay on power. Again, it's a blast. No delay in power means a short burst up to or a little over the speed limit.

4.) Finally.....everyone here please hold on, but I installed a Vitesse throttle controller and honestly I love it. On SP5 the car just feels.....lighter?.....hard to explain, but overall it has been a pleasant mod for changing the way the car feels.

I'm doing research on getting an aluminum driveshaft and delrin diff bushings next year. So far it looks like this will reduce the delay further allow me to feel more connected to the car.

When talking to my friends about all the mods, I basically told them I'd rather get pulled over for going around a corner to fast or spinning my tires than going 100mph on the freeway. Not sure about all the legal truth to both, but in my head it's a lot easier to explain to a judge lol.

Finally I've reached out to rpm rollbars for info on their convertible rollbars. Turns out their unit maintains functionality of the rear seat. So as I learn more about racing on a track I might like to go down that road. Hell it would provide more safety on the normal road too, so not like it's a bad choice. In my head I'd like to have the best of all worlds. Drive the car on a course over the weekend, take it to work when it's nice, drive around with the wife and finally put a baby seat or kids car seat in the back for a short trip to grandpa's. No kids yet, but ya gotta plan ahead

On I'm done rambling lol......back to laundry.

[foo.fighter]

gonna subscribe to this thread for future information needs
car looks great btw!

[LaN-]

Originally Posted by foo.fighter

gonna subscribe to this thread for future information needs
car looks great btw!

Thanks,

I'm basically done with he car for the year, but I'll be sure to answer any questions.