CRG Discussion Forum
Camaro Research Group Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: hotrod68 on June 13, 2007, 03:18:25 AM
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To any of you guys who have put an engine in your 1st-Gen with more than 400hp, please take this to heart--keep a check on the axle tubes where the spring mounts are welded on if you race the car or abuse it much. The GM welds weren't that great, and I've personally had a spring perch rip out of the tube. On the way home from the drag strip one day in the '80s I noticed the car was wandering around in the rear and when I stopped and looked, the right-side traction bar and spring perch were crooked and hanging on by a mere 1" of weld! The perch had ripped right out of the axle tube from the torque of the engine. I nursed the car home and had the perches welded solid by a pro welder. Imagine if that 1" of weld had let go while the car was making tracks... Strangely enough, not long after this happened I found an old Popular Hot Rodding magazine at a newsstand where they tested a '68 Nickey 427 car, and dang--reinforcing the spring perches was one of the first things they advised. It does happen...
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hotrod68 -
This happened to my brother back in the day! During high school my brother and I would drag race our cars (he had a '68 Cordovan Maroon Rally Sport with a pumped-up 327 and I had (and still have) a stock '68 Z/28) at Baylands Raceway in Fremont, CA. Being a couple of teenagers, and as if drag racing wasn't enough fun, we would "race" back home. A "road race" through the Oakland Hills (anybody familiar with Skyline Blvd?) followed by more "drag racing" on Highway 13. Well, one last burn out in front of my parent's house and out my brother's differential came! Both quarter panels of the car were now resting on the rear tires and the only thing that held the differential in place was the rear flexible brake hose! ;D What a fun night! :D Anyway, you're right about this area being a weak spot on the first generation Camaros.
Paul
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You guy's are definitly right about the welds on the rearend.The same thing happened to my brothers 68 RS/SS back in the day.He drove it hard from what I remember.I was just a kid and I remember him having to weld it back up.Luckily he didnt wreck it when it let go.Now that I have the car I'm definitly going to check it out while the rearend is out of the car.
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Chuckle, guys...I've solved the problem--my '68 now sports a Moser 12-bolt that is fully welded at the perches and it's made a lot more rugged than a GM 12-bolt. It also has C-clip eliminators--which sidestep another nasty GM design--if a C-clip lets go you lose an axle! I never trusted those things...