Messages

3931

Trans-Am Camaros / Re: Jones cable drive Tachometer

« on: June 22, 2011, 05:39:36 PM »

Terrific photo, Bruce! Thanks for sharing that one.

3932

Trans-Am Camaros / Re: Tracks of the '66-'72 SCCA Trans-Am series

« on: June 22, 2011, 05:36:55 PM »

Meadowdale  was a very interesting track that the Trans-Am cars only raced on one time. That year was 1968. The track itself had some dangerous sections and there were not many safe runoff areas if a car got off the track. Also, the track surface was not always in the best shape. Neat course from a spectators standpoint but I think there were a lot of nervous drivers. The track was closed in 1969 and in the past few years has been turned into a nature preserve.

3933

Trans-Am Camaros / Re: Ideas to share concerning 1:18 '67-'69 GMP Penske Donohue Camaros.

« on: June 22, 2011, 04:06:50 PM »

Notice how badly bowed the hood is at Marlboro and Continental Divide while being in the fully closed position. Special thinner-gauge front sheet metal had been stamped for Penske on a one-time basis in the GM tooling prior to the August 6th Trans-Am at Bryar. Unfortunately, Mark broke an axle twice at Bryar and crashed the car heavily, nose first, into a wood barricade trashing all the new front sheet metal. The least damaged was the hood so they kept it even though it is not up to the cosmetic standards one normally associates with Penske. When this car got damaged in the trailering accident on the way to the Modesto Trans-Am in early September, the hood finally met its demise.


Photo by Andrew Keller

3934

Trans-Am Camaros / Re: Ideas to share concerning 1:18 '67-'69 GMP Penske Donohue Camaros.

« on: June 22, 2011, 03:55:10 PM »

I agree that one (or two) of those Firebird models would be neat to see. A significant amount of work but based on what I have seen so far, something you could definitely pull off.

As for the steering wheel in Donohue's Camaro at Marlboro, it definitely had the same black electrical tape wrap as see in the earlier test session. Here is a photo at Marlboro with the door open. Only the bottom section of the wood wheel is exposed. [Note the Penske Racing "crest" decal which is not on the model]


Photo by Andrew Keller

Below is a photo taken two weeks later at the Continental Divide Trans-Am in Colorado. The steering wheel is the same as at Marlboro. This happens to be the last race for this steering wheel as it broke during the race and was subsequently replaced with a Grant 3-spoke. Of note on the wood wheel is that there are alternating bands of dark and light colored wood.

3935

Trans-Am Camaros / Re: Tracks of the '66-'72 SCCA Trans-Am series

« on: June 21, 2011, 03:59:40 PM »

You're welcome, Robert. I'll post many more and hope to get them all on here eventually. Thanks for some additional backstory to your driving career. I haven't been to RA since 1979 and it's different now with much more cement and catch fencing but it sure would have been nice to go back there this year since the Historic Trans-Am cars will be there in July. Just doesn't fit into this years plans unfortunately.

3936

Trans-Am Camaros / Re: Jones cable drive Tachometer

« on: June 21, 2011, 03:51:56 PM »

Great news that you were able to get an interior photo and get the appropriate tach. Definitely one of the benefits of networking with fellow like-minded enthusiasts.

3937

Trans-Am Camaros / Re: Recommended Reading

« on: June 21, 2011, 03:48:41 PM »

I'm not sure why I hadn't thought to suggest the issues of Competition Press & Autoweek (CP&A) and Stock Car Racing (SCR) magazine but I'm glad you did Mike. They are both great resources of information. I guess I just had books on the brain when this thread first got posted. I have collected many issues of both CP&A and SCR and am glad I did. Some issues of Riverside Raceway magazine are also very good but they don't come up too often and they don't always contain Trans-Am information. You have to be choosy. One other thing which I started to collect was National Speed Sport News as it seemed to be like CP&A but it is much more of a Nascar and circle track publication and Trans-Am pickings are very slim in there.

3938

Trans-Am Camaros / Re: Front sway bars

« on: June 21, 2011, 03:35:22 PM »

Interesting, Robert. Did you see that in a vintage photo or on the car itself?

3939

Trans-Am Camaros / Re: Tracks of the '66-'72 SCCA Trans-Am series

« on: June 21, 2011, 03:28:17 AM »

Laguna Seca  near Monterey, CA has been famous for many years and especially for the Historic Race Festival that takes place there every August. Only two Trans-Am races were run there for the big-bore Pony cars in the '66-'72 timeframe. That would be the August 24, 1969 race won by Mark Donohue and the April 19, 1970 race won by Parnelli Jones. Interestingly, both drivers who won at Laguna Seca also won the championship for their manufacturer that year. This track is world famous for its challenging "corkscrew" turn 6 and 6A and it also has some interesting elevation changes. The layout of the track has been changed nowadays and this was done to lure the World Superbikes there. I think the original layout was not long enough to fit World Superbike criteria.



Here's a map showing the current layout of the track.



A fast lap around Laguna Seca with Mark Donohue (1970)

3940

Trans-Am Camaros / Re: Tracks of the '66-'72 SCCA Trans-Am series

« on: June 21, 2011, 03:13:25 AM »

Riverside Raceway  in Riverside, CA was a challenging course that was a home track for some of the most competitive drivers that raced in the Trans-Am series. Those names would include Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Jerry Titus and George Follmer. There was a Riverside Trans-Am every year until 1972 when it was cancelled due to George Follmer wrapping up the championship (for himself and for the AMC Javelin) just after midway through the year.









Riverside's turn 1

3941

Trans-Am Camaros / Tracks of the '66-'72 SCCA Trans-Am series

« on: June 21, 2011, 12:01:22 AM »

Road America  in Elkhart Lake, WI began hosting Trans-Am events beginning with the 1970 season. I was in attendance at all the Trans-Am races at this track from 1970-1974 and it was one of the premier tracks in that series. Very picturesque setting and very challenging high-speed 4-mile track.

3942

Trans-Am Camaros / Re: Front sway bars

« on: June 20, 2011, 05:32:12 PM »

Yes, I can imagine that would be a great benefit.

Here are some more factory front (anti) sway bars courtesy of Frank Dihartce. From top to bottom the diameters are 3/4", 13/16", 7/8", 15/16", 1" and 1 1/16". The bottom two are lightly used and the others are NOS.



Dia.          '67-'68 p/n      superceded 2/69 p/n
3/4"          3892735              3962795
13/16"       3955782        unchanged thru '75
7/8"          3895235              3962796
15/16"       3935783              3962797
1"             3948987              3961763
1 1/16"      3927505              3962799

The superceded p/n sway bars have extra bends toward the end of the bar to keep them from shifting side-to-side.

Below is a close-up showing the factory style sway bar ends.



Below is the front sway bar bushing clamp #3935743, 2 bolts #189327, 1 1/16" bushing # 3927506, and reinforcement plate # 3927944 which goes on the inside of the frame after you drill out the factory threaded holes.



Top view of the same piece...



Exploded view. The reinforcement plate is the same one used for the factory rear sway bar.

3943

Trans-Am Camaros / Re: Wheels used on Trans-Am Camaros

« on: June 20, 2011, 06:31:24 AM »

Thank you both for your thoughts. Yes, the Javelin uses the 4.5" bolt circle.

3944

Trans-Am Camaros / Re: Ideas to share concerning 1:18 '67-'69 GMP Penske Donohue Camaros.

« on: June 20, 2011, 06:25:51 AM »

Mike, here's a photo of the steering wheel showing the word "THINK" on it. It was shown in the '67 Bryar Trans-Am program.

3945

Trans-Am Camaros / Re: Ideas to share concerning 1:18 '67-'69 GMP Penske Donohue Camaros.

« on: June 20, 2011, 06:15:09 AM »

Great that you have been able to find an alternative trunk lid. Here is a Craig Fisher photo of the rear of the car at Sebring in 1967. It shows how the rear stripes should be done, the screen replacing the white backup lenses, the wider red lenses than what is on the model and maybe a few other details for you to pick up on. The rear spoiler at Marlboro was taller than this stock one and the pinstripes were not done on the spoiler at Marlboro either. Also, that same filler cap as seen in this photo is used at Marlboro but it is much lower. Just above deck lid height. The hole is centered in the lid, both L-R and fore-to-aft (front edge of spoiler to front edge of trunk lid). There is maybe 3" of real-life clearance around that filler on the decklid and it has a bead of rubber to finish off the circumference of the hole.