Well, today was the first successful cruise of the Camaro! Aside from realizing my guages aren't working (The console cluster on the shifter) It's probably simple, a bad ground wire. I had to pull all the wiring when I did the carpeting and I might have pulled something. Everything is analog but the temp and fuel.
Took it and gassed it up, hot about 110 MPH in a couple places before I realized it's squirrely because the steering still needs aligned so I backed off. Took mom for a thrill ride, it was her car originally, having come into the family from my grandfather's used car dealership in 70 or 71.
It ran nice, did what I told it to, pulled the plugs to see how the carb is running and it's looking GOOD. Perhaps a TAD rich but I'd rather be a tad rich than a tad lean. (Rich meaning the engine is getting more fuel, lean is not enough. If you're running lean the mixture of fuel and air burns hotter and can do anything from preignition to even burning a valve... that's bad.)
Still some things to do... but they're all little things. In spring i'm getting new wheels, rims and all. I'm going with Cragar 390 series rims and soft rubber tires. I want to go with cross drilled rotors and better calipers, too.
Not sure what the 0-60 is on it... but 60-110 feels instant. We topped it out once (Muscle cars get spooky at higher speeds. 160 MPH the Camaro feels like it's front end wants to lift, like it wants to do a back flip. I have done a few aero tricks to help but still...
But the real thrill is knowing the power is RIGHT THERE... but a smooth growl at a cruise. The frame feels solid, especially for a subframe car. I wanna tie the subframes together and put an X-member in to stiffen up the chassis. People say Muscle handles poorly, having driven a couple little tuners I know what they mean. I have no power steering, and it's old style equipment so the car feels heavy in the corners. But it will corner nicely if you know the manners of the car. The Camaro has SO MUCH torque that even a little bit of throttle around a corner and the tires break loose and you go into a spin. I even moved the weight back a little bit (Well, a lot. I moved the battery into the back, lightened up the whole front end, and the drivetrain is a bit lighter.) and it still will swap ends if you don't know what you're doing. That's where the stickier tires will help.
My goal is to hit a .8 lateral G on the corners. I've seen them get upwards of 9 but I don't wanna make any modifications that can't be undone. Really aside from tires, alignment, and larger sway bars is all I really need... aside from learning how to drive the car better.
So yeah... that felt good!