GForce Camber Plate with Plaia Plate Installation

D

DougESmith

True Classic
So, got my GForce camber plates to go with my Coilovers and Plaia Plates! I started the instalation today.

My first round through I decided to try just the camber plate and get it's process down. Following the instructions it went just as they said it would, including me fouling some threads when I got impatient. :)
I had to pound the lip down on the hole in the strut tower, but not worry about the paint, I will be rust proofing the bolt holes also as they must be enlarged for the camber plate bolts.

I disassembled and drilled the Plaia Plates holes out to accept the Bolts in the camber plate kit... As soon I tried to assemble everything it became apparent that while the Plaia Plate and Camber plat base hole pattern matched, due to manufactuing tolerances at FIAT, there was no way to get it all to go together as is, I needed to enlarge the bolt holes in the Plaia Plate. To the drill press I went. For some reason the only thing just bigger than 8mm I could find in my bit drawer was 11mm, so I went with it.

With the Plaia Plate holes enlarged it was time to attempt reassembly again. Wow, with the Plaia Plate below, the Camber plate assembly actually went together easier! All I have left to do is rust proof the enlarged holes in the body, purchase bolts about 1/2 inch longer,(to make up for the "space" taken by the Plaia Plate and give me some room to spare) and then put it all together for good!

Pics

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3219/3016653992_b3fafaf0c8_o_d.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3283/3015819819_ec64f8265b_o_d.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3015/3016653420_655422e03f_o_d.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3217/3016653074_51ee259bee_o_d.jpg
 
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Doug... Absolutely great work... you deserve an "A"... and so does Mark...

Plia... is spelled Plaia...

HA!

But since your workmanship is so neat... we'll overlook the misspelling this time...

(I dunno if Mark will though... ) HA!
 
Why do you

Have camber plats on the back?
I assume you will be putting theme on the front also.
 
ok still

Why do you have camber plats on the back? What will this car be used for once it’s done? Street, autox what class, road racing what kind what class?
 
racerx said:
Why do you have camber plats on the back? What will this car be used for once it’s done? Street, autox what class, road racing what kind what class?
Click to expand...

Well, I am not Doug but I can probably answer that question.

Rear camber is a bigger issue on the X than front. Two reasons: because of the rear weight bias, the car is more dependant on the rear tires for overall grip than the fronts. So rear camber is more critical.

Second, if you lower the car to a proper performance ride height, then you are likely to have way too much rear camber. I used the rear camber plates on my DSP X to reduce camber. My plates were similar to the G-Force plates. Note the adjustment position in this photo.

IntakeRear.jpg
 
Hey Steve, did you make your own?

I've always wanted to give them a go, but keep getting side tracked with other projects. I'm not asking for trade secrets or anything, but would 5/16 alum. plate be sufficient for my 550/450# springs?

Thanks.
 
What Steve Said :) , and

The coilovers i have and the planned lowering of the car require more adjustment than the stock holes.

The car will be street driven mostly, autox once and a while if i get the time.
 
AngeloX19 said:
I've always wanted to give them a go, but keep getting side tracked with other projects. I'm not asking for trade secrets or anything, but would 5/16 alum. plate be sufficient for my 550/450# springs?
Click to expand...

Hey Algelo. I did make my own. I had originally bought an early set of plates from Jim (G-Force) back in about '92. I subsequently broke a rear plate and upon evaulating the design decided that I would make my own incorporating my revisions.

The units I made worked perfectly and Jim later incorporated some of my revisions in the units he made.

I made my plates from billet T6160 aluminum. The plate is 3/8ths and is radiused into the bearing housing area. I would think that 5/16th of sufficient grade would be OK.
 
Thanks for the info,

I'm not dependent on using 5/16, just determining what would be an acceptable thickness.
 
Steve H.and Doug

Steve I see ware you are coming from .for your car .Mike G (2.2 Turbo mike) had to do the same thing take out camber in the rear. What I was looking for was what Doug was going to use the car for .He said “The car will be street driven mostly, autox once and a while if I get the time.” Maybe I’m missing something but for a car that’s street driven do you need to take out camber in the rear? If you are going to autox your car and want to be as competitive as possible I can see spending the Money. I feel the money can be better spent some wear else like learning to drive better or Find a shop to help set your car up better. (Front height back height cross weight front alignment. My car is for street/Autox with stock camber in back and I feel as thaw it works grate for now until I learn to drive My car to its full potential the way its set up and then make the necessary changes to be more competitive. .Well anyway you have to do what you fell is best for you and you’re pocketbook.

What tire’s and size will you be running? Will you have a different set for autox?
 
racerx said:
.... for a car that’s street driven do you need to take out camber in the rear? If you are going to autox your car and want to be as competitive as possible I can see spending the Money. I feel the money can be better spent some wear else like learning to drive better or Find a shop to help set your car up better.
Click to expand...

You are not wrong. However, look at the photo of the rear camber plate on my DSP X again. Notice that the plate is pushed all the way out to give minimum camber. Now consider that I ran -2.25 degrees of rear camber. If I used stock top mounts I would have somewhere more than -4 degrees camber. That's really too much, even for a street car.

Beside, if you are doing the suspension and want it done right, why not?
 
OK

I measured (using the Camber tool called The Stick) the camber on my car in the rear is about -2.25 .We will never know on Doug’s car what the stock camber would’ve been but if he would’ve finished the build on his car first before putting in camber plates than check it and it came out to be -2.25 than should he maybe have left it alone? Just wondering.

Quote
Beside, if you are doing the suspension and want it done right, why not?

Right for what?

yes but if you have a good stock camber seting Why add a harsher ride to a street driven car .agene in my option the money could be better spent some ware else.Well To each his own.I Guess.
 
racerx said:
[
Right for what?

yes but if you have a good stock camber seting Why add a harsher ride to a street driven car .agene in my option the money could be better spent some ware else.Well To each his own.I Guess.
Click to expand...

Why bother with coil overs then? Or Koni struts? Why not use the OE 145/80 profile tires on 13x4.5" wheels?

No, I'm not giving you a hard time, just making a point.

If you are building a performance street car that sees occasional autocross/trackday use. And you are already going with coil-overs, good struts, nice wheels and tires, etc... And you want the car to look nice/cool/whatever, why not use camber plates to finish it off.

I don't use camber plates on my street X but if I had a set laying around and wanted to give the car a very finished look, I would install them. With the spring rates I have on it, the camber plates wouldn't have much effect on ride quality.

And if you have the money....
 
Like for Instants

I now have a duel stainless steel exhaust on my car now .I have decided that Baling is not worth the loss in performance so by spring of 2009 I’m going to replace it with a Walker ULTRA FLO . My point is why spend money on extras you may not need.But at the same time thats what makes us all deferent.

 
Well if

I had some just laying around I would too but I don’t and with a budget like a street bum I have to be careful what I spend my money on. Spending 500 dollars on camber plats or go to more autox events and learn to drive better?
 
It just not about the Bling

Why I went with a GOOD Cool over Kit and Camber plates has as much to do with Future Proofing the car as it does with Handling and Bling. KYB may not make stock struts forever in significant numbers. The Coil Over kit uses "common" adjustable Koni inserts that should not be obsolete/unobtainable in the forseable future. They also do away with the stock top strut mounts that deform over time and change you suspension settings by themselves. ( The reason I had to flatten the lip on the rear shock tower in the pictures was becasue deformation of the stock top mount allowed the strut to dmg it.) though the ride will be a little rougher hehehe

If you checkout the rest of my pics on flickr, I am doing a full restomod. I am almost two years into it... some have gone even deeper down the rabbit hole. LOL :)

To each his own. Keep on plugging on your project!
 
From reading this thread, I am thinking that racerx is possibly missing the point that when you lower an X very much, the camber automatically goes way negative.
So on a lowered X, there is no more "stock setting".
When you lower an X to a "race" type ride height, you need to correct the camber BACK in the direction of stock.

From maybe 3° or 4° back to 2° or 2,5°.
 
Racer X,its a matter of taste,looks,needs and $$$$

As Steve have put it.If he can afford them,let it be.If you cannot then don`t criticize.If i had the money I`l be doing the same thing,which i bet you`ll do in a blink if you had the $$ too.Street,autox,track time etc ,it doesn`t matter.Its like people spending 1million$$ on a Bugatti Veyron and they never get to use it!!!!!....but they have the $$$.
To each one their own,.............
 
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