JL8 available first week of Nov, 68?

[Lynn]

Hey Verne:

I think Mark C. nailed it. The option was just too darn expensive, especially considering few guys in the day were concerned with how fast they could STOP!!

The 68 Z that William referenced in the Car & Driver road test comparo had a service package rear. Rules were that they could prep the cars with any part that could be purchased over the counter at a local dealer, i.e. "any factory installed or dealer available part would be acceptable if it was homologated." C&D guys were a little surprised the Camaro camp didn't opt for the Corvette's wider wheels.

BTW, if any of you ever get a chance to buy an old copy of the July 68 C&D, buy it. That is by far the coolest article from the muscle car era, IMHO. Sam Posey was a riot. I first read it in college doing "research" in the library for a history class. Ran across it on microfilm on accident and then had to have the magazine.

The Camaro did a 13.77 1/4 at 107.39 on the factory E 70 15 skinnies without traction bars. Yellow with black vinyl top, custome interior and power steering.

I am with William on this one: where IS that car? Talk about a piece of history.

Lynn

[Lynn]

In fact, here it is, and well worth the money (I have no stake in the sale).

http://cgi.ebay.com/Car-driver-1968-lot-...1QQcmdZViewItem

[William]

"The 68 Z that William referenced in the Car & Driver road test comparo had a service package rear."

I beg to differ. I have under car photos of it showing parking brake cables. The OTC conversion did not use a parking brake.

[Verne_Frantz]

Thanks Lynn,
I probably have that issue. I subscribed for over 20 years until I finally got too tired of reading about Porsches.

So, do you think a '69 Trans-Am car would be "legal" with rear discs? Are there any?

Thanks
Verne

[Jeff H]

Verne, the SCCA said that Chevrolet had to install the option on at least 500 cars to make it legal for Trans Am racing. And Chevrolet showed them that the option was being ordered(Chev probably installed it themself on cars to run up the numbers) so it was a legal option. But in the end, there were only 206 cars built with the JL8 option. Most of the racers used the HD service package rear since it was much cheaper than the full JL8 option. The ZL2 cowl induction hood was another option that they needed to produce a minimum 500 units to make it legal. Racers were using the fiberglass crossram hood(estimate of around 100 made) but the ZL2 option was a steel single 4 bbl hood which made the fiberglass one eligible as well. In Wayne Guinn's book he describes how the JL8 rears were built by modifying standard 12 bolt rears. They were done in batches which also made availability limited. When you look back at it now, 4 wheel disc brakes on a 1969 Camaro is pretty awesome considering the only other cars to have it were the Corvette or some exotic exports. But it's not just that it's 4 wheel disc brakes, the setup was created and tested to allow for serious road racing and could handle an incredible amount of braking during a race without heating up too much and fading out over time. Most new cars with 4 wheel discs have tiny rear rotor which would never be able to handle the rigors of racing.

[Verne_Frantz]

Thanks Jeff. Interesting stuff!
Chevy seemed to be pretty intersted in racing, but sometimes their staff let things fall through the cracks. Take the '63 Z-11 for instance. NHRA required 50 production units to qualify for Super Stock, but the first list Chevy sent to their tech was only about 45 cars. When Haydon Profitt showed up at the Winternationals, they made him run "LP" Limited Production. Even though Chevy did build 50 cars, they never sent another letter and list to NHRA, so LP turned into FX, and that's where the cars ran through the season. Of course, about the time of the Winternationals, the anti-racing ban took effect and anyone in the division who supported racing activities in any way was given their last paycheck.

No doubt the JL8 was engineered for racing purposes. I suppose finding an original car that was NOT raced would be a pretty rare find!

Verne

[Jeff H]

[ QUOTE ]
No doubt the JL8 was engineered for racing purposes. I suppose finding an original car that was NOT raced would be a pretty rare find!

Verne

[/ QUOTE ]

The JL8 option was very expensive so most of the 206 cars built were not for race teams. And if you look at all the componets, the rear brakes/rotors are the same size as the front brakes/rotors and they were actually larger than the standard front disc brakes. So it really was a race developed option that most people don't realize. The 68 Camaro I had 2 years ago had one of the newer conversion kits and it used full size rotors on the rear. All I can say is that the car was the best braking car I've ever been in. And that was not race type stuff, just standard single piston calipers. There are a lot of 1 off custom components used in the JL8 setup to adapt the big brakes. The strangest thing was that you could get the JL8 setup on a 6 cyl car if you wanted to. I've heard of at least 1 car that was built that way.

[firstgenaddict]

So on the J-56 JL8 cars did they use a Corvette J-56 Caliper or was there a specific twin retaining pin caliper just for the Camaro? I have always wondered about this.
Because if I am not mistaken the standard rear Corvette 4 piston caliper will not fit on the Camaro rear ....correct?

[Jeff H]

I don't have my parts here at the house but I believe the standard JL8 setup used the single retaining pin and so the standard Corvette calipers can be used. But for racing purposes they recommended using the J56 caliper setup with the dual reataining pins for smoother pad movement.

[wundercluck]

Don't know if the actual J56 calipers will work with the Camaro, but GM released a drawing that shows how to modify the JL8 calipers for use with the flanged J56 pads.