B Bodies and Road Courses - My Super Bee Setup

[Superbeemike]

On Memorial Day 2021, myself and a few buddies went over to Thunder Hill Raceway in Willows, California for a Track Day.

While camping at the track the night before, I was BS’ing with my buddies about Mopar vs. Chevy and heard a lot about bringing a boat anchor to a road course and so on. I did two days last year at this track and the Bee did quite well, so I went for another round this year. Last year I was very conservative with the car and just cruised around the track, but it was still pretty good. This year, I set some goals and I pushed the car and myself. I really wanted to get some respectful lap times and get the car on its edge. Long story short, we had an absolute blast and I managed to get 7 sessions completed between the two tracks. They had a special package that day where both courses were open. I was giving rides to everyone out there and after my buddies cars broke, their tone quickly changed too. The car was very comparable to many of the newer cars out there and surprised many, including myself and my buddies.

On my drive home, I thought about what I accomplished with the Bee and why it was perceived as the odd car out when it actually was really good. Kind of like the fat kid playing dodgeball. I realized that everyone see’s these cars as only drag cars, but they are most certainly not a one trick pony with a few simple upgrades.

When building up my car, I struggled researching combinations for doing this kind of driving, there just was not much information out there. Now that I’ve dialed my car in, I feel obligated to share my setup in hopes more of you take your cars out to the track too. I’ll attempt to break down each section of the car in the following posts so this intial post isn't too long. Here are the pics from Memorial Day 2021.

Thanks for reading - Mike

 

[Superbeemike]

Here are more pics from the weekend....

 

[Superbeemike]

More pics from the weekend....

(notice the Camaro behind me, not in front)

 

[Superbeemike]

My car was a show car that was showing its age. I bought the Bee back in 1998 for $800 and did a full restoration. It was painted in 2001 and finally back on the road in 2005. I did a lot of regular car shows but after the paint started cracking and chipping, I ended up parking the car in the garage and it just sat. End of 2019, I decided to start driving the car again, and have some fun with it, before getting it repainted. I set a date to road trip the car to Tucson for the Roadkill Zip Tie Drags. It needed new tires so that started the gears turning to transform the car to have that vintage stock car vibe. I grew up next to Riverside Raceway and loved the stock cars that raced on that track and I wanted fat tires all the way around.

So in this post, I want to discuss my tire setup first, When I ordered my rims and tire, I researched the heck out of FBBO, amongst other sites, and searched things like “biggest front tires”…”Largest rear tires”….”wheel back space”….etc. I could have easily upgraded to 17’s or 18’s and my tire options would have opened up but I really wanted that old stock car look.

Here’s what I came up with:

Front Rim: 15x8, 4.5 bs

Front Tire: 245/60R15

Rear Rim: 15x10, 5.5 bs

Rear Tire: 295/50R15

These tires are roughly 26.5 in diameter front and rear for balance. I studied tire sizes over and over again and compromised with this setup to be safe. The tires are Mickey Thompson's Sportsman S/T's which have a treadwear rating of 440. The only issues are the front wheel weights would contact the upper arm and the rear tires just kiss the inside wheel well on hard turns. I went to stick on wheel weights for the fronts and added ¼ billet spacers in the rear. One important thing to note is I upgraded to 3” wheel studs that were stronger than stock

I start the day off at 32 psi and as the temps come up, I’ve seen the pressure rise 3-4 psi on a hot day once I get off the track. My tire temps are even across the rears and a little warm to the inside of the fronts. Mostly because of the extra front camber but the temps indicate my pressures are good. I’ll go over my alignment later but here is what I’ve learned about these tires on the track. The tires are a bit harder than I’d like at the 440 treadwear. I’d like to get more front tire but I’m limited on what is available. After 3 track days, I’m at about 2/3’s tread remaining. These tires are very predictable and give great feedback when they are starting to lose grip. I feel these are a great option if you are on a budget. If you really want to go fast, upgrading to something with a lower treadwear rating would be best. I do push the front tires before the rear ever starts to get loose. That could change if I had more horsepower and could steer more with the gas pedal.

 

[Superbeemike]

Next section I will discuss my suspension/steering setup.

I started off with a completely stock Super Bee, drum brakes and all. I added Hotchkiss 1.1” torsion bars, 1 1/8” Summit Racing front sway bar, with stock arms, bushings, and off the shelf shocks (maybe Monroe?) that I installed on the car way back when I assembled the car. I set the ride height low but still have travel left up front.

In the rear, I replaced the worn leaf’s with Mopar HD springs and added a 1” block to lower it down. Same stock shocks and added a Summit Racing 7/8” sway bar (edit - corrected size) that is adjustable and set in the middle holes.

For steering, I have a stock power steering box but added a quick ratio pitman arm and idler arm. I had to dent my exhaust a little for everything to have plenty of clearance.

Now here is the most important suspension upgrade. The alignment! I had the alignment set with -1.0 * negative camber and about 3* of positive caster with slight toe in. If you could only do one thing to your car, get it aligned. I went to an old shop, and they dialed me in.

What I have learned…. If I were to change anything with my alignment, I would play with the camber and add another -0.5 to see if it loosens up the car. I would like to adjust my rear sway to see if that would loosen things up a little too. I would like to get adjustable shocks and set them up stiff to see what those effect. Overall, it’s a well-mannered and predictable setup that hasn’t broke the bank.

 

[Superbeemike]

Suspension Pics....

 

[Superbeemike]

Hold your Horses….. Brakes!!!

I removed the front 11” drums and swapped to disc’s. I went with factory 10.95 rotors, slider calipers, while using A body front spindles. I added EBC Yellow pads and properly bed them in. I’m still using the factory non power master cylinder. The rear’s are factory 11” drums, cleaned and adjusted properly. I installed a proportioning valve to control the rear biased. I added sheet metal cooling ducts to the front and rear which make all the difference. If I over use the brakes, they cool quickly.


There are many braking options out there and with more brake information out there than you can shake a stick at. The EBC Yellows are key in my setup, but my driving style also helps here. Dynamite the brakes in every turn and you’ll need something better than my setup. 15” rims really limited my options here and I will get the 11.75 setup soon enough. I can’t really complain here but better brakes would be nice.

 

[YY1]

Show 'em what leafs and torsion bars can do!

 

[Superbeemike]

Show 'em what leafs and torsion bars can do!

Torsion Bars for the WIN!!

We don't need all those fancy setups

 

[69 Sleeper Bee]

Love it man

 

[BeepBeepRR]

More pics from the weekend....

(notice the Camaro behind me, not in front)

View attachment 1120907 View attachment 1120908 View attachment 1120909

Also notice him missing

 

[funknut]

Thanks for sharing.

Impressive to be able to do what you've done on a 15" wheel and tire!

 

[Superbeemike]

Thanks for sharing.

Impressive to be able to do what you've done on a 15" wheel and tire!

Never have been a fan of big wheels on old cars. I'm sure I'm missing out on performance but 15"s look so dang good and they worked back in the day. This pic was one of my inspirations....It's pretty good.

 

[F4R/T]

You rock that bee kicks it! Nice job on the suspension tuning and set up! I really dig that fact it’s still production parts minus the sway bar in the rear and oversized front... I dig it!

 

[Superbeemike]

Here's a break down of my parts with pricing from Summit Racing.

Hotchkis 1.10 Torsion Bars - Part #19367 $334
Summit Racing 1 1/8" Front Sway Bar - Part #SUM-720230 $196
Mopar HD Leaf Spring (left) - Part #P4452983 $140
Mopar HD Leaf Spring (right) - Part #P4452982 $140
Summit Racing 7/8" Rear Sway Bar - Part #720231 $200
1" lowering blocks with bolts (I forgot which brand I used) $50
Alignment - $200
Total $1260

Tires/Wheels
Front wheel 15x8 Part #63-5812042 $126 x 2
Front tire 245/60R15 Mickey Thompson Sportsman S/T $146 x 2
Rear wheels 15x10 Part#63-5012052 $182 x 2
Rear tire 295/50R15 Mickey Thompson Sportsman S/T $190 x 2
Milodon Wheel Studs (rear) Part #86165 $36
Milodon Wheel Studs (front) Part #86155 $33
Billet Specialties Wheel Spacer Part#WSG5L250 $37 x 2
Total $1431

Proforged Pitman Arm Part #103-10031 $123
Proforged Idler Arm Part #102-10063 $58

EBC Brake Pads Part #DP4678R $136
Front Brake Rotors Approx. $45 each
DOT 4 Brake Fluid
Don't forget wheel bearings and seals

 

[ckessel]

Nice package. Thank you for sharing.

 

[493 Mike]

I like those aluminum brake coolers!
Mike

 

[Toxic Orange 493]

Nice setup. Thanks for sharing!

 

[dvw]

I like your entire concept. Looks good works well. And on a budget.
Nice work.
Doug

 

[Budnicks]

I do like the air redirection/aluminum
to keep the brakes cool