My hero's 68' Camaro budget build

[mccustomize]

So, a little back story to this project, and it's taking me a while to get through typing this for you all.

I have been a long time lurker on the site because I have been into anything fast, cool, and loud. I grew up looking at my dad's hot rod magazines and stuffing them in my back pack to take them to school. So hot rodding was in my roots. My dad used to tinker on stuff all the time and was by definition a "shadetree" mechanic. He worked for the local telephone company and enjoyed many days of stories of his prized hot rods, 30's 40's and 50's chevys, multiple camaros, and a few nice short bed c10 trucks.

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But the one car that always stuck out was the one he talked about, and missed, the most. A gold 67' camaro. White vinyl top, 4 speed, 327 car with headers, a lunati cam, and holly carb that he regularly packed one slick in the truck and another in the back seat and took to our local drag strip. He always had a deep connection with first gen camaros and loved them even though the gold 67 he owned shortly after college was the only first gen he owned.

Fast forward 30 years and with a family of 3 boys, a wife, full time job with lots of overtime, and sadly to say, no cool toys for dad. Until shortly after getting out of technical school I was working for a guy doing frame off restorations when a decent 68' came across the garage for sale. I had done 2 years of auto body in high school and graduated from Universal Technical Institute with honors, going on to be a collision repair tech. So I quickly called dad and told him about the car, he immediately wanted more pictures and for the low price of $4000 he could swing it and finish it, with my help of course.

Over the next 9 years he simply gathered parts, the car was in primer and was missing a front clip, but had a fresh 400 small block and 17" torque thrusts so it looked decent. We trolled every super chevy show and good guys show twice a year, picking up parts piece by piece. He called the car his retirement project as he planned to retire at 63 with 35 years of service for the local phone company. In 2012 my grandmother told me that she wanted to do something really special for him for fathers day. My dad was the "give it all and do everything to make everyone else happy" kind of guy who rarely bought or did anything for himself, he simply loved seeing his family, and now 3 grandsons, beaming with happiness.

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So I sat down with my grandmother and we ordered about $3500 worth of parts for his camaro for fathers day. On that sunday after church as my dad got to about the 3rd box of parts, tears were rolling down his face as he got chord up and said" I don't deserve this guys" when in reality he was the single most deserving man on the planet of anything. Now after these parts we started to make some headway, ordering a few more parts here and there and getting a game plan to do it sections at a time, he even started looking into LS swaps in hopes of a 6.0/4L80 swap. I had really dug in and started with the subframe.

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Shortly there after……. The day came, January 22nd 2013.

My dad was heading back from a repair job shortly after lunch about an hour from his home, on his way he had stopped by my moms office to see if she needed anything and just give her a kiss. at 12:53 PM, my dad was struck by a few teenage kids that ran a stop sign, hitting my dads work van in the side and causing it to roll, violently. He was ejected from the vehicle and suffered massive blunt force trauma, dying at the scene.

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http://www.kwkt.com/charges-may-be-filed-tuesday-crash-killed-killeen-man

The night before the funeral myself and my brothers along with family and friends, threw the car together to put it on the trailer and make sure his car accompanied him on his last ride….

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Our world was turned upside down. I, will never be the same again, missing my dad each day for the last 363 days more than each one before. The outpouring of family, friends, acquaintances from the last 62 years, just 18 months shy of retirement for my dad, was evident in the wake of his death. He was truly the most amazing man I have ever known, and the most person I ever met. He was my best friend for 29 years of my life, so I am very thankful I got to spend those with my best friend. My dad and mom had their 30th wedding anniversary last october, 2012, and were in love as much as ever.

So here we are, myself, my wife, and my two boys, 7 and 3, my two younger brothers, my mom and the rest our family struggling to get through the days. After some deliberation the camaro was handed to me, since it was our project and it's up to me to finish it now. This is the story so far….

The intended result--------- yes both myself and my dad lusted after the "Bad Penny" car every chance we got, granted we are on a tight budget and could never have a car of that caliber, we dreamed about it, a lot.

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Parts I have::::

Suspension:

BMR control arms
PRO coil overs
Qa1 rear shocks
MOOG tie rods and steering
Speedway drop spindles

Brakes:

Speedway power booster
Speedway front disc kit
Speedway rear disc kit

Engine:

Fresh 400 small block
Hedman ceramic coated long tubes
Billet alt bracket and pulleys
Billet valve covers and air cleaner
Speedway dual electric fans
Aluminum radiator

Body/Interior:

RS spoiler
RS gas cap
Cowl hood
Lokar pedals
B&M shifter for TH350

Wheels/Tires:

XXR 18x8.5 on 245/40zr18
XXR 18x9.5 on 275/40zr18

The interior is mostly stock, and all there, front fender are rusted pretty bad and I don't have several front end parts. I am 99% sure it needs both quarters replaced and some patching in the driver floor board. The trunk floor is solid. I have never been this deep into a first gen camaro, or any muscle car for that matter. How deep am I? Is this build doable on a month by month budget?

[mccustomize]

A few more of the car with the old wheels and tires, 18/20 Boyds, but the 20s were not right for the rear at all, nor the pro touring look and feel.

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[precisionshootist]

Im very sorry to hear about your dad, very unfortunate. May he rest in peace.

Good to see that you are continuing your guys' project, im sure he's smiling from above at the progress you have made so far. Good luck on the rest of your build, im sure it will turn out awesome!

[454bug]

Man, I am sure sorry to hear of your loss...

I know first hand what it's like to lose your father unexpectedly. I lost my dad when I was 19 (34 years ago). There have been MANY years lost in spending special life moments with him. Try to take some comfort in the time you did have with him. I know he will be there in spirit while you finish the project.

I also know first hand how family and work come first and how these projects can drag on over the years while you take care of your obligations.

God bless and good luck with the project. :cheers:

[68lovebuzz]

I am so sorry for your lose. Your story brought me to tears. I sure hope you can cruise in your car and always remember the good times you shared together. You will find great people here to help make that happen.

[village idiot]

Sorry for your loss, but it's good that you're building the car as a remembrance to him. It's something you can hand down to your kids and hopefully they will do the same.
You were very fortunate to have such a great role model in him, and I'm sure you share many of the same qualities and values.

And I think you'll be able to do this on a budget. Take your time and involve your whole family.

Share the journey with them and with us.

Tom

[Build-It-Break-It]

I'm extremely sorry to hear about your father... This story brought tears to my eye as i kept reading... Its very brave and kind of you to share such a heartfelt story. I think your dad would be proud to hear all the wonderful things you had to say about him. Thank you very much for sharing your story. I can't wait to see the build and will subscribe. Once again I'm sorry for your lose.

[Twinstang]

That's a tuff one to read I wish you the best of luck with your project and remember it's just that a project so take your time and it will come out nice

[mccustomize]

Thank you all for the kind words, tomorrow will be one year since my dad was killed and I can't get anything other than finishing his car off my mind, it's going to be a major healing process for me and my family.

First real problem I am running into is the backspacing on the wheels, it looks like on a 9.5 in the rear 5.5" backspace is optimal but what about the front? The 8.5" wheels I have for the car have 6" of backspace on the front wheels. Am I looking at spacers/adapters to run these or what?

[Martin71RS]

what a sad story, sounds like your dad was a great guy! :-( I'm sure he'll be up there looking down and keeping an eye on you finishing the Camaro, good luck!

[Guyt699]

Sorry to hear about your dad. Reading your post brought tears to my eyes as I lost my dad in 1999(he was only 43). The truck I work on now is his and I have worked on it since he passed(when you are on a budget I don't think they ever get "finished"). Good luck with your build and prayers for your family. Wish I could help but I'm sure one of the pros on here can tell you exactly what you need.

[DButler]

I hate to hear that about your dad. Me and my dad are close as you two were and I don't know what I would do if I lost him and I'm 27. I have xxr 521 wheels on my car. I think they have the same backspace as you listed. What style wheel do you have? I may be able to help on spacer size and may be able to send you some pics.

[mccustomize]

Thank you guys for all the kind hearted replies, I can say I couldn't have made it through this past year without a few awesome friends and my family. Tonight is exactly one year ago since I gave my dad the last hug and told him I love you for the last time, tomorrow is going to be difficult since the day replays in my head over and over.

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Dbutler I'm sending you a PM and going to check out your thread, thanks again everyone, keep checking in for updates.

[mccustomize]

I fit the new wheels up today, they fill up the wheel wells nicely. I'm going to have to run a 1.5" spacer on the front and a 1.25" spacer on the rear to clear everything. I do have another problem with the control arms and coil overs however, the top of the shock body hits the spring pocket on the subframe and it looks like they would only have an inch or so of travel left before they would bottom out. I did a search and can't find anything on the PRO coil overs for the first gens on here?

[67Soto]

I am very sorry to hear about the loss, your father sounds like a great man. My father and I were very close and we recently lost him to cancer on February 7th at the age of 62. Although he was ill for 7 months his death still plays in my mind similar to the tragedy you all are experiencing. I wish you and your family nothing but the best as you "re-learn" how to live in this new "chapter" of life. I too am building my dad's camaro and have found it to be quite therapeutic along the way (see my signature for build thread). We worked on it quite a bit before he passed and I have great memories when looking at the car. I agree with others, take your time and enjoy the journey. At times I feel anxious because I want to drive my dad's car but when I complete one small project on the car I feel peace for that moment. Best of luck with the project and all the best to your family. Feel free to PM if you have any questions while building your camaro.