1970 Camaro RS - Boise Idaho

[Goosesdad]

First, let me again thank everyone here for all of your helpful inspiration. From design, helpful hints to safety, you guys are great.

My project began last year with a 1200 sqft shop addition. Teardown of my 70’ RS began in February of this year and as of today, it’s on the rotisserie ready to go to the sand blaster. Can’t believe that I have been letting my job get in the way of working on it, I’ll have to change that habit!!! The hood, fenders and doors are already back and have been primered. Ordering the rear suspension and roll cage next week. More to come soon.

[Toadman]

Awesome work space!! :cool:

[Goosesdad]

Last week was pretty productive. Loaded the rotisserie on a flat bed and took it to Master Blasters in Caldwell Idaho on Tuesday. Bob did a great job, honestly think I had only an hour of grinding to get the unreachable spots. Spent 7 hours and cooked one electric blower getting all the sand out. Had to laugh each time I turned it over on the rotisserie after I swore there wasn't any more sand......and another handful came out. You would have enjoyed the scene when my son and I loaded the rotisserie on the trailer using 2 engine hoists. Sorry no pics, frankly was to focused not to let anything go wrong to grab the camera. Spent the afternoon at my good friend Tim Doyon's shop, Kosmic Kustoms, on Saturday shooting primer. It's back home now and on the lift while I get the firewall cleaned up. Certainly found more body damage, small dents mostly, that I expected. When I bought the car, it was kind of spur of the moment and I didn't have my magnet with me.... I saw very little rust so I went with it. A bit of a bummer that basically every panel has some level of dent in it. Very, very little rust, so pleased about that. Will order the 4 link and tubs tomorrow, promised myself I wouldn't get into shopping until it was sealed up with primer! Feels really good to get over the disassembly stage and have a mostly fresh starting point.

[thsnake06]

First, let me again thank everyone here for all of your helpful inspiration. From design, helpful hints to safety, you guys are great.

My project began last year with a 1200 sqft shop addition. Teardown of my 70’ RS began in February of this year and as of today, it’s on the rotisserie ready to go to the sand blaster. Can’t believe that I have been letting my job get in the way of working on it, I’ll have to change that habit!!! The hood, fenders and doors are already back and have been primered. Ordering the rear suspension and roll cage next week. More to come soon.

I like the end result picture!

[Goosesdad]

Thanks. Hopefully I live up to it!

[Paraman1]

Glad to see someone else from Boise , I look forward to seeing your cars progress .

[Goosesdad]

DSE 4 link and mini tubs arrived a couple weeks ago. Just now starting tub install. 80% complete with the pass side. Taking my time to get it right and trying to plan for the future with a rocker extension and such, so it's going a little slow right now. DSE stuff is real nice. Tubs fit pretty well though I did modify it a bit to get a bit more clearance in the front of the tub. Not a big deal and frankly not sure it will matter but definItely no going back once these babies are welded in.

[redmist]

Welcome fellow Boise guy!!! Nice project!

[Protouringstang73]

I love that color combo on the rendering.. That's the same way I'm going with my Mustang :)

[Bygblok]

looks awesome! Can't wait to watch the progress!

[aps63]

Excellent progress so far, keep it up. Awesome shop too.

[Goosesdad]

Thanks guys. Will be home for a full week next before another business trip. Goal is to finish both tubs. W

[Goosesdad]

Sure am a little embarrassed to be a month into the mini-tub install and just barely completely one of them!! Hectic work schedule has put me on an airplane more than in my shop, I’ve got to get my priorities right!! But admittedly I'm taking to long here!! Finally complete (well 95%) with my first mini tub. Found the DSE tubs quite nice though their approach to instructions is very basic with little detail or suggestions on ways to improve install path. Yep, being nit picky here but they go through a nice effort in the presentation with written docs as well as a DVD but frankly it’s pretty hollow of meaningful detailed content. I would have been pleased with some verbiage in the DVD instead of music….yes, it gets you there…I’m just being critical!! I modified the tub a little by eliminating the opening for the stock shock tower, just made for a cleaner look IMO, let me know what you think. Quality of the DSE tub was very high. I used some copper infused weld through primer……made welding difficult to say the least. Just posted a note about a Miller Welding Mask that I just bought. I liked the safety precaution here as their a lot of uglies in that primer as far as your lungs are concerned. I don’t think I will use the primer on the other tub, think I can seal the two metal-to-metal joints with seam sealer good enough and this will clearly make for cleaner welds. The drivers side will go quicker and then it's on to the 4-link install. Take care!!!

[Goosesdad]

Drivers side Mini Tub is 90% complete. Will finish final welding once the car is back on the rotisserie. DSE tubs went in pretty well. I deleted the cutout for the factory shock, think it came out pretty good. Going to button up some of the left over to-do's on each of the tubs and then will start the DSE 4 link install next weekend. Enjoy and hope everyone has a great thanksgiving.

John

[Motown 454]

Damn that's a nice looking job! I love the addition to the shop.

[MMcMasters]

Damn that's a nice looking job! I love the addition to the shop.

X2 !!! Great job and I love the shop

[Goosesdad]

Thanks guys

[Ppd1979]

That's looks awesome!

[IronDougal]

I do love the 2nd Gen F-body's. I have had a few myself. Glad to see more local Boise guys on here.
I'll be keeping an eye on this one for sure.

Toby....

[Goosesdad]

In the middle of the DSE 4 link install. A couple little hiccups due to some questions around the installation guide but mostly resolved now. Upper links are installed but need to be finish welded, will wait until I get it back on the rotisserie for better access. Had to purchase the lower link leaf spring pocket because I didn't realize I needed to keep the originals. They should arrive this week, will complete the lower link installation then. Been working on sealing up the rear firewall in the meantime. Expect to start some mock up of the rear body and spoiler mods later this month and then on to the roll cage. All is going well. Had a little distraction of completing the bathroom in the shop. Came out pretty cool. More concentration on the car and less on distractions around completing the shop in the coming months. Sure could use a 35 hour day.

[Motown 454]

DSE does make a beautiful product. Nice job.

[Justin@EntropyRad]

Was the toilet supposed to be in the build? ;-)

Car is going to be sweet!

[maxxom]

Looks great so far. Don't sweat the timeline. We all have good intentions and then reality strikes.

[Goosesdad]

4 Link mounts are mostly complete. Final welding will be done once I can get it upside down on the rotisserie. I made a few modifications to the standard DSE mounts for the bottom links, really just cleaned up the access to the nut with a round pass-through in the frame. Have a fair amount of welds to clean up and make look pretty but for now I’m calling the rear suspension 80% complete.

Need to make a decision on the rear end, pretty sure a full floater is my path so I need to get some prices from DSE, Currie, Speedway and Moser and ??? – I would really appreciate any advice here. Thanks in advance.

Ordering the main hoop for the roll cage today and I found a local rock crawler guy who can help me with bending up the rest of the cage. Really like the path that DSE did on Tim McGilton’s, will likely mimic that for the most part. That’s next.

Yep – Aluminum trunk hinges are super cool – just trying to keep myself in check here so I fabbed up the stock ones to work with some brass bushings and a stainless bolt. Started replacing a section of the lower deck filler panel today.

[Goosesdad]

Thanks Justin - yep got tired of taking my shoes off 87 times a day to go in the house to take a leak! My 49 yold bladder required the urinal.....at least that's how I sold it to my wife!

[Motown 454]

Looking Good, nice job!

[Goosesdad]

Cleaned up most of the rust in the rear window by fab'n in a new section cut from a Classic Industries replacement piece. Fit almost perfect, I was impressed. Fab'd up some of the window sections. Started creating some templates for the interior of the rear seat and tub area. Plan is to make some fiberglass pieces here as well as a fiberglass headliner. All of it will be covered with some suede or similar material but I really like the idea of smooth pieces here. Doing it now so I have a good idea of how close the roll cage can be placed to these areas. I posted some of my thoughts/questions in a "roll cage advice" post.

[Motown 454]

Beautiful work!

[IronDougal]

I love watching this come together. If I could have only done the DSE rear in mine. Love that.
Plus you are in Boise, so that makes this even cooler.

[Justin@EntropyRad]

Nice work..Is the toilet a joke?

[Goosesdad]

Nope - not a joke, it's the bathroom in my shop.

[Goosesdad]

Plugs for the fiberglass interior panels are almost complete. Planning to use a flush mount rear window from Fesler, hope it's available soon. Going to do a fiberglass headliner as well. I will leave all the fiberglass in the car so the guys that are going to install the roll cage (early May) will have some reference points. I'll remove the interior parts after that for material covering at a later date.

[Goosesdad]

Firewall is about 90% complete, need to add the roll cage attachment on the drivers side and the fender mounts. This weekend. Left the trans tunnel unfinished until the motor and trans arrive. Roll cage is next then subframe, wheels and the rear end.

[Motown 454]

That looks great, nice work!

[1968CamaroSS_Sam]

This is going to be a very nice car when done. Great job.

[Goosesdad]

Finished the interior panel plugs and laminated fiberglass over the top of them. All of this will have be cut and removed later but for now I wanted it there for reference points while we installed the roll cage. It's rough now but eventually will be sanded smooth and some modern material glued to it.

Great Scott Creations, here in Boise did the roll cage for me. Great guys with great skills, even allowed me to help a couple of the days. I couldn't be more pleased with the work they did ($2500). We purposefully left out the door bars and the rear horizontal as they would be in the way throughout the build. Penetrating the Firewall was interesting!! They were able to bend the upper hoop in such a way that it almost exactly mimicked the door radius, saved almost an inch of head clearance. Actually welded it to the roof.....(Anyone think that is a bad idea?????? - - Should they cage "float" in relation to the roof??) Seems like it would only help with rigidity but I would hate for something to flex unexpectedly after paint!!

1 3/4", 0.120 wall DOM

Would appreciate any feedback....especially if you see any safety related flaws.

Thanks again for everyone's input!! Much appreciated!

John

[splatt]

How did you make the headliner? I want to do a one piece headliner in my monte carlo. The body is off the frame and I have access to a rotisserie. I figure you flipped the body and laid out fiberglass mat on the roof. Any tips or advice.

[Goosesdad]

You basically called it. If you PM me your email address I will give you access to a Dropbox folder with all the pics. Fiberglass Supply has all the materials you will need.
I basically glued down some 1/2" thick foam to make room for the heat/sound insulation. Then glued down some vinyl to the foam. Then used some drywall putty to do some final smoothing. Then primed and painted it all with latex paint. Waxed it with release wax and laminated the fiberglass to that. Once I'm ready to do the interior, I'll pull all that out and smooth the glass before gluing down the final material. I know I will need to figure out mounting the glass but that's for another day. For now, I'm just leaving the glass in the car cause it's a good place to store it so it will keep its shape.

[Goosesdad]

Thanks Sam!

[Goosesdad]

Thanks Wayne!

[Goosesdad]

Finished up the rear suspension installation with a few modifications. Pics are here:
https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/116333-Second-Gen-Quadralink-Modification?p=1155508#post1155508

Cut out the old rusted trunk pan an fitted in a section from an AMD replacement. They don't make one specifically for the '70 but the differences to the later versions are minimal and the AMD guys were great with providing information that directed my cuts!! Their trunk pan fit almost perfect, probably if I was better at stretching sheet metal, I would not have had to make any relief cuts.

Ordered the DSE front subframe from JDP motorsports, great pleasure working with them!

Will work on some clean up underneath while it's still on the rotisserie and then put it back on the lift to install the front end and then the subframe connectors once the parts arrive.

[Z06killinSBF]

Wow, some very nice work! I'm excited to see the interior completed.

[Goosesdad]

Thanks. Hoping to start on the interior next spring.

[RaceFace]

Lookin' good!! I'll be watching this one. Oh, and the shop is awesome too!! It sure makes things easier with a big project!!

[cbpldc]

Nice build! I love the early 2nd gens.

Chris

[Goosesdad]

Color Change

[Goosesdad]

Thanks. Yes, very thankful for the space.

[Goosesdad]

DSE front end showed up today. Real nice. Should go on the car this weekend and I will begin the subframe connectors.

[Motown 454]

Beautiful piece of equipment right there.

[F-Body International]

Nice work John!

Jon

[streetbird]

wow. I really like it.
Great work, make me want a second gen

[Goosesdad]

Thanks Wayne, Jon and Streebird!!

Subframe along with connectors installed now. Haven't welded the tabs on the subframe yet as I am trying to determine if bolting the subframe to the connectors is acceptable vs. welding. I just like the idea of being able to remove the subframe during the build. DSE did this on their latest couple of 69's but DSE tech support recommends not bolting. A delimma I can wait to resolve.

DSE engine mounts an P-Ayr foam engine block installed without any issue. Both are really nice pieces. Bellhouse and Tremec are on order.

Hung the doors using the Ring Bros hinges....wow, those pieces are mad cool, solid as a rock! Ordered the automatic window parts and I'm working through the idea of shaved door handles using a kit from Electric Life. If anyone has any advice, I would be very grateful!! Seems like a pretty cool set up and like most, I really don't like the factory door handles. The only real downside that I can see so far is that you need a remote to open the door from the outside. I was really hoping for something like the Corvette doors, with the recessed button. I know the Dutchboys did something like the 'vette solution on their second gen.

[Goosesdad]

Finished the rust repair on the front fenders and hung them just to get a look at it......if even just looking "something" like a car!! I used the lower fender pieces from Classic to repair these sections. The parts fit OK but they were really thin and even with extremely careful welding, they bowed in the middle almost 3/16". I can hammer it out but....

Side markers are out of here.

Picked up some Cobra Seats from Sube Sports in SoCal while down there visiting family for Christmas. Ashley was very helpful and their store is really cool. Comfortable, safe, love the fireproof fabric, well priced and finally found a seat that has the upper seat belt holes high enough for me... 6'-1". Going to interesting mounting the seats to get them low enough so my head doesn't bang the cage but it appears doable.

[Motown 454]

Nice work John, its coming along.

[syborg tt]

Great looking project and looking forward to seeing more updates

[autoxtech]

where did you get those door hinges ? they are sweet . looking good

[Jimbo1367]

Ring Brothers IIRC. ^^^^^^^^
WOW
Subcribing.

[Jimbo1367]

It looks like a rotisserie and lift will make it to my "wish list"
Keep up the great work.

[Goosesdad]

i am turning 50 this year ....owed it to my back to have those two tools. Money well spent. If only our backs and necks were designed with the same level of performance as our cars!!

[Goosesdad]

Ring Brothers IIRC. ^^^^^^^^
WOW
Subcribing.

Yep ...Ring Bros. they are really nice. Zero flex so far. I haven't loaded the door with any window parts yet and I did cut out the door brace so the door is pretty light. That said, these bad boys look pretty stout and I don't suspect any real sag coming my way.

[maxxom]

Yep ...Ring Bros. they are really nice. Zero flex so far. I haven't loaded the door with any window parts yet and I did cut out the door brace so the door is pretty light. That said, these bad boys look pretty stout and I don't suspect any real sag coming my way.

I have them on my build. They are great but come at a price. Great progress, subscribed.

[TonyHuntimer]

Great build thread! Nice work so far. :)

Tony Huntimer

[Goosesdad]

Thanks Tony!!

Steering column and wheel installed. Using the stock pedals to set up the location for the new Wilwoods. Heavily considering power brakes, street time and all...... Working out the design which will ink the decision for 6:1 or 7:1 for the pedals. Would greatly appreciate any advice?

Seat mount is this week. Considering using 1"x3"x3/16" rectangular tube cut into the floor with seat mounts bolted to that structure, anyone have any advice? Maybe this is overkill?

[Goosesdad]

T56 showed up today, bell housing is in route. Trans cross-member is next. Really like those that have been designed by DSE for their project cars but also like the one on the car shown in latest Hooker headers posts.

[b_hoss]

Very Nice build. First time I've seen those hinges. Those are pretty boss. Crazy to build such a nice car and have so many people comment on the door hinges huh?

[syborg tt]

Thanks Tony!!

Steering column and wheel installed. Using the stock pedals to set up the location for the new Wilwoods. Heavily considering power brakes, street time and all...... Working out the design which will ink the decision for 6:1 or 7:1 for the pedals. Would greatly appreciate any advice?

Seat mount is this week. Considering using 1"x3"x3/16" rectangular tube cut into the floor with seat mounts bolted to that structure, anyone have any advice? Maybe this is overkill?

First off every time I look at this thread it makes me want to redo my 70 now instead of next winter.

Power Brakes - do it were getting older and power brakes are really nice. Just and fyi I had some medical issue's in 2012 that made me park my 2010 Camaro with power brakes and a baby soft clutch pedal. If the car would have had manual brakes I would of had to sell the car. If not power maybe an electric power assist set up.

As for the seat mounting I am not an expert or am I claiming to be. But my thought is you can't overdo it when your mounting a seat and your seat belts / harness's. I've seen
seats get pulled out the floor in old cars and the same goes for seat belts.

[MOREHORSEPOWER]

Great build job !!

[Goosesdad]

Thanks guys!! Appreciate the kind words!!
Mocking up the transmission now, will likely build my own xmember. Fenders and doors are 95% adjusted so I can start on the interior after the trans is inked in place.

[Goosesdad]

Upper portion of the trans xmember complete. Working on the lower section now. Almost complete, pics coming in the next few days.

[Aussie]

Looking good. I'm waiting to see what happens with Holley crossmember, if not I may "borrow" a few ideas here

[syborg tt]

John,

great update and thank you for sharing the pics and your build idea's.

[Goosesdad]

Looking good. I'm waiting to see what happens with Holley crossmember, if not I may "borrow" a few ideas here

Hi Roger....I was toying with waiting as well. It looks like it's going to be a nice piece. Impatient as I really need to finish the trans tunnel so I can begin on the interior. I finished the lower mount last night...well 95%, still need to clean it up a bit but here are a couple pics. I set the angle at about 1.8 degrees. Have heard folks setting from 1.0 to 3.0, so I built it with a 1/4" spacer, hidden in the pics but would allow me to lower the trans another .75 degrees. Of course owe a huge thanks and compliment to DSE and Tim McGilton for sharing their concepts. Hope you enjoy.

[Goosesdad]

Started installing the seats. I wish I was 5'-2'!! Trying to get the seat low enough so my head stays away from the roll bar is pretty challenging. Borrowed a concept from DSE (thanks to them for always documenting their builds) and cut the seat bracket into the floor. Even with that I wish I could get another 1" lower which would put my head around 6" away from the cage. I think I am going to notch the sub frame connectors and get another 1/2", probably about the best it's going to get. Just finished cutting the floor and fitting the seat frames this weekend.

Plan on beefing up the area around the stock seat belt mounting bracket and nut by basically welding a 1/8" plate on the interior to double up on the thickness around the mount. Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions for anything more here?

[Paraman1]

Mad props on the transmission mount !! That is seriously cool ! I wish I had fabrication skills , I tend to be able to bolt stuff together and that's about it . I really hope to see this car in person here locally some day .

[Goosesdad]

Thanks !! Heck yeah....come on by anytime!! Send me a PM.
Mad props on the transmission mount !! That is seriously cool ! I wish I had fabrication skills , I tend to be able to bolt stuff together and that's about it . I really hope to see this car in person here locally some day .

[Goosesdad]

Finished most of the mock up tonight, still need to notch the subframe connectors to get the seat as low as possible. Trying to get my head away from the roll cage as far as possible, should end up north of 5", tried for 6. More on the notching effort in the next few days.

[Goosesdad]

Did a little redesign in order to get the seat as low as possible. Had to notch out the subframe connector so I made a 3/16 thick rectangular section to go inside the subframe connector to bring back some of the rigidity. All of this was in an effort to get my head as far away from the roll cage as possible as well as make as much room for helmet as possible. Mission accomplished, passenger side is next weekend.

I had originally built this frame as a complete rectangle but ended up cutting one of the sides completely out, again to get this as low as possible. Still have a few braces to add but for the most part, it's done.

[Goosesdad]

Mocked up the door bars, won't weld them in until later. I'm going to do the interior next so these were kind of important for the layout of the door panels.

[syborg tt]

Wow - John the progress on this car is incredible.

[MOREHORSEPOWER]

Super nice fab work !!

[Goosesdad]

Wow - John the progress on this car is incredible.


Super nice fab work !!

Thanks !! Appreciate the encouragement!

[Motown 454]

That looks amazing John.

[Peter Mc Mahon]

Inspirational and awesome!

[Goosesdad]

That looks amazing John.


Inspirational and awesome!

Thanks Peter and Wayne!!!

[Goosesdad]

Welding the subframe tabs to the frame and the connectors seems pretty limiting at this stage so I went with the bolting route. Sleeved the connectors like others have. Pretty straightforward, though I don't know what I was thinking when I didn't do the sleeving before welding in the connectors.

[Goosesdad]

Started mocking up the trans tunnel. I wanted to increase the foot wells as much as possible, I've always had issues with throttle pedals that were too far to the left so I cut the floor and made some sections there as well. Left about 1/2" clearance to the trans at its closet spot. Not finished here by a long shot but thought I would share what I have so far. Was able to extend the bead lines in the floor, should be pretty stout.

All of it is still just cleco'd right now, still a few more sections to fab up. Also have a Vintage Air foam mock up unit on order so I can confirm there is enough room for it before welding up the trans tunnel.

[syborg tt]

I am really starting to like this car more then mine. Not fair !!!

[Goosesdad]

I am really starting to like this car more then mine. Not fair !!!

Too funny!! Your car rolls pretty sweet dude.....!

[syborg tt]

Too funny!! Your car rolls pretty sweet dude.....!

Thanks John but mine is just a fun driver and yours is a serious race car.

[ryeguy2006a]

Your metal fabrication skills are amazing, nice work! It's builds like these that make me want to build my car at a higher level.

[Goosesdad]

Wow - thanks, really appreciate the compliments!! Made some progress last weekend tying the firewall, trans tunnel, cowl etc all together. Lot's to get lined up here. Steering column, AC, trans, wipers, brake and clutch MC etc. Expect I'm going to be on this step for a month or so, lots of travel for business isn't helping. Ordered the wheels and tires, going with 315s on the front - should be interesting. Send more pics soon.

[Jamess113]

WOW! Great project! Love your attention to detail! Keep the pictures and updates coming.

[Goosesdad]

Thanks James!
128642128643128644Still working on finishing the sheet metal for the trans tunnel and the firewall, lots to get organized here....so bouncing around a bit. Had to jump back to the firewall to get the area around the wiper motor cleaned up as that section ties to the tunnel transition. Installing a New Port Engineering wiper motor and sprayer. I don't exactly understand why most factory wiper motors are always cocked at some wierd angle so I repositioned the motor and reclocked the wiper drive arm. I think it looks 10x better flat and level. Also, removing that step in the firewall and flattening, while creating a cut out for the wiper motor. Still a work in progress....have a plan, final pics coming in a few days. Hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July!!

[syborg tt]

Like !!!

[Goosesdad]

Trans tunnel and the firewall are almost complete. Still some clean up to do on the bottom but I will finish that once it's back on the rotisserie.
Wheels should be here in a couple of weeks, ordered the brakes and the rear end last week. I will weld in the DSE master cylinder mount when the master shows up. Templating for the cowl now, should finish next weekend.

[Motown 454]

Sheetmetal work look great John! you should be able to fit anything in that tunnel now.