1969 Camaro SS build LS7 Speedtech HRE

[no_go nico]

I am keeping this car off of social media until she's done but I figured it would be cool to document the build here.

1969 Camaro SS frame off restoration 5 years ago. CA car its whole life - Los Angeles plant, sold at Ellis Brooks in San Francisco. Enjoy! Let me know if you have any questions!

Enjoy!

180288 180289 180290
180291 OEM spoiler sanded and prepped
180292 RS grill and headlight covers installed with DSE motors

180293 New RS grill

180294 Speedtech Extreme subframe being prepped

180295 Original front clip off to a new home

180296 Mock up

180297 Baer 6 pistons on all 4 corners - painted in Aztec Gold

[no_go nico]

180298 - Firewall outta here

[no_go nico]

180300 Welds from Speedtech are great

180299 but we had to smooth the welds for better look when powder coating

[no_go nico]

180862
Firewall being mocked up

180863
Christmas in November

180864
19x10.5" up front with 14" Baer
180865

180866
19x12" rear

[no_go nico]

181336

firewall embossed

[WILWAXU]

Great starting point and parts, this should be fun to watch!

[John McIntire]

Looks awesome! I love the look of the HRE's!!!

[no_go nico]

Thanks, John


Great starting point and parts, this should be fun to watch!

[no_go nico]

I was unable to travel to HRE headquarters in San Diego due to covid. They sent me about 7 different color samples and I ultimately decided on the color in pics. Hard decision especially with the insane price point. But they look killer in person


Looks awesome! I love the look of the HRE's!!!

[Rod]

looks great

[no_go nico]

181373 Speedtech Torque Arm back from powder coating

181372 Dutchman full floater 9". Strange pumpkin with 3.89 gears Eaton Trutrac. Happy Thanksgiving ya'll!

[no_go nico]

more rear end pics

181452

181453

[C Presley]

Very nice! You having Mean Street Performance doing some of the work?

[andrewb70]

In for updates.

Andrew

[no_go nico]

181519

181520

181521

assembling brakes before starting the mini tub

[no_go nico]

Mock up of engine bay on another 69' camaro. Overflow reservoir bottom left.
181846

[ICrombie]

Looking good, I really like those HREs and gold calipers!

[67BrewserSS]

Looking good, those wheels are sick. I’m building a 67 similarly with speedtech extreme, can’t wait to get it. Do you know what paint was used in the engine compartment of the red 69 you shared? I’ll be painting mine soon and am going for that level of gloss,looking at a few Eastwood products now.

[no_go nico]

i dont know the actual color, I will try and find out. I know its a flat black..

[wastntim]

Looks great. What tires are you planning on running?

[no_go nico]

Michelin PS4's 305/30/19 and 325/30/29. Tire options are really limited when moving up from 18's to 19's

[r67nova]

Looks great, the speedtech stuff is nice. Keep us updated on your progress.

[no_go nico]

@r67nova I just watched a couple of your YouTube videos, what mufflers are you running on your Nova?


Looks great, the speedtech stuff is nice. Keep us updated on your progress.

[wastntim]

Are you doing the widened front wheel tubs?

[no_go nico]

Yeah the Speedtech kit comes with wider tubs but no fender modification is required!


Are you doing the widened front wheel tubs?

[no_go nico]

Moving the stock console back 1 1/2" for better appearance. Car also came with the Gauge pack option, I am keeping the original console but upgrading the gauges with Dakota Digital.

182117 Stock location

182118 Stock location, it sits underneath the ashtray

182119 Moved toward the rear 1 1/2"

182120 Subtle difference

[no_go nico]

182768T56 showed up from Bowler, not their reworked stage 2 trans but I wanted to give my money to the smaller guys. T56, Quiktime bell housing, relocation kit for standard console, shifter, and their all-in-1 reverse lockout wiring harness is on the way.

[no_go nico]

Dakota Digital HDX gauges showed up today. Thanks to Kim @ MCB for the great price and quick delivery.

183076
183077
183078

[no_go nico]

Engine is taking fu*king forever to complete and ship. Combination of covid supply chain issues and massive demand. We have been waiting on Callies to balance the rotating assembly for 5 weeks! First we couldn't get Mahle pistons, we ended up getting some Ractec pistons for the same price (score) then Callies cited metallurgy issues with their Compstar cranks so they upgraded me to a Dragonslayer crank for free (score again).

I was happy with the upgrade - Dragonslayer is made in the USA whereas the Compstar is forged in China using Callies dies then shipped to Ohio for finishing. I wasnt too happy with this, glad we got the Dragonslayer but my builder was concerned Callies was having issues in the first place.

I have to put a call into the builder tomorrow but the rotating assembly should be done and shipped. In the meantime all these beautiful parts are collecting dust. Pictured below: GM Aluminum LS7, Holley Sniper intake, Terminator X Max ECU, NW103 DBW TB, Holley Valve covers in Chevy Orange, Taylor wires, Milodon 7 qt pro touring oil pan, BTR valve train, custom grind Comp cam. I've been waiting 20 weeks for this damn thing, I'm running out of patience lol

183459

183460

183461

[no_go nico]

The Callies Dragonslayer and the Racetec pistons finally arrived! Time to build
183648

[no_go nico]

183685 LS7 aluminum block, Milodin PT oil pan

183688block/oil pan painted chevy orange


183686Comp Cams shaft mounted rockers will be paired with BTR titanium retainers and platinum valve springs

183687installed on a set of Flo Tek LS3 ported heads, should flow 370CFM

[no_go nico]

183708

183709The Holley valve covers dont match the Hugger orange block. Going to try and paint the valve covers to match or order black ones.

[no_go nico]

183824
183825painted the valve covers to match. I will sand off the paint over the 'chevrolet' insignia when it arrives
183826

[andrewb70]

Looks sweet!

Andrew

[no_go nico]

Thanks, Andrew!


Looks sweet!

Andrew

[anguilla1980]

Wow, that really turned out fantastic looking! I'm super jealous.

[no_go nico]

Hopefully it runs as good as it looks! Its on the engine dyno now.


Wow, that really turned out fantastic looking! I'm super jealous.

[Enve46]

Absolutely beautiful.

[no_go nico]

thanks


Absolutely beautiful.

[no_go nico]

Video of engine on dyno for your viewing pleasure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCspZrWeyyE&feature=youtu.be

[C Presley]

I just listened to the Video. in a word...Nasty!

[no_go nico]

haha thanks my man, im pretty happy so far.


I just listened to the Video. in a word...Nasty!

[andrewb70]

Video of engine on dyno for your viewing pleasure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCspZrWeyyE&feature=youtu.be

At that power level the bigger throttle body is beneficial. Did they test the stock one?

Andrew

[no_go nico]

They did and you were right, only +10hp with NW



At that power level the bigger throttle body is beneficial. Did they test the stock one?

Andrew

[MSTSFabbed]

That is sick! Sweet build.

[andrewb70]

They did and you were right, only +10hp with NW

There you go :-)

[no_go nico]

Im glad I got the A/B test seems like NW is a waste of money unless youre doing some big boost application


There you go :-)

[no_go nico]

183864here are the dyno sheets
183865

[John McIntire]

Awesome! Sounds great!

[no_go nico]

183983

183984
183985
183986
183987

[no_go nico]

184907 mocking up clutch bellhousing and tranny

184908

[Motown 454]

You'll be roasting some tires with that torque down that low. That's a beautiful drive train going in there.

[no_go nico]

Hell yeah


You'll be roasting some tires with that torque down that low. That's a beautiful drive train going in there.

[no_go nico]

184933 the crown jewel is in, everything buttoned up nicely. Going to pull drivetrain and send subframe off to powder coating then they'll work on the roll cage

184934

[no_go nico]

A little smoothing of the Speedtech front clip and Ringbrothers Air Frame hood hinges

185338185339

- - - Updated - - -

mocking up the massive wheel tubs!
185340

[andrewb70]

Looking good!

Andrew

[srode]

Are those the Speedtech inner fenders?

[no_go nico]

yep, they come with the Extreme kit.


Are those the Speedtech inner fenders?

[Senek67RS]

Nice build! Can't wait to see it all come together

[no_go nico]

185372185373
Creating notches in the floorboard to tuck up the 3" exhaust for ground clearance

[Motown 454]

It's definitely a little tight with that 3" pipe under there.

[srode]

so on those Speedtech inner fenders, are you attaching the front part to them from your old inner fenders? If so would like to see the details of the work since I'm probably using the same.

[no_go nico]

here is the latest and greatest:
185930
185931
Speedtech subframe connectors are welded in. Created a channel to tuck the fuel lines into the connectors for a cleaner look.
185932
Console is about ready to be welded in, pushed back 1/2" - original stock console will sit on top
185933
185934
Corsa mufflers showed up. These are their new 'muscle car' mufflers. Handmade in Ohio, made to order. They look small and will be pretty loud. If they're obnoxious sounding, I'm going to replace with Super 44 Flowmasters.

[no_go nico]

these mufflers are super fat! 6" thick! Causing me to either 1/sell the mufflers and go with the skinnier Borla XS (pictured on right) or 2/raise the floorboard 2 1/2" inches to accommodate for the larger muffler case. What would you do?
186029 Corsa on the left, Borla on the right
186030chunky
186031This is an example of what could be done, it wouldn't be as intricate, the floorboard would raise under the rear seat so it would't have an impact on leg room

[Senek67RS]

these mufflers are super fat! 6" thick! Causing me to either 1/sell the mufflers and go with the skinnier Borla XS (pictured on right) or 2/raise the floorboard 2 1/2" inches to accommodate for the larger muffler case. What would you do?
186029 Corsa on the left, Borla on the right
186030chunky
186031This is an example of what could be done, it wouldn't be as intricate, the floorboard would raise under the rear seat so it would't have an impact on leg room

What is the attraction to the Corsa mufflers?

- - - Updated - - -


these mufflers are super fat! 6" thick! Causing me to either 1/sell the mufflers and go with the skinnier Borla XS (pictured on right) or 2/raise the floorboard 2 1/2" inches to accommodate for the larger muffler case. What would you do?
186029 Corsa on the left, Borla on the right
186030chunky
186031This is an example of what could be done, it wouldn't be as intricate, the floorboard would raise under the rear seat so it would't have an impact on leg room

What is the attraction to the Corsa mufflers?

[no_go nico]

Not much besides it's a new muffler that no one is using on muscle cars. Corsa is a respected brand so I wanted to try and be different but it doesnt look like the juice is worth the squeeze.




What is the attraction to the Corsa mufflers?

- - - Updated - - -



What is the attraction to the Corsa mufflers?

[Senek67RS]

Not much besides it's a new muffler that no one is using on muscle cars. Corsa is a respected brand so I wanted to try and be different but it doesnt look like the juice is worth the squeeze.


I would agree with you there. I went with the Borla S-Type and had no fitment issues.

[no_go nico]

Have any sounds clips?


I would agree with you there. I went with the Borla S-Type and had no fitment issues.

[Senek67RS]

Have any sounds clips?

I literally drove my car for the first time yesterday and that was around the block pretty much. I still need to get it tuned, which is happening next week. But this is an LS with those mufflers. I liked them as they are their middle of the road mufflers in that line. They make one that is quieter and then the Atak which is too loud for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLJ_XZd9jjU

[no_go nico]

awesome clip!


I literally drove my car for the first time yesterday and that was around the block pretty much. I still need to get it tuned, which is happening next week. But this is an LS with those mufflers. I liked them as they are their middle of the road mufflers in that line. They make one that is quieter and then the Atak which is too loud for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLJ_XZd9jjU

[Senek67RS]

awesome clip!


Where are you at in the Bay Area? I used to live in the San Mateo area, but recently moved to El Dorado Hills.

[no_go nico]

Funny, I live in San Mateo looking to make a move to EDH


Where are you at in the Bay Area? I used to live in the San Mateo area, but recently moved to El Dorado Hills.

[Senek67RS]

Funny, I live in San Mateo looking to make a move to EDH


Some of those pics looked like San Mateo house styles haha. Looks like you are in the Parkside area. I lived in the village, but extremely happy that we made the move up here to EDH. A lot more space, things to do, etc. Tons of great drives around here in almost any direction, but 1:20 to Tahoe is a fun drive.

[no_go nico]

186543New seats from Recaro finally came in after 4 months.
186544186545186546down bars getting welded in

[Senek67RS]

Looking good! If I were to do it all over again, I would have done what you did. Start with something that is already done and then add the goodies to modernize it. Body and paint took almost a year and it still needs to go back...

[no_go nico]

188608 Firewall ready for paint. Going with a flat black in the engine bay.

[TANKMASTERJ]

Firewall looking good

[TANKMASTERJ]

I'm guessing that's the extreme front clip from speedtech?

[no_go nico]

good guess!


I'm guessing that's the extreme front clip from speedtech?

[no_go nico]

188609188610

[no_go nico]

A lot of work has been going into the cage work and stance. Mini tubs are pretty much complete and its going to paint next week for firewall, cage work.

188817
188818188819188820188821188822188823188824

[Senek67RS]

A lot of work has been going into the cage work and stance. Mini tubs are pretty much complete and its going to paint next week for firewall, cage work.

188817
188818188819188820188821188822188823188824


Looking good, man! What are you planning to do for interior?

[no_go nico]

Looking good, man! What are you planning to do for interior?

Nothing too crazy, a pair of Recaro Specialist seats, some Dakota Digital gauges and a stock console. I like the look of the stock interior with slight mods..

[Senek67RS]

Nothing too crazy, a pair of Recaro Specialist seats, some Dakota Digital gauges and a stock console. I like the look of the stock interior with slight mods..


Nice! Love the recaro seats.

[C Presley]

Dude, the back of the 69 looks Outrageous! What size are the Rear Wheels?

[no_go nico]

Dude, the back of the 69 looks Outrageous! What size are the Rear Wheels?

They are 19x12's.

[no_go nico]

189082189081189080189083189084189085

[C Presley]

You thinking a color change? Or staying with, what looks like Lemans Blue?

[no_go nico]

love the Lemans Blue, not touching the body color. The paint shop is just painting the firewall, roll cage, and wheels tubs a flat black.


You thinking a color change? Or staying with, what looks like Lemans Blue?

[C Presley]

Understood. Thanks for the update. Going to be very nice.

[no_go nico]

189508189507189509
Satin black on the firewall, roll cage, and front wheel tubs

[wareaglescott]

They are 19x12's.

This entire project is really looking great.

On the wheels what are the specs on offset and such? What size tires do you plan to run?

[no_go nico]

thanks! Front are 5.5” bs and the rears are 6” bs. Were going for 325/30/19 rear and 305/30/19 fronts.



This entire project is really looking great.

On the wheels what are the specs on offset and such? What size tires do you plan to run?

[no_go nico]

190336
Custom finishing touches on the hood vents

190335


190337
LS7 mocked up to the Speedtech frame and T56 Trans
190338
Final resting place for the roll cage

[ryeguy2006a]

Nice work! Amazing they could get all that welding done and not damage the paint.

[no_go nico]

3M paper was our friend


Nice work! Amazing they could get all that welding done and not damage the paint.

[no_go nico]

191203191202

[andrewb70]

I see you have a NiCopp fuel line running along from the rear then attaching to the subframe and then attaching to the transmission. That's a bad idea because when the engine moves, it will eventually fatigue the NiCopp hard line.

Andrew

[dhutton]

I see you have a NiCopp fuel line running along from the rear then attaching to the subframe and then attaching to the transmission. That's a bad idea because when the engine moves, it will eventually fatigue the NiCopp hard line.

Andrew

X2. That’s a pretty unconventional fuel line routing.

Don

[no_go nico]

Thanks for the tip, we’ll address it!

[no_go nico]

After looking at earlier pics, I dont think the fuel line is attached to the trans, I haven't had a chance to confirm/deny but if you scroll up a few pics it looks like its attached to the sub frame and runs parallel (but not attached) to the trans. I could be wrong.



I see you have a NiCopp fuel line running along from the rear then attaching to the subframe and then attaching to the transmission. That's a bad idea because when the engine moves, it will eventually fatigue the NiCopp hard line.

Andrew

[no_go nico]

191449
191450
191452
191451
191453

[no_go nico]

https://youtu.be/wMwJLRo8o1A

[no_go nico]

Brand new build, Ididit column, Holley Terminator X ECU and we are experiencing an ignition issue. We're losing power when trying to start the car. As you can see in the video when the key is turned the dash turns off/on not delivering power. Any troubleshooting ideas? Thank you


https://youtu.be/QBbUHE7I5NU

[Vimes]

Are you using the original ignition switch somewhere along the top of the steering column? Those do go bad from time to time. It controls what contacts are grounded and what ones aren't at different key positions.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2021/08/990f930a5f40e4a779399d1d81c52c4d-1.jpg

[no_go nico]

Ididit couldn't help diagnose the issue and the WONT SEND A REPLACEMENT SWITCH! They want us to send the column in to be tested and wait 6 WEEKS to send it back! Even if I wanted to buy a brand new column they are out of stock until November. Builder is going to install a manual push button start as a work around. Complete failure by Ididit, I won't be buying their products in the future.



Brand new build, Ididit column, Holley Terminator X ECU and we are experiencing an ignition issue. We're losing power when trying to start the car. As you can see in the video when the key is turned the dash turns off/on not delivering power. Any troubleshooting ideas? Thank you


https://youtu.be/QBbUHE7I5NU

[andrewb70]

It's probably a pretty standard ignition switch that you can buy at a local parts store.

[no_go nico]

Ididit will void all warranties but I’ll probably replace the switch and void the warranty some point soon anyway

[no_go nico]

quick start up video - sounds good!


https://youtu.be/UCrWE8v15GU

[srode]

how did you get it started finally?

[andrewb70]

how did you get it started finally?

Presumably hotwired the red/white wire from the Holley EFI main harness.

[no_go nico]

I think he bypassed the start function and wired a push button mechanism.

Apparently this is a known issue with the idiot columns and this relay pack with solve the problem: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/idt-3100038100

[no_go nico]

191805 Tub and roll bar filler plates being made
191806
191807 hidden switch for the guages
191808 Gas tank burp can
191809final touches on the engine bay
191810
191811 tubby for the chubby rubby

[Senek67RS]

This ever get finished?

[no_go nico]

This ever get finished?

Yep! Can view pictures here in HRE Wheels gallery: https://www.hrewheels.com/gallery > vehicles > chevrolet

[MrQuick]

It's probably a pretty standard ignition switch that you can buy at a local parts store.

Hey Andrew!

Yep, we were losing the ignition signal at the switch during crank and the Ididit swicth is so light the keys swinging would also kill the ignition.

We call Ididit and it turns out they have an updated column stem with a new ignition switch assembly and a relay control box and harness. Something the previous tech failed to mention.

Part number is Ididit 3100038100

I hope this info can help others. Ive already upgraded 4 of our previously built cars.

The fuel line is 1/2" hard line mounted to the trans and subframe with Aeroquip Starlite Nomex flex hose between 4 points. Im using Stainless AN nut and tube sleeves. We've done a few track cars like this with 10 years of action and no stress on the tubing. We also run stainless spring armor and heat sleeve around the tubing.

Vince