69 Camaro

[69 Red 540]

I have always thought the 69 Camaro was a beautiful car and when my wife and I saw this one in SW's (Streetking) showroom, we decided to step up and make the purchase. The car was a 4 speed, came with a GM ZZ502 and was fresh off of restoration.
After driving the car for a bit, in went a larger cam and a 5 speed. We drove that for a bit and then the BUG caught.
Here is the car going through it's first transformation (before our purchase):
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[69 Red 540]

Here is the car as we purchased it that day:

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...and now, where we are taking it today....

[69 Red 540]

Although the 502 had plenty of pep, we decided on something a bit more. Shafiroff racing put together this all aluminum 540 for us; this thing put out 707 HP and 650 TQ on the dyno and is very light (we unloaded it off the delivery truck by hand). We wanted a driver so we went with a hydraulic roller cam and 10:1 compression and NO dominator carb.

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Here is a snapshot of the Brodix Aluminum block:

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Coming across Detroit Speed and Engineerings website was just plain bad for my checkbook; you will see many of their goodies in the following pictures.
I do have to give Chris Johnson from Performance Motorsports http://www.performance-motorsports.com/ a massive amount of credit for putting all of these goodies together; he really is all about the details.

Here are the headers from Lemon headers (very beautiful work)!

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We smoothed the entire firewall:

*here you see some, but not all, of the smoothing

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[69 Red 540]

Here is DSE's 9" (mini-tub starting next week)

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Here is Chris hiding my fuel pressure guage out of the way (notice the heat shield he fabbed)

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We finally cranked the motor a few days ago (man, does it sound loud without exhaust) and the excitement is starting to build. We still have the mini-tub to complete (I am sticking with the 17 X 11 Torq Thrust II's with a 315 as I like that look), subframes, stereo and to finish up the interior, but it is starting to feel like we are getting close.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have started from a shell and built it up instead of paying the premium for a completed car to begin with. But, we are where we are.

It will be nice to drive this thing with some Vintage Air blowing in my face on a hot Texas afternoon.......

Bryan

[restomodbird69]

thats a helluva project

[colt zantop]

sweet! keep us updated!

[Chad-1stGen]

Looks great!

Looking forward to future updates :)

[4MuscleMachines]

Where in TX are you?:naughty:

[69rs]

It looked nice to begin with.....now it's gonna be wicked!

[gsxrken]

Wow, I have those same 1" lowering blocks.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

thats a nice setup there!

[MrQuick]

very nice work, another one up from the pro-touring bug. No mini tub? just kidding...i can be a very bad influence.

[69 Red 540]

Where in TX are you?:naughty:

I live in Austin!

[69 Red 540]

Wow, I have those same 1" lowering blocks.

Yeah, we put those on the car a week or so after I originally purchased it; the rear needed to come down a bit.

We went with the DSE rear leaf setup (3" lowering springs) with the mini-tub kit. I am interesting to see how that looks when we actually put it on the ground.

B.

[69 Red 540]

very nice work, another one up from the pro-touring bug. No mini tub? just kidding...i can be a very bad influence.

I believe the mini-tub will start sometime next week. I am anxious to get that completed as well.

After a great deal of looking around, we decided to stick with a 17 X 11 wheel with a 315 tire. The 12" wheel with a 335 would have been just as easy to do, but that setup just looks a little too much for my taste.

It's funny, 5 years ago I would have done the 12" with a 335 because it was 'the sh*t' instead of going with what I personally thought looked the best. That is one thing that getting a bit older has done for me.....

B

[green 69]

Car looks great. Just put DSE 3" leaf springs on my 69 Camaro this weekend. Had Hotchkis 1.5 leafs. They just weren't low enough to suit me. The DSE springs are great.

[DWG]

Wicked car... great project.

Can I ask what the aluminum block upgrade set you back, and how much is the weight savings with that? I am considering the same 540 hyd roller Shafiroff for my project but the site says "call" for the alum block upgrade price... just curious, altho I will likely go with the iron block. Great dyno numbers... the site quotes 685 hp for the hyd roller cam 540.

thanks

[ProTouring442]

Aluminum.... Nice!!! Let me say that again, aluminum. One day, I plan on gettin an aluminum block and heads for the 442. I don't think I'll go 540, but a nice all aluminum 454 in place of the all iron 454 that is in my car now would be very nice!

Aluminum.

Lookin' good!

Aluminum.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill
'72 442 "Inamorata"

Aluminum.

[Part Time]

Ya know when you're really astonished and want to say something but can't find the words....... Uhhh............

Wow!:worship:

[rocketrod]

Very nice work! Is that a DSE firewall fill plate or did you make it?

[bigtyme1]

Very nice work! Is that a DSE firewall fill plate or did you make it?

Looks like a Mike Riggs fire wall to me. I got the same set up and it works perfect.

[rocketrod]

Looks like a Mike Riggs fire wall to me. I got the same set up and it works perfect.
Do you have a link to his web site, or place where I could purchase one?

[69 Red 540]

Very nice work! Is that a DSE firewall fill plate or did you make it?

The shop that did the mini-tub did the firewall. It is a bit more
comprehensive than the DSE setup.

A few more pics....
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Just a little interior work, stereo and the exhaust system and we are almost ready to go.

I can't wait.

Bryan

[Bandit]

Wow, that thing is a beast! And a totally "new" car now from the looks of it. Perfect!

[Tiger]

I'm amazed!
you had a beautiful car to start with and you made it amazing.
please keep us updated
and yeah... this hobby can kill the proudest of the checkbooks :o)

[Rybar]

Project looks great, keep us posted with more pics and maybe some video.

[Nine Ball]

awesome project. Who did the initial restoration on the car?

Tony

[69 Red 540]

Project looks great, keep us posted with more pics and maybe some video.

Once it is all wrapped up, I do plan on getting her tuned in and run some video as well.

My best,

Bryan

[69 Red 540]

awesome project. Who did the initial restoration on the car?

Tony

Tony,
I am not sure of his name, but he is out of Louisiana. Retired, but does car restorations for fun....if that helps any.

BTW, do you have any links to your current twin turbo buildup?

Thanks.

Bryan

[DCx]

how did you hook up your lokar emergency barke cables to your stock intermediate brake cable? i have the lokar cables and i need to route my cables the same way as in this picture. did you have someone weld or clamp a stop on the end of the lokar cable, so it will sit in that cable pull bracket?


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[DCx]

any ideas?

[camaro608]

send burnout pics

lol

[69slotcar]

Wow...really nice work !!

[D Rock]

Beautiful car, I love it.

[camaro608]

Beautiful car, I love it.
ill second that

[69 Red 540]

She runs!

He is a bit of video I shot today.

http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/300ZXTwinTurbo/?action=view&current=Cap0047-2.flv

I am ready to do some driving.

Bryan

[DWG]

Nice sounding motor.... Revs quickly.

What mufflers are those?

[D Rock]

Loved the video. If you could get one while driving that would be great, I love the car.

[blackwidow]

all i can say is sweeeeeeet

[69 Red 540]

Nice sounding motor.... Revs quickly.

What mufflers are those?

The mufflers are dynomax; we had them coated to go with the look of the stainless exhaust.
We selected the mufflers because they flow extremely well and the sound they produce is excellent.

B.

[4MuscleMachines]

Which shop in Austin did the mini tub? Your car is the ****z, very nice.

[69 Red 540]

Which shop in Austin did the mini tub? Your car is the ****z, very nice.

The mini tub was done by a guy by the name of Rodney Austin; the owner of Austin Collision and Custom. He also did the smoothing of my firewall. He does great work - I recommend him highly.

Bryan

[Rybar]

Looks and sounds great! Thanks for sharing the video!

[lftnwhls]

So do you like the 540 better than the last motor??

Do the fans keep it cool in traffic.

How was your Shaffiroff Experience?

I had a 540 built this summer that's why I ask.

[69 Red 540]

So do you like the 540 better than the last motor??

Do the fans keep it cool in traffic.

How was your Shaffiroff Experience?

I had a 540 built this summer that's why I ask.

Yes, I do like it better than my last motor. My last motor was a GM ZZ502 that had a bigger cam/better vavle train/more compression.

Yes, the motor will stay right at 180 just sitting.

Shaffiroff was great on the customer service side - very positive overall experience.

What cam did you go with in your 540? Lift/Duration/Brand?

Thanks.

Bryan

[69 Red 540]

It's late on a Friday night, I have had a few drinks, the Camaro is FINALLY sitting in my garage on the lift....and I can almost NOT believe it. The Marquez emblems were put on today at the body shop (along with a few other items) and that just about wraps things up.

The last 14 months of putting this thing together has been a very, very long 14 months...really. I now know why 'fire sales' take place; people finally have their fill.

At this point, we are essentially there. I just need to get the car on a chasis dyno (waiting on a custom built carb that should be here within the week) and see how she does. I will say this though, I am very, very impressed with how this Shafiroff 540 pulls. Strong...strong...strong.

I think I will grab some video this weekend and a few shots of the car rolling down the road.

DONE, DONE, DONE!!!!! I am free!

B.

[Restomod]

Congrats!!!!! Cant wait for the new vid/pics!

[tones2SS]

That is one awesome car!!!
She sounded really nice in the video.
I want to see some nice high res pics and videos.:seizure::seizure: