'68 Camaro LS7 update

[Chris442]

Some of you may not be famliar with my project, but it is '68 Camaro hardtop with an LS7 and a T56 going in it. If you didn't see my first post, a little backround on the caris in this post: https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20599here . The pics will tell the rest of the story.

smoothed out firewall:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2006/08/smoothfirewall-1.jpg

DSE rear suspension:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2006/08/DSEquadralink-1.jpg

21st Century Subframe:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2006/08/21stCSMfrontsub-1.jpg

LS7 in the car:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2006/08/LS7incar2-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2006/08/LS7incar-1.jpg

Finally the paint color, and the pic doesn't do it justice. It is very similar to the stock Rallye Green, but it has a lot of pearl in it to make the car 'pop':
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2006/08/paintcolor-1.jpg

[Steve68]

Sweet, there's a ton of new money tied up in new parts it, you need to post a better pic of the paint, the one little corner dosen't show enough, I like everything,

what wheels???

[NvrDun71]

Def looks like a killer project in the making...... What did you use to paint the firewall? Thats the look I'm going for on my Nova.

[PhillipM]

Looks good man. Have you decided what you are going to do for a drysump tank?

[Chris442]

Steve, I wish I could show you more of the paint, but right now the only stuff getting painted is door jambs, etc. Painting the whole car is going to be one of the last things done.

Haven't picked out wheels yet either, but we're working on it. It's not a decision to be taken lightly on a car like this. They are going to be 18x9.5s in the front and 18x12s in the back though. It's a little tough to find wheels that size that really "work" on a car like a '68 Camaro.

NvrDun71, I think it is just 60/40 semigloss black. I told the painter wanted a stock look, plus I didn't want to have to wax the firewall. I wanted it to just be a funtional and clean engine bay, without going over the top to make it look pretty. This car is being built to be driven.

Haven't decided on a dry sump tank either, Philip. Intially I was thinking of putting it on the firewall, but I am not sure it will fit there. I like what they did on the Camaro X though by putting were the battery went. I'll have better idea of where I can put it after I see the car with fenders and wheelwells on it. This was just a trail fit to make sure no more bodywork had to be done. The bodyshop should be done in about a week, so it won't be too long before I can start measuring for it.

[Y-TRY]

The whole project looks like it'll be cool.

I have a genereal query, though- Dooes the DSE firewall plate just go over the old firewall or do you have to cut/weld it in?

[Mean 69]

Haven't decided on a dry sump tank either, Philip. Intially I was thinking of putting it on the firewall, but I am not sure it will fit there. I like what they did on the Camaro X though by putting were the battery went.

We are in the process of building a custom dry sump tank that will fit where the battery originally goes, we have one going into a customer car with an old school small block dry sump, and I'll be running it in my 70 as well, LS7 style motor/dry sump. It's pretty darned nice, and you don't need to cut a big hole in the pan to drop the thing way down. We should have pic's in a week and half, or two. You can drop me a line if you'd like to see how it looks, it should be less expensive than the $800 GM tank too, or at worst, similar pricing.

Do you have a picture of the oil-pan to rack and pinion clearance? I have not seen a really good photo of the stock LS7 pan, and am not sure if I'll need to go with something else on my own car, it'd be nice to know in advance! Steve Rupp's car runs the 21st front so I have a good perspective of where the rack is, and better photo showing this would be super cool, and very much appreciated.

Cool car, the "different" color is really going to set it apart, good choice!

Mark

[slenning]

Hi Chris, looks like we are about in the same part of the build!!
Here's my 69 as of last week.
12367

12368
I'm using a Peterson oil tank in the battery location along with an oil pan from ATS. I'm also using the ATS headers.

I'd like to talk to you about our projects. If thats OK pm me with your phone # and I'll give you a call.Thanks

[Rybar]

The project looks great and coming along nicely. Man, all you LS7 guys are making me want to install one.... lol

[Chris442]

Thanks for all the kind words guys.

Y-TRY, we smoothed the firewall the old fashioned way, so I can't answer that question.

Mean69, the rack is really close to hitting the pan; 21st Century actually built the frame to raise the engine about 1/4" to get the some clearance. They also notched the crossmember so that you can use the front oil drain plug. This is the best pic I could find of the rack clearance:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2006/08/rackclearance-1.jpg

I'd like to see what your oil tank setup looks like too, it sound pretty cool.

I feel exactly the same way about the car being a "different" color. Initially I was thinking blue, and then we got a car that was Rallye Green. After going to a few car shows, we just decided that we didn't want another blue or red Camaro.

slenning, all I can say is that great minds think alike. :idea:

[B Schein]

We actually went through 3 racks before we found one that would clear the oil pan. The rack castings vary in diameter buy up to 3/16. What we did on you frame was build it using big block motor perches, which raises the motor by a 1/2 inch from our standard lsx position.

[BRIAN]

How about adding a 3/8 plate or any size spacer between the block and engine mount (engine side) to raise it to where you feel comfortable with space. That looks real close and unless you are running solid busings won't it flex?

You guys build some killer stuff so I would trust your word, just my observation.

[slenning]

slenning, all I can say is that great minds think alike. :idea:
I couldn't agree more Chris. :bananna2: I'm going to try and give you a call tomorrow. Steve

[Mean 69]

Wow, that is really tight. I haven't seen Steve's car with the engine in it in person yet, but his is darned snug too, I know he had to use an LS1 pan on his LS2 motor.

We discovered a snafu on our oil tank parts yesterday, all of the sheet metal was cut oversize, it's all cnc laser cut and press brake formed. Great. This is going to set us back another week or so as it seems right now, we hoped to have opne done up next week, but it looks like the following week is more likely at this point. Won't be long though. It's always something!

Thanks for the pic, very informative.
Mark

[72Z/28]

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