68 Camaro - "Dark Side"

[funbnme]

I sold a car a bit ago to get a nice Camaro. Found this one locally and it's being finished up at a performance shop down here in Coral Springs.

I went by this morning and things are coming along. Should be finished up by early next week.

Today, they were installing the new seat covers (the original ones were too far gone to be salvaged) and getting the dash & console gauges installed. Only a few more finishing details left to do.

Hope the project name "Dark Side" hasn't been taken already. Couldn't think of anything cooler. I'm old...so Star Wars was the movie of my era. I figured this would be the type of car Darth Vader would drive.

Can't wait to drive it around town. Here's a few pictures.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/04/20080405005-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/04/20080405012-1.jpg

Right when I bought it.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/04/68RS005-1.jpg

Initially it won't have all the cool pro-touring stuff you guys have, but

[nicks67camaro]

Hope the project name "Dark Side" hasn't been taken already. Couldn't think of anything cooler. I'm old...so Star Wars was the movie of my era.


I wasn't born yet but I still love Star Wars! Nice starting point.

[trapin]

Hey wait a minute...Star Wars was the movie of my era too. Are you calling me old? :poke:

LOL!!! Don't sweat the lack of Pro-Touring stuff. Anything that gets driven hard around here has our respect.

By the way...is that an Undercover Inovations panel in front of the core support?

[venturabeachpup]

That is a good name for a great car! I too would like to know where you purchased that cover panel in front of your radiator???

[funbnme]

The panel is from undercover innovations. Found it on eBay. It came anodized black from them. ebay seller id is derelss396

Yes, anyone who saw Star Wars on opening day is old.

[BossaNova]

Old? I'll show you old sonny boy.
Now where did I put my glasses.

Yes, anyone who saw Star Wars on opening day is old.[/quote]

[funbnme]

Getting closer...here's today's update.

Interior is coming along. Once the seats are installed, they'll finish up the radio install.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/04/20080418Interior-1.jpg

Gauges are installed.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/04/20080418Dash-1.jpg

Wheels are on...just needs some adjustments & alignment
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/04/20080418RearDriverSide-1.jpg

[funbnme]

Getting closer.

Seats are in. Just some finishing touches, engine tuning and alignment to go.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/04/20080422004-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/04/20080422003-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/04/20080422002-1.jpg


I think my daughter (11) is trying to muscle me out of my space. I walked out into the garage this morning and found her ride parked in my spot. Gonna have a few words with her to make sure she knows the empty spot is temporary. Man...kids today. Amazing what they try to pull off.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[tones2SS]

Car looks good.

[funbnme]

Took it for a spin Thursday. The motor is more a race motor than a street motor. I should be able to change the cam & heads to get the feel I want if I decide to tame it down a bit.

The offset on the front tires isn't correct...they rub when I make a left turn. I'm most likely going to have to change out to the Rally wheels until I can find out the right wheels for the fronts...then I'll put these back on. I'm going to try to get the rear wheels with the car. Then need to research to find out the proper front size and get those.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/04/20080422FrontQuarterShot-1.jpg

Picking it up today. I'll have some time to play with it over the weekend. I'll probably start doing some mods with it right away.

On the short list is:
* Cam & Heads (need to bring the compression down and get a cam better suited for the street. The cam in there now is a track cam that runs well in the 3500 - 6500 range).
* I'll probably get a heidts valve setup for the power steering to make it a bit firmer. My last car had manual steering and the full power setup feels really light (is that the right term?)
* Whees

[funbnme]

Update on my project.

I picked up the car on April 25th and wasn't happy with how it was running. The engine just wasn't cut out to be a street car. It was going to need race gas, and even with that, it couldn't be dialed back enough to run well on the street.

The good news is that the builder/dealer was quick to make it right. They picked up the car right away and we came to an agreement to have them pull the motor and have it rebuilt so it would be a strong street car.

Changed pistons to lower the compression ratio. Changed cam to a hyd. roller with the right specs for street. While they were in there, they did a full rebuild and some minor head work.

The motor was delivered back to the shop yesterday. By Wed, it's going back to the engine shop. John's Cages in Sunrise did the motor work for me...great shop and he really knows his motors. He did the last motor in my Cobra and it was rock solid. He's going to take the car so he can set the timing and jet the carb to the right settings. Then we'll drive it for a bit and pull the plugs to confirm the carb settings (old school tuning).

Looking forward to getting it back and enjoying it for the summer.