68 Camaro w/ls2 [Archive] - Pro-Touring.com

Chris 68

09-30-2009, 11:50 AM

I'm starting a new thread since I messed my first one up. Project started back in May when I found a bone stock 68 base camaro coupe on craigslist just 5 minutes from my house. (I was living at my grandfathers at the time while I was at home from college.) I always wanted to do a project car with my grandpa since seeing his 55 ford re-done. So I checked out the car and it was a prefect project, almost no rust what so ever. It was 12k but worth every penny when we tore it down, we couldn't be believe what little rust we found, even the bolts came out quite easily. I checked out other camaro projects online and instantly knew I wanted to throw in an LS engine. My grandpa was against it being an old school kind of guy, so I've been stuck doing doing this conversion myself. Keep in mind i'm only 19 and never restored a car! My plan is to make this my daily driver.

Here's the car the day we brought her home:
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Chris 68

09-30-2009, 12:06 PM

As of now, we tore down the car, took off the front subframe and coated everything in POR15. Took off 95% of the paint and pulled the entire drive line (throwing away most of it and giving the motor and tranny to the seller of the car). We put the subframe back on, got a ne ford 9" rear end with 3.70 posi, with wilwood dynalites (going to put the same brakes up front next week and replacing the 1 pistons my grandpa bought) got a power steering box, tilt column, new front and rear suspension (original style with multi leafs out back) new gas tank, 18x10 boss 338 in back wrapped in 285/40 nitto 555 and 18x8 in front in 235/40, and a ls2 with a t-56 out of an 06 gto (only 16k miles on it!). Put that in with s&p mount plates, cross member, clutch bracket, headers and intake.
I put on new mounting brackets for the alternator (upgraded to a 180 amp), power steering and a/c compressor. Just installed a new radiator with dual fans on the radiator support we had to replace (only thing that had rust on the car, due to battery leakage).
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1971CHEVELLE

09-30-2009, 12:10 PM

:1st:Awesome

Chris 68

09-30-2009, 12:18 PM

I also put the new brake booster (got a 7inch with excellent clearence for the engine) and master cylinder in. And put the new clutch master cylinder in. I cut the master rod in half, took about 3 or so inches off overall length, threaded both ends and put them together with a coupling nut. I attched the eye to the stock hole on the clutch, do you guys think that angle is alright for the master? The pedal travels well, but the angle of the rod relative to the master assembly is off by a few degress. Also How far back should i adjust the brake? The pedal is way to far up but idk how far back i should adjust it before it starts to affect braking ability. Threw in a pic of the wheels.
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Chris 68

09-30-2009, 12:27 PM

Sorry for the long-winded first few post, just trying to get the project up to date. last night i put in most of the vintage air (gen iv) components in and dynamated a majority of the interior. a couple questions:

1) would i get away with just putting the dynamat extreme in or should i put something else down to deflect the heat? I tested with a heat gun and it seemed alright but i know its a differnt story when the engine is on for hours.

2) On y previous post i stated the angle of my clutch master cylinder rod and and how far up my brake pedal is, the clutch doesnt need to travel as much as the brake so i can adjust that realtivly easy but the brake padel is really high up.

3) I have a gto dbw gas pedal, how should i go about mounting it?

Thanks for checking out my project, I've learned so much from this forum and hopfully I can now contribute!

ALLstrokedOUT

09-30-2009, 02:17 PM

Ah..glad to see you finally on here haha..cant wait for that thing to get going, keep this thread updated- ill be watching!! oh, and you know im gunna have to stop by again when im back down there to see itfor myself

tones2SS

09-30-2009, 02:32 PM

VERY COOL!!
That's a great find. And for only 12k, that's not bad if it has the no body rust like you said.
Good choice on the LS2, especially if you are going for a daily driver car. An "old school" BBC could have you in the garage just as much as you drive it. (Not that there's anything wrong with that!!)lol
GOOD LUCK!

Chris 68

09-30-2009, 03:20 PM

hey tim i forgot you were on here! Yeah i plan on posting everyday now, but hurry up and get down here cuz this thing should be done and and the road by thanksgiving! (hopfully) But yeah i'm happy i went with an ls, power reliablity and gas milage!

68/CamaroFL

10-01-2009, 05:20 AM

Chris Nice work going on here!:woot:

mroth

10-01-2009, 07:11 AM

Looks like you got lucky to find such a clean body. I love the looks of your LS motor. Keep us updated.

John Wright

10-01-2009, 07:17 AM

Wow, what a clean car to be able to start with...that is great.

trapin

10-01-2009, 07:44 AM

Nice. Was the original paint Corvette Bronze? That was what my car was originally.

70RS

10-01-2009, 03:39 PM

Are using the GTO master Cylinder because I thought those were mounted straight on the Firewall or did you switch it to a camaro style? Just wonder because I was getting ready to use the same motor an tranny that you are using

Chris 68

10-01-2009, 06:20 PM

Today I put the temp senor in for my autormeter guages. I had to get a metric adapter and shorter sending unit for it to work (both made by autometer) and spent a few hours drilling out a bolt i broke off while putting the street & proformance headers on. :banghead:

As for the clutch master, its from an 02 camaro. I got an 02 camaro master and slave for the clutch off ebay. But the master didn't come with the line or resivior and i had a hard time finding them online but eventually got a used one off a guy on ls1tech. I bolted the master on a bracket from street & proformance. They have this stupid diaghram showing you how to weld a tab on the clutch to connect the rod of the master. I just cut it, shortened it by about 3", threaded both ends and connected them with a coupling nut. Right now i have it connected thru the stock hole on the clutch pedal and seems to be a good fit.

And i'm not sure about the paint, i know it was repainted about 8 years ago (poorly i might add).

PROLINE

10-02-2009, 04:03 AM

Great car to start from by the looks.

Good on you being able to do this at such a young age.

1offwizard

10-02-2009, 10:18 AM

Whose brackets did you use on the motor? Awesome work, keep it up!

Chris 68

10-02-2009, 05:32 PM

S&P but it was a bitch to put in. They say they fit on any small block mounts but that is deff not the case. We had to drill new holes to move the frame mounts out to either side by about a half inch. We also used their tranny cross member, not much fun either. If i were to do it again, i would deff go with ATS

ALLstrokedOUT

10-05-2009, 07:13 AM

I think it ll depends on what your gunna be doing with the engine later; are you planning on ever building up the bottom end, or running it hard enough to where having a built bottom end is going to matter? I think that you should get the heads package first. Anything you put on afterwords will show a bigger improvement from the increased flow (whether its a supercharger further down the road, nitrous, or more compression when/if you rebuild the bottom end.)

You should look up the flow numbers for LS heads, but A cheaper route may be getting the stock heads ported, i think porting runs about 1000-1200 for a good job(?) and calling up comp cams or someone and asking for the best cam on what you intend to do. (if your gunna be running boost or nitrous later its going to be a different cam than n/a; same with if you want more low end torque or high rpm hp of course..)
..Oh, and what about like a gunmetal grey with white rally stripes?

Chris 68

10-05-2009, 10:41 AM

I'm just going to create a poll for paint and see what happens!

Heres the poll!
https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60833

Please check it out and vote! I'm really torn with color choice

Chris 68

10-06-2009, 10:46 AM

just got the harness delivered (Wait 4 ME Performance did a great job!) last night. Was up till 2 intalling it, it was nice having everything labeled. Putting in the fuel system next week when my grandpa gets back intown so hopfully we'll start it up within the next 2 weeks!

Rybar

10-06-2009, 11:23 AM

Chris great project, you are doing a fantastic job for being 19 years old. What a solid foundation to start with.

I'd personally suggest H/C setup, a little more reliabe then a S/C.

BuddyP

10-06-2009, 11:47 AM

Great score on the car! nice project.

L & H Kustoms

10-06-2009, 10:35 PM

nice car looks to be in great shape cool project

jtmiller92

10-08-2009, 06:29 AM

Thats awesome man, cant wait to get my 67 together.

Chris 68

10-26-2009, 09:53 AM

Finally an update
installed the steering column and wheel
working on the brake and clutch pedal adjustment

looking at my column it seems like the wheel is pretty far away from the dash, it’s a flaming river tilt column (32" I believe) with their adapter for a bolt wheel. Anybody have a similar problem? I believe the adapter might be what’s causing the wheel to be so far forward

also for those who have a t56, what are you using for master cylinders? I'm currently using a 2002 camaro master and slave but the rod is just too long for my pedal and I don’t want to fab a tab of the pedal to connect to the rod so I’m trying to shorten it but am failing miserably, my current modifications to the rod i feel are in adequate, anybody car to chime in?

I have decided to go with a cam in the ls2, debating on getting headwork done or possibly upgrading to trick flo heads, but am debating the cost. From what I gathered I should be able to get close to 450 at the wheels with a cam and a fast intake, with heads it would be a little over 500, I just don’t know if $2400 would be worth the extra 50 hp?

Chris 68

11-05-2009, 09:13 AM

My grandfather welded a plate together to attach to the DBW pedal, I now have a gas pedal! I'm still iffy on the location, but the adapter plate was made to be adjustable so I'm going to fine tune it. We are stripping the front fenders now and once we have the fenders on we will be running the rest of the hoses in the engine compartment. We also installed the gas tank! Going to run the fuel lines and connect the filter and pump this week. Again if anyone has any suggestions on the steering column and/or the clutch pedal as well as radiator hoses, please let me know! Also how do I connect my wilwood e-brake?! And how do I go about umcrimping my fuel fill line? Sorry for all the questions, been really busy latly, don't forget I'm a newbie!

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Chris 68

11-08-2009, 01:26 PM

anybody?

KnightMare

11-08-2009, 09:40 PM

Great find on a solid project

Camaro Zach

11-08-2009, 09:59 PM

nice looking project you have going.

With the motor I would just put a cam/springs/pushrods in it and be done. It will put down plenty of power for now. No need to spend the money on heads yet and it'l give you something to look forward to later on.

Personal opinion on the radiator hose... Ditch it. Bend a coat hanger to the shape the hose needs to be and go behind the counter at the parts store and find one that matches. Stainless clamps on the ends and call it good. But thats what I like..

Chris 68

11-18-2009, 12:02 PM

So after stripping the paint off the driver fender, we discovered it had been f***ed up big time, so we ordered up new inner and outer fenders which came in today.
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I threw on the doors so sometime this week the fenders will be going on and I can finish up all the lines for the a/c, heater core, etc.
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I also went ahead and replaced the chrome radiator hoses with some rubber ones from the local auto store (after some cutting)
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I just ordered the ATS modified master cylinder since mine just insnt going to cut it. Mean while i've been finishing up the dynamat, still have about 5% left then thatll be done. ordering up the gas lines and fittings right now so hopfully i'll have the fuel system complete by next week. I'm loking to buy some nice fuel rail covers, been searching like crazy and haven't really found what i'm loooking for, anybody have any suggestions?
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67 ls1 vert

11-18-2009, 01:44 PM

month and a half and you got a lot done. Not to mention the cash flow must have been huge. Either way, very cool stuff. Good luck with everything. I'm sure you are going to love the car once finished.

WTRacing

11-19-2009, 04:56 PM

awesome project, cant wait to see more

Chris 68

11-22-2009, 03:15 PM

Me and my grandfather put the passenger fenders on today, really excited as its looking more like a car :woot:
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Its evident I'm goin to need lowering springs asap!

Chris 68

11-26-2009, 11:31 PM

Got the driver side fender on today! I'm still waiting on my ATS master cylinder. E-mailed the guy and now it's not getting shipped till jan! anybody have a suggestion for a master cylinder?

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ALLstrokedOUT

01-29-2010, 08:31 AM

What's with this kid..he probably just gave up with the whole thing..haha, I'm just playin Chris, but seriously where's the updates since I can't get home anytime soon to see it in person

Dalamar

02-03-2010, 12:40 PM

Awsome build you have going here. Love the wheels! going to be an awsome ride when your done.

Chris 68

02-11-2010, 05:29 PM

What's with this kid..he probably just gave up with the whole thing..haha, I'm just playin Chris, but seriously where's the updates since I can't get home anytime soon to see it in person

hahaha hey man I'd update it more if more stuff was actually getting done lol

But here it goes:

Recently picked up a new goodmark cowl induction hood off ebay last week

I have a piant guy and unfortunatly i've been making him wait

Getting the rest of the bits and peices for the fuel system in tomorrow (all steel braided 6an, walbro 255, corvette reg)

ordered mount for the optima red top on ebay last night, should be in next tuesday

pitching the ISIS multiplex to my grandfather tomorrow, but if he doesnt go for it i'm buying it myself

STILL trying to get a clutch master, help me out people!...please :)

also anybody with the ISIS please chime in and share your experince with it, unfortunatly i missed the group purchase but i know quite a few people just got some

picking up the pace on the project now, more pics and updates to come!

Chris 68

02-12-2010, 12:48 PM

Also, and I will be putting this in the exhaust forum as well, what are the best fitting long tube headers for s&p motor mounts? I'm looking for something kind of on the budget side...
and anybody have any unique project names? I feel left out on this forum lol

aray327

02-12-2010, 07:41 PM

Chris 68

02-13-2010, 02:10 AM

i was trying to figure out your master cylinder issue. I went back and read that you don't want to modify your peddle assembly? You could save yourself some cash and a lot of hassle and just weld the tab on the peddle. No one can see it and it works perfectly. That way you can use the factory master, and if you ever have an issue on the road you can go to any parts dealer and replace it. Make it easy on yourself.

The headers are a differnt issue. I used S&P headers along with my dad a friend of mine and a host of others. They call them mid length but they are basically short tubes. Not sure how low you plan to go but ground clearance will not be an issue with the S&P, and since you have their plates they should clear your steering box.

Yeah i'm prob going to modify the pedal if i cant get a hold of an ATS modifed master. The only thing keeping me from doing it in the first place is my grandfather- he wasnt too keen on the idea. As far as the headers, I already have a set of s&p headers but i was stupid not to buy them coated and they are already starting to rust. So since it'll cost me 250 to get them coated (insane i know) i was debating on just getting new ones lol

Motown 454

02-13-2010, 04:12 PM

Nice progress, its looking good.

Chris 68

04-09-2010, 03:52 PM

Been awhile since i posted any progress. Got the fuel system 90% done, made a bracket to have the walbro mounted below the lowest part of the tank (heard it makes life easier for the pump). Installing my ISIS power and master cells tonight, any body have input on the best place to mount these things under the dash? Have a few pictures I'll upload later, so close to starting her up!

windsor

04-14-2010, 01:41 AM

How did that ISIS install go?

Doing very nice work.

nor_cal_67rs

04-14-2010, 06:24 PM

Where did you get the pulley bracket from?

Les69

04-15-2010, 02:08 PM

Looks REAL good! What radiator are you running? It looks like the one I saw one eBay... if so I think I'm gonna pick that one up.

Chris 68

04-15-2010, 02:29 PM

How did that ISIS install go?

Doing very nice work.

Thanks, and it was a bitch to mount everything where i wanted to. I wanted the front power cell, master cell and the ls2 computer to be under the dash but the master cnad power cells accesible down the road. It was also a bitch to get a drill in certain spots under the cowl but after 2 hours I mounted the front and rear power cells along with the master cell and computer. Here are some pics of the install and the battery tray i have, everything is in rough form, still have to tidy up the wire, modify brackets, etc etc

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The A/C box bad it a bitch for the power cell but managed to make it work and have space to replace fuses down the road, also mounted the master cell upside down behind the dash so if i need to i can poke my head under the dash and read the diagnostic screen clearly

Chris 68

04-15-2010, 02:40 PM

Where did you get the pulley bracket from?

I got it from http://www.kwikperf.com/

very nice kit, solid, easy to install, clear instructions, good price and the guys over there and very cool to talk to if you have any questions.

Chris 68

04-15-2010, 02:44 PM

Looks REAL good! What radiator are you running? It looks like the one I saw one eBay... if so I think I'm gonna pick that one up.

thanks! and yeah i bought them from the same place (Entropy is the seller) the unit is really nice, only complaint i had was with the packaging, piss poor if you ask me. I had to straighten one of the mounting brackets, but i'm the only one with the prob, everyone else i talk to hasnt't had an issues.