My 69 Camaro project without a name

[ErikLS2]

Finally got around to setting up Photobucket and I think I got the hang of posting pics. If these things take to long to load let me know.

This is how I brought it home in 2002. Body had very little rust and not much bondo either, still took it down to metal.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/06/004_4A-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/06/005_5A-1.jpg

Here is the interior.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/06/001_1A-1.jpg

[ErikLS2]

Orignal plan for the car was just your basic street car with a traditional small block 383. Well, then I starting looking into LS engines, found a engine, trans, harness, ECM, and a few other helpful goodies to go with it. Then, hanging around here, started thinking about big brakes, better suspension and on and on.

Here is how it will be basically equipped:

LS2/t56 combo from a GTO
12 bolt with Moser axles and Eaton posi
Corvette C6 Z06 brakes
ATX front spindles with Global West UCA/Stock LCA's (for now)
Rushforth Titanium/brushed hoop 18 x 8 front and 18 x 9 rears from Frank at Prodigy Customs
ISIS wiring system
Vintage Air Gen IV from Frank
Aluminum radiator and condenser from Frank
Building my own g-link copy rear suspension with some help from Frank
Second Skin sound deadening

Here are some pics of what it looked like during and after body work and before primer:

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Here are the floor boards, got lucky, didn't have to do anything to them other than remove a little surface rust. Car's been in the southwest it's whole life I think.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/06/PICT0592-1.jpg

[ErikLS2]

Here it is in primer in the garage paint booth it was painted in. We used Evercoat's Feather Fill, it really worked well.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/06/PICT1584-1.jpg

Here are a couple after the jambs were painted prior to reassembly.

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[LSx_88_Ciera]

nice solid car
looking good

[castine917]

i always like that blue.

[ErikLS2]

Here is one in the paint booth (garage)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/06/PICT1608-1.jpg

After assembly

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/06/PICT2163-1.jpg

Here is the Second Skin Firewall I put on the bottom, tried spraying it but brushin it on worked better for me

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/06/PICT2235-1.jpg

[rickpaw]

Wow, nice paint job. What's the brand of the paint? I'd assume you used base coat/clear coat.

[ErikLS2]

Wow, nice paint job. What's the brand of the paint? I'd assume you used base coat/clear coat.

Thank you. It's Nexa Auto Color (PPG) base coat/clear coat.

[Wyman Motor]

Great build, did you clear the jambs before painting the rest? Or base coat the jambs, then assemble, base coat the rest and clear all at once?

[senor_camaro]

dammmmnnnnnnnnn! how much prep work did you in? super nice paint job

[ErikLS2]

Great build, did you clear the jambs before painting the rest? Or base coat the jambs, then assemble, base coat the rest and clear all at once?

The jambs were painted and cleared, then the body was assembled and the rest painted and cleared. A technique called back masking was used where you fold the edge of the masking tape over onto itself so you have kind of a flap. When you paint up to this flap the paint kind of mists underneath it but does not cause an edge. When you're all done it looks like everything was painted at the same time.



dammmmnnnnnnnnn! how much prep work did you in? super nice paint job

I didn't log the hours but it was a lot. Spraying the whole car with Feather Fill and blocking that really worked well. Only thing I regret is not spending more time on the gaps. The gaps are symetrical pretty much but I could have made them tighter. Still might try to bring them in tighter a bit since the engine is not in yet and once it is everything will probably flex a bit and require a little tweaking.

[Wyman Motor]

Beatuiful blue, looks great!

[rickpaw]

Thank you. It's Nexa Auto Color (PPG) base coat/clear coat.
Looks like you shot the paint in your home garage? This must not be your first paint job? My car is almost ready for paint, and most body shops here want too much for just shooting the base/clear. I shot the primer on mine, but have not done any base coat at all.

Tu

[Wyman Motor]

Did you set up a downdraft ventilation or anything in the booth you made? Were those overhead lights regular flouresent or an explosion proof kind?

[ErikLS2]

Looks like you shot the paint in your home garage? This must not be your first paint job? My car is almost ready for paint, and most body shops here want too much for just shooting the base/clear. I shot the primer on mine, but have not done any base coat at all.

Tu


Did you set up a downdraft ventilation or anything in the booth you made? Were those overhead lights regular flouresent or an explosion proof kind?

It was painted in a home garage but it was completely lined with heavy plastic in a wood frame and normal flourescent lights outside the plastic. The filters which you can see in one of the pictures above, are actual spray booth filters with exhaust fans blowing out the side entry door for the garage so it was kind of a "diagonal draft". Car was painted in the middle of the night to avoid neighbors although the fire dept did drive by at least once LOL.

Tu, I will say one thing about DIY paint spraying. The guy that painted this thing for me is a 20 year bodyman and a master of his craft. He has painted a few cars and mine came out incredible, nevermind it was painted in a garage. Still, after it was painted and cleared and we rolled it out in the sun, the base was a bit light in a few sections so we had a painter come over and re-do that part. He blended that part into the already sprayed clear flawlessly. He added some kind of solvent or something that softens the existing clear so it all blends together nice. It looks like it was all painted at once. No big deal for him, most crash jobs are partial paints anyway.

I'm still going to try to paint a car myself someday just so I can say I did. Still, it's kind of cool to see paint on body work that I did myself and not see any waves or anything in it. The bodyman that painted it helped me with some of the more difficult body work and I learned a ton from that. I was most impressed with how he shrunk the firewall that I had filled and was oil canning pretty bad in a matter of minutes with a few calculated hammer swats and heat applications.

[Wyman Motor]

Well it does look good!
The filters your talking about...are they the ones in the first pic of post #3? You said you made an exhasut fan draw air out the side door, did you have a second regular door to the garge that you blocked off with the filters or did you put them where the main door opens?

[ErikLS2]

Well it does look good!
The filters your talking about...are they the ones in the first pic of post #3? You said you made an exhasut fan draw air out the side door, did you have a second regular door to the garge that you blocked off with the filters or did you put them where the main door opens?

Post # 3 is looking towards the rear corner of the garage and you can barely see part of the side exit door which became the exhaust.

Post # 6 shows the filters really well in the corner opposite the exhaust side. Basically a 2 car garage was lined with plastic including floor and ceiling. Then a temporary wall was made out of 1 x 3's running front to back with a door in it to enter the booth as well as a section for the filters to go in. You could do the same thing with PVC sprinkler pipe and line that with plastic. Since the pipe slips together and apart nicely without glue, putting it up and taking it down is easy.

Here's a better pic of the "booth" before it's completely assembled. Some additional lighting on the sides, front and back would have been good.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/06/PICT1469-1.jpg

And the filter section:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/06/PICT1603-1.jpg

[ErikLS2]

Finally got my wheels on, Rushforth Super Spoke smoked titanium with brushed outers from Frank at Prodigy. The stance obviously needs some attention.

Would like comments on how the red calipers look with the rest. Personally I was unsure before I put it together but I think I like it.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/06/PICT2247-1.jpg

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[doribak]

The calipers look great but right now the wheels looks a bit small how big are they? 17?, i'm waiting for the final assembly to see how it looks when the car is few inches lower.

until now the car look great!

[ErikLS2]

The calipers look great but right now the wheels looks a bit small how big are they? 17?, i'm waiting for the final assembly to see how it looks when the car is few inches lower.

until now the car look great!

Wheels are 18x8 and 18x9 but the tires on the back right now are only 255-40-18, will be using 275's. It should be fine once I get it lowered to where it should be. They do look real small sitting up that high though.

[doribak]

how much did ya pay for the brakes (from junk yard?) and if you don't mind to explain how did you fit those on the car.

and how much for the axle, i wish i could find those stuff used.

i would like to that stuff to my 69 fbird.

[1BAGTO]

Car looks great so far, way to go!

[ErikLS2]

how much did ya pay for the brakes (from junk yard?) and if you don't mind to explain how did you fit those on the car.

and how much for the axle, i wish i could find those stuff used.

i would like to that stuff to my 69 fbird.

You can look in the junkyard, regular C6 Corvette will be easier to find than the Z06's I have. I got them from Tobin at Kore3.com
Calipers are about $275 each and I think the setup for the rear parking brake and everything is about $700. You need the brake pad pins for the calipers too, some pads come with them some don't either way they are about $12 ea and I think there's 28 of them front and rear.. Either way call Tobin if you want factory Z06 stuff.

The car had a 12 bolt axle in it when I got it, I just put new Moser axle shafts in it and a new set of gears. Call Frank at Prodigy Customs for anything for your axle and if you'd rather go with Wilwood brakes.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with used parts, many times by the time you make them right you've almost spent what new costs. Doesn't hurt to try though, sometimes you get lucky too.

[ErikLS2]

I posted a new thread over on the A/C board with this but here is what I worked on the past couple weekends.

I wasn't to impressed with the brackets that came with my Vintage Air kit. I couldn't use it anyway seeing as how my firewall is already painted plus I didn't want any hardware showing on the firewall side.

Made this out of 1/2" tubing. I bolt in the upper bracket first, then attached the bottom half of the bracket to the evaporator case and install them assembled. I used Nutserts in the sheet metal of the car. The bottom of the bracket attaches to the little shelf there at the top of the toe board. You can see the Nutserts from the engine compartment but it's much better than right through the firewall. The little brace I made for the center dash support really firmed things up too

It is very sturdy and I probably could have done without that triangulated piece on the upper bracket but it really made the mounting much firmer and it gives me something to attach wiring harnesses and other stuff to later on.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/07/PICT2274-1.jpg

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[castine917]

looks sturdy. :twothumbs

[martin 1768]

looking good Erik
i like the brackets for your a/c
i might steal your idea for my own a/c
great paint job, it looks real good
i hope you are doing fine.
Martin

[ErikLS2]

Well I may be setting the slow record for completing a project but I have gotten some stuff done lately.

Got my Vaporworx tank all setup with the fuel pump module. I was going to modify a stock fuel pump wiring harness myself but in the interest of time just bought one ready to go from CarlC and I'm glad I did. Carl did an excellent job designing the whole Vaporworx setup:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/07/20110701203305-1.jpg

I'm planning on all AN fitting plumbing with teflon hose so I modified my Vintage Air heater line fittings for this. Still don't know how I'm going to connect to the heater control valve. Anyone know of an AN equipped heater control valve that'll work with the VA kit?

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/07/20110701203322-1.jpg

Next was my clutch pedal linkage. I bought the DSE clutch master mounting bracket and shortened the clutch master pushrod and threaded the end for a 1/4" rod end just for the adjustability. I went round and round about the best place to connect the pushrod to on the clutch pedal arm. Probably not necessary but I ended up welding the original hole up and drilling another one for what I thought was a slightly better angle on the pushrod. I also made a pedal stop and a mount for a clutch switch. Still need to put a little plate or something on the clutch pedal arm to actuate the switch.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/07/20110701203410-1.jpg

Then I had to do something for a steam line. I didn't want to go all the way to the radiator with it so I first cut off the nipple that goes to the radiator and welded up that hole on the driver side. I then drilled a hole in the top of the passenger side of the line (drilled a small pilot hole in from the bottom first so it was centered) and tapped it 1/8 NPT for the AN tee that I screwed into it. I decided on the tee so I could cap the top fitting and use it as an air bleed when filling it with coolant. I then bent up a new line that I ran down to the heater core return side of the water pump as this is where it goes on my Trailblazer SS. I also removed the heater hose nipples with a little map gas heat and tapped the holes for the pipe thread to AN adapters. I got the radiator hose AN fittings off eBay from a company called Custom Built Motors. Seem to be nice pieces but the upper one presses in and not sure I could get it out again without damage if the water pump needed to be replaced.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/07/20110716225546-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/07/20110716225637-1.jpg

[RicerwannaB]

Awesome project! Looking forward to the progress.