1968 Camaro Build

[califconstruct]

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Cool build, kudos on the detail. Great progress!


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[Brad C]

I took the day off and got the sheet metal dry fit. Wasn't too bad. The tunnel cover from Chassis Works is a huge time saver. It would have been a LOT harder if I had to fab the sheet metal, and no way it would have looked as nice. I've checked the drive line angles now and it's right about 2 degrees front and back. Much better!!

I'm posting several pictures on this one because there was only one other link I could find with pictures fitting this tunnel cover. Hopefully this helps someone thinking of going the same route.

Tunnel cover fit over the stock metal to figure out the position. You can see the trimming I had to do at the front corners.


Traced the outline of the tunnel and then offset it 1/2" for the cut line.


Lots of sparks and noise later the stock tunnel is out. I covered the trans with a towel and was very careful not to hit it with the cutting wheel. I burned a few holes in the towel though.


Tunnel fit in place with the sides overlapped to the inside.


Hole cut for the shifter. I used a 4" metal hole saw after measuring about 50 times. I only had one shot with the hole so it had to be right.


This is the only place that doesn't fit flush (at the corners). If I can't form the original metal out from the bottom to close the gap, I'll make patch pieces.


I have a friend coming over tonight to help pull the motor back out so I can get the cover prepped and welded this weekend.

[Motown 454]

Great job, it looks like its going in nice!

[icemanrd19]

my suggestion is to get a finch shifter boot cover. Its big enough you can remove the shifter without dropping the transmission. That or atleast build yourself a removable section there for access

[Brad C]

my suggestion is to get a finch shifter boot cover. Its big enough you can remove the shifter without dropping the transmission. That or atleast build yourself a removable section there for access

I had looked at that already actually. It is really nice, but it's kind of pricey and I can CNC a frame like that at work. Wouldn't trust myself sewing the boot though. I wanted to start with a smaller hole just to see what clearance was like, mainly because I won't have a console. The motor came out really easy through that and I think I can pull just the trans as well if things are unhooked so the motor can tilt. We'll see, I may make a plate and open up the hole. Thanks for the input!

[Brad C]

Great job, it looks like its going in nice!

Thanks!

[Brad C]

The tunnel cover is all welded in and seam sealed.

I ended up just cutting a slot for the shifter so I can pull the trans straight back if I ever need to pull it. I'll make a plate to cover the slot since the shift boot won't cover it fully.

[drc9805]

Nice work so far... looks good!

[Brad C]

I was planning to take it in this week to get the exhaust done but thankfully it looks like I need to wait it out for the good rain we're getting finally. Bring it on!

I got the Vintage Air evaporator in this weekend and got most of the fuel tank venting worked out. There's no place under the car higher than the filler neck to run a straight vent. I probably could have made something work ok but I decided to get the canister from II Much Fabrication and mount it in the trunk. I won't have any fumes in the garage this way and no chance of overflow when filling. I machined a bracket for it today at work so we'll see if that fits. It will mount to the rear seat upright towards the passenger side and I'm running the breather line through the cap where the shock mount used to be. I still need to find a place to run the line in from the tank.

I'm waiting on the dash vents to get here so I can finish the A/C ducting. I also have the front drive components I ordered from Concept One showing up soon so I can keep busy with that. I might start working on wiring this weekend too. I'll go borrow the trailer and get the exhaust done as soon as we get a few dry days.

[Brad C]

Front drive kit is in. Really happy with the kit from Concept One. I could have gone way cheaper with GM components and the LS conversion brackets that are made for them, but those put the A/C compressor and alternator so far out from the motor. I wanted this to look tucked in and clean. The install was easy except for the harmonic balancer. I spent the large majority of the day getting the stock pulley off and the balancer on. I also didn't realize I had to get a different thermostat housing for the new water pump but luckily the local Chevy dealer had the right one in stock.

[ragz]

Looks amazing, great project.

[drc9805]

X2^^^^

[Centerforce]

This is beautiful work! We love to see stuff of this level being built in a garage. What clutch did you go with?

[Brad C]

This is beautiful work! We love to see stuff of this level being built in a garage. What clutch did you go with?

Thank you for the positive comments! Same to ragz and drc9805 above.

I got the GM connect and cruise package so it's the GM clutch. I figured that was a good place to start and see how I like it. My plan is to hang on to this car a long time and let it keep being a work in progress, so who knows what I'll change on it down the road.

[Brad C]

Looks like the rain broke for a few days so I just grabbed my friends trailer and it's off to the exhaust shop tomorrow. Good excuse to take the day off. My boss has a 68 Camaro project car too so it's never hard to get days off for stuff like this.

I'm leaning towards Flowmaster Delta 40s. We'll see how routing it around the torque arm suspension goes. I took pictures of that setup in to them a few weeks ago and they said no problem so it should work out well, I hope.

[Brad C]

Things went fine today with the exhaust. This place does great work and they've been around here forever. I had work done by them when I was in high school in the 80's. The '56 Bel Air next to mine was beautiful. I was talking to the guy about it and he said it's his wife's car. Gotta love that..

Routing the exhaust around the BMR rear suspension was tricky but they did a nice job on it. I forgot to take a closer picture of it on the lift though - duh. I'll get shots once it's back up on my small lift. I really wish I had room for a taller 4 post lift in my garage, oh well. Some day..

[Brad C]

Ok, I'm no longer having fun. I started wiring.

The LS3 harness was pretty easy actually. I have that all in and connected. I just need to tuck things up still. I think I'll put the ECU in the fresh air plenum on the passenger side. It fits pretty well and there's room to hide the excess length in the harness. I'll machine a nice vent cover with a tight pass through for the ECU harness. The one that came with the vintage air kit is ok but rather than modify it for the harness I can make a nicer one. The fuse/relay box will mount in the engine bay somewhere but I'm not sure where until I get the inner fenders on.

The wiring kit I have for the rest of the car is really nice but I got a little overwhelmed when I laid it out on the floor Saturday and tried to look at it as a whole. Had one of those what the hell did I get myself in to moments so I just put it away and grabbed a beer. I'll get it sorted out. Yesterday I decided to start off easy and got the rear end wiring all done - tail lights, fuel pump/sender, stereo lines, etc. That went well so now it's on to the rest!

[Brad C]

Still working on wiring. I have it all figured out now though. I'm taking next week off so the plan is to get it all done and then try to finish all the engine plumbing. After that I should be ready to purge the fuel system, check oil pressure, and then get it started soon hopefully!

I realized that the T56 has a reverse lockout solenoid, which I hadn't noticed earlier. After kicking it around, I decided to put in a lockout module rather than just a switch. My gauge kit came with a mechanical to electrical converter for the speedo, so if that fits the trans I'll use that for the reverse lockout and keep the VSS line going just to the gauge. I haven't checked fit yet on that but I need to plug it anyway. Might as well use it.

[Brad C]

Below is the plate I made for the ECU harness going through the firewall and the fuse box mounted. I used the through bolts for the vintage air kit rather than drill new ones which worked out perfect once I machined a lower bracket. It fits nice but I'll need to remove the lower bolt and tilt it up it in order to get the cover off of the fuse box. Shouldn't have to do that very often anyway so not a big deal. Seems like it all clears the fender and hood hinge but I'll have to wait and see. Worst case I'll have to machine some brackets to shift it over a bit.

[Brad C]

Right now you can't easily get the factory A/C and heater control module apparently, so I decided to use the one Vintage Air sells and make a custom bezel. I have a nice 3D printer at work and can run personal parts now and then so this was a perfect use. I took some measurements off a heater only control that a local shop had and off the opening in the dash and designed a new one. This VA controller is smaller obviously so I filled the space with three chrome push buttons that I'll wire in to a homelink module for my garage door openers.