'Streamline' 1968 camaro project

[Dark Pursuit]

Screamin Performance sells the hood latch kit

[slimjim]

It's true, They sell a nice and complete kit ready to install, but at $450 and without a close-out I chose to order the parts for a fraction of the coast and have Ambition Road make the closeout to match.

Screamin Performance sells the hood latch kit

[slimjim]

alright, so a couple of months ago when we assembled the front end of my car and got the wheels on and all the steering sorted, It was pretty obvious the combination of suspension, hubs, brakes, spindles was not optimal.
I ended up running a speedtech subframe, but rather than using their ATS spindle, I used ridetech drop spindles, with wilwood hubs and LSX concepts big brake brackets to fit the 5th gen Brembos.
Although these parts all fit together nicely, they widened my track substantially, to the point my front wheels couldn't clear the outer guards at all.
I was at the point of ordering new wheels, tyres and even disc rotors, to bring it all in an entire inch...
luckily, I did some research on wilwood's website(called originally but they're not much help) and found they made the same hubs but with an inch less offset for a newer generation Camaro. we scrapped the LSX concepts bracket, Ambition Road made a new one and I now have the problem all but sorted...And I have a bunch of nice parts to sell.




So this leaves the suspension, brakes and wheels marked at 90% complete.
The body is not far behind, the car is gapped entirely, all panels assembled, only thing remaining is to finish the Hood intake and the lower valance, both of which we have decided to hold off on until I can decided what I want done with them.
I'd really appreciate opinions regarding the stinger hood, I like it, but I'm not sure I love it.
Lower valance is in the similar vote, I think I could come up with something better..


Starting this week or next, installing the 5th gen trans tunnel!

[Motown 454]

James that really looks great and that close out looks nice.

[67SSDan]

I'm digging the hood. It isn't done so often, so it'll stand out, and I've always thought they looked pretty sinister. The lower valance I'm on the fence about too. I've always liked the idea of messing with that piece, but in the end, I rarely see a mod there that I end up liking. It'd be interesting to see what it looks like with the bumper on. The only ones I can think of that have modded it, also removed the bumper.

Just my .02.

Dan

[slimjim]

I really appreciate your opinion.
The Valance right now is simply utilising cutouts directly from a 69 valance, so still incorporating the bumper holes also. It looks ok, but the lights appear to sit higher on mine than on the 69, so the front bumper will also be raised to sit flush with the bottom of the grill similar to the roadstershop fused camaro, below is a picture of another 68 with the the same hood, driving lights and a bumper.

I'm digging the hood. It isn't done so often, so it'll stand out, and I've always thought they looked pretty sinister. The lower valance I'm on the fence about too. I've always liked the idea of messing with that piece, but in the end, I rarely see a mod there that I end up liking. It'd be interesting to see what it looks like with the bumper on. The only ones I can think of that have modded it, also removed the bumper.

Just my .02.

Dan

[67SSDan]

Oh yeah, LOVE the hood on that one. I'd stick with it.

You're not running the 67 turn signals though right? This sort of reminds me of the Anvil piece. When I see that, to my eyes (and again, this is just my opinion) it looks like too many round lights all grouped together. On the 67s, I've never personally cared for it just because the lights either lined up perfectly and I thought that looked strange, or they were off just enough that some thing looked funny about it. These are the types of things I obsess over though, so maybe no one else sees it that way. That one you posted is a beautiful car. I'd take it!

Dan

[67SSDan]

I will say though, the more I've stared at it, the bumper does a good job of breaking it all up. That combo definitely looks better with the bumper on.

Dan

[slimjim]

Oh yeah, LOVE the hood on that one. I'd stick with it.

You're not running the 67 turn signals though right? This sort of reminds me of the Anvil piece. When I see that, to my eyes (and again, this is just my opinion) it looks like too many round lights all grouped together. On the 67s, I've never personally cared for it just because the lights either lined up perfectly and I thought that looked strange, or they were off just enough that some thing looked funny about it. These are the types of things I obsess over though, so maybe no one else sees it that way. That one you posted is a beautiful car. I'd take it!

Dan

No no, Definitely no round lights, I dislike any turn signals in that location(if running 69 lights),I've made my grill without anything there, It's on a much earlier page in this thread.
I will most likely incorporate the turn signals inside the head lights. not halos but there are some good options out there.

[67SSDan]

Ah, so more like this. I'm sure there's a rendering in here somewhere now that I've paid attention to your avatar, but in any case. I like it! Taking the extra lights out definitely does the trick for the look.

No no, Definitely no round lights, I dislike any turn signals in that location(if running 69 lights),I've made my grill without anything there, It's on a much earlier page in this thread.
I will most likely incorporate the turn signals inside the head lights. not halos but there are some good options out there.

Dan

[ra11ysport]

alright, so a couple of months ago when we assembled the front end of my car and got the wheels on and all the steering sorted, It was pretty obvious the combination of suspension, hubs, brakes, spindles was not optimal.
I ended up running a speedtech subframe, but rather than using their ATS spindle, I used ridetech drop spindles, with wilwood hubs and LSX concepts big brake brackets to fit the 5th gen Brembos.
Although these parts all fit together nicely, they widened my track substantially, to the point my front wheels couldn't clear the outer guards at all.
I was at the point of ordering new wheels, tyres and even disc rotors, to bring it all in an entire inch...
luckily, I did some research on wilwood's website(called originally but they're not much help) and found they made the same hubs but with an inch less offset for a newer generation Camaro. we scrapped the LSX concepts bracket, Ambition Road made a new one and I now have the problem all but sorted...And I have a bunch of nice parts to sell.





So this leaves the suspension, brakes and wheels marked at 90% complete.
The body is not far behind, the car is gapped entirely, all panels assembled, only thing remaining is to finish the Hood intake and the lower valance, both of which we have decided to hold off on until I can decided what I want done with them.
I'd really appreciate opinions regarding the stinger hood, I like it, but I'm not sure I love it.
Lower valance is in the similar vote, I think I could come up with something better..




Starting this week or next, installing the 5th gen trans tunnel!

Just trying to figure this out(im slow!)So the hub you had for the lsx concepts kit was 7037 correct?
The reason im confused is the wilwood 7037 is 2.37 offset used on the f body is about 1/2in less than stock which is around 2-3/4 offset.
So you shortn up the offset on the hubs cause of the backspace on the rims which is???? What part# is that hub? Sorry for silly questions im in a similar position with my front brakes.

[slimjim]

Just trying to figure this out(im slow!)So the hub you had for the lsx concepts kit was 7037 correct?
The reason im confused is the wilwood 7037 is 2.37 offset used on the f body is about 1/2in less than stock which is around 2-3/4 offset.
So you shortn up the offset on the hubs cause of the backspace on the rims which is???? What part# is that hub? Sorry for silly questions im in a similar position with my front brakes.

yeah I started with the 7037 as recommended. but I ended up getting the 270-12304 as it has a 1.37 offset, this with the new brackets pictured saved me from having to make some pricey changes.
my front wheels are 18x8 with an offset of 4.875".

[slimjim]

Ah, so more like this. I'm sure there's a rendering in here somewhere now that I've paid attention to your avatar, but in any case. I like it! Taking the extra lights out definitely does the trick for the look.

This car looks much better without those lights! I just noticed it has the hood mounted tachometer.. not a fan

[slimjim]

9 days until I'm back in the country to get even more work done.

[Motown 454]

Looking good!

[slimjim]

Ok so a more detailed post on the interior fit out.
I gave Aaron at Ambition road all the information I have obtained regarding this interior install as it is beyond my skill level. All the thanks goes to John aka Cryptonomad and his attention to detail during his build.
However I also let Aaron use this information incorporated with his own approach and I think it has paid off.




And now that it fits, I plan to modify a lot of the 5th gen stuff to my liking..

[camaros down under]

I love it

[slimjim]

I love it

Thanks mate, Made a lot of progress recently and finally get to bring it home for a while shortly.
I've also been on the lookout for a torana or kingswood to make my next project... however I'd export it the opposite direction to your car. Maybe add a bit of aussie muscle to the autocross scene perhaps.

[Motown 454]

That looks great! I had the bottom of my car painted, now I wish I had waited and done more before firewall and bottom paint. They did a nice job on it.

[slimjim]

That looks great! I had the bottom of my car painted, now I wis I had waited and done more before firewall and bottom paint. They did a nice job on it.

I'm hoping to have it in epoxy primer next month, that should be the majority of the fabrication done...for now.
I will bring it home and assemble all parts, build and install the motor and in that time I will decide if/ what I'll do to the the rear end. Exhaust cut-outs, fuel filler removed maybe, custom rear spoiler?...
I'm just close to a point now where I either stop metal fabrication and happily finish it, and can start enjoying the car, or continue throwing money at personal touches and spend another year off the road.. There has to be a stopping point, I just don't know where it is. So I will bring it home, spend my money on the 'needs', while thinking whether further 'wants' are necessary.
A huge factor is I am so happy with the work that the shop does now, that I continuously want them to keep going. but the wallet (and the Mrs) disagree.