70 Camaro with LS1/6 speed

[spinedoc]

I am attempting to transform my 70 camaro from a drag car to a more streetable vehicle. It most recently had a 468 big block, and a reverse manual valvebody tranny. It had a fuel cell and and got a whopping 7 mpg. Here is what I have done so far.

I picked up a smoked 98 Z with an LS1 and 6 speed. I tore down my 70 and realized it's shot. It needed pretty much everything behind the doors. SO it now sits on a rotisserie getting major surgery including deep tubs.

I ended up choosing the ridetech Level 2 suspension system with Musclebar front sway bar. I contacted Keith at Custom works and ordered their parts to put the LS into the 70, including mounts, crossmember and headers.

I ditched the 98 ecm and picked up a 2002 ecm from spareecm off of ebay. I will have a new harness set up for that to mate it to the 98 LS.

I will try to put up some pics.



Any comments or advice or suggestions are appreciated, I've never done any of this before and don't want to make any more mistakes than necessary.


The victim


The 70 before the teardown





Deep tub install

[Justin@EntropyRad]

Going to be fun! Keeping the same color?

[spinedoc]

Justin, I'll paint it the original Citrus Green. That was the color when I first got it.

[spinedoc]

I am slooowly assembling the deep tubs and fitting the rear panels. I got my panels from AMD, as I heard they were the best(?)

I will say that I expected some difficulty getting the pieces to fit, but this has been worse than I'd thought. The fit is crap. It's gonna take a lot of monkeying around to get this to look right.

I have seriously been considering using fiberglass for the nose pieces and possibly the fenders. Does anyone have any experience with fiberglass for a street driven car? I would really appreciate any opinions on this. Thanks.

[BuddyP]

Very nice start! I'd like to do a 2nd gen one day. Good luck with the build!

[Goosesdad]

Looking good.

[maxxom]

Good luck. Anything not OEM or NOS will need some fitment and then some. Check out www.anvilauto.com, a little more than fiberglass but stronger and it fits well.

[spinedoc]

^ a 'little' more than fiberglass, yikes. 2700.00 for fenders!

[Justin@EntropyRad]

Justin, I'll paint it the original Citrus Green. That was the color when I first got it.

Sa-Weet...I have to drive by one in that color every time I go to a friend's house..and he will not sell it..despite it being under a half-inch of dust

[mildtowild]

USC All-Metal Premium Aluminum Filled Auto Body Filler

[spinedoc]

I have made some progress and will put up some pics soon.

I got the LS\6 speed out of the 98 and set it into the subframe for the 70. I used the Hooker/Holley mounts and I think it looks OK. They are not the same left and right, and a pic would have been helpful, but I think I got it. If anyone has any pics, I'd like to see them.

I was told the F body accessories will fit my 70, but the alternator seems to hit the motor mount. I have it off the car, but it seems I will have to trim the shroud thing off the back to make it fit. The pan seems to fit OK. I am going to run a Vintage Air AC system, and I wonder how the compressor will fit the lower passenger side? Do they relocate it?

Does anyone know what tranny mount I need to buy? The one off the 98 won't work.

Thanks for looking and any advice is appreciated.

Eric

[cpd004]

If you're using the Hooker/Holley cross member, there is a part number for the trans mount they say is required in the instruction sheet. It is a common mount used by GM and others for quite some time. I can't remember the number off the top of my head.

[Justin@EntropyRad]

in for more pics