67 Camaro - Project "Therapy"

[daredvl22]

Well, I guess it's time to go ahead and start my own build thread. I've been meaning to do this for years (literally), so here it is.

I decided to call my project "Therapy", because that's what this project is for me. It is my get away for being held hostage in an office for 9-10 hours a day! I would much rather be grinding, cutting, welding, etc. etc. I have built several cars in the past, but never to this level. I am a self taught hobbyist, but my dream would be to do this full time as a profession, maybe one day. Until then, I will use this as my canvas to see what I'm capable of.

Project: Original 1967 RS/SS 350 4-speed Camaro
End Goal: All out pro-touring street machine with all the comforts of a modern car…..or at least most.
Purpose: Driver I can run in autocross events, and cruise on the weekends with the family
Budget: Seriously, I've already blown that, but who's counting. Again, this is therapy, and Dr.'s are expensive

Ok, yes it is an original highly optioned RS/SS car. However, it is, or was a basket case. Pretty much everything was rusted out, and the car was missing the entire driveline. So, it really doesn't matter. At the end of it all, it is an original RS/SS, but who really cares. It's going to be my car, and exactly what I want. Here are a few pictures of the car before I started. As you can see, it's pretty rough. This may sound strange, but I wanted a project that needed a lot of work. Again, I've never replaced floor pans, quarter panels, etc., so I figured it was time to learn.






I will post pictures of what I've done over the past several years, up to the current state. Please feel free to comment and provide feedback. I've learned a great deal from everyone on this site, so I hope I can return the favor.

[daredvl22]

Oh, almost forgot. Here's a rendering of what I want "Therapy" to become.

[Dewil]

Looking forward to see your progress and I completely understand your situation and ambition! The rendering looks nice and you sure will have a lot of therapy!

[daredvl22]

Update - Pulled out the original subframe and rear end. Found buyers for both, which is nice so I can apply funds towards the DSE components. I will be going with DSE subframe, QuadraLink rear end, and custom built 12 bolt Moser rear. More to come on that.

[daredvl22]

After surveying the floors and a few other problem areas, decision was made to cut out and replace. Here are a few shots of the floors and front cowl corners. Notorious areas that rust out.



Both front cowl corners were equally as bad. Also, have shell up on my AutoTwirler rotisserie. This makes life a whole lot easier!



Entire floor removed and ready for the 1 piece replacement.

[TT302Z28]

Nice project...stay with it!

[Justin@EntropyRad]

Holy gutted Camaro, batman....keep at it!

[daredvl22]

Cutting out the quarter panels to get ready for the new NOS parts. Then loading it up to get everything sand blasted. With most of the body panels removed, the blaster was able to get into every nook and cranny of the under structure.





Installed the 1 piece floor and trunk pan before getting everything blasted.

[daredvl22]

Installed the DSE mini tubs, new drop off panels, outer wheel house panels, etc. All of this was pretty straight forward. Kinda like a big jigsaw puzzle.

[daredvl22]

Installed all the brackets for the DSE QuadraLink



rear pockets for QuadraLink bars. Notice the modified seat braces, go into more detail about this later.

[67SSDan]

Nice! You'll be caught up to me in no time!

Dan

[daredvl22]

Before sending everything out for blasting, I removed both quarter panels. Needless to say, there was a ton of surface rust on the under structure. Amazing how GM didn't prime anything under the sheet metal.



I decided I wanted to smooth out the firewall to get that nice clean look. Cut out want I needed to install the DSE fill plate.





Here it is installed, before all the welds are cleaned up.

[daredvl22]

After taking a closer look at the front cowl section, I realized it was worse than I thought. So, I decide to replace it altogether….



New piece ready to go in.



I wasn't 100% happy with the DSE fill plate. I decided I wanted everything smooth. So, I decided to make a template and cut a whole piece out of 16 ga.





Here it is installed, with all the welds cleaned up.

[daredvl22]

Another area I wanted to work on before taking everything to the blaster was the rear battery location. I figured I should take full advantage of having the rear quarter removed, giving me easy access to work. I got this idea from one of DSE's builds. Here's the area I wanted to recess the battery (rear passenger side trunk corner).



I went ahead and cut this section away. This picture shows where I had to cut into the rear frame rail in order to recess the battery tray. This picture is looking into the trunk from the side. If the quarter panel was in place, I wouldn't get this angle.



Here's the custom battery tray I made out of 16 ga. steel. I'm going to be using an optima yellow top battery, so I used the one out of my Nova to get my dimensions. I wanted the battery to sit more "level", so made it at a slight angle. Goes from about 3 1/2" to 2".



Here it is mocked up in place with the billet battery hold down in place.



Here's a side view, directly where the quarter panel will cover, once re-installed.



Here it is all welded in place. I haven't cleaned up all the welds yet, but you get the idea. I liked how it turned out. Looks clean and out of the way, almost like it was meant to go there in the first place.

[Motown 454]

I like it Dave it looks great! Nice to finally see your car.

[daredvl22]

I like it Dave it looks great! Nice to finally see your car.

Thanks Wayne. Figured I've been lurking on here long enough! Time to reveal what I've been working on and get some feedback from my fellow builders.

[daredvl22]

So I decided to make myself a trap door in the trunk (another idea I got from DSE). That way, if I do need to replace my in-tank fuel pump, I don't need to drop the tank to do it. I'm going to be running a vaporworx tank, with the ZL1 fuel pump. I am expecting some high HP when this is all said and done, so better prepare ahead of time. Here's a shot of the panel I created. BTW - this was before DSE starting selling their own……would have made my life a lot easier, but would have been as much fun This is the underside with a piece of 6061 aluminum in place for the actual removable panel. I wanted to get all the nuts on the backside in place so I could weld them in place.



Here's the top side. You can see how I recessed it so it would sit flush. I'm using some flat top stainless steel allen bolts to hold it in place.



Here it is installed. Happy with the end result. This type of fabrication is what I really enjoy doing. Replacing body panels is fun and all, but this is where it's at!

[Dave B]

This is when I wish this forum had a "Like" button, very nice! I like the battery tray idea.

[daredvl22]

Thanks Dave. It does help transfer some weight to the rear, while at the same time cleaning up the engine compartment.

[daredvl22]

Ok, backing up a little. While I was working on the firewall, I decided to relocate the wiper motor. I'm using the DSE set up, but I wanted it hidden out of sight. I cut this section out of the exiting panel, and decided it needed to be moved to the driver side cowl section, hidden under the fender.



I then proceeded to cut an access hole in the top of the cowl corner. That way, if I ever needed to access the wiper motor for whatever reason, I could do so easily. I welded nuts to the backside, so I could attach the cover.



Here it is in place with the fender bolted on. You can see it's hidden out of sight. Now I just need to extend the arm assembly to the wipers.