'Streamline' 1968 camaro project

[slimjim]

Nice build. I love the wheels!! Do you have 18x9.5 and 18x12?
What backspacing do you have on the front and rear wheels?

yes that's my exact size. on the front the backspacing is 6" and the rears are 5" with a 53" wide rear end. so it's pretty aggressive and I STILL don't have tires due to a shipping issue so I'm yet to know if more work will be involved to fit them perfect.

[slimjim]

Well the work on my car has never been greater yet the progress has never appeared slower. Finished up this round of 220p as well as body working the rockers. lot's of burn throughs due to my minimalist approach to body filler and I guess it bit me.

anyways, spent this week finessing edges, skimming here and there, removing panels and cleaning everything repeatedly!

finally got some epoxy on the burn-throughs a couple days ago and taped up the garage for yet another round of featherfill.

yesterday was my weather window so I hit it with another round, the car looks great and it's always such a relief to see it in a single color. the aim is to get it to 300-400 and hopefully it should be ready for some sealer and off to a body shop for the more intricate stages of paint and body. Should it not be able to get in on time, I may blow apart the front end and body work the firewall and inner wheel wells.

[DWC]

James- Your bodywork looks great. The time you're investing now will pay off for sure in the end result!

Daniel

[slimjim]

James- Your bodywork looks great. The time you're investing now will pay off for sure in the end result!

Daniel

Thanks Daniel, it's rewarding work and I really enjoy it (most days). hoping to get a Datsun or a similar budget build in the future to learn even more new skills on without the high consequence.

[slimjim]

Apparently most people find it boring but damn, I'm into bodywork now, it's been a big couple of days but my OCD is out of control but it's paying off.









finishing out panels in 400p and really starting to see the lines come together.

[Gmc427]

looking good james, have you welded up the seams below rear window?regards

[slimjim]

looking good james, have you welded up the seams below rear window?regards

yes, took care of them well before this stage luckily.

[ryeguy2006a]

Looking great!! I'm surprised you don't just try and spray it yourself. All that work you are doing is what shows after you lay down the color coat. FWIW, I sprayed my own car and as intimidating as it was there wasn't a huge difference between color and primer. It was definitely thinner, so you had to lay down lighter coats.

[slimjim]

Looking great!! I'm surprised you don't just try and spray it yourself. All that work you are doing is what shows after you lay down the color coat. FWIW, I sprayed my own car and as intimidating as it was there wasn't a huge difference between color and primer. It was definitely thinner, so you had to lay down lighter coats.

Well, It's certainly something I've considered, I've thought about what you've told me on multiple occasions. It's not so much the spraying that concerns me but more the location and space constraints. If my fabricator allows me to use his booth rather than pay a contracted body-guy to spray himself it's certainly something I'll consider taking on.

But I won't be putting down color in the garage, poly is easy and forgiving but there were several times when it was a real struggle to navigate around the car, air hose scrapes another part etc.

[Motown 454]

What you've done so far definitely looks good.

[Gmc427]

tig silicon bronze?

[ryeguy2006a]

What you have done looks really great, and you know that you've done an excellent job with the body work. Unfortunately, from my experience most body guys want to do their own prep since they would be spraying the paint and putting their name on it. They want to really ensure that the prep work was done to their standards, so if they don't know you they would likely want to re-do some of what you have already done.

I'm not sure if they can be rented, but there are also those portable/inflatable spray booths. Not sure if that is an option for you, but maybe something to look into.

[slimjim]

What you have done looks really great, and you know that you've done an excellent job with the body work. Unfortunately, from my experience most body guys want to do their own prep since they would be spraying the paint and putting their name on it. They want to really ensure that the prep work was done to their standards, so if they don't know you they would likely want to re-do some of what you have already done.

I'm not sure if they can be rented, but there are also those portable/inflatable spray booths. Not sure if that is an option for you, but maybe something to look into.

Very true, this may become an issue but I'll just have to see later in the year. prior to paint it's going back to ambition road for a final look over, some small fab jobs etc, and take care of a few things better to do prior to paint.

tig silicon bronze?

Honestly I'm not quite sure, this is one of the parts I outsourced, since the guy had over a decade with DSE I never questioned his work.

[slimjim]

Before leaving for work I tackled the last area I'd shown taped, not much to report there and overall I'm happy with it. But I forgot to mention my ongoing frustration with my anvil spoiler, it's fiberglass, it was at a reduced price and it's wavier than the southern ocean and I've put a lot of time just to get it how it is..
If anyone has any ideas how to get the leading edge straight which runs along the trunk I'm all ears...
In general the whole piece fits poorly.

I'm thinking I need to trim that edge off and re-fiberglass or epoxy on a straight edge.




Finally I cleaned the garage and car(AGAIN) and taped up for the next section which I'll hopefully get back into next week.
Then put some more time into the double din display and gauge pods

[dhutton]

Your Anvil spoiler fits much better than mine. Car is looking great.

Don

[slimjim]

Thanks don, I appreciate it. If the end result is half as nice as the ones you've pumped out over previous years I'll be very happy.

[slimjim]

Time for an update.

I've been busy, very busy. any guess what I've been doing?

got the entire car to p320 and I've gotta say I'm pretty happy with it. I'm confident it can be sprayed with Evercoat URO-FILL urethane primer next at which point I'll sand it dry 400 and maybe a wet 600. But first, I need to do the body work on the engine bay so today I started disassembly on the front end.

I also got my rear 315/30/18 rivals mounted and I'm very happy with the extra width in these wheels. I think I can lower the rear some more but I won't truly know until it's back on the ground.

Pics







So plans were to fly to Belgium in a couple of days for a month of work.. then all hell broke loose on earth today and it has been canceled indefinitely so looks like I have a bunch more time to continue on the car!! hooray, let's see if I can get this bay done

[Widetrax]

Your car is looking very nice! You should paint it yourself! Just sand any problem areas down in the paint before you put the clear on it. If you are using 1 stage paint, you gotta do it before you buff it anyway.

[John McIntire]

Love the wheels and sizes you chose. That's the direction I'm leaning towards.

Nice work, you have a lot to be proud of there!

[slimjim]

Your car is looking very nice! You should paint it yourself! Just sand any problem areas down in the paint before you put the clear on it. If you are using 1 stage paint, you gotta do it before you buff it anyway.

Love the wheels and sizes you chose. That's the direction I'm leaning towards.

Nice work, you have a lot to be proud of there!

Thanks fellas, I'm more confident every day about it's final outcome, and heavily considering painting it myself if I can hire a booth.

It really is just shocking how much labor is involved in paint and body. I finally tackled the body, then yesterday started the details under the hood.. however, the learning curve has been great and if I can apply enough of my time I'm hopeful I'll get this done quickly.

The engine bay I am planning to paint my self in satin single stage.