1968 Camaro Resto-mod 6.0/6 speed; Project Penny Pincher

[ryeguy2006a]

Thanks guys. I have to keep reminding myself to take it one step at a time so the paint turns out the best it can for my abilities, but I am anxiously waiting to get it into some red paint!

[ryeguy2006a]

Made some solid progress Friday night into early Saturday morning. I learned the hard way that when body filler is fully cured, it becomes much harder to sand. It took me a good part of the night to sand all of the spots flush, but I was very pleased to find that I fixed 95% of the tiny imperfections. There were just a few spots that I found as I was sanding that needed a little attention, but I will be able to get them all taken care of on this last round of sanding before the final prime. Here's the body all prepped with wax and grease remover right before I primed.







After a little trial and error with the gun settings I figured out how to get the product down smooth again. We have a gun cleaning station in his booth and must be when the priming gun was dissembled last (sorry don't know the correct name) the needle seat that controls the flow of product was too far out. It was almost spraying it out like bedliner. By that time, Randy had gone to bed so I was on my own. Stressful at the time because my gun was full of primer, but luckily I know just enough about how they work to get by. So after messing with the flow and air pressure settings for a minute, I figured out how to get it to flow out nicely.







On Saturday afternoon, while my wife was away with her sister's and my son was napping I had a few spare minutes to finally look over the LS1 I picked up a while ago. I wanted to see how it would clean up and see if it was something I wanted to use. After a little elbow grease, I was pleasantly surprised that everything appeared to be great. No funny sounds and I got all of the gaskets off of the deck surface. I figured while I was there I would also clean off the carbon deposits on top of the pistons.





I took my time and used a brand new razor blade and a light scuffing with a scotch brite pad. I've heard of people using one of the air tools and a scuff pad, but with the aluminum I've heard people taking to much off and the gaskets wouldn't seal properly. I also found that when I soaked the graphite in WD-40 and it helped to scrape it off a little easier. Then I cleaned up the stock LS2 Cam I have had for a while and put it into the block along with the 1x cam wheel and LS2 chain.





I picked up some LS7 lifters, trays and an oil pump from the guy I bought the motor from. They were the parts that came out of this engine and supposed to have about 5k miles on them. I should be getting them today and then I can work on getting this motor together again. Before I sell the 5.3 I want to make sure that this will be a solid motor. I'm hoping to get this together and time it right so that when the shell is painted and back at my house that I can pull the 5.3, notch the frame, and then reinstall the LS1 to make sure it runs properly. My list keeps growing, but I do it to myself...

Ryan

[ryeguy2006a]

Made a little more progress last night also. I sprayed on a guide coat and block sanded the shell for a 2nd time and it is really close now. Other than a third coat of primer the roof is done, the deck lid is done, both door jambs are done, and both quarter sides are done. I still have some issues that popped up on the rear valance panel, top body line of the quarters and passenger side c pillar. I ran out of time last night to finish with those issues, but its very close at this point. I also need to spread a skim coat on the rocker panels. I am just waiting until I put it on the lift again so I don't have to do it upside down. I am hopefully going to fix those issues on Friday night, then I can spray on a final prime.







I also did a first block sand on the doors and I was very pleased at how close they were. I should be able to do a small skim coat on a few little areas and I believe it will be ready for a final prime. I'm not really surprised since they were off of a painted car and I saw how straight they were. But I did add some metal to the passenger's door and straightened the bottom lip on the driver's side.





Here is my table of parts that just need a quick sand and final prime. I have a few little marks on the one lower fender extension, but otherwise ready for some red!



I received a few more parts for my budget LS1 build project. I contacted the guy who I bought the LS1 short block from and he still had the lifters, trays and LS6 oil pump that came off my engine. He claims they only had about 5K miles on them before he pulled the motor to do a 408 stroker build. The lifters have more surface spotting on them then I would like to see, but I think they will clean up with an emery cloth. Since I'm not doing a new cam for now I'm going to hold off on new lifters, and all other mods besides a cheap set of Z06 valve springs to match the stock LS2 cam. When I do get a new cam, I'll do LS7 lifters, LS2 trays, valve springs, FAST intake, injectors, and throttle body. I just want to get the car up and running at this point.





I also found a good deal on a used Pro 5.0 shifter, so that should be here soon. I don't need a new shifter, but I am thinking that with the longer shifter handle that I may end up putting more stress on the cup. Most aftermarket shifters, including the Pro 5.0, have built in stops that limit the throw which give me a level of comfort. Plus I really liked the way that my '76 T/A shifted with the same trans and shifter.

Cheers,
Ryan

[Rick2964]

Solid work! Its looking good. Body work is no joke!

[ryeguy2006a]

Thanks Rick. I'm learning that the hard way.

Not a big update, but I was able to get a few more hours of sanding in the garage this weekend. I went over the shell and all body panels with a fine tooth comb and added some skim filler to any imperfection I found. It took me quite a while, but I was very happy I did it. I found a lot of tiny spots that I missed before. It especially helped getting the car up on the lift. I have been chasing a few blemishes on the quarter panel top body lines, and I finally fixed the driver's side and need to sand a little bit more on the passenger side. There was also a spot on the passenger c pillar that I fixed as well. They were really the last few big issues that I had been fighting with, so I'm quite pleased to have those behind me.





While I was skimming the car, I noticed that all the body panel filler was shrunk and needed to be replaced on the tail panel. I got it all out and then replaced with some new seam sealer. If I had to give advice, use masking tape! I didn't and it was way more work cleaning up the seam sealer where I didn't want it to go.



I also flipped the hood over to give that some attention, and prep for primer. Didn't quite have enough time to get that sprayed though.



I've been trying hard to stay focused on the body work, but I did come across a great deal on a used Pro 5.0 shifter and had to get it. I was thinking that since I'm running a longer handle, I may be putting extra force on the stock shifter and like the idea of having a throw limiter. Plus I really liked the way that the Pro 5.0 felt in my Trans Am. The shifts are much tighter and more precise. It felt great doing something other than body work.





I'm glad I test fit it now, because the hole was just a little too small for me to install it from the top. I trimmed about 1/2" to the right and rear of the shifter location and now it fits all around and I have access to all the bolts.





Also, on a parts update I decided to pull the trigger on a new clutch slave cylinder/throw out bearing and Z06 clutch kit from Luk. They are apparently the OEM supplier for GM clutch parts, so the parts are exactly the same whether you would get from GM Performance Parts box or a Luk box. Great thing is you can get them from Rock Auto for a significant price discount. Clutch slave cylinder was $35 bucks and the complete clutch kit with flywheel, PP and clutch disk was $230 bucks! I placed the order for the clutch parts and a few other things Friday late morning, and some of the parts came Saturday afternoon. Kudos to Rock Auto.



And I also picked up some replacement tail light sockets as all of mine were in bad shape.



On a semi car related post, we were at Lowe's yesterday with my family taking advantage of the Memorial Day sales, when my son got my attention. He says, "Look at that blue hot rod!" I wasn't even paying attention and when I looked over, I see a decent looking 79ish Trans Am! I told him oh yeah! That's a great looking car, nice spot. I've got a feeling that I'm going to have another little gear head in my house.



Cheers,
Ryan

[ryeguy2006a]

I was pretty determined to get this car ready for paint this weekend. I went over on Thursday night to fix a few more little blemishes that were bothering me that needed to be addressed before I could lay down a final prime. I started by getting the car up on the lift and doing a final once over to address anything I may have missed. I pulled the wheels off both sides to hammer and dolly the lips straight and add a little filler to the lips where there were obvious weld marks. I was pleased with how it turned out. looked as original as it could.



It got to be about 1am on Friday morning and I called it quits. However, about 5 mins on my way home I realized that if I didn't spray the primer now, that I wouldn't have enough time to get everything prepped to spray paint on Saturday. I turned around and finished up what needed to be done and got the car moved back to the booth. I was able to get two more solid coats of primer on the car and left there around 3:30am. Definitely the latest I have stayed up working on cars...











I didn't get any pictures, but I came back on Friday night for a few hours and blocked everything off with 400 grit in preparation for spraying it down on Friday. It turned out great, and I was very pleased with all of my prep work. Either that or I was extremely tired from the night before. Then I came back early Saturday morning, and today was the day it was getting some color. After the 400 grit from the night before, I opted to sand with some red scotch brite pads rather than wet sanding with 600. Just didn't want any extra moisture before the paint.

One last time in primer...





All taped up and ready for some red goodness.









Bye bye primer, and hello Torch Red! My buddy who paints for a living helped with this step. He laid down the first color coat, but I did the following two coats.







Then it was time for the clear coat. Wow, that makes a huge difference!











For just laying down the clear, that finish is beautiful. I can't wait to see what it will be like when we cut and buff!





I can't even describe how happy I am at this point. The paint turned out better than I had expected.

Cheers,
Ryan

[silo84]

congrats, that's a lot of work.

[ryeguy2006a]

I stopped back over on Sunday morning to peal off the tape, and my little helper tagged along. He was really excited to see my "red hot rod". Although I had to keep correcting him when he said rusty hot rod. haha. I'll just let the pictures do the talking.



We put the wheels back on and we were both really proud of how it turned out.











Then as we were leaving the sunshine came out and I couldn't resist getting it outside. I was taken back by that. It looks so much better than what the pictures show. I LOVE this color. It shows more of an orange tint outside than inside. Just what I wanted.











I am thrilled with the progress this weekend. Huge motivator for me. All of the other panels are very close to being primed as well. Only thing left on the body is to put a fresh coat on the dash. If anyone has any tips for what color gloss that the lower dash should be, please send me a PM or post here. I'm using SEM Trim Black on the upper dash and firewall. I've heard that is roughly 30% gloss.

Thanks,
Ryan

[FormTA]

Wow! Way to go! Looks killer. It's all that sanding and prep work that gets results like this. You would be proud.

[BuddyP]

I know the feeling once you get final paint on a car... such a big hurtle to be over! Looking good!!

[JayinMI]

She looks great, Ryan! For some reason, until you said you were going with Red, I always pictured this car the blue color on the front fender.
Might have missed it, but are you doing any stripes?

Jay

[ryeguy2006a]

Yes, I agree with you too about the blue. I had originally planned to paint it the factory Le Mans blue, but once I saw the Torch Red, I knew that's what I wanted to do. Yes, I plan to eventually add a vinyl nose stripe in white. Should look really good with the RS nose.

[ryeguy2006a]

Oh, and my buddy just sent me some action photos of me shooting the base coat! Glad he took those, as I didn't even see him doing it.

[csouth]

Very nice! Paint is a great motivator.....

[Bugzilla]

Awesome to see it red finally! The paint looks so smooth and glossy its like you dont even need to color sand it. Now hurry up and get the rest painted haha.

[xsboost90]

man that is looking great! The paint is very motivating even though by the time you finish spraying all the little pieces and prepping and taping etc. it wears you out. Then comes the anxiety of scratching something! All worth it though. Keep up the progress!

[Bennsb]

Outstanding! Nice work.

[timmytimm3]

Looks great! I can't wait to get to that point

[Wraith]

Congratulations on paint! It looks great!

[1stgenchop]

I remember reading Hot Rod years back where someone said if “it’s not painted it’s junk” so I guess mine will be junk for a while longer, Congratulations to you! It looks great, the hard work shows.