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    1. #461
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      I made a small bit of progress buttoning up some little tasks. It was one of those nights where I found myself not staying focused on one task. I started by painting the inner cowl's with a Rustoleum product that is similar to POR, but is oil based. I like it more than POR15 because it is oil based, but the one drawback is it takes several days to fully cure. I just need to clean up the kick panels now and add some sealer puddy and then I can install the ebrake lever assembly.



      Next was cleaning up and reinstalling the Astro Vents. It took me a little while to get everything lined up, but I got them re-installed and they look good. I'm planning on making a purchase to National Parts Depot very soon and I think I'm just going to get some new vents. These are very faded and some of the "chrome" is lifting. Although I need to prioritize what I NEED verse what I WANT. The chrome vents would be a quick and easy upgrade down the road, so I may just pass on them.



      Next is my attempt at saving some bucks. I saw how many people just buy the BBC heater core and flip them in the heater box, then trim a hole in the outer heater box when doing the LS swaps go give a little more room. I got to looking at my heater core and it had both of the tube that had the solder broken but otherwise in good shape. I thought, well how hard would it be to just make my own tubes from copper and solder them in place of the stock ones. Then I could save $75 bucks rather than a new heater core. After a little measuring and a trip to the parts store, I decided to give it a try. I started with this.

      [/url]

      First tube in place. It's definitely promising.







      I used several pictures of the stock BBC heater cores as a reference of how to bend my tubes. Once the tubes were in place, I decided to solder the top tube in place and see how it fit. That way if I need to adjust I only had to move one, not both.



      Not a great picture of the solder, but here is that as well as the retaining clip that needed to be trimmed slightly.





      I made this little holder from cardboard on where I thought the tubes should be to hold the lower tube in place since it wasn't soldered.



      Then it was time for the first test fit. I honestly couldn't have been happier with the initial fitment. Nothing touches and it lined up perfectly. Very pleased with that. Keep in mind the lower isn't soldered yet, so it looks wonky.





      Here is both a picture of the soldered lower section and a pinhole from cracked solder that I found after filling it water.



      Here is my super high tech method for checking leaks.







      I was running out of time and didn't get a chance to finish, but I did have one tiny leak on the opposite side that I need to fix. I also bought some parts to build a pressure tester. I've been wanting to build one of these for a long time and what better excuse. Basically some fittings from the hardware store and an old Round-Up sprayer. It builds pressure to 10 psi, but I have a leak somewhere and didn't get a chance to fix that either. I think I need a check valve in the round up container. I think that's where it's leaking. Originally I picked up that old sprayer to use as a cheap version of the "Mighty Vac" for bleeding brakes. But I've adapted it for just building pressure.





      Not a car post, but I thought this was pretty cool. Don't shame me, but I was getting a burger recently at McDonald's and when I was looking at my receipt I noticed that my number in line was 1320. For anyone that doesn't know, that is how many feet in a quarter mile. I guess the car gods are telling me that I need some drag slicks! At least maybe that's how I'll explain it to my wife.



      Cheers for now,
      Ryan


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    2. #462
      Join Date
      Jul 2016
      Posts
      341
      Country Flag: United States
      You ain't kidding Penny Pitcher !! A new heater core on Rock Auto is 29.99.

    3. #463
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Well for what it's worth, the SB heater cores are $30 bucks, but the BBC heater cores are $65-75. It only cost me about $4 bucks for the copper pipe and it gave me an opportunity to refine my soldering skills.


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    4. #464
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Been working on the car on and off while I've been on holiday break from work. I've been mostly taking care of some small things here and there. I finished up the conversion from SB to BBC heater core, and confirmed overnight that it held pressure. I know it's not a big deal, but I think it's pretty cool.





      Then I confirmed that everything fit. I had also tried to make my own surround for the heater hoses, but decided to just buy the ones that they had on eBay. They came with the blockoff and the bezel and seal. Should be here soon and then I can install the heater box for good.







      I've also been working on a way to adapt stock 68 Camaro ebrake cables to work with my LS1 rear brakes. I came up with this little bracket and I think that it will work out great. I ordered a replacement front eBrake cable so I can test it out. I made it out of aluminum first since it was really easy to bend, then made one out of steel for the final copy.





      Worked on cleaning up and installing the kick panels. I pulled out the cable and lubed it all up so it works just like new. I also did some research on what to use to replace the puddy that was behind the kick panels and found some stuff in the electrical section of the Home Depot. It's made by Gardner Bender called duct seal. It's the same color, consistency and sealed up great.





      After I installed the kick panel, I also threw in the eBrake assembly that I cleaned up a while ago.



      This is another project I've been working on for a while. Most of the connections in the older GM cars use a Packard 56 terminals and I've been searching for a cheaper alternative to the crimpers that are out there now. I searched around eBay and found a cheap crimper that does open barrel terminals and looked like it would work. This is what I started with, but when I crimped the male terminals it would distort, so I had to modify the jaw slightly.







      And here are the crimps after it modified the jaw. It works perfectly now and only cost me $15 bucks.





      There were a few non-Camaro things that have been keeping me busy as well. My truck is really starting to show it's age, but really runs and drives great, so it's tough not to just fix what's wrong with it. About two weeks ago, it was down for a few days because the power steering cooler blew a hole in the line. Then when I went to change the oil a few days ago, the rear diff cover rusted through and was leaking... Luckily both were cheap fixes, but a PITA.



      My father-in-law has been getting really into slot cars recently and has a really nice 1/24 Carrera set in his basement and it's been getting more and more competitive with the family. The brother-in-laws have gotten cars and it's just gotten "worse" since then. Until now, we have all just been running our cars stock, but I decided to take it to the next level with an aftermarket motor. The stock motor is roughly a 13k rpm engine and I've replaced it with an RMS 30K rpm unit.





      I decided to get a new motor because my car was maxed out in stock form. Once I got it installed we kept having to turn down my speed because it was so fast. Before we had our cars turned up to 100% speed, and mine was quite a bit slower. Now with mine at 40% it was way faster than all the other cars. With my car at 20% speed it keeps up with them all and it's much more fun to compete.

      I made several purchases recently, with one rather large one to National Parts Depot. Everything should be in by Friday this week, so I should have several more updates after that.

      Cheers,
      Ryan


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    5. #465
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      I also picked up a mystery cam recently that the seller didn't know what the specs were. I picked it up for next to nothing thinking that the specs were probably too much for what I want given that he referred to it as aggressive. After a little searching I found out that it was a Lunati cam and the part number stamped on the cam was at some point revised. I cross referenced Lunati's site and found the specs to be nearly what I was looking for, and to boot it has a lower lift number which means it will work with my Z06 valve springs. Now I'm debating on whether or not I want to go through swapping cams right now...

      The cam has a different wear pattern than I've seen before, but nothing catches my finger nail so it should be fine.





      Stamping on Cam.



      I copied this from Lunati's website:

      Product Description
      Hydraulic Roller Cam.Good high performance cam with lots of mid range torque and top end HP. Fair idle.

      Advertised Duration (Int/Exh): 282/287
      Duration @ .050 (Int/Exh): 218/221
      Gross Valve Lift (Int/Exh): .526/.534
      LSA/ICL: 116/112
      Valve Lash (Int/Exh): Hyd/Hyd
      RPM Range: 2000-5000
      Includes: Cam Only

      Part Number: 20540503
      Previous Part Number: 55003LUN


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    6. #466
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      I got the box a little later than I had hoped, but my package from National Parts Depot arrived with all of my goodies. I love unboxing a large purchase like this. Now that I have these parts, the last really bigger ticket items are the weather seals and seat covers.

      Black one-piece carpet



      Gasket kit for emblems, tail lights, and etc.



      Gasket and seal kit for the BBC heater core conversion.



      Pedal covers, marker light bezels and other misc. items.



      New rear package tray.



      New shift boot and retaining ring.



      Lastly, is a new pair of chrome quarter window trim.



      Along with the NPD purchase I also bought some FatMat sound deadner and a new front parking brake cable.





      After I unboxed the parts I couldn't help it, so I grabbed one of the marker light bezels and gasket and put it in the fender. Looks SO much better than the bubbling and pealing marker lights I had.



      I had a little time this weekend and finished up the stock heater box install. It went really smoothly and before I could get it installed for good, I wanted to get some of the FatMat put on to help with sound and heat. This stuff goes on really cleanly and is fun to do. I contours really nicely to all of the panels.



      Then I got a roll of 1/4" adhesive foam and stuck it to the box to seal it up. I think that it will work great to seal up the box from the inside.



      Everything installed just like it should stock. Nice thing about using the stock harness.





      Then once it was installed for good, I popped on the heater trim and seal. Everything fits great, very happy I decided to swap to the BBC heater core. It will look very clean with the two hoses running across the inner fender. I'll probably try and re-drill the lower hole so that it matches up and centers the lower tube better.







      Then I cleaned up and reinstalled the heater controls and bezel. It's really starting to come together and look more complete. Anyone have any tips on how to remove the front of the controls without breaking the tabs off? I tried, but both of the pot metal tabs I tried broke off... I'd like to clean inside and possibly repaint the outer bezel, but I don't want to break it any further.



      All my updates for now. I can't wait to get the rest of the FatMat installed so I can lay out my carpet! That is always a big milestone in a project.

      Cheers,
      Ryan


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    7. #467
      Join Date
      Oct 2008
      Location
      Toronto, Canada
      Posts
      111
      I don't know if this will help with the parking brake setup but its in my file from TC and I'm gonna use it:
      "An e-brake cable that can be used is, Dorman C661107, it is 2005 Ford F-150 LH cable, housing 22.8 inches long,OAL length 33.5 inches. It can be used as is,no mods needed,except cutting a few coils from the return spring. "
      Simon

    8. #468
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Thanks for the tip Simon! The eBrakes are shortly going to become my priority. I want to get the FatMat down and carpet out and stretching before I start the ebrakes.


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    9. #469
      Join Date
      Nov 2010
      Location
      Ventura County CA
      Posts
      556
      Country Flag: United States
      Lots of progress since I last checked in! The details are really starting to come together. Try to get/keep it in a driveable state ASAP so you can enjoy good weather days as soon as they come!
      Clint - '70 Nova "restomod" cruiser & autocross family car

    10. #470
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Thanks Clint, I was starting to wonder if anyone was still reading this. I'm getting very anxious for spring to get this car out and stretching it's legs. Just a few other finishing details and it'll be ready. A few weeks ago my father-in-law stopped over and helped me adjust my hood. I have been struggling with it because it just wouldn't quite fit right. I came to the conclusion that the core support wasn't square and it needed to be moved only about a 1/8". We ended up getting it moved over and bam, it fits so much better! All the gaps are spot on and right like they were before paint. What a relief.







      Other than adjusting the hood, I haven't been doing much on the Camaro. I've been distracted because I was in the process of getting my new truck! Most people that I tell about my truck they say, "Why did you get an older truck?", or "Aren't they worse on gas?" Well what I wanted was something different than what I currently had, which was a 03' Silverado Extended Cab, but I wanted something as reliable and easy to work on. After looking around at my options I came across truck I didn't even know existed, which was the 90's Silverado/Sierra's with a Crew Cab and a Short Box. They weren't very common at all even back then. Well that was it, and I had my sights set on finding one. But this time around I wanted a truck that wasn't from the Rust Belt. Then when I got it home I wanted to swap in an LS motor behind a 4L80e and make a nearly bulletproof rust free truck that I can keep for a long time. Well after about a year of looking I finally found a clean southern truck in the combination that I wanted! And to boot it was loaded with leather, many Denali upgrades, upgraded radio with Nav, and already had an LS motor swapped in! Not only was it an LS motor, it is a low mileage 60k mile LQ9 from a VortecMax truck!

      I am so happy to have found the truck I'd been searching for and not only that it was exactly how I would have built the truck. I'm super impressed with how cleanly this truck was build too! It looks bone stock under the hood!







      And check out how clean it is on the underside!



      Here we are on the NY boarder on the way home. I thought this was a pretty cool shot. He ended up throwing in a bunch of extra parts, that I grabbed and will resell here in NY. Rust free box, Full Floater rear axle, front axle, wheels and tires, and the front spindles from an 02 2500HD.



      Here it is safely at home and right before we got about 14" of snow the day we got back!



      I still need to dig further into how exactly he did the swap, but for those wondering about the mounts it uses ICT set back plates. He said that everything just bolted right up to the stock trans and used the stock LQ9 flywheel. Just fit together like it was meant to. He had a custom tune done by someone at LT1swap.com, and it shows up as a 2002 Silverado 2500HD when I plugged in HP Tuners. He used the stock manifolds with about 12" of the stock Y-pipe off each manifold and blended it with the stock exhaust. Very professional looking.



      So the first impressions for the truck are that it rides just slightly rougher than my 03 1500 which is welcome news as I was expecting much worse. The truck is very comfortable to drive and it really does get out of it's own way with the LQ9. Just have to keep my foot out of it to get decent mileage. Things that I don't like are the brakes, I'll get more on that later, but they need an improvement. Second was the loud exhaust. It has some kind of loud flowmaster muffler, that I'm going to swap out for a much quieter muffler. It will be my DD, so I can't live with that drone.

      The brakes are currently stock with 11" single piston front brakes and the larger rear drums. The pedal is very stiff and does take a lot of effort to bring it to a stop. From what I understand that is normal with the GMT400 88-98 trucks, but something I want to change. The guy also included some GMT800 01-07 2500HD spindles (knuckles) with the truck which after reaming the ball joints out are a bolt on for my truck. That will update the truck in several ways, one is bigger 12" or 13" dual piston brakes, but two is that it will make servicing much easier. The GMT800 trucks have a bolt on hub/bearing assembly where as the 400 trucks have a spindle with hub/disk setup. So that is going to be on my list for the spring. I'm also working on a way to swap the rear to disk brakes.



      There is also new balljoints upper and lower, tie rods, sway bar bushings, and a bunch of other new parts to completely rebuild the front end. He bought one brand new hub and the other hub is in good shape with no play. So really just need rotors, calipers, pads and hoses. Should be a fairly easy swap and will give a much needed increase in braking performance.





      I'm stoked to have this truck and I can't wait to get some miles on it and do a few upgrades along the way.

      Cheers,
      Ryan


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    11. #471
      Join Date
      Aug 2008
      Posts
      42
      I'm sure there are a few of us that are absolutely still following. Keep up the good work, and Nice Truck BTW....

    12. #472
      Join Date
      Jul 2012
      Location
      Traverse City, MI
      Posts
      574
      Country Flag: United States
      One of my favorite threads! Penny pinching is something I do best.
      Project thread - https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...ouring-Project
      IG - @tc_chevelle


    13. #473
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      NJ
      Posts
      1,293
      Country Flag: United States
      What size brake booster are you running? Seems to leave plenty of clearance for the coils on the valve cover. Nice work! Really enjoy your build thread!

    14. #474
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Glad that people are still interested in what I'm doing, haha.

      I'm running the 8" booster from Right Stuff. Definitely has clearance around everything. It works well with the C6 brakes too.


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    15. #475
      Join Date
      Mar 2010
      Location
      Rochester NY
      Posts
      403
      Keep on plugging along Ryan - it’s coming along nicely. Even when you finish you won’t be done - lol

      Don
      Grace - 67 Camaro daily driver with upgrades along the way.

      https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...-Camaro-Driver


    16. #476
      Join Date
      Nov 2010
      Location
      Ventura County CA
      Posts
      556
      Country Flag: United States
      The new truck is AWESOME. Crew cabs were VERY rare back then. That must have been a tough one to find and what luck to find a truck that's also already swapped.

      I don't check into PT very often but I always look forward to seeing how things are going on your project. I remember what it was like to have a baby/toddler and also balancing car projects - not easy! Keep up the great work.
      Clint - '70 Nova "restomod" cruiser & autocross family car

    17. #477
      Join Date
      Nov 2006
      Location
      Ma.
      Posts
      5,567
      Country Flag: United States
      You've got a lot of work done pretty quick. The car looks great. Nice find on the truck it looks in beautiful shape. I'd love to put an LS in my 99 Tahoe. Nice find.
      Wayne
      Car FINALLY home !!!!!! lol
      Project FNQUIK https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...ghlight=FNQUIK

    18. #478
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Thanks for the compliments. I've been looking on and off for over a year to find that exact truck combination. It literally checked all of my boxes and even some that I didn't think it would check. I wanted to have a rust free 2500 and was hoping to find one with leather. This one ended up having an LQ9 6.0 swapped in and low mileage to boot. I love driving this truck, it really is exactly what I wanted.

      I snapped a few photos this weekend after I got it all washed up.





      I love this one!!



      I bartered with a buddy who is a contractor to put in a wall to close off a room in the upstairs of our Cape Cod to make more room for the little one due in July. So I'll be working on that for the next month or so with any of my spare time. Good news is that I'm really close to putting the wraps on my Camaro. Lots of little things left to do, but overall just need to fix the ebrakes, dye some interior pieces, a few wiring bits to finish and it should be good to go. The rest I can fix as I drive it.

      Cheers,
      Ryan


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    19. #479
      Join Date
      May 2015
      Location
      Island Lake, IL
      Posts
      815
      Country Flag: United States
      Man, that thing is the best-of-the-best on OBS+NBS

    20. #480
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Well after a long hiatus from the car, I'm almost ready to start back on it to get it ready for the spring cruising season that is rapidly approaching. As I mentioned earlier in my thread since we are expecting another kiddo, which meant we needed to find another room to put my older son since the younger one will take his room. That meant that we needed to add a wall in the upstairs of our house. The 2nd floor of our Cape Cod is finished, but it was basically a 2nd living room with no walls. The cheapest option was to build a wall and finish an area for a new bedroom.

      Since I live and breath LS motors, I had to find a way to infuse them into this project. You may ask yourself, "Ryan, who in their right mind is going to put an LS motor in the room?" My reply isn't where, but how. I have a contractor buddy who was looking for a motor for his Jeep YJ project and I have the old 5.3 that came out of my Camaro when I first built it, and we ended up wheeling and dealing for the motor. He framed a wall, hung the drywall, and pre-wired it for me and he knocked off $500 bucks from the bill for the motor. Win!

      I'll just post a few pictures of my progression. Keep in mind I've never done any drywall mudding in my life. Just Youtube and asking questions of others.

      Day One 1/31/19





      Here's where I pick up over the next several months.





      Few weeks later and lots of sanding...





      I had to test prime an area to see if I was even in the ballpark of being straight. Turns out I did a decent job of tricking the eye as it came out looking straight!





      All primed up!





      Paint and a door. Looking like a room now.





      I'll post the bad with the good. I originally thought I would have a door that opened to the right, but once the wall was up it made much more sense to open to the left. Well that makes the light switch placement tricky... To avoid having to keep this box there to be within code, I opted to pull new wire and re-route the box to the correct side of the door. Here's my creative solution.



      The other part I didn't like was the original owner wrapped these structural posts in an almost nautical rope as the trim. In theory good idea, but in practice didn't go with the theme of our house which isn't nautical. Here's the flooring fitment before:



      After I hand routed the post for a seamless fit. I was very happy with this, although it was very tedious with a hack saw and flat head screwdriver. I didn't have the "right" tools, but made due. Now, it looks like the post is just floating on top of the flooring.



      Finally finished the flooring. I went back and forth on this one becuase come to find out the laminate that is up in this room was discontinued in 2008, so after searching the country on CL, calling flooring wholesalers, calling reclaimed flooring distributors, eBay, and etc. I settled that I would have to just get something close and call it a day. Well come to find out our Shaw flooring was an almost dead ringer for the color and "VersaLock" for the Lowe's house brand Project Source! I was over the moon because not only did the color match almost perfectly, they even clicked right together!! Lucked out there big time.





      I didn't get many pictures inside of his room as I was going because they were fairly redundant, but here is a few after primer and basically in chronological order. While I had everything out, my wife also decided that we should paint some of the pine the khaki trim color and as much as I disagreed, it really does look good. Just a PITA to scuff sand, prime, mask then paint.





      Finally made it to the finish-line this week. I'm very happy with the results for never really doing anything of this magnitude myself before.





      Sorry the picture wasn't straight. Took it over my head with my phone in the corner. My son was thrilled and was running around in his new room! We bought him some bunk beds so that if/when he has a friend over they have a place to sleep too. They come apart and will make two twin beds, so that will be an easy thing to do when that time comes.





      I still need to go back and fill in the nail holes on the trim, put on the threshold and hang a new light fixture, but then I'm calling it done! As for the car updates, I've been collecting some parts since the end of January so I'll hopefully have something to update once I clean all of the sawdust out of my garage.

      Cheers,
      Ryan


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

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