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    Results 1 to 20 of 61
    1. #1
      Join Date
      Mar 2017
      Location
      Houston, TX
      Posts
      52
      Country Flag: United States

      78 Camaro Type PT

      Hi all, I’m starting my first Pro-Touring build. The car is a 78 Camaro Type LT I built for my daughter about 15 years ago (Below). It’s been sitting and taking up space in my garage for the last 8+ years. Every time I tell my daughter I’m going to sell it she through a fit…lol. So if I can’t sell it I might as well build it! I started this build in April a week before I broke my ankle having to have surgery. It’s dangerous to be on short term disability with a working computer and a good credit card………20k later my house looks like a parts department!

      The build will include a 6.0L LQ9 with ported heads, big cam and a Holley throttle body Terminator. A roadrace compatible 700r4 for a trans feeding into a full floater 9” . Suspension is all SpeetTech with upgraded JRI shocks and an adjustable splined anti-sway bar. Inside will have upgraded seats a digital CF dash and vintage air.

      Scott

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    2. #2
      Join Date
      Mar 2017
      Location
      Houston, TX
      Posts
      52
      Country Flag: United States
      First thing I started on was the motor……from a wheelchair! The plan was to have the stock head done, add a cam, timing chain, oil pan, head bolts and rod bolts and bearings. Once I had the motor painted and ready to go back together I found a bad cam bearing. At that point the motor went to the machine shop. After cleaning I had the cam bearing replaced, crank polished and the cylinders brushed honed. Now main studs were added along with new bearings and rings including total seal gapless top ring and finally together.
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    3. #3
      Join Date
      Jul 2011
      Location
      Istanbul / Turkey
      Posts
      76
      Country Flag: Turkey
      Looks Cool
      Being handsome is only skin deep. But Badass goes to the bone.
      Mert Celet

    4. #4
      Join Date
      Oct 2016
      Posts
      556
      Nice car ! I love the paint job and your future build !

    5. #5
      Join Date
      Mar 2017
      Location
      Houston, TX
      Posts
      52
      Country Flag: United States
      All, I’ll do updates as time allows till I get caught up to current work.

      After I assembled the motor it was time to start on the car. But still in the wheelchair this looked to be an issue till I found a buddy, Roger, that needed a motor and trans for a project he was working on. So we worked out a deal, he would come over and help me get the 78 on my lift, pull the front sheet metal and nose and he left with the running 350/350 in the car. All I had to do was stay out of their way and watch them go! One thing I wanted to do was to back the 78 onto my lift so I could work on the firewall once the sub-frame was out. This also gave Roger more room to take out the drivetrain.

      The next weekend, after my Doc cleared me to transition into a boot and crutches, it was time to pull the sub-frame. I made a couple of temporary ramps off the front of the lift to roll the car onto. Once in position I blocked up the body and un-bolted the sub-frame. Then it was a simple matter of rolling it forward lifting the car rolling it back under for a big work area for deconstruction. I found out when my motor was dropped off the lift made a nice engine hoist but turns out it does a good job as a hydraulic press too! Used it to push down on the sub-frame so I could compress the springs for a-arm removal.
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    6. #6
      Join Date
      Mar 2017
      Location
      Houston, TX
      Posts
      52
      Country Flag: United States
      deleted repeat post

    7. #7
      Join Date
      Mar 2017
      Location
      Houston, TX
      Posts
      52
      Country Flag: United States
      After the sub-frame was dis-assembled it was time to wash of 39 years of grime. Turned out better than I thought using only some gunk and a small power washer.
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      With the sub-frame set up back in its spot I needed to locate the new motor & tranny mounts. I am using CPP fully adjustable motor mounts and big block frame stand offs. On the 78 the stand off is on the motor and the rubber mount is on the frame witch is opposite of my 70 Camaro. So I had to locate and drill new holes in the frame for the BB mounts. Based on some measurements of firewall location at the frame I was able to push the motor all the way back on the adjustable CPP mount. The tranny mount was moved back where the front mtg hole on the crossmember lined up to the back mtg hole in the frame. Just needed to drill two holes. I did notch the FL side of the crossmember as the oil pan on the 700R4 is offset that way. Just wanted to make sure I had clearance if I can push the motor back any more. I have a ½” front to back to play with where the engine and frame mount come together depending where I add the spacer they need.
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    8. #8
      Join Date
      Mar 2017
      Location
      Houston, TX
      Posts
      52
      Country Flag: United States
      Sorry it's been taking two+ days for my posts to show up, that why I've been making multiple post of the same thing........

    9. #9
      Join Date
      Mar 2017
      Location
      Houston, TX
      Posts
      52
      Country Flag: United States
      I don’t know why but my last post took over two days to show up? Guess I’ll stop making multiple post hoping one will show up and just wait.

      While I’ve been working on the sub-frame I had Timmy at GAP Racing weld the SpeedTech and caliper brackets to my full floating rear end. Because the SpeedTech suspension requires a pumpkin centered housing and the Speedway full floater comes as a pinion centered housing I also had one axle tube cut down to center the housing. I can’t have it coated till I get it in the car and line up the rear sway bar mounting pads that also needs to be welded to the axle. The other thing I have planned is to swap out the 5/8 studs for some ½-20 as I also plan to update the front.

      For brakes I upgraded the rotors to 12 x 1.1 form the 11 x .81 that comes stock with the rear, and I'm using a 4 piston Wilwood caliper.

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    10. #10
      Join Date
      Mar 2017
      Location
      Houston, TX
      Posts
      52
      Country Flag: United States
      Once the motor was back out of the way, it was time to mock up the front suspension. SpeedTech components are a work of art but the one think I wasn’t happy with was the non-adjustable front sway bar. After calling and talking to both Blake and Roger I sent back the bar and they sent me the main parts for an adjustable splined sway bar. Luckily my buddy and ace welder Randy had the correct size DOM tubing needed for the sway bar bushings. I got held up about a week waiting for my new 12:1 steering box from Pro-Touring F-Body.com, as it was on backorder. I also bought a new performance steering kit with a upgrade for bump steer correction outer rods from P-TF-B.

      Based on some pictures SpeedTech sent me of a Chevelle they added a splined sway bar to I was hoping to place the linkage on the back side of the steering arms like they did. Unfortunately we didn’t see a part forward for that. I had to balance the travel of the arms from bump stop to bump stop and steering clearance side to side and bump to bump. To do this and not have the mounting tube sit too low where the bars were at a bad angle at ride height and clear the steering box we had to make the lower control arm linkage mounting in front of the steering arms.

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      With the high spring rates I can run with this sway bar we needed to come up with a way distribute the load to the entire lower control arm and not just the front tube. Our solution was to mill a 1 ½” slot 1/2 way thru a piece of 1 ¼” tube to match the angle of the lower tubes. Plates were added on both sides to travel below the steering arms to interface with the sway bar linkage. First we tacked up the passenger side to check travel angles, and after some tweaking final mounting tube location was set and it was welded to the sub-frame. One last check was done after welding with both mocked up lower control arms and sway bar………I’m happy to say everything passed the motion tests. The sub-frame went off to powder and the control arms went to Randy’s welding shop to be fully burned in and braced.Name:  IMG_3259.jpg
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    11. #11
      Join Date
      Mar 2017
      Location
      Houston, TX
      Posts
      52
      Country Flag: United States
      I started looking at a way to take some weight off the front end. The 78 bumper is a massive piece hung way out front of the wheels. I wanted to replace the bumper with aluminum but it wasn’t time or cost effective at this point. I did the next best thing…..I made it a Sunday bumper…….you know Holy! Didn’t take long with the plasma cutter and I took maybe 20%+ off the weight including the mounting brackets.Name:  C8.1.jpg
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    12. #12
      Join Date
      Feb 2017
      Posts
      99
      Great idea with the front bumper. I'll have to do something similar with my '76 T/A build. Very similar structure.

    13. #13
      Join Date
      Mar 2017
      Location
      Houston, TX
      Posts
      52
      Country Flag: United States
      Well it’s been a while since I did an update. Haven’t been able to do a bunch as I’m storing a buddies Camaro, under my Camaro, after he got flooded out during Harvey. I have been able to update the studs on all four corners to ½-20 vs the 5/8” rear and 12mm front. Also machined the valley cover for a PCV and had an oil filler bung welded to my blank valve cover so the cover that had the filler port cast in becomes my PCV breather location.

      The latest item I’ve worked on is the front drive. After mocking it up I didn’t like the shape of the left side plate so I cut to taste and had both sides re-powder coated…….I think it looks better now.
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    14. #14
      Join Date
      Jul 2013
      Location
      Gilbert, AZ
      Posts
      934
      Country Flag: United States
      Nice! Looking forward to seeing this progress, I've really gotten to like the 78-81 Camaros.
      Josh Campbell- Pushing the limits of my HOA since 2011
      71 Firebird- 455, Ridetech front suspension. https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...04#post1124504
      67 Camaro RS/SS clone, Speedtech front suspension, coilovers, soon to get LT1/T56.
      82 Z28- cheapie beater, soon to get a 406.
      66 Mustang coupe- 393, T-5, sold. https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...-Coupe-GT393-C

    15. #15
      Join Date
      Nov 2006
      Location
      Ma.
      Posts
      5,567
      Country Flag: United States
      Looking good.
      Wayne
      Car FINALLY home !!!!!! lol
      Project FNQUIK https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...ghlight=FNQUIK

    16. #16
      Join Date
      Mar 2017
      Location
      Houston, TX
      Posts
      52
      Country Flag: United States
      After two months of storing my buddies 69 Camaro, under my car, while he found ans bought a new house after hurricane Harvey I finally got back to making progress.over the last couple of weeks I got the firewall welded, body worked and painted. Also had to fix some small rust hole in the floor pans by forming and welding in some patch panels. Wasn't pretty but this isn't a show car. Today I finished cleaning the floor pans and sprayed them with bed liner. Now it's time to assemble my sub-frame for the final time.....I hope!
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    17. #17
      Join Date
      Nov 2006
      Location
      Ma.
      Posts
      5,567
      Country Flag: United States
      Nice job on the firewall and underneath, They both look great.
      Wayne
      Car FINALLY home !!!!!! lol
      Project FNQUIK https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...ghlight=FNQUIK

    18. #18
      Join Date
      Mar 2017
      Location
      Houston, TX
      Posts
      52
      Country Flag: United States
      Had a buddy come by today and help me move the sub-frame from my rear porch to the garage. If it wasn't for a lack of 3/8 nylock nuts I would have both control arms and spindles installed. I'll hit the nut house tomorrow at lunch so I can secure the motor mounts.
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      If you look close you can see a DSE plate camber shim. This will make it easy to do a camber change at the track.
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    19. #19
      Join Date
      Nov 2006
      Location
      Ma.
      Posts
      5,567
      Country Flag: United States
      It came out great!
      Wayne
      Car FINALLY home !!!!!! lol
      Project FNQUIK https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...ghlight=FNQUIK

    20. #20
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Jacksonville, FL
      Posts
      1,651
      Country Flag: United States
      Great looking progress! What serpentine drive is that?
      Chris
      1968 Chevy Camaro SS
      LS3/T56 DSE suspension


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