1969 Camaro - Excuse for a rebuild (need a catchy project name still)

[seanj]

I know what you're thinking... another 69 Camaro build. Well it is ... but at least I have a cool back-story.

I've been lurking around this forum for a while now and the builds and information on here have already been invaluable to me for my build ideas and planning.

I bought the car about 5 years ago now off the person who imported it into Australia. Info I had on the car was that it came in from Maryland (or at least had a lot of work done at shops in Maryland).

It was a little rough around the edges, a couple of rust spots in the door and roof and a cheap paint job, but it had solid bones. More importantly it had stupid amounts of HP/Torque and it was pretty badass. It was setup as a street/strip car with a 540 BBC Shaffiroff crate motor, a turbo 400, subframe connectors and some serious 70s rake.

Initially it was all about making the car streetable. It was pig rich and used to foul plugs and burn plug wires all the time. By then end, the car was really something I could drive every day. I took it grocery shopping, took the kid to school and drove it to work. It was pretty fast too down the strip, it ran an 11.01 at the 1/4 mile driving 50 miles each way.

Then i got involved in the autocross/pro touring group we have over here in Western Australia (Apocalaps) and the bug bit... hard. My first time there is was 15' ralleys and BFG TAs and it was more than a handful. I did some handling/braking upgrades on the car straight after that first day.


Strange S60 Rear end and 4 wheel disc brakes w/ hydraboost


Tubular control arms and coilovers, DSE steering box. QA1 adjustables on the rear


Holley Multi-point EFI (Huge step towards this made it almost like a modern car. Would start and run without any fuss)


Aeromotive Stealth EFI tank (which didn't work! would starve for fuel while cornering at anything less than 3/4 tank)

In-trunk surge tank setup to alleviate the fuel starving (eliminated starvation, but cost $500 in AN fittings and hose alone!)


Some 17' rims and Toyo R888 tyres to gain some grip on the autocross & track



Picture from my 3rd event




The Fun Ends
I took the car to it's last autocross/circuit day at Perth's racetrack in September 2016 with the Apocalaps gang. It was my first time on a full track and it was fantastic fun, until about an hour before we were about to finish and I lost the rear end of the car on a relatively slow and mundane section (still don't know how/why this happened ) and ended up in the wall. The positive is that I caught it on camera and my wife made it into a funny video



on the upside, I got 2nd in the classic class and received the Jester Award for most entertaining driver of the day

The damage

• All the front sheetmetal/bumpers/trim in front of the firewall was cactus
• Front subframe has a substantial bend, even the subframe connector was bent
• Bent steering wheel from my head

I ended up with mild concussion and mild whiplash. I was wearing a 5 point harness which did a much better job than the original seatbelts would have. I had some good 3 inch wide, strap shaped bruises on my shoulders which reinforce that fact.

The Plan (currently)
Given that their was a fair bit of rust in the rear sections of the car, I didn't see much point in replacing the front sections with shiny new panels and paint and leaving rust holes in the rear roof/wheel tubs. So this is now a full, ground-up build.

12 months later and progress has been much slower than I'd hoped, but progress is being made. It's a bare shell now and is going to the blaster in 2 days to get stripped and show all it's dirty secrets.


I've found some amazingly terrible rust repairs during the strip. It boggles at who would spend $12,000 on an engine and yet repair the outer wheel well/rocker with silicon!

Hi level plan:

• Strip and repair rusted sheetmetal
• If the rear rails are rusted through, I'll probably install a full chassis, otherwise Aftermarket front subframe and bolt in rear 4 link
  
• Retain the Dana60 rear if I can
  
• Roll Cage!
  
• retain bbc (freshen), EFI and install a 4L80e (i'm lazy and I like to eat & drink while I drive)
  
• Vintage Air
  
• Keeping the vinyl roof!
  
• Inexpensive paint job as I don't want to be too afraid to drive this thing

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Happy to take any suggestions for a project name, puns are allowable (Hard Hitter and Wallbanger have already been suggested)