Results 1 to 20 of 173
-
01-07-2022 #1Registered User
- Join Date
- Jan 2020
- Posts
- 137
MTBSully's First Restomod: 1969 Camaro LS Build
1st Real post here. I'm active on corvette forum, ls1tech, SVTperformance and others, but this is my first classic car so here we are. I've got a twin turbo C6 Z06, that build is over on corvette forum as well as my youtube channel if anyone wants to check that out.
Anyways, I always wanted to do a 1969 LS swapped camaro. I started poking around this summer and found a great deal locally on a 1969 Coupe with a big block and a 4 speed. It was a driver quality car, but the paint and body had a lot of flaws and some band aids that I didnt want to deal with long term.
Overall it drove great, looked decent and did what it was supposed to do. So I decided to cruise it for the summer, have fun with it, but not dump a ton of money into it. I blacked out the front end and bumpers, added the chin spoiler, new headlights, LEDs all around, tinted windows, 2 stage paint correction as well as some 17" race stars I picked up locally. I loved how the car turned out for very little money invested.
As fall moved in I decided to list the car and it sold relatively quickly. I made a decent profit, but much like the housing market, I was now back in a pool of buyers driving up the price of 1st gen camaros. It took a few months, but I picked up my replacement last week.
Its fresh restoration with around 800 miles on it. Shaved drip rails, molded front spoiler, bumpers, rear spoiler, and tail lights, shaved antenna hole, shaved marker light holes, fresh metallic gray paint, etc. Full TMI interior including seats, door panels, dash pad, dakota digital gauges, custom center consol with kenwood double din radio and speakers, all 4 power windows, fully finished trunk with custom panels, new headliner etc.
Also has a whole bunch of spension goodies including wilwood 4 pistons on all 4 corners, power brakes with wilwood master, ridetech 4 link in rear, ridetech upper and lower A arms up front with coilovers, swaybar etc. Custom exhaust with electric cutouts, vintage air.
Previous owner spent a lot of money on the car except in 1 area. The motor and transmission. It has what I beleive to be a 307 and TH350 with saddle grip shifter. It has an aluminum edelbrock intake, mild cam and holley carb and some other engine dress up items, but its nothing special. This is all fine with me since im wanting to do an LS swap anyways. Im not crazy about a few of the body items, specifically the front molded spoiler and molded tail lights. Mainly because I worry about cracking and it also prevents you from ever being able to replace or change those parts, but for what I paid for the car it was easy to overlook.
So, my plan is a LS swap and 6 speed transmission. For now my throught is to find a wrecked 2010-2015 Camaro SS and yank the ls3 and tr6060 out of that and sell any other good parts to recoup some cost. The car still has what I beleive is a 8.5 10 bolt, so I am also considering a 9" and mini tubs. I am looking for suggestions, pointers and opinions from those who have been down this road before. Looking for suggestions on brands for motor and tranny mounts, and any other components I might need. I know some of the common trip up areas are:
- driveshaft for tr6060
- tunnel clearancing for tr6060 or t56
- What accessory drive are people running? C6 corvette? GTO?
- Im hoping to do a low mount AC compressor, so I plan to notch the crossmember as well.
I plan to use holley terminator X for the ECU. The LS3 or whatever LS motor I get will be getting a cam, longtubes and maybe a few other goodies for now.
On another note, what is a recently refreshed 307 with some goodies and TH350 worth? SBC casting number says the block is a 68 307 with 2 bolt mains. Wondering what to list those for when the time comes. Car runs and drives perfectly.
I also plan to fully document the build on my youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuF...4Q8TjFsGDUEP3A
Looking forward to any suggestions on parts, and suppliers where I can find the best deals! Thanks!
-
01-10-2022 #2Registered User- Join Date
- Jan 2020
- Posts
- 137
First parts i need to order are subframe connectors and engine and tranny mounts. Any suggestions? I know CX racing and holley make parts, any others I should be looking at? Appreciate the help!
01-12-2022 #3Registered User- Join Date
- Jan 2020
- Posts
- 137
Ole 307 is out. Only took about 2 hours. Not bad for a chassis i'm not really familiar with.
Going to take this time im searching for a motor to clean up the engine bay and get ready for an LS motor. I beleive this module on the right is my wiper motor and washer fluid sprayer. Whats weird is that some of these wires went to the distributor/carb. Can i get rid of these? Anyone had a good source for 1969 camaro wiring diagram?
01-14-2022 #4Registered User- Join Date
- Jan 2020
- Posts
- 137
First project video is up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qimnrKJ9nvM&t=233s
Anyone have recommendations for subframe connectors that are compatible with a ridetech 4 link?
01-14-2022 #5