BACK ON TRACK -- Project Track Rat for Camaro Performers Magazine

[Steve1968LS2]

Finally time to start on the new project car named Project Track Rat. The goal is to build a fun street/track car on a reasonable budget.

Some suggested a budget of $20k... no way. I used my Fairlane as a benchmark.. it's a nice car that is fun and pretty fast. It's certainly no "show car" and there's $36k in that car. That's with stock steering.

So my budget for this car will be $40k.. in the grand scheme of things that's on the lower end of the typical PT budget for a car like a Camaro. I might go over, but I will try not to. I want the car to be nice and have a cool look so some things will be high-end (like the wheels and CF). Some items will be lower buck (like the interior and satin paint). By balancing out the nice and the cheap I hope to hit my target.

The paint will be a satin "steel blue" color. I went this route to save money since I don't need a bunch of clear and I don't need a bunch of expensive color sanding and rubbing. The stripes will be left CF from the Anvil Auto parts but will be flat cleared. The wheels will be Forgelines. Hey, the wheels make the car!

The irony is that even though this is called Track Rat it will actually be more civilized than Penny. There will be heat, air, wipers, and even a basic audio system. The suspension is still in flux but I want to avoid mini-tubs the first time around. Would be cool to have 275/265 tires in the front and 285/295 tires in the rear. More balanced.

Engine will be some sort of budget LS varient.. 5.3 or LS1 salvage deal. Don't need a ton of power.

Anyways here's a preview of the project that will be detailed in Camaro Performers. By the way, you can now subscribe to that magazine at www.camaroperformers.com -- the site just went live and is a bit of a mess but the subscription part works. Our next issue is titled "Pro-Touring Rages On!!"

Here's the concept art by Ben Hermance... notice the "tatoo"


Here's what it looked like when I bought it for $5900. The floors were great and not rust. Came with a huge about of extra parts and trim, some new.


The seller said the car had a late 350.. turned out to be a cruddy 305. Either way it just needed to be gone.


No rust on the car but it was hit a LONG time ago and some idiot put on a quarter badly. Where I'm pointing is about half and inch low (they put the quarter on too low) and they just filled it with mud. Looks like the car will need one new quarter panel. The other panels are all good.


Instead of doing it right this is where they seemed the bad quarter. It was most likely an insurance deal.


The car also suffered from wierd "modifications" like this hole cut by a torch and I love the holes in the firewall. Someone also cut chunks out for the inner front fender wells. BRILLIANT!!

[Steve1968LS2]

Loads of supplies from 3M including thier new HOOK-IT stuff that uses velcro instead of glue. People wonder why paint jobs are so expensive, it's the freaking materials. We're going to track every single item needed to prep and paint this car... EVERY disc.


Chris and D!ck from Best Of Show Coach Works ( www.bestofshowcoachworks.com ) perform the ceremonial removal of the first panel. And with that we're off to the races.

[mach1stang]

I will be watching this for sure!!

[trapin]

Looks like fun, Steve. My kinda car.

[Steve1968LS2]

Looks like fun, Steve. My kinda car.

I have Penny as the super pretty car.. I want this one to be one I don't have to worry about in the least. The engine bay will be satin black and the car will have zero chrome. ZERO... lol

This doesn't mean I wont beat the crud out of Penny though..

[SatisTraction]

cant wait to see this build. your idea of budget is a bit more then mine

[Larry Callahan]

Very cool! I can't wait to see it's progress and yes, the subscription link works. I just subscribed.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

yea i wanna see this one.. ill keep a front row seat.

[Steve1968LS2]

cant wait to see this build. your idea of budget is a bit more then mine

lol.. more than some.. less than others.

Think of my example of the Fairlane. Most PT builds have well over $40k in them when done. Hell, one quarter of my budget is just buying the car and slapping on some paint.

This idea of cars built, using new parts, for $10k or even $20k is a fantasy. At least if you want to build anything really interesting. And compared to Penny this is pretty much a Wal-Mart build. lol

[dropit69]

Steve awesome concept and gonna be a cool color..and love the rat graphic..can't wait to see it come together..

[MrQuick]

Good stuff Steve. I might keep an eye on this build. Lots of pictures too please.

BTW....dealer installed AC unit. I had a 68 go that way too.

The car also suffered from wierd "modifications" like this hole cut by a torch and I love the holes in the firewall. Someone also cut chunks out for the inner front fender wells. BRILLIANT!!

[1968CamaroSS_Sam]

I am definately interested in this build. As for the budget. It is very reachable if you shop wisely.

[Steve1968LS2]

Good stuff Steve. I might keep an eye on this build. Lots of picrtures too.

BTW....dealer installed AC unit. I had a 68 go that way too.

We were thinking AC.. damn, couldn't they have cut the hole nicer at the dealer? lol

[Chad-1stGen]

Yup A/C is the reason for that torched looking cowl. Mine was the exact same.

Awesome project. I'm looking forward to following it.

EDIT: I don't think it's dealer A/C either. My car was a factory A/C car and had that cut. Pretty sure that is how the factory did it for whatever dumb reason.

[trapin]

I have that cutout on my car too although it is a lot cleaner as this was a factory A/C car. I never thought to close it up or even mention it to my painter until the car was done with the cowl panel on in my garage. I'm at the point now where I'm too damn lazy to do anything about it and will probably just fab up a block off plate to screw over it. I just don't feel like breaking out the welder and sanding blocks, putty, primer, paint. To hell with that.

Street car, baby. Street car.

[Chevrolaine]

Cool sounding project, love the paint scheme! Is all the 3M stuff part of the budget or is that kinda stuff donated?

[MrQuick]

Yup A/C is the reason for that torched looking cowl. Mine was the exact same.

Awesome project. I'm looking forward to following it.

EDIT: I don't think it's dealer A/C either. My car was a factory A/C car and had that cut. Pretty sure that is how the factory did it for whatever dumb reason.

Factory usually used sheers. I've seen some dealer jobs where a series of 1/8" holes where drilled then cut out with a set of angle cutters. You never know what happened back then. Scab work during strike season.

[formula]

sweet idea...but can we ditch the g/s stripe? Everything else about it is awesome, for sure.

[Steve1968LS2]

Cool sounding project, love the paint scheme! Is all the 3M stuff part of the budget or is that kinda stuff donated?

It was donated but I will count whatever used as part of the "budget"

[Steve1968LS2]

sweet idea...but can we ditch the g/s stripe? Everything else about it is awesome, for sure.

No, I like the GS stripe.. sorta different yet familiar