camaro nose el camino update

[srh3trinity]

Maybe you could find some take off vette wheels at some point in time. I cant imagine how many hours you have invested. I like the fab and creativity.

[Trans]

Guess I walked into some of those comments.I do live in redneck country being so close to Georgia. Some people around here don,t know when to apply brakes, so I ain't gettin no rollpan, will be doing a different bumper later though. As anyone who bothers to read may have noticed, I will be getting rid of the silver when new ground effects are made & might just plasti dip the wheels black till I can afford others.
Knew I shouda stuck to pics of most recent mods. Payback is hell getting picked on by someone with flowers under their hood.
All in good fun.

Its all in good fun JL,people here have gotten used to nothing else but good compliments they forget how to accept constructive criticism,if you dont want to hear it why post a build you know?

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

but something real nice could come out of this.. the front was a good start then the rest will follow.

[jlcustomz]

You got it. One thing different with my ride than many other older models is that it never was a total ground up build & where many have rust, dents, primer,etc, I have silver stripes, cragar wheels,past hobbies etc.The new stuff puts the old stuff out of style. The worst part right now is once again most of what I got saved up for it got spent on the house($6500 ac system). I can fabricate metal & fiberglass on a low budget like no one else, but that doesn't buy things like suitable wheels & airride.
Today was looking more into making custom lower body to resemble new camaro's & be painted BLACK. How's that sound?
Was the handmade forward mounted bugcatcher scoop a good idea or is it bad too?
All in good fun...

[Yonco]

Looks awesome! No one else has anything like it and that's what draws the crowd! -Jon

[Trans]

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

there ya go!

[jlcustomz]

Thanks for the pic, saved to my computer.I,m SICK of that silver honestly, Almost payed maaco to black it out before a recent show till I make my lower changes. I will also later be removing the doorhandles & making flushmount ones at the top of the door. Also filling gas door & molding in bed trim. Possibly filling in quarter windows also when I shave driprails .
I've toyed with the idea of camaro taillights for a while now, down low they look alot like the 73-77' el camino's. However I insist on having rear protection of a steel bumper. Never was really happy with my half Nova bumper though. The custom tailgate probably would sell easy enough & pay for a flush skin for another one.
However the aluminum cover, which others have said looks better in person , has that extra height to carry stuff (dry & locked up) when needed. This is my only personal work truck. I do want to adjust the profile of the kick up on the very rear of the cover to make it look a little better.

There is one thing NOW I need a little opinion deciding on.Getting rid of the bolt on ground effects & making the lower body wider to blend with front. I know for sure I want the lowest portion of the body to have the profile of the new camaros without ground effects. The part I need to decide is do I want to go through all the trouble to get the look of the angle portion of the lower camaro doors. I could make new metal up to the lower el camino body line & flare out less at rear of door & quarter panel toget some of this look. OR I could just make something straight across from front to rear which would be much simpler. Opinions? Thanks

[Trans]

I think that the lower body line on the el camino as it is right now would be good enough if you just paint it black but im saying that because i cant really see a big difference between the front bumper lower lip and the side of the el camino now due to the pictures.If there is a big difference just figure out a way to mount camaro sideskirts on the car,but then you would have to ad to the back as well so I would leave it as is.Im sorry mate but the bed cover you have on defaces the rear end.If you must have a cover get at least a cover that sits flush with the bed line even if you sacrifice 1 foot of head room.

Theres just so many thing to change including the hideous interior,I wish you would have done the front end conversion and then put it up for sale so that i could have bought it and did the interior my way as well as the rest of the cosmetics lol

[jlcustomz]

When I did the nose conversion I lined the heights up with the ground effects, which is part of what made the conversion look like somebody's kit.It's partly a width issue , I flared the front lower portion of the factory fenders out to make things look right. The other part of my issue with the existing ground effects is the poor quality & fit. I want something to look more like the factory shaped it modernly rather than an add on of ricer quality. I'll probably just shape the top straight.
By the way, the interior & other things that people online don't like came long before the nose did.

[Trans]

How much did you get thee front end for?

[jlcustomz]

$50 in oct 09' at a bumper recycling place,barely damaged &already black. Plus $250 or so whsle for grilles,crash guard. Made headlights. Invested in lcd display hot air gun & stuff from Urethane Supply Co & practiced plastic welding & reforming.

[cornfedbill]

I must admit that the concept is appealing and I really think you did a great job on the nose. I don't care much for the intake. But it is not my car.

I see too many cookie cutter first gens with the same bolt on subframes and rear suspension packages with LS/T56 drivetrains.

I like to see someone do something different every once in a while, like a PT Volvo or this El Camino or El Camaro as it may be.

Instead of criticizing what is different, some of us could learn a bit from something that steps outside the box. The best cars, whether PT or not, are always something that has never been done before. We don't have to like everything about a project to appreciate what is good and what is different that could generate ideas we can use.

I just wish I were as good at fabricating so I could take some of the ideas from my head and bring them to life in my car.

I bet when this project is completely done with matching rockers and newer wheels, along with some other finishing touches, it may just be a real sharp ride.

Sometimes we need someone who is willing to take on something completely different to get us out of the "group think" that produces too many cookie cutter projects. Right Vengeance?

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

Yup, as i said this could be something interesting, nice and refreshing.. but I dont think that that was the real subject here.. for the most part the car and its main modification went over well..

but its like this photo..



the face was the main focus and we didnt see the rest..

and when we did...










At that point "criticism" needed to happen.. JL got a few outside thoughts on his project and what he could do to improve it.


we did not go on a bash rampage.. it wasnt like.. "man, that car is HORRIBLE.. GET THAT OUTTA HERE NOW.. YOU SUCK"

was it?.. no.


a few guys gave suggestions, even a photoshop!


now can you dig that?

[68firebird]

The front of the elky looks great!!! nice fab work! Do something like in the picture above with the new camaro rims and what not, this will be HOT!!! Great start to this project, keep it up.

[cornfedbill]

Yup, as i said this could be something interesting, nice and refreshing.. but I dont think that that was the real subject here.. for the most part the car and its main modification went over well..

At that point "criticism" needed to happen.. JL got a few outside thoughts on his project and what he could do to improve it.


we did not go on a bash rampage.. it wasnt like.. "man, that car is HORRIBLE.. GET THAT OUTTA HERE NOW.. YOU SUCK"

was it?.. no.


a few guys gave suggestions, even a photoshop!


now can you dig that?

Sure. I understand.

[whayden2003]

This is the picture that got me to thinking..

[KnightMare]

Nice & clean. When in doubt, black it out

[Trans]

$50 in oct 09' at a bumper recycling place,barely damaged &already black. Plus $250 or so whsle for grilles,crash guard. Made headlights. Invested in lcd display hot air gun & stuff from Urethane Supply Co & practiced plastic welding & reforming.

Wow $300 for the conversion give or take?Id like to see those prices in California lol, reason why I asked is because im seriously considering a project like yours except...

[whayden2003]

That is the best anything Dodge has ever looked!!!