Project "Replacement Camaro"

[1Bad68camaro]

Well, here we are 11 months after I started my replacement build for my 68 Camaro that burned in my garage with my house. I ended up picking up the 67 Camaro from a buddy that wasnt interested in working on it anymore. Just a completely stripped down rusting shell. Took it straight to Camaro Concepts in houston for all the sheetmetal work. Got a new dash, upper firewall, door skins, full rear quarters, rear deck filler, trunk lid, rs front fenders, stingray ram air style steel hood, header panel, front valance, cowl panel and inner front fenders. Pulled it from there straight to a chassis shop in porter tx where is was promised to be done in 4 weeks. 3 months later I went and picked it up unfinished to finish it myself. Also had to threaten a lawsuit to get my money back from all the suspension parts I paid for but he never even ordered. He kept telling me stuff was backordered and then they were sending him wrong parts from Chris Alston Chassisworks. So I called to find out he never ordered anything for my car. So I ordered all the parts myself and did the work myself. Bought a plasma and welder and learned the hard way haha. Actually my buddy that built the turbo kit came over and taught me so it didnt take long. After the chassis work was done I started body work. After I bought the $2000 in paint I decided I should let a real bodyshop do the prep work so its right the first time. BIG MISTAKE. The paint came out ok, but cant tell how perfect it will be as it still hasnt been wet sanded/buffed as they were going to be adding about $1000 for that. I went there looking for a driver style paint job that would clean up nicely. With me supplying the $2000 in paint I was hoping around $5000 in labor. Midway thru he needed me to pay up to that point and to my suprise it was already over $4k. So I told him my absolute top dollar is $9000 because I had to leave for 6 weeks and wouldnt be around to help as I had been up to that point. They sent me a pic of it painted one day so I called to get the final info on it. Without doing any metal work at all besides a couple body lines for doors he tells me the current balance was $11,000 and that didnt include what I already paid or the $2k in paint and it was only sprayed. No wet sanding or buffing. So as you can imagine I flipped out. Only thing he offered was to lower the shop rate down to $50 an hour for the number of hours he was charging so it made the final bill $9300. So yes, I call that a complete screwing. Shop is called Hotrods muscle car paint/body on 105 in conroe towards the lake. I paid all I could and ended up getting trade value on alot of parts I had and a full set of weld pro stars and muncie 4 speed setups and stuff like that. Very disappointed to say the least. The car was already completely disassembled when delivered, and all metal except top of roof was brand new. I will admit I did a ****ty job of primering the car in my driveway so all the primer had to be sanded off and start fresh. But nothing near as bad as starting with a complete car, having to take it all apart, repair metal, paint it all, reassemble whole car and have it finish sanded/buffed. It should have been such an easy job with all new metal. Will add some pics below from along the way up until now. Now it has Chris Alston front upper/lower control arms, front/rear coilovers, swaybar kits, steering box, LS motor mounts, T56 crossmember, ladder bars, Fab 9 rear with 35 spline axles and detroit locker on 4.30 gears, Wilwood 14" 6 piston fronts, Wilwood 12.19 4 piston rears, Wilwood master cylinder, True Forged 20x15 and 19x8 wheels, 2001 LS 5.3 truck motor with custom turbo cam, LS9 head gaskets, head studs, LS7 lifters, hardened pushrods, upgraded valves/springs/retainers, ported HV oil pump, 60LB motron injectors, Comp Turbo 76mm Billet wheel turbo, KB racing custom turbo kit made specifically for this car, Stage 2+ T56 6 speed, McLoed twin disk clutch, SFI bellhousing, Pro-50 shifter, Tick adjustable clutch master cylinder, Sparco Chrono Roadrace seats, Full electric autometer gauges, DSE electric headlight kit, full RS conversion kit, Digi-tails LED light kit for tail lights, blinkers and driving lights, American Autowire full wiring kit, Ididit tilt steering column, Griffin LS conversion alum radiator. I will say that once I dropped the drivetrain in sat night I had to let you sit in the driveway the rest of the night with a new car cover on it because I couldnt push it back up the driveway by myself anymore. Before it was light as hell of course so I did it all the time. But not now. So seeing as I like to be an independant little fu_ker I woke up sunday and went to Lowes. Got me an anchor kit for concrete, drilled a half inch hole, hammered an anchor in and bolted my electric winch to it. Also found out my motorcycle battery would power the winch just fine. Pulled her inside so I can continue the work. Although I do prefer to do everything myself I may have to reach out to a member here that is really good at WIRING!!! I have the whole American Autowire kit for the car so it really shouldnt be that bad, I just really hate wiring and would like it to look good and be hidden where possible. Once electrical is done I will knock out the fuel lines and start putting the RS front grill and interior/stereo in. Its really not that far from being done once wiring is done. The LS engine harness has already been modded and computer unlocked for it. Full new set of Autometer gauges, all turbo and exhaust piping has been powdercoated as you can see in pics. Will also be wrapping the hotside. So if anyone is good at wiring, or knows someone please let me know. Funds are all but gone at this point thanks to the body shop, plus some I didnt intend to spend on it. So if it comes to paying a pro it will just be getting an estimate on it, then saving a while to be able to do it. Or if I absolutely have to I will just sit out there and take my time and try to do it best I can. I've cut and welded the whole frame and firewall, brackets for fuel tank and battery support under trunk, assembled the whole motor, all suspension and brakes, and yet the one part that you get to stay clean doing (WIRING) i'm worried to do myself lol. But thats just how it is. T.

[1Bad68camaro]

[1Bad68camaro]

[1Bad68camaro]

[1Bad68camaro]

[1Bad68camaro]

[craigs73]

wow the car looks great...... your father along than me and i been working on car for 3 yrs lol...

[Ron.in.SoCal]

Really dig the modern Pro Street look of the rear wheels! Plus the shot of your kid sitting in the wheel. Gotta start 'em off early :D

I say dig in and do the wiring yourself. Lay it out, do one circuit at a time.

[KiCKiNaX]

i know the feeling doing it all yourself, but I'm tired of having idiots screw things up the first time around only to have to do it all over again. its funny that you mention using a winch to pull car back into garage ... i've been doing that for over a year now on various projects and it is the only way to go. i am using a winch that runs off 110 instead of a battery i picked up at the cheapy tool place for about $65.00 this way i dont have to worry about dead batteries... car is looking fantastic !!! hope you get it driveable soon so you can really enjoy it that much more ... for what its worth i say i'd say do it yourself one circuit at a time so some idiot cant boink you out of more money again and you know its done correctly . looking forward to more updates soon !

[1Bad68camaro]

Finally wiped her off and took a couple pics. Almost done.

[1Bad68camaro]

[Vortech404]

Car turned out awesome nice job. That picture with your kid lying the the rear wheel dish is great. haha

John

[1Bad68camaro]

Thanks. Countless hours in the garage, did all I possibly could myself. I'm happy with it. It's on 7 psi right now. Need to install the new boost controller and meth kit to set it at 12 psi. Then will be perfect as a street car. 29 inch tire, 4.30 gears and T56 means only 1800 rpm at 70mph. Geared perfect for me. Can slow down to 40mph in 6th gear and it doesn't buck/surge. Turbo cam works great for it.