69 Camaro Project Insanity

[BuddyP]

Coming together nicely!

[Ivan Vella]

I finally got my intercooler mounted and made the custom brackets below.

Attachment 79197

Here's the finished product. I think it turned out pretty good. I had to move the AC evaporator and cut out the center support bracket on the car to clear the intercooler.



Attachment 79198

I bought a complete SS brake line kit from inline tube. I ended up having to cut and modify the lines on the rear axle. Here is the finished product.
Attachment 79199

Hopefully I will get the rest of my fittings in so I can finish the intercooler tubing this weekend. I also bought somee 1/2" SS tubing to run for the fuel lines so I'll be working on that this weekend as well.

Awesome build mate this thing will haul with the reduced weight and increased power.
I have the same engine combo in my 69 Camaro with the RS headlights, could you please do me a favour and tell me the measurement of the top of the cooler tank to tank and the bottom as well?
Also How much clearance from your headlight doors do you have when they are open?
Finally could you tell me what brand the cooler is and what it is rated at CFM or HP?

Sorry for all the questions but intercooler builders over here are expensive and usually full of themselves.

Ivan

[nmcqueen469]

Kudos to you for pulling the plug on the body shop and doing the work yourself! Wheels look like they are sized perfectly as well, good choice!

[Windy City Chevelle]

This is one bad ass project and yea body guys can discourage you but by the looks of it they motivated. At the end you will know you built it yourself. Keep up the awesome work

[camoffett]

Awesome build mate this thing will haul with the reduced weight and increased power.
I have the same engine combo in my 69 Camaro with the RS headlights, could you please do me a favour and tell me the measurement of the top of the cooler tank to tank and the bottom as well?
Also How much clearance from your headlight doors do you have when they are open?
Finally could you tell me what brand the cooler is and what it is rated at CFM or HP?

Sorry for all the questions but intercooler builders over here are expensive and usually full of themselves.

Ivan

The intercooler is from CXRacing and it's a 27X12X3 and cost $125 on Ebay. I was told by a very good resource that they are just as good as the expensive ones out there and will be plenty of cooling for what I have. Unless you have a custom core support or plan on changing the inlet and outlet I don't think a larger one will fit in any direction. There is about 3.5" from the headlight doors to the intercooler and no room on top due to clearance with the hood latch. After you put the elbows on the inlet and outlet then there is not a whole lot of clearance around the frame rails either for piping.

[camoffett]

Kudos to you for pulling the plug on the body shop and doing the work yourself! Wheels look like they are sized perfectly as well, good choice!

Thanks for all the positive comments guys.

Funny you mention the wheel size. I'm still up in the air on whether or not the front wheels are going to work for me yet. They clear at ride height but if I was to hit a bump while turning then I may end up ripping a fender off. I'm not sure if the sway bar will be enough to avoid that from happening or if I will be able to add bump stops. If anyone has any suggestion on that I would appreciate it. Right now I can barely fit an index finger in between the tire and the wheel well. I already went down to a 275 tire on the 10" rim to get a little extra clearance. I was really wanting at least a 285........

[Ivan Vella]

Thanks mate, will be watching this build closely, my car is in fabrication jail at the moment (hardlines, minor panel mods etc) so will be watching your build for motivation...

[camoffett]

Finally getting around to adding some updated pictures. It's been awhile and although it may not look like it I have put a boat load of hours in on this car trying to get it ready to paint. I knew body work took time and patience but man I had no idea I'd have this many hours in on it. My OCD in perfection may have a little to do with it too.....

I have finally got the firewall and dash ready to paint after a few rounds of block sanding.


I also shaved the holes in the dash.


Took a picture with the dash, gauge pod, and dash pad mocked up to get an idea of what the dash would look like.


I got the doors lined up and gapped.



The trunk lid still needs a little more blocking and smoothing but is close to being finished. I also set the car down at ride height for a stance check for the last time. It is now stripped down completely, again, so I can start the block sanding process on the body.




Oh, and I also decided to make a small provision to the LS1 I had and upgrade to a GM LSX 376 B15 crate engine! I also have a custom grind cam being built for it so it'll sound a little more like an old muscle car.


Sad thing it that it's been 2 years since I started this project and it's still not finished. In case I didn't mention with all the bad luck I've had dealing with vendors and other people doing work on the car I have now decided to paint the car myself as well. I feel like I've learned enough doing the body work that I may as well take on the task of spraying the color on it as well. If it works out then I can honestly say I have built the complete car myself, that is if the paint comes out nice lol.

[Rico06]

Really nice car. Kudos for doing all of the work yourself. As a former painter, my advice is to practice a lot on spare panels or something before you try spraying the car. Flat black is really difficult to get to lay down evenly and even most professionals struggle to get it to look right. If you are still going black, rent a booth to spray it in. You'll probably get way too much junk in the paint that will show up in a black paint job if you try in your garage. Car looks awesome.

[camoffett]

Really nice car. Kudos for doing all of the work yourself. As a former painter, my advice is to practice a lot on spare panels or something before you try spraying the car. Flat black is really difficult to get to lay down evenly and even most professionals struggle to get it to look right. If you are still going black, rent a booth to spray it in. You'll probably get way too much junk in the paint that will show up in a black paint job if you try in your garage. Car looks awesome.

Thanks for the advice. I have changed up the paint scheme a little and decided to go gloss black which hopefully will be easier to lay down smooth. But like you said I'm going to have to be really cautious about getting dirt in the paint. I've been reading up on how to build a temporary paint booth to help keep the trash out and have proper ventilation. It's a risk but I'm willing to take it since I've gone this far.

[jlcustomz]

Checking this out for the first time. The rear bodywork adds a needed custom touch to distinguish yours from the pack.

I can offer a little diy paint advice. For better blocking out the car, consider using a sprayable polyester filler such as evercoat g-2 . You'll need a 2.2 or larger tip gun to spray it. It sprays out kinda rough similar to epoxy primer , which makes it work like it's own guide coat when sanding it. An extra step like this can really help out a gloss black paint job.
An upside of solid gloss black paint is you skip some issues like spray pattern problems with metallic & flats.
As far as dirt issues , wet down everything outside of your work area before starting to help attract & catch the dirt. May even want to slightly wet down the actual work area.

A home painters best friend is learning good colorsanding & buffing skills. This can remove a bunch of tiny imperfections from poor environment & is really needed on most any top paint job. Spray can enamel on a scrap part can be good practice for this. Intentionally oversand a spot & buff too hard so you can learn better what the limits are of this skill.
Check out my photobucket pics, this is a black diy job, many parts done & redone at separate times.

[Motown 454]

Keep at it your doing a great job on your own. Nice work!

[ejh532]

Such a sick build man. Mean stance killer choice on wheels. breaking the pockets and maxing credit cards out to finish up my 67. Had to go XXR wheels for now but happy with the outcome. best of luck to you on the remainder of the build, if it isn't done already haha!