"The Little Girl" 68 Camaro

[trevor572]

Hi, I'm Trevor, an Australian, and another 1st gen Camaro owner. I am a little familiar with some of the people here from the PT Forum already, but I've had quite a typical 68 RS/SS for a number of years, nice paint and interior, stout small block etc.
I bought myself a 572 engine for Christmas last year and took the car off the road about 6 months ago. Since then I have fitted a set of DSE tubs and a mate of mine who is an awesome body and paint guy has stripped the exterior, done any body work and will be painting the car in the next couple of weeks. It wasn't in bad shape, just rectifying previous repairs and the like, the car now has lines so sharp you could cut yourself on them and perfect gaps etc.😊 And I have been kept busy spending money hand over fist getting all the driveline and suspension goodies together to complete the little girl. I will post some pictures along the way, just looking forward to getting the car home and setting to work on her. Cheers.

[XLexusTech]

Welcome Trevor you guys in the Southern Hemisphere are really dedicated... It's 2x as hard to get parts down there......
I won't ever understand 1000 hp cars purpose built to do burn outs though

:walkingdog:

[trevor572]

Yeah, almost everything we need for any sort of modification or project comes from over there, currency conversion, duty and taxes, shipping, can be a killer a lot of the time, but if you want to play you have to pay. Your not on your own. I have never grasped the whole concept of spending a fortune on a car to go round and round until you blow the tyres off the thing either, but each to their own I guess. Cheers. ☺

[Che70velle]

Welcome Trevor! Pictures are good around here. They speak much louder than words. Sounds like a cool car!

[WSSix]

Welcome, Trevor. Glad to have you here.

[trevor572]

Thanks guy's, my mate painting the car is about a 6 hour round trip from here, I will be heading down there after the cars painted to install the exterior trim before she comes home, I'll get some pictures then and post some more along the way. The only thing I have in my phone at the moment was taken a couple of months ago, it shows a little of the old colour and was taken the day we sat the engine in place. Cheers.

[Greg from Aus]

Welcome Trev, looking forward to the pics :hello:

[trevor572]

Hi, I just thought I would post a couple of pictures of the colour change on the car, it's scheduled to go back into the spray booth to be "flow coated", it has been base coated and had 3 coats of clear in the photo's. It's now been block sanded and ready to receive a few more coats of clear. I can't wait to get her home and start bolting her back together. Cheers Trevor.

[tubbed69]

Trevor your car looks great,nice work:trophy-1302:

[trevor572]

Thanks. I can't can't take credit for that but, I'm just very fortunate to have a good friend who is an awesome body and paint guy, when the car is home I will get someone to take some really good pictures and post them. You'll probably never see how good his work really is through photographs unfortunately. The hardest work I had to do was choose a colour. Cheers Trevor.

[Vega$69]

Please post better picture of mechanic poster next to tool box :hapdance:

[Sieg]

Thanks. I can't can't take credit for that but, I'm just very fortunate to have a good friend who is an awesome body and paint guy, when the car is home I will get someone to take some really good pictures and post them. You'll probably never see how good his work really is through photographs unfortunately. The hardest work I had to do was choose a colour. Cheers Trevor.

Looking good mate! :thumbsup:

Please post better picture of mechanic poster next to tool box :hapdance:
I'm guessing there's more where that came from. :D

[trevor572]

Please post better picture of mechanic poster next to tool box :hapdance:
You're one sick little puppy.😊 I had wondered how long before someone spotted that. I will check that out for you next time I'm down there. I'm sure it's only a calendar, we've gotta know what day it is after all. Cheers.

[Vega$69]

Hot Rods and Hot Chicks go together

[trevor572]

Hot Rods and Hot Chicks go together
Yeah, from memory it was one of the main reasons you didn't go for the sensible mode of transportation. ☺ Let's not forget the Harley's either, the hot girl would find a reason to chat, even when you had the hot wife standing there staring daggers at you.😯

[trevor572]

Trevor your car looks great,nice work:trophy-1302:
Hi. I just had a quick look at your build thread, I can't wait to sit down quietly and read it from start to finish. I was mouthing off about how good my body and paint guy here is, quite clearly you are extremely talented also !!! Awesome Car mate.😊

[trevor572]

Hi, we had a couple of delays getting the use of the spray booth to do the last few coats of clear on the car "flow coating". But it got done today and my mate has just sent a couple of pictures of the finished product. Cheers Trevor.

[cjfirstgen]

Very nice!

[trevor572]

Very nice!
Thanks Mate. I couldn't be happier with the way she turned out. My mate did an awesome job on the body and paint, he put a lot of time and effort into it and I think it shows in the end result. Cheers Trevor.

[JBROWN]

Welcome Trevor. Nice '68. And what color silver did you decided on? Looks killer.

[trevor572]

Hi Mate, The colour is a Mazda colour or variant of one. From memory it's called Liquid Platinum silver metallic. It flips really dramatically on the body lines etc. in different light. Cheers.

[trevor572]

Hi. I'm heading down to the Gold Coast early tomorrow morning and we are going to start putting the glass back in and installing the trim, I can't wait to see this paint for the first time. I'll get some new photos and post them tomorrow night. Cheers Trevor

[trevor572]

Hi. Chris and I put the glass in and reinstalled the majority of the exterior trim and he trailered the car back to my place on Sunday. Here are a few quick photo's. Please disregard the wheels and stance, now the car is home I'll get stuck in and swap out the suspension and get the new wheels and tires on. Cheers.

[tubbed69]

Very nice car,great job:trophy-1302:

[Al Moreno]

Love it! I have said it before and I will say it again. I appreciate the work that goes into body mods (especially metal work) but there something about a stock looking clean body with nice wheels and stance. They will never get dated.

[trevor572]

Love it! I have said it before and I will say it again. I appreciate the work that goes into body mods (especially metal work) but there something about a stock looking clean body with nice wheels and stance. They will never get dated.

Thank's Al. As you can probably tell I'm wrapped in the way the car turned out, trends come and go, but my personal thoughts are the classic old muscle car are still as popular as they ever were, even with the younger generation that wouldn't have been a twinkle in their mum and dads eye's when they rolled off the production line. Cheers

[WSSix]

Fantastic color choice, Trevor. I really like it! Good luck moving forward with the mods.

[trevor572]

Fantastic color choice, Trevor. I really like it! Good luck moving forward with the mods.
I fell in love with the colour the first time I saw it, then in the months that followed I really did my head in over it, I had an off and on again relationship with it on a daily basis. In the end I had to commit because Chris was ready to paint the car. When I saw the first photo's he sent of the car with clear on it I was taken with it, then when the trim went on even more so. There is just a nice contrast between the colour and trim I think. I couldn't be happier with the new look. Cheers

[1coolC2]

Great looking car and love the color :)

R/
Jeff

[trevor572]

Great looking car and love the color :)

R/
Jeff
Thank's Jeff. Put simply, it just works. Cheers, Trevor.

[Spiffav8]

Wow! Looks great! Really looking forward to seeing more pictures.

Which silver is that and what is "flow coating"?


:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[trevor572]

Wow! Looks great! Really looking forward to seeing more pictures.

Which silver is that and what is "flow coating"?


:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

It was a mazda color called Platinum Silver. The car had 4 base coats and 3 quite heavy clear coats, at that point it got blocked back with 800 grit and another 3 clear coats which are referred to as" flow coats ". I'm no expert but they seem to go on smoother for some reason and give a better finish off the gun, my car came out really shiny and smooth. I think because that is the finished product and the surface isn't being wet sanded and buffed it stays sealed and takes less maintenance and has a longer lifespan. As I said I'm no expert but I think that's the theory behind it all. All I know is it's super shiny, hasn't been rubbed and buffed and its as smooth as. Cheers

[awr68]

Wow, that looks fantastic! Great design and color choice! Congrats on getting to this point of the build!

And yes, flow coating is usually worth the extra effort.

[trevor572]

Wow, that looks fantastic! Great design and color choice! Congrats on getting to this point of the build!

And yes, flow coating is usually worth the extra effort.

Thanks Tony, I'm glad you are familiar with the term over there, I hope I was correct in my explanation of the benefits, as I mentioned I'm no expert. Cheers.

[awr68]

I'm no expert, but this is what I have learned:

Flow coating is clearing the car (2-3 coats), sanding to remove any debris/texture, and reclearing a second time with a couple wet coats. The clear will lay out much better. However, you may still consider doing a cut and buff as it will look even better than the gun finish you have right now. Really depends on how you plan to use the car. Right now it's pretty maintenance free. Once you cut and buff it flat for the show car look there is more upkeep.

[trevor572]

I'm no expert, but this is what I have learned:

Flow coating is clearing the car (2-3 coats), sanding to remove any debris/texture, and reclearing a second time with a couple wet coats. The clear will lay out much better. However, you may still consider doing a cut and buff as it will look even better than the gun finish you have right now. Really depends on how you plan to use the car. Right now it's pretty maintenance free. Once you cut and buff it flat for the show car look there is more upkeep.
Thanks Tony. That was my take on it also. I'm really pleased with how flat the clear laid out and the gloss level, depth etc. She's not a show car and I'd much rather be out driving her than at home waxing. If I take her to a local car show or something I know the quality of the panel and paint is still way up there. Cheers

[awr68]

Thanks Tony. That was my take on it also. I'm really pleased with how flat the clear laid out and the gloss level, depth etc. She's not a show car and I'd much rather be out driving her than at home waxing. If I take her to a local car show or something I know the quality of the panel and paint is still way up there. Cheers

Awesome! Enjoy it!

[trevor572]

Hi, I got the first opportunity to do something on the car since she came home from being painted a couple of weeks ago, I installed my Speedtech upper and lower control arms and Viking coilovers, and had the tires mounted on the new wheels and put the fronts on, everything went smoothly with the exception of one of the old lower control arm bolts being seized in the bushes metal sleeve. I know you have all seen this stuff before a thousand times, but it's a start. Cheers Trevor.

[trevor572]

Sorry. Just struck a problem uploading the other couple of photo's. I will try to get that sorted out. Cheers Trevor.

[ScottyDont]

Hi, I got the first opportunity to do something on the car since she came home from being painted a couple of weeks ago, I installed my Speedtech upper and lower control arms and Viking coilovers, and had the tires mounted on the new wheels and put the fronts on, everything went smoothly with the exception of one of the old lower control arm bolts being seized in the bushes metal sleeve. I know you have all seen this stuff before a thousand times, but it's a start. Cheers Trevor.

Hey Trevor, car looks great mate. Where about's in Queensland are you based? I'm in Toowoomba and have a 68 project on the go as well. If your nearby would love to catch up and have a gander for some inspiration. Great job, looks grouse mate. :cheers:

Cheers, Scotty

[trevor572]

Hi Scott, I am out in the boonies mate, I hope to have the car finished in the early half of next year. I have been a bit held up waiting for the rear end housing and a couple of driveline bits landing here. When the car is done I will head towards the coast to some shows, just smaller ones in parks etc. I will keep updating my build thread and let you know when or where we could catch up. I'd encourage you to start a build thread if you have time, the people on the forums here are really helpful and know a hell of a lot more than I do to be honest. It's where I look for idea's and advice. Now a question mate, did you find your 68 in toowoomba a couple of years ago? I remember there was one for sale, partially disassembled but all there except for the rear seat frame? I just remember talking to a guy selling one there. Thanks and Cheers, Trevor

[ScottyDont]

Hi Scott, I am out in the boonies mate, I hope to have the car finished in the early half of next year. I have been a bit held up waiting for the rear end housing and a couple of driveline bits landing here. When the car is done I will head towards the coast to some shows, just smaller ones in parks etc. I will keep updating my build thread and let you know when or where we could catch up. I'd encourage you to start a build thread if you have time, the people on the forums here are really helpful and know a hell of a lot more than I do to be honest. It's where I look for idea's and advice. Now a question mate, did you find your 68 in toowoomba a couple of years ago? I remember there was one for sale, partially disassembled but all there except for the rear seat frame? I just remember talking to a guy selling one there. Thanks and Cheers, Trevor

Yeah let me know that would be great.. What rear end setup/housing etc did you go with? Also what brake setup are you running on yours? Have you had any issues with registration and compliance here in Qld? I bought mine off a guy in coomera down near the gold coast about 4 years ago. Stripped it completely for a complete rotisserie build. Body is unbelievably good on it only rust was a some pin holes drivers footwell and 2 holes about the size of a 50c piece just behind the rear tyres. Was super lucky. Hoping to get back onto it over christmas time so yeah will try and start a build thread as you mentioned. Lot of experience and talent on here. I tend to just lurk in the back round as you can see by my post count haha. Look forward to some more pictures mate.

Cheers, Scotty

[trevor572]

Hi, sounds like you got really lucky on your 68, makes life much easier when you don't have to deal with a bunch of old repairs or panel replacement. I'm waiting on a Strange 9 inch housing, I would have gone with a 12 bolt but there hard to find here as I reckon you'd know. mine had a CPP big brake kit on it when I got it so I'm sticking with that, but there seem to be a heap of other options available, I think a lot of the guys on the forums here use late model Corvette stuff if I'm not mistaken, I had no real problems with compliance, just seat belts and lights, roadworthy, well the guy wasn't overly thorough shall we say.😊but I have kept rego on the car while it's been off the road, I'm not sure what I'll do about mod plates or engineers reports and stuff in the longer term. Just back on the brakes again, post a thread and ask for suggestions or recommendations and these guy's will steer you in the right direction. Cheers mate.

[Smitty68]

Nice car Trevor. Keep up the great work..:walkingdog:

[Spiffav8]

Nice Progress. Keep at it...show season isn't that far off.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[ScottyDont]

Hi, sounds like you got really lucky on your 68, makes life much easier when you don't have to deal with a bunch of old repairs or panel replacement. I'm waiting on a Strange 9 inch housing, I would have gone with a 12 bolt but there hard to find here as I reckon you'd know. mine had a CPP big brake kit on it when I got it so I'm sticking with that, but there seem to be a heap of other options available, I think a lot of the guys on the forums here use late model Corvette stuff if I'm not mistaken, I had no real problems with compliance, just seat belts and lights, roadworthy, well the guy wasn't overly thorough shall we say.😊but I have kept rego on the car while it's been off the road, I'm not sure what I'll do about mod plates or engineers reports and stuff in the longer term. Just back on the brakes again, post a thread and ask for suggestions or recommendations and these guy's will steer you in the right direction. Cheers mate.


Yeah they are a bit scarce aren't they. Hard to go wrong with Strange but. Looking forward to some pictures upon arrival. :ups:

Thanks mate. Good luck with your build, I've subscribed so I'll be keeping an eye on progress.

Cheers, Scotty

[trevor572]

Nice car Trevor. Keep up the great work..:walkingdog:

Thank's Mate. I appreciate encouraging words. Most of the time but I need a swift kick in the ass to get me moving but.😊:lol: Cheers Trevor.

[trevor572]

Nice Progress. Keep at it...show season isn't that far off.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Thank's Curtis, I'd better get my finger out and do something hey!!! :lol: I have a couple of minor hold ups waiting on a few items to arrive, but countless little jobs to do in the meantime mate.😊 Cheers Trevor.

[trevor572]

Thanks Scott. Better get that build thread started mate hey!!! I'm really very curious to learn more about your 68 and what you've got planned for her. When you get time of course, not at the expense of getting things done on the car. Cheers Mate.

[awr68]

Looking great! Keep at it! try to deal with all the little tasks while you wait on the bigger parts to arrive. It will really help in the end of the build!

[trevor572]

Looking great! Keep at it! try to deal with all the little tasks while you wait on the bigger parts to arrive. It will really help in the end of the build!

Yes Mate, it certainly will. As much as I'm impatient to get the bigger jobs out of the way, I'm thinking about putting a bit of the bling on the little girl. I think that's not only going to be at least a little productive, but should make for an enjoyable weekend also. Thank's for the encouragement too Tony. Appreciate it mate. Cheers Trevor.

[awr68]

As long as the paint work is finished, cured and you aren't going to do any polishing of the paint I say go for it! Start putting a few things on it! It will change the look and get you all kinds of excited to finish it! Enjoy!

[Spiffav8]

:gitrdun: What's the latest?

[trevor572]

Hi Curtis, I can't help but wonder if this isn't pay back for giving you a hard time on occasion. lol. Well Mate. I make a little time most evenings and I'm making steady progress on things like modifying the transmission tunnel and fabricating a crossmember for the magnum etc. I had a couple of hold ups waiting for parts to arrive down here. I will get some pictures organised in the next week or so and bring you up to speed.
Cheers Trevor.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Rg6x782/0/XL/i-Rg6x782-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-FcKsQKm/0/L/i-FcKsQKm-L.jpg

[Spiffav8]

Hi Curtis, I can't help but wonder if this isn't pay back for giving you a hard time on occasion. lol. Well Mate. I make a little time most evenings and I'm making steady progress on things like modifying the transmission tunnel and fabricating a crossmember for the magnum etc. I had a couple of hold ups waiting for parts to arrive down here. I will get some pictures organised in the next week or so and bring you up to speed.
Cheers Trevor.

Modifying the transmission tunnel and fabricating a crossmember requires pictures. Pretty sure that's an International Law. :rules:

No pay back. Just a little push to make sure you're still making progress.

:cheers:

[Spiffav8]

An assist for Trevor.

Nice work on the cross member buddy.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-S5C5K7d/0/L/i-S5C5K7d-L.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-98hmxSG/0/L/i-98hmxSG-L.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-kjxsVxB/0/L/i-kjxsVxB-L.jpg

[trevor572]

Thanks for posting the pictures Curtis. 😊 Yeah just finished the crossmember today, I should try to get some better photo's later on, it sweeps back and down, I ended up with a 2 degree down angle on the engine/trans which from what I've read in the forum here is pretty good. Best of all it cost nothing to make, fits nice and I'm done rolling around on the floor under the car, well for a day or two anyway.😀 Cheers Trevor