I'd be very interested in seeing real world weights on the CF and the metal fenders. I'm more familiar with Mustang fenders than Camaro fenders, but my inclination is to think the weight savings won't be as large as that, but I might be wrong.

I don't know about camaro or mustang fenders but there is a guy on yellow bullet who just made some carbon fiber fenders for a 70-73 firebird. I could see shedding 40-50 pounds if it is true as to what he said.

"First, the good stuff. Pics and video of the finished fenders. Fenders are meant to bolt into the stock locations using stock mounting hardware. These are some BIG ASS fenders, but came out weighing just 9.1 pounds each. The stock fenders are 33.4 pounds each, for a savings of 24.3 pounds each and almost 50 pounds altogether!!! They could have been even lighter if not for the fact that the customer wanted them to appear stock and bolt into the stock locations."

Yeah a couple factors get involved - were these vacuum bagged parts specifically built to be lightweight ? and how thick and durable were the final parts ? (BTW did he say what they cost ?)

The few times I've seen weights on Anvil stuff it was light but not exceptionally so (because they build OEM style quality for one thing).

LIke I said I know Mustang fenders best, about 25 lbs apiece (and a little lighter when I'd done with them) on the early cars. The FG versions are 15 lbs, and I seem to remember the Anvils were around 12 lbs. Maybe they are a lot lighter than that, but I think Paul Brown's SN95 vacuum bagged built for lightness fenders were 4 lbs apiece, so that is about hte lower limit there, and I know Anvil's weigh more than that.

Anyway not trying to start a kefuffle or anything, I'm just riffing off of my own attempts to save weight it was very difficult to justify $1500+ pair of fenders that I can't repair to save 20 lbs, and I'm very curious to get real world weights on stuff.

realistically, $75 a pound isn't a stretch in the racing world and most times just off setting for safety equipment.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.n...29389250_n.jpg

:popcorn2:

:underchair:

They say no good deed goes unpunished. Good deed number 1: I went to our alignment shop so that Gregg could take the Falken tires off of my Camaro and put them on his before he leaves for his road trip. Good deed number 2: Dick lends me his truck to run over a valve stem cap and hit the gate at the alignment shop.... Then I had to go to the bank. So yeah, technically it is all Gregg's fault. :rolleyes:

Gotta keep the paint shop busy.

:thumbsup:

Sorry, couldn't resist. :D

Dick and Jon thank you. They said that it was something they would do if they knew how to post on the forum.

I saw it on facebook so I was going to ask who's truck you used to go for the parts. Shew ! glad I didn't have to be the first one to mention it. :D

Nice driving ACE. :D

you can hit the cones but avoid the metal things.

Ok, since the professionals have been doing the majority of the work getting the front end of my Camaro painted, I broke out the filler and body worked the hood and engine compartment on the little fastback. I thought I would fill a few holes, hammer out some dents and and it would be ready for primer. WRONG. I sanded and sanded and Jesus, BOS's painter had to clean up after me. I was going for a factory look, nothing overtly custom, and I think we pulled that off.

It might not look like much without and engine, but it was a ton of work.
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...psf3e7ab60.jpg

Matt I'm tired just looking at it! :D

So what you have learned is that this car building thing is hard work.

I knew it was hard work. I always thought things took twice as long as you thought they were going to take, but then if I realized that applies to skilled and experienced people, and if I added my hours up I realized most things take me four times as long as I thought. :rofl:

Yep, bodywork takes friggin forever. My family put me on suicide watch while I was doing mine on my car. Never again! :lol: Congrats on the continued progress Matt.

It looks nice Matt, atleast you can say you did it.

I'm lucky i have someone to clean up after me, because getting it perfect would probably kill me. I don't know how you did with little to no background. By the way Chris, how is the car running I want to check it out and hear it sometime!

Not too shabby for a Camaro guy.

Hey guys, I have pictures to post, and they're not old recycled ones like Rob has, they're new ones, and they aren't of hubs with yellow lug nuts or aluminum blocks with iron heads either. :lol:

After doing all of the body work on the engine compartment I started mocking everything up so that I could start fabricating some bracing/tubing that will be used to attach stuff to. Part of the idea behind the car has been to draw on some of the cool original design elements of the early Mustangs and Shelbys and change and or update them without creating a contemporary looking custom build that feels "new." I hope that makes some sense. In keeping with that theme I wanted to add engine bay bracing that was reminiscent of the old shock tower - to - firewall and "monte carlo" bars that the original cars had. And yes, before anyone says it, I clearly sacrificed some function with that huge bend in the monte carlo bar, but the air for the engine has to come from somewhere.

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps7b0e1d51.jpg
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps9cea04cb.jpg

After building all of the bracing I was hoping to move away from more little body and fab projects, it is really easy to come up with simple little ideas that turn into small but time consuming projects.

One of the projects at BOS right now is a twin turbo 67 Mustang that arrived with the typical Eleanor body kit. It has been undergoing a transformation of sorts, and one of my ideas was to get rid of the quarter window scoops and replace them with fuel and oil fillers since the car is running a dry sump in the back and a 35 gallon fuel cell that is so tall it can only be fed from the sail panel. The owner wanted to retain the original Shelby quarter scoops though, so I started playing around with the idea on my car.

Here is what unfolded. The initial version was the most simplistic and was a straight recessed panel, but that left too much empty space that needed to be filled with something. Since I've always one of the more iconic features on the fastback were its louvers I decided to try and add some. After playing with spacing, and the inclusion of the racing style filler that appeared on the Cobra, this is what I ended up with.
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps524dcff5.jpg
http://s366.photobucket.com/user/69M...tml?sort=3&o=6

I still wasn't quite happy with it though because the filler still looked tacked on so I decided to recess it with notches around the hinges so it looked more like it belonged.
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...psbed17f18.jpg

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...psc8839cc3.jpg

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps087153be.jpg

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps317a12c6.jpg

Now to figure out how to make a little stainless trim ring that matches with drip rail moldings...

Looks good, Matt. I like the idea of putting the louvers and gas filler together.

Do you have a 2 gas tanks? To me, it looks like shots of both sides of the car.

Hey I was just taking your advice and combing thru the "junkyard":rolleyes:

I completely understand your build direction. Kinda like of you went back in time with the knowledge of today and built it with some parts of the past. Maybe that doesn't make sense.:BlahBlah:

You know what I think of your quarter window fillers already but to be official.:thumbsup: Mimicking the feel of the original louvers is a great idea.

Can't wait to see what you come up with for the stainless trim. To date the build is Blue Oval approved.:lmao:

:popcorn2:


One side for Gas one side for Oil in the dry sump tank.

:cheers:

Good eye! I've been thinking that I want this car to be really street friendly, as in, something that is comfortable, safe, and reliable enough to drive to events a few thousand miles away. I also want the car to be a fun driver's car on the track. In order to keep the reliability and streetability I want, I'm not going too radical on the engine. There are manifolds that raise peak power up to 8200rpm, there are larger throttle bodies and there are nasty cams that build much better power in the upper rpm ranges, but get rid of variable valve timing. I don't want to go in that direction, since I want to preserve the most useable amount of low to mid torque and get the best response out of the engine that I can. To that end, I'm sticking to basic items like long tube headers, a little additional port work on the heads and good intake and tune using the factory engine management system. One of the good things about the factory harness is that I should be able to plug in a hand held tuner to the computer, and be able to change tunes in under a minute. See where I'm going with the two fuel fillers. :unibrow:

If the engine is grossly lacking everything that makes it really fast, I can always pull it out in a couple years to sleeve the block, bore it out, and toss in super light rotating assembly with a billet crank and better rods and pistons. :G-Dub:

Sneaky. I just thought one was for the dry sump tank. Maybe your were talking about the customers car.

:cheers:

Yeah, that description gets at what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to keep the number of overtly modern touches like billet tail lights, carbon fiber bumpers, or other finish details like shaved door handles, modern mirrors or new school steering wheel and gauges to a minimum. I want it to be a little bit like how Steve Strope designs his cars, except I want this thing to be functional for me, which means a new engine and nice seats. :lol:

Speaking of gauges, I need to give Speed Hut a call. I want some gauges very similar to yours, except I want a yellow tach that reads 7500 rpm at 12 o'clock. :D

See, your recycling of the junkyard has been useful both to me and Speed Hut.

Oh, and I think the dry sump must have been in regards to the customer's car. the Boss 302 engine uses a huge road race wet sump. I haven't heard of poor oiling on the Coyote motors like I've heard about on LSs. I know the Grand am Mustangs are still running wet sumps so they must not be too bad.

Matt, did you see Maier just came out with flared front fenders for 65-66 that fit 315's? :idea:

:D


Good to know you are the official rep for all things Blue Oval. :rolleyes:

I think I can fit 315s on the front of my car, but I'm going the hellaflush route and since I'm planning on running street tires, I'm thinking of using either the 295 Rivals or the 285/30 Dunlop ZIIs. It's probably the rear that would need the wheel houses and/or frame rails modified to fit the 315 without rubbing.

Nice. What size rears you gunnin for?

You know Rob will not approve on behalf of the Blue Oval camp unless they are a 345 at a minimum. :twak:

No kidding! :lostmarbles:

I think I'll put a square setup on the car. I am debating going back and re-doing the area where the outer wheel houses meet up with the wheel openings so that I can run 315s. I don't think I'll be running any more than 450 rwhp, so anything more than 295 will probably make the car a little faster, but more difficult to control. I've found I have a difficult time controlling cars that have high levels of grip, are are a little tight, but just enough power to be able to break things loose if you really put your foot in it. I always find these types of cars to be the I'm most tentative to drive all out and I'm most likely to spin when I'm mostly done powering out of a gradual turn. I guess it all depends on proper car setup. I'm sure I'll be able to get the car fast with a little help,but I'm not convinced I can set my car up to handle just how I want.

Very cool build....subscribed!!

Congrats at Optima! you placed well, considering all the big names you were up against!

Thanks! I'm thankful to have have had the opportunity to drive alongside some really great folks. Everyone who competed was a class act. I broke a steering rack on Friday night, and had it not been for help from Kyle and Andy at DSE as well as GW and Sieg, I would not have been running at all. I didn't have my head in the game, had a ton of fun regardless. Even as a driver this year, In a highly professional well run event (hats off to Jimi Day) i think it was the people who made the experience.

Great perspective Matt. Congratulations on your performance.

Congratulations Matt.

After a last min thrash to fix some gremlins you drove 325 + mi in the actual car you were competing in.

The misshap with your steering rack on Friday may have fazed you when you ran your hot lap but you were able to pull it together and put a couple of solid performances together on the autox and start stop.

You showed a lot of composure.

And when it was all done your drove your car 325 miles home.

Oh and I would have gave your camaro more than one point for design.:headscratch:

I think it was Todd who said

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

Or maybe it was Confucius, I get those two confused.:lmao: :lmao:



:cheers:

Congrats Matt. :thumbsup:

And I think I agree with what Todd, Rob and Confucius all said about you. :confused59:

:lol:

I'm not going to lie. There were some moments when I had my doubts - in fact I was pretty sure - that I wasn't going to be running at all. I thought it might have been over when we had to pull the engine. I really thought it was over when the rack broke, and when I was trying to pull the rack out at 5:15 in the morning, while it was still dark and I could hardly see, let alone reach the little power steering fittings (you DSE subframe owners should be able to sympathize), I really wanted to just throw everything down and walk away. When you drive to an event, and your car is on jackstands you don't really have that liberty though. I had a lot of help the last two weeks, from Dick and Jesus at BOS helping me to pull and re install the engine, and Charlie and Austin at RPM to Kyle and Andy at DSE for helping replace the rack. After taking the rack out first thing Saturday morning, I had to run to the drivers' meeting and when I came back Andy had the car back on the ground and ready to add power steering fluid. I was at a complete loss for words. There are plenty of others who helped over the last two weeks in their own various ways. I'll just call you guys the usual suspects. You guys all made it possible for me to prove the stubborn point that a car like mine could be driven and raced without a trailer. :cheers:

so when are you going to be back on this?