69 Dash panel
 

One of the items I had to change was the original dash panel. 67 and 68 have a much better design but the 69 to me is a complete disater. Not sure who was driving that design but I had to do something with it. I have had some emails asking if the dash panel was available for sale. This is a one off build and here are some images on how it was built. I used a detroit speed dash panel from Classic industreis PND104012 along with Autometer cobalt gauges. I like the look of these because of the blue backlighting which gives it a modern feel opposed to the standard warm white or green. I wanted to create a different look instead of just cutting holes and inserting the gauges into the panel, to me this looks unfinished so i did dome research on other cars and was inspired by the mustangs. They did a better job on their dash design. To creat a similar look i have to build a panel that fits around the gauges to have them appear that they are recessed into the panel. The panel is made from Model board, but you could use MDF, ABS Acrylic or other solid material. Model board is widely used in mold making or pattern making it comes in different densities and thickness. Easily cut, milled and painted. I moved the AC controls to the lower part of the panel which gave me enough room to place all the gauges and have air outlets. Since it did not need to adjust the outlets they are fixed openings. Another item i needed to change was the turn signals instead of just mounting a light i placed the LED in the back of the sheet metal and drilled holes of the surround to hold pc of Acrylic rod that was frosted. The main gauge "hoods or brows" came from an old alfa part that i cut up and fitted, but you could make them from PVC pipe or alum tube. Once all the parts we fitted the panel was painted and ready for final assembly. I item i used to secure the LED in place was a glue called Goop, if you have never heard of it, well now you have. You can get it at Home Depot in the paint section, near adhesives. Just get the plumbing type it is the same as the household but comes with the applicator. This is one of the best adhesives that you can get which holds like mad but is removeable. It has many uses. There is more detail but I will add that in the next post.

Keep'em coming
 

I would like to see more on the center console too.
Happy New Year.

Jon

Green 69 RagTop from Power Tour

I really like how the gauges are set back, looks like something factory built.

Latest project updates
 

For the past 5 months we have been working on this Concept vehicle for Lexus / Calty Design. The car can be seen at COBO center in downtown detroit starting on Saturday or can be seen on the web. Check out the wicked tail lamps. :thumbsup: Here's some images.

Camaro looks great! The concept Lexus.... WOW. Amazing!

That concept Lexus looks pretty sick! Love the color, the stance and those pedals are a pretty sweet set-up.

Custome rear exhaust tips
 

I have had some people ask me about the exhaust tips and here is the stroy behind the exhaust tips. We built this car a few years ago and made some custom billet exhaust tips. Funny thing I was one that milled them on the Fadal. So we find out that the car is going to be scrapped and is brought down to the shop to be stripped of any useable items. I removed the tips and started to think what they could be used for it would be a shame for these to end up in a box in the shop collecting dirt. I walked over to the Camaro which was being surfaced and held up the tips, Andrew saw what I was doing and said I should make some custom openings in the rear valance panel, as I thought about it I said what the heck lets go for it, the next day I was in the shop cutting away the sheet metal. I used a lazer to sight a straight line and made a quick template to use to cut the opening. Once I had it all cut out I fabed some brackets to hold then in place then increased the opening to allow for a gap between the sheet metal and the tips. Once that was done Andrew convinced me to fab up a metal surround to finish it off. I used some 1/2 x 1/8 tk strap stock and formed the pc in place to fit around the opening. I used three pc to make them, top and two sides this made it easier to create the surround. Once completed then I welded them in place and them added a little filler to smooth them out for a factory look :thumbsup: i have seen some other cars that tried to do this but turned out only fair. Key is to find a tip that matches the sweep of the rear fender panels luckey for me I had a set that was the right part for the job.

Very nice build! Thanks for the details on the custom parts build. Nice to see the "how to" instead of just finished products.

That Lexus is awesome in the details! :thumbsup:

Wes

Spare parts
 

Well time to clean house. I have some 69 Camaro parts for a list of item send me a note and I will let you know what I have. I know the forum does not want to be a sales stage so I will not be listing any of the item. :thumbsup:

no we have a active "for sale section"
post it there so youll get more views from people that are looking to buys stuff.:thumbsup:

Parts for sale
 

Thanks for the heads up. I have been using Craigs list and have moved some of the parts.:cheers:

That looks like a Dodge Ram headlight switch on the DSE panel. Am I correct?

Headlamp switch
 

Well actually it came from a Dodge Dakota, ( My daily driver) not sure if it the same as the Ram but I would think so. I hated the stock camaro switch so i chucked that thing and wanted something more modern.:thumbsup:

I like it. It looks really good. It should control the fog lights too when you pull the knob out right? Do you remember how you wired it. I would really like to know.

Headlamp switch
 

One thing you need to know is that I have friends at Chrysler that helped me with the switch. My friend was able to provide me with the connector that plugs into the back along with a wiring diagram. But you do not need the connector to make one work, you can add individual blade connectors in the back on the pins you need and seal them up with epoxy and add a molec connector from there. One thing you also need to know is that this switch was intented to work with a computer so it relies on the inputs (low voltage)from the switch to make things operate. Since we do not have a computer to tell what to do in our application you need to add diods and cross wire some of the switch functions to make it work. Since at the time i was in a time crunch to get the vehicle finished I ended with the following.

The parking lamp function is the main beam and then the fog lamp switch turns on the running lamps, and when you rotate to the main beam position the high beam turn on this works with no diods added, the reason why I did this was to be able to have high and low while the running lamps were on, the switch is set up in a way that only allows the running lamp position to stay on but once you rotate it they would turn off so i used the fog lamp ( pull out) which works with all the positions of the switch for the running lamps. This worked out perfect for me since I did not have a fog lamps. Now you may want to set up differently but this is what I did.

I can pull my wiring diagram out and get the info and I can send this to you if you need it.

Let me know

Yes please send it to me. Electronics are my specialty. I want to use one of these switches for mine if you don't mind me stealing your idea. Have you had a chance to look at the newer 2010+ Ram switches? They look really nice. I might have to use one of those.

Wiring diagram
 

Here is the the way i wired as described in the previous thread. rotate once and the main beam comes on, pull out for parking lamp and the rotate once more and that is high beam, fog lamp position is still pulled out for parking lamps. Then as you rotate off all the positions cancel and the fog lamp switch closes. One thing I need to mention is that I am using a ISIS power master cell and this allows for this type of low voltage switch to make the lights work.

The second diagram is the circuit for the Dodge Dakota. I can email you larger files this site does not allow larger images, if needed send email and forward them over to you. I am sure you will figure it out.

PS Do you happen to need a 14 in rearbig brake kit for your camaro? Check out my listing on Parts for Sale. Wilwood Ford Big brake kit

Thanks for the wiring diagrams. I really appreciate you going through the work to post it here. I will definitely put it to good use. Those switches are going for a really good price on ebay. I'm going to go ahead and order one.

I am happy to help you out and i hope it works out as well for you as it did for me. Let me knowif you have any additional pinouts that work better than what I did. If you have any more questions let me know and i will be glad to help. :thumbsup: Here is another detail item I am adding to the car. A small emblem " Made in Detroit" This was made from a keychain and i am adding this to the lower fenders for an accent. Check out the image.

That's a really cool idea. How do you plan on mounting it? Are you going to recess it into the fender or just apply some double sided adhesive?

Mounting of emblems
 

Actually i am using high power magnets. These work killer and gives me the ability to move them around. Once i have a spot may resort back to good old double backed 3M tape. This works very well. If your interested in the logos go to madeindetroit.com and you can buy them on line.

That dash looks killer! Awesome job.

Do you need some rear brakes?
 

Thank you for the compliment on the dash. I checked out your build and did nt see the completed car so i must assume that it is still being worked on. I have a set of Willwood big brakes 14 in dia, 4 piston, red caliper that are brand new never used but they are for a ford 9 axle that I am trying to sell. $1400 for the complete kit, brand new they are 2k. You can see the listing on the part forum. Car looks very details:thumbsup:

Thank you. There is still quite a ways to go on the car.
I have a mongrel axle offset (by my own fault). But I already have Z51 brake set up on it now.

Thanks for the update
 

If you know anyone these are a very good deal, complete set with internal parking brake, rotors, pads calipes and ebrake cables, everything is brand new:thumbsup:

Cost?

Wilwood Ford Rear Big Brake kit complete
 

The cost is $1400 plus shipping. The kit sells for $ 2,000. The kit includes

Brand new Wilwood Billet W4A Radial rear disc kit. Complete kit provides the ultimate rear Big Brake solution for popular muscle car rear axles that require a parking brake.

* Billet W4A four piston calipers, * Red calipers
* 14" two-piece rotors
* high performance BP-10 compound pads provide optimized and balanced braking to compliment front big brake upgrades on all types of custom, show and high performance street machines.
* Parking brake internal shoe system provides a clean installation with superior static holding power for parking.

Fits Ford Axle with the dimensions below. Axle off set is 2.5 inches please check the Wilwood web site for more info
http://www.wilwood.com/BrakeKits/Bra...o=140-10948-DR


Complete kit brand new in boxes. Rear Brake Kit No.: 140-10948-DR

Check axle dimensions below. Below is what is included with the kit plus parking brake cables. $1400 + shipping (Complete kit retails for $2068.00)

Pay Pal accepted

Vehicle upgrades
 

Well after driving the car at night I was not impressed with the standard headlamps. In fact it was rather sad I could barely tell if the lamps were on. I had a set of Xenon lamps but they had a convex lens which hit the RS doors so they never made it on the final build of the car. So I put them up for sale and Devil Dog picked them up and he got a good deal. I decided to install a set of HID, I looked at some of the ebay stuff lamp assembles and they seemed to be cheap so I decided to go with a tried and ture Hella lamp assemblies $70 for the pair. You need to buy the bulb separately. This allowed me to go after a H4 HID bulb assembly $40. I just got the parts this week in the mail (amazon.com) and installed them this weekend. The result was well worth the effort I went from the dark side of the moon to the blistering white light of the HID 6000k. If you’re thinking about doing this it is well worth it.:thumbsup:

Air intake upgrade
 

Well after months of looking at the air intake that I put in just to get the car running I finally made a move to redue the intake. Since I just changed out the headlamps with the HID units I took the opportunity while the car was taken apart to get this done. With some help from Guy over at SPECTRA I was able to get most of the components. But there was still one issue. If you are planning on putting a LSA in your vehicle get a radiator with the return on the passenger side. The offset intake forces the air tube to be on the driver’s side. At the time of the build this is one item we overlooked and the return of the radiator is on the driver’s side so this makes for a tight fit for the air intake tube to be routed to the motor. So with a little ingenuity I made up this mockup pc out of Styrofoam and I am going to make a carbon fiber tube that will fit around the radiator and meet up with the other components. If your building mock ups with styrofoam you need to use epoxy or white glue to glue material together, styrene based glues eat the foam! One cool feature is that I can lay-up the epoxy resin over the styrofoam and once it is cured then I can melt the foam out with lacquer thinner, similar process to investment casting. Here is a picutre on the way it was and the mockup air intake pipe. :willy:

Great info
 

Good info and i have mine set up to not blind the on comming driver. I have been running HID on by Dodge Dakota and have never had an issue from the law. So the chances for me to be ticketed are very slim, I like the pure white from the HID plus most of the cars here in So Cal have HID so to be picked out are small. I will look into the LED and see what these are all about. Thanks for info.

Spectre Air intake
 

Well after some procrastination i am near the finish of the cool air intake. Guy over at Spectre Performance has helped me with the project and now I have something to show. Look for the next post :thumbsup:

Air intake installed
 

Two weeks later and here is the finished product. It took about 30 min to install and I was on the road. The tubes were painted with Deft " Mat Ray Silver" to match the suspension parts and makes a nice contrast to the Dark Axis Mettalic. All the parts came to gether pretty well and tuck inside the fender well. The only issue I had was the bracket did not work in the original position but ended up working in the opposite location, I plan on painting the bracket the Dark Axis mettalic later on to match the fender inners. Not bad for a custom intake tube that was built in the garage. Check out the previous thread for the start of the project. Here are some build pictures of the parts in process. :thumbsup:

OC Barrett Jackson Car show winner
 

This weekend Barrett Jackson held a Pre carshow at Connell Chevrolet in Costa Mesa. Out of a batch of vehicles the People's Choice Award for 1969 and older went to the Pioneer Stage 3 Camaro. :thumbsup: Thank you to those that attended and voted for me.:hail:

Well deserved.
 

Congratulations, missed seeing it on the Power Tour this year.

Sorry to miss you
 

Hi Jon,

This year my son is graduating from 8th grade and conflicted with the Power Tour dates so I opted to stay local and attend some of the local events. I will be there next year.

Hope you had a good time

Happy 4th of July
 

To all out there, this is a day to remember that we fought for independence, now more than ever we are be governed by a President that does not believe in the American way and wants to make America a third world country and give it away without a fight! Well when November comes we need to make a change and get someone one in there that wants to be an American and respects the American values!

X10000000 :thumbsup: Happy 4th to all!!

SPOCOM 2012 Anaheim Show
 

The annual SPOCOM "Sports compact " show was held this weekend in Anaheim across the street from Disneyland. This show is geared towards the import scene but the entry list had a entry for "Best Camaro" and "Best Mustang" usally reserved for the newer models. Five Axis showcase the 5AD prodcut line for the Scion FRS and we showed the Pinoeer Stage 3 build in the booth. Since this was the only muscle car in the building "200 cars" it took the show and came away with the trophy! Alot of people came buy and were stoked to see an older muscle car in the show and actually liked this car the best! Maybe it was not fair to go in and compete but the results speak for themselves maybe this will be a trend to start including these vehicle in the show.

MAST oil pan change over
 

When you are ahead of the croud you tend to run to problems that most people have not experienced. In my case using the LSA motor with the Heidts ProG subframe. This was done in 2010 when the motor was first introduced as a crate motor. The clock was against us and all the sources for other pans did not work for the application, you need a very shallow pan in the very front to clear the steering rack and still fit under the stock SS hood. When we put the motor in we had to modify the oil pan to fit the subframe. The modifcation went well but the oil pan still hung well past the subframe. I was able to run the car for over 1.5 years but always worried about the pan because the ride height of the vehicle is low. When you see the images you will know why. As time marched I knew it was only a matter of time when i was going so scrape this on the road and when i did the pan started to weep oil out, not a flow but a slow drip and was making a mess. I was talking with a friend of mine and he told me about the MAST oil pan. One look at this and I was all over it. I made a quick profile mockup based on the side view image and checked the fit. It cleared with miles of space. I ordered up the pan which comes with the pick up and added the widage tray. You have to source the new dip stick and tube from the dealership and I also got a new gasket yea i could have reused the stock one but for 30 bucks it is well spent money. ( LSA gasket) The one big issue was how to change out the pan? Well it comes down to pulling the motor in a finished vehicle, not fun but easily done. I planned out a weekend and went to town we pulled the motor in about 4 hours and changed out the pan. Pretty straight forward do a prefit before final install. I had to source two additional bolts for the rear of the pan. The kit did not include those particular bolts 6mm x 25 mm flange bolt. Another item that came up you need to use the spec oil fliter that MAST specifies PF46, I had picked up a PF48 which is the LSA oil filter which will not work. I also taped into the left oil plug near the filter for my oil perssure pick up (1/8 pipe tap) The motor went back in with little effort and here is the new pan in place. I also had a chance to do some other mods which i did since the motor was out. The motor started up with no issues and i am back on the road, when i tell people i pulled the motor they look at me like I am crazy :willy: but i just tell them no big deal just do it!

Here is the link for the pan http://www.mastmotorsports.com/2010/...ew.php?cat=Oil Pans&id=160

Just in case others are having trouble viewing Unit2's pics of the Mast oil pan vs the original LSA pan:


Here is the original GM pan that came on the LSA motor. Look how it hangs down below the bell housing and the subframe:


http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMG_4658.jpg

Here is the new Mast pan installed. Note how it is about even with the bell housing:

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMG_4728.jpg


You can also see how the new Mast pan is largely protected by the subframe:

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMG_4727.jpg