Originally Posted by Gmachine1911 (Post 676390)

Love this pic for some reason! This is the same place/position this thing would stay in for the next 6 months...to this very day, actually, although not for much longer but I'll get to that part later.

One thing I didn't mention yet was the importance of this build to me on an emotional level. As I said, I've had this car for 26 years...it's been wrecked by me, painted by me, disassembled more times than I care to count, stolen from my driveway by a couple of D-bags and totaled out while running from the cops. It's also been loved by me, hated by me and enjoyed by me, my wife and two young boys. But it was by necessity that I decided to turn this car into the car I'd always dreamed it would be. Shortly after my wife and I were engaged, she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 25. After surgery and some treatment, we were able to move forward with life, got married, had two wonderful boys 11 months apart (that's a whole other story), and went about living. It was 7 years later that her cancer came back and had spread to her lungs, so again we went thru various treatments and therapies and we stayed positive and kept the faith and stayed focused on living. By age 37, it had spread to her brain and by age 38 she had won her battle and was resting in her eternal home.

I only mention this because I learned many things in those years we were together (20 in all)...many things about myself, about my faith in Christ and about how amazing and selfless a gift she was to me. Among those things I've learned and tried to instill in my boys is that at the end of this life, having watched my best friend take her last breaths, our legacy is the only thing we leave behind in this world that can continue to make an impact once we're gone. How we treat people, how we deal with people both personally and professionally is what we leave as a testament to our character.

So after being on the back burner for a long time, this project was born from a necessity to keep my mind focused on something productive as much as it was a desire to make it a project of bringing the boys and I together to build something we could enjoy while at the same time teaching them the same skills my Dad taught me...

I promise I won't rain on the parade again! But sometimes the back story is the main story!

Originally Posted by Gmachine1911 (Post 692173)

Rixtrix1, thanks for the input. I checked out Lance's ride and the orange really pops...such a nice ride. Part of me loves the race decor b/c I've always had a thing for the original Trans-Am cars with the meatball numbers and regalia and yet the other side likes the subtleness and understated "factory" appearance (as far as paint). I just need to find the balance!

Originally Posted by Gmachine1911 (Post 693007)

So I ordered one of frankv11's cold air intake kits to take the place of the one I originally made for the car. The other one worked fine but needed a support brace and, most importantly, needed to be away from sucking hot air from behind the radiator. Frank's kit is really nice and he did a tremendous job getting my order turned around and out the door lightning fast. I wanted to have it in time to get it installed before HRPT so that obviously won't be a problem. Here's the initial mockup. Now I just need to get the tube pulled back out and painted before final assembly. This is one of the nicest kits I've seen for a first gen Camaro and well worth the money.

Originally Posted by ScotI (Post 693088)

I've followed this build since the first post. Seeing where it is now reminded me of this background history so I wanted to say congrats on the current status of the car.
Your efforts to include your boys is a great reminder to them that their Mom picked the right guy while also teaching them about true/great character. Great looking build!

Originally Posted by rixtrix1 (Post 693090)

Along this same vein, and as stated in other posts about contingency and "sponsors", sometimes one just wants to give a shout out to those companies whose products have worked for them. I'm sure if a sponsor wanted a specific logo on a vehicle, there might be some kind of contractual agreement in place.
Just some thoughts off the top of my head as I'm definitely not in a position to know, and doubt if my never finished Malibu will ever be worthy of such consideration. I've never attempted to talk to anyone with company decals on their car about it ( like the big QA1 decals on the back of Mills Robinson's Camaro) as I feel it's between them and the company. I try to concentrate on the build and how things were done on the cars.

Originally Posted by Spiffav8 (Post 693097)

Frank does awesome work and is such a great guy. Jealous you got yours installed before I did! LoL Looks super sharp!!

:captain:

Originally Posted by Corey R. (Post 693126)

What finish do you think you will use on the tubing?

Originally Posted by Gmachine1911 (Post 693143)

I'd love to have it anodized black but I've looked all over locally for someone who does it but no bueno. Frank said he stopped anodizing them b/c the areas where the welds are on the tubing discolored, so that makes me a little nervous. Long story short, since I need to get it done before Power Tour I'll probably just paint it.

Originally Posted by Gmachine1911 (Post 693143)

I'd love to have it anodized black but I've looked all over locally for someone who does it but no bueno. Frank said he stopped anodizing them b/c the areas where the welds are on the tubing discolored, so that makes me a little nervous. Long story short, since I need to get it done before Power Tour I'll probably just paint it.

Originally Posted by XLexusTech (Post 693144)

Powder coat ..?

Originally Posted by Rolie1980 (Post 693151)

You may also consider using Cerakoat most gun shops do it and there are many colors to choose. Also turnaround should be relatively fast.

That's a cool idea, hadn't thought about that!