Lateral-g Forums - Transition Camaro

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- - Transition Camaro (https://www.lateral-g.net/forums/showthread.php?t=41869)

Back when I put the front end together the jig didn't want to sit down in the crossmember correctly. After talking to DSE who's never ran into this I decided to slot the motor mount holes equally and use shims to level the jig. Well now that I have all the parts to assemble and align the car didn't have enough adjustment and used two shims on the passenger side and 0 on the left. The factory UCA's had the same issue. I thought it was due to the car being hit. Turns out the subframe was built on a Friday just before quit'n time at the factory just like the drivers side rocker that sticks out an 1/8 too far. Lesson learned is to wait for all parts to mock up and measure everything or get a better piece to start with. I figured it would be fine using the jig. I'm not happy with it so I decided to cut out the drivers side UCA coil over mount and move it over 3/16 where it needs to be. This was a huge job with a cutoff wheel and air saw but it cleaned up nice. I filled in the gap with 1/4 stock and welded it up with multiple passes. It looks a lot better with the same number of shims on both sides and knowing I can adjust the camber as needed was worth it. Before I couldn't get any straighter than -1.5 deg on the driver side.

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...D8167FD998.jpg
http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...BD5039DCB7.jpg
http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...A58B95C20A.jpg
http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...8C39821B1A.jpg

I thought a textured finish would be more durable but I didn't like the look of it on the firewall and cowl so I stripped it down. I also went over the car with 80 grit to spray some new epoxy before skim coating with filler.

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...BB13A7EF98.jpg
http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...E04EAD80E8.jpg
http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...D60F7E6AF3.jpg

Started working on the door gaps, deck lid filler panel, and fenders.

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...C79BF66383.jpg

Nice work -- and even more important -- I'm really glad to see people NOT willing to accept "It's okay" --- like your UCA relocation. Yeah it's a PITA.... but you go forward knowing stuff is right. SO good for you!

As much as I enjoy watching Pro shops do high end builds, for me there's nothing better than seeing a guy with big league skill and a budget do it at home.

Very nice, maybe I'll see this one out somewhere this summer if I'm lucky:goggles:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vince@MSperfab (Post 547012)

nice work

Thanks Vince!

Quote:

Originally Posted by GregWeld (Post 547027)

Greg, you are absolutely right. I was a little hesitant to cut into it, especially without a plasma cutter, but I kept thinking about it. I'm glad I did. Now I can sleep well knowing the root cause is fixed rather than to keep trying to work around the issue. I even thought about making a new offset UCA shaft. That would have been a whole new can of worms. This fix didn't really cost me anything (other than a new angle gauge I dropped on the floor) so it works out well all the way around.

The past few days I have a new dilemma. Ironically the AMD fender with a little tweaking fits a lot better than the factory one on the drivers side. The drivers side fender was hit at one point and has shallow dents and the inner structure is tweaked slightly. It's the only original sheetmetal left on the car beside the rockers and cowl. I'm going back and forth on buying a new fender or use a little filler on this one. The truck freight's a killer. It's nearly as much as the fender. For some reason I buy into the filler stigma. I don't really want any. The skim coat I've put on the car is nearly all blocked off. The fender would require a 1/16" thick or so in some areas.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CURVES (Post 547142)

As much as I enjoy watching Pro shops do high end builds, for me there's nothing better than seeing a guy with big league skill and a budget do it at home.
Very nice, maybe I'll see this one out somewhere this summer if I'm lucky:goggles:

Ha! Not skills.. Necessity. With a daughter in college and a 6k puppy who just had a third surgery yesterday I can't afford to have someone do it. :G-Dub: I really like the work I've seen from those guys on here and wish I could have them do a few things on my car! (The puppy is a lab who broke both of her front elbows in multiple places jumping).

Thanks for the compliments! I'm hoping for end of summer but it's a long shot. I see you're in Olympia. Hopefully I'll run into you. I'd love to check out your car. I saw a Hugger Orange 69 out in Lacey two weekends ago and it sure got my blood pumping.

I resemble that remark!
Single Dad with a teenage daughter:hairpullout:

Somehow like me, I have a feeling you do the work even when funds aren't an issue.

I should probably change my avatar, I sold the 69 a while ago and now I'm working on a '71. I may enjoy building them more than owning them!

I think I know the orange car, there's a lot of nice first gens lurking around here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CURVES (Post 547153)

I hear ya on the teenager thing.

Yeah, in reality I pretty well do everything myself or my dad helps me out. I guess I like things done a certain way. Now that you mention it I'm a little afraid of how it's going to be when the cars finished. Or maybe it's never finished! :) I do enjoy tinkering with things. My son wants a 1st gen Mustang so we may start that after this one is drivable.

71 is very cool!! There's certain aspects of both the 1st gens and 2nd gens I really like. It would be nice to have one of each. Pretty sure the wife wouldn't go for that! Years ago I really liked the 2nd gen Reher Morrisons drag car. They later ran a 3rd gen which was cool too. For whatever reason to me the rounded 2nd gen just looks fast standing still.