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- - 383 6spd 80Z Camaro EFI (https://www.lateral-g.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12374)

Glad you're back on the Z, Woody. Good luck with the plans.

Look forward to seeing more, good luck with the build!

Hey woody! I remember you from nasty z28 years ago, I cant remember what my name was on there. I think I bought calipers from you. Good to see you still have the car and going at it!

It's nice to be working on it again. I've got a to-do list that is miles long, and some of this stuff has been waiting for too many years. The Camaro was getting neglected after the Beretta "frame off", the truck overhaul and buying a house...and that whole getting married thing. haha

Finished up the exhaust today. Everything tucks up really nice. The bottom bolt on the header flanges hang just below the subframe, but that is it, and I rerouted the over the axle pipes for max suspension clearance. I modified the crossmember and the driver's header to keep everything up high. And those SpinTechs are fairly small so they aren't bad to locate. Should sound nasty too! Next thing will be the rear Hotchkis bar install and then cutting off & modifying the mount where the SFCs connect to the SF so it's removable for the rotisserie.

http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...0/IMG_9561.jpg
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Big update! Been burning more metal with the car on the rotisserie...cleaning up some ugly from the 6spd swap and the rear end through the back seat. haha
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...8/IMG_9612.jpg

Reworked the Alston SFCs. I was amazed at how much I could flex them when I cut the ends off to remove the subframe. So I built some heavy brackets with a big gusset and put a couple braces on the SFC tubes to the floor bracing to make them stronger. Now it should be just as strong as the Rasmussen/DSE-style connectors without redoing it all. Welded in the Hotchkis plates for the rear sway bar too.
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...4/IMG_9602.jpg
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I finished the fab work on the 6spd hump and boxed in the floor bracing I had to cut for the shifter. Probably not an issue anyway given the solid SF bushings, but can't hurt. Also finished fab on the firewall for the clutch master bracket and filling/smoothing, and added an 1/8" band under the cowl seam where there was a lip. Should be a stronger spot to bolt my G-braces to and will look better when I grind & smooth it.
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Cut out the metal on the front lower quarter to access the rusted bracing. The pass side was repaired by the previous guy, but they didn't do anything with the bracing. I'm going to get both of those areas blasted when it goes to the blaster next week, and try to re-fab the bracing if I can see how it should have been. I already have the patch panels to close it back up.
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There is also a hint of rust at the bottom of the doors. My body guy says it might not even be worth skinning. Have a look and see what you think. The other rusty spot is the heavy gauge toe box up by the subframe mount. Not sure of the best plan to tackle that. It needs to be structurally solid in that area.
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Got the car back from the sand blaster finally and I've gotta admit, I'm disappointed with the job. Looks like they half-assed it. Sent the boss at the blaster some pics and they are gonna take it back and do it right.

Not much for rust surprises. Got down to the fiberglass patches from the PO in a couple spots so I can fix it right. Did find a new spot on the cowl to cut up though. Didn't see that one coming.

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Doing a couple patches first. And cut out all the rust in the inner rocker/door jamb area of the quarter.

http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...5/IMG_9684.jpg
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So I knew the PO replaced the exterior sheet metal at the lower quarter...what I did not find out until just now was they wadded the holy rocker full of bondo. So I cut all of that out too.

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I also cut out the rusty part of the cowl panel. Borrowed a friend's cheapo HF spot weld cutter and it worked amazing actually. Very impressed. I put a post in the NastyZ swap meet section looking for just that part of the cowl in case someone had to use just the driver side for something. If no luck I'll just buy one and sell off the other half. haha

http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...4/IMG_9709.jpg
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Finally got everything I need to finish up the underbody once I get it back from the re-blast job. I will be taking the car back over this week. I've got SPI primer and Lizardskin heat & sound coating.
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...b/IMG_9713.jpg

Braced & stitch welded the subframe, and had to add a plate to get the Hotchkis brackets to fit.
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...9/IMG_9776.jpg
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Melted the lead out of the quarters.
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...0/IMG_9812.jpg
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And thinking about changing plans now and stripping all the exterior sheet metal now too before laying primer & insulation on the underbody & interior. It would probably end up working out better.

That is alot of work. But you know at the end of the day, you'll be very satisfied with the results.....I saw the Hotchkis mod on Nasty Z last week.

So with the wiper relocation, is there any links you can send me on that mod? thinkin about it on my 2nd gen.....I like the looks of it.