I highly recommend House of Kolor. You can make any color you want and get whatever affect you are after. The panel I displayed with the blue I'm going to use is their standard metallic in the Shimrin line with no effects added to it. However, HOK regular base, such as this color, does provide a pearl look to it without it actually being a pearl. I was considering using their Shimrin2 base and adding a pearl to it, but after spraying a test with this color I'm deadset on this. I might like the Shimrin2 with pearl better, but cost would more than double. I can shoot the Shimrin in this color for $40 a quart unreduced.
I am thinking about spraying a charcoal grey bumblebee stripe and possibly also the tail panel. I'm still on the fence with that right now, but have plenty of time to decide.

One thing that is bothering me right now is my car came with the RS package. The doors have the large holes at the bottom for the RS trim and the rockers and fenders have the holes for the rocker spears. Also, the car had, originally, wheel well trim. I am just not feeling all this trim with the direction I have went with this car. What does everyone think about welding up the RS trim holes in the doors, rockers and fenders? The roof rain gutter is supposed to have chrome trim as well. Should I delete that trim as well?

This might be more of a Team Camaro question but did only RS package cars come with all the trim? I only ask because mine has all that bling but to my knowledge was a standard coupe with deluxe interior.

If you have moved on and do not want to go back then buzz them shut. It is your car... if you have the trim, and are still intent on selling it I think I would put it on. Tough call.

I'm confident the answer on TC would be to keep the trim on the car. Too many purist over there. Quite frankly, I'm not fond of a protouring car with all the trim and badges all over the car, but that's just me. To me, one of the goals of building a protouring car is to give the car a sleeker appearance. It's a difficult call, though.
The 67 RS cars came with trim on the doors, fenders and quarters along with a spear directly below it on the rocker along with wheel well trim. I really like blubalz trim delete look. Maybe I should weld it all up and shave the rain gutters:willy:

I do have some rare NOS wheel well trim and some mint rain gutter trim I could sell for more parts funds. One thing I can't really delete and actually like are the wing windows. Let me rephrase that, I like the functionality of the vent windows, but don't care for how they break up the flow of the side appearance of the car. Make sense?

I guess I phrased that rather poorly. I meant to be inquiring to you about whether non-RS Camaros would have been optioned with the full trim... and that my question might be better served on TC.
I hear you on the oversaturation of purists over there, but it is a good resource.

As to PT cars bearing trim and emblems it is a personal choice. Some shed them as "weight" as well as seeking a different appearance. I like a mix, but then if my build was more advanced to the PT curve who knows?

What's a "wing window"?:unibrow:
:lol:

I suppose non-RS cars could received wheel well trim and the rocker spear, not completely sure about that though. The fender, door and quarter trim was specific only to the RS optioned cars though.

'Wing window' cars were the 50 hp extra cars that were only specific to the 67 model Camaro, hence making them faster than the slower two years:P

You answered your own question about all the trim. I agree for the most part with you as well. To me, by the late 60s and into the 70s all the excessive trim is almost a distraction so I like seeing it deleted completely or reduced. No wheel well trim for sure. On older cars, the trim seems to fit the design and personality of the cars more. Early 60s Impalas come to mind.

I really like this blue you've chosen. I think it'll look great. Don't over analyze this or keep scrutinizing your choice after you've painted the car. Lay on it nicely and as best you can and it'll be great. You don't want to keep questioning your decision after it's done. That might lead you to dislike your choice instead of enjoying the car.

I also like the charcoal accents idea. In general, I like seeing the tail panels on 1st gen Camaros an accent color or blacked out. It just gives it a different attitude. Hard to explain. I just know I like it.

Keep the vent windows. You can always darken the window trim to make it stick out less. I personally like vent windows on vehicles unless you go really hardcore and start doing major body line changes. Then deleting them almost seems necessary.

Good luck.

I did some measuring the other day and found out I didn't install my subframe completely square to the body, so I pulled it back out. I never was able to get the same measurements I found in the Fisher body book. I was an inch shy of one of their cross measurements...strange...I did however get it square. I finally welded on the DSE subframe connector brackets to the frame as well. My frame has a flare at the end and the DSE brackets would not fit flush, on the side, to the frame, so I had to get creative. What do you think?

Well that post was enough to create paranoia over swapping my subs one for the other...:_paranoid
I think your fix looks about like it was made that way. Got a pic from above? Or another angle?

I'm still torn over whether I want to take the front clip apart or off, contemplating pulling the motor then dropping the sub out... and so on.

It's strange, I had a 68 frame under the car for a while that I did the permanent Guldstrand mod to. It fit perfectly under the car right on spec with the Fisher body manual. I switched back to the original frame to this car when I purchased the Truturn system. Ridetech states their system cannot be used with the G-mod. Now, the original frame to this car measures nearly an inch shorter at one of the cross measurements from what Fisher manual states. I'll find out tomorrow how the fenders fit with this frame.

I'll snap some more pictures tomorrow for you from different angles.

I would do everything I could to not have to remove the fenders. I've been trying, off and on, for quite some time to get my fenders aligned properly and have yet been able to get a fit that I'm satisfied with. I have all GM metal, minus hood, and still am having trouble. I'm about to defeat these ill-fitting fenders though!

Kick their @$$
You'll get 'em.

I am fortunate to have GM fenders too since the body tech insisted in '96 My hood is Goodmark I think. I learned last summer the rad support is GM too.

Was that first line your advice based on experience? Keep my front clip together if at all possible?

Yes, sometimes you get lucky and they line right up, then other times it can take days. If you do remove them, make sure you double tape all the edges up and document what shims went where.

I've been working on front cap alignment. It's still not where it needs to be, but am getting close. Once I'm satisfied with the fitment, I'll move on to working the gaps and the flatness of the panel edges. Factory panels had a curve to them up to the edge from the stamping process. I like for them to be flat across the gaps.

I was just reading your update .... looks like you have your work cut out fer sure. Did you say those were GM fenders? They don't look so good :(

Again you are ahead of my car and I still have the whole panel alignment to look forward too, new door skins! :willy: :willy: Maybe I'll start drinking and they will look better from 20 feet :rofl:

Now that is the best idea I've heard all day:thumbsup:

Yes, they are original GM fenders aligned to original GM doors:wow:

I'm sure I'm making it more difficult than it should be:faint:

I have still been fighting the front cap alignment. I never would have dreamed this was going to give me such fits. No forward progress to report for alignment.

I did manage to reinstall the front suspension. I had to repair a damaged area on the passenger lower control arm pocket in the subframe. After I set the car back on the ground, I believe I'm going to need shorter front coilovers. I recently switched to Ridetech control arms and I believe they are going to require the coilover to be about an inch shorter. I'll have to contact Ridetech again and see if they will, once again, let me swap these coilovers for some shorter ones.

I was wondering if anyone would be willing to take a measurement for me. I need to compare my car to others. I need a measurement in the quarter window channel from front to rear please?

people that do not do this alot have no idea how much work you put into perfect gaps and body lines,cars looking good though,mine is a 69 if the measuements are the same let me know I will get whatever you need.

Thanks Jeff. These cars, to make right, require significant amounts of very frustrating work!

69 bodies would be the same in this area

Jeremy, My interior is out and I will measure anything I can for you too.
If you can give exact instructions point to point for accuracy.
You want rear quarter window channel width? Or from there to where front to rear?
Or length of quarter window channel where the fuzzy window felt goes?

PM or email, anything I can do Buddy.

Thanks Robert!

I'll snap some pictures and post them so everyone will know what exactly I need measured. I'm sure each car will vary and that is what I'm wanting to see, so hopefully a few more will pop in with measurements to compare with

:idea: Good call. I will have a look once you get some pics of what you need.

The first two pictures are from the passenger side and then, of course, the last two are from the driver's side.

Just measured mine and the passenger side looks about the same as yours but mine is a little tighter than yours on the front of the drivers side which is not good because these glasses are really hard to roll up and down with interior panels in place.

Jeremy.... I'll get pictures when I get back later today. I still have the OEM quarters on too.

First of all, relevant to our earlier conversation Mako, it is -12 degrees :eek: here in my garage so if you want to factor in some shrinkage to my measurements it may be justified.:headscratch:

Anyway, one difference is that my car has the outer window felts and trim at the window ledges but the measurements I took were around those attachment points to try and be consistent to yours. I measured body to body only so the trim would not be a factor.

At the rear of the pass quarter window slot I get 1 5/16"
At the front of it I get 1 1/4"

My pass door slot is mostly 1 1/2, and I measured at the mirror and before/aft the window stabilizing clip with felt on it, window guide they might call it.

My drivers qtr window slot was a touch narrower at the rear I got 1 3/16 and maybe a fat 1 1/8 at the front.

My Drivers door is the same as pass.

My car's body is all original behind the firewall.

Awesome, thanks guys. Seems 1 1/4" was what GM engineered that channel to be. My driver's side measures that consistently throughout the length of the channel. however, My passenger side is a 1/16" narrower in the rear and 1/8" narrower in the front of the channel. I have replaced my quarters with NOS metal.

I asked for that measurement because of my fitment issues with the front cap. I can get the doors to fenders aligned together, but I can't get the doors to quarters to sing in harmony. I have the tops of the doors adjusted further in to work with the fenders. By doing this, it pushes the door in past the quarter plane. Make sense? My only solution to this problem right now is to place a block of wood in the jamb at the top of the door and twist the door a tad to get it level with the quarter. I'm worried, though, by doing this it will kick that bottom of the door out past the quarter at the jamb.

-12* is cold enough to shrink a lot more than metal:D I think the coldest it has ever gotten around here is 0. That was freaking cold. I could only imagine what -12 feels like. ouch!

Today, I woke up from my on-going nightmare of 4 weeks of working on panel alignment. I have the driver's side aligned as best as possible. I have 3/16" of shims on the top cowl bolt and I need to remove 1/16" to push out the fender to even it with the door. The door to quarter jamb still needs a bit of work, though. The top half of the door is leaning in and not even with the quarter. I haven't decided to either use a block of wood and twist the door or make a slice in the quarter just inside the door jamb. The driver quarter, as opposed to the passenger quarter, is thicker on the top edge than the door. Passenger quarter narrows up and is even with the door as the top edge transitions into the door. With that, I'm leaning towards surgery on the quarter.

The fender will need a bit of work where it meets the rocker as well. The two are not following the same contour, so I'll have to work on that. Also, towards the top of the fender it lays in past the door as it gets to the top edge. Looks like I'll have to make a slice on the fender just inside the fender-to-door gap to work that even with the door.

With that work left to be done, the shimming process on the driver side is DONE! I'm still working on the passenger side, but seems I'm making better progress today than I have in the past 4 weeks. Can I get an amen?:lol:

Amen Brother!

I'm not feeling so bad about my trivial journey after reading your exercise in patience. :hail: :thumbsup:

Thanks Sieg and Robert:cheers:

Patience, I don't think, really is the word for it. Persistence would fit better. If I were patient, then I wouldn't have a hole in my sheetrock from throwing a hammer through it this morning:bang: :sieg:

That's passion!

You can put a poster over the sheet rock. :)

I'll never forget thrashing one night to prep a bike for a x-country race the next day that involved leaving town at 4 a.m. to make the starting line at 8:30 and snapping a bolt..........I "released" the ratchet across the garage and it hit my 2 week old washing machine dead center on the front edge and left a dent and 1.5" void of enamel which for the next 10 years reminded me to control my temper............30 years later I still have the ratchet!! :woot:

I lost it this morning for sure. After 40 years, I've learned to not fly-off at the hat like that, but not this morning.

My driver's door needed a slight bit more tweaking to fit better. I loosened the hinge bolts just enough for them to move, but not move on their own. I broke out the dead blow to give the hinge a gentle tap. As soon as I did that, the door dropped down and threw off the entire adjustment. I, essentially, had to start all back over. Needless to say, that dead blow ended up in the other garage via a sheetrock wall.

My garages are due for a fresh coat of paint and I was planning to do that early spring. Guess, I have no choice in it now

Nice throw! :hail:

Some emotions cannot be endured with a golf club in your hands.
~ Bobby Jones

Not a great deal of progress has been made as of late. However, I haven't made any new holes in any walls, so that is a good thing.

I did make a hole in my original header panel though. I had picked up a NOS header panel a few years back at a swapmeet and recently found out that panel is for a 69 Camaro. That forced me to have to go back to the original panel. The area of the panel where the emblems go was oil canned and banged up. No matter what I did with the hammer and dolley, it just wouldn't move. So I cut out the metal and welded in a patch there.

Also, I picked up a LS3 short block. It may or may not ever make it into this car, but I'll put it in something eventually.

Good work:thumbsup:

I have revisited my panel alignment dilemma. This has been an ongoing process of a test of my patience, sanity and obvious lack of skill level when it comes to aligning this front cap. I have tried to progress this project to start prepping for paint, but have hit a proverbial brick wall with not being able to get the correct alignment of my fenders.

Bare with me as I detail my problems with this starting with the driver's side. I have the driver's side door aligned as well as I can to the quarter panel. The quarter to door gap is not perfect, however I can see at the bottom of the door it begins to curve out closing the gap with the quarter. The only thing I know that can be done there is grind the edge of the door to even the gap. However, I will probably break through the skin on the edge as it needs about 1/16" removed. Of course, if I break through I'll have to reweld, but would this be customary?

Also, on the driver's side fender, it required 3/8" of shims at the top of the cowl to lift the fender to the proper height to match the fender. I forget the amount of shims I added in the lower fender bolt. I did have to use 5/16" shims in the fender jamb bolt to pull the fender out enough to match the door. The driver's side fender to door is perfectly aligned. I am worried though, with the amount of shims I had to use in the fender jamb bolt. That amount of shims will increase the fender to hood gap as well as the outer cowl to fender gap. With all that aside, the fit is near perfect. This is the best fit I have managed on the driver's side. There is one exception though, the bottom fender corner that mates to the rocker panel sticks out past the rocker. I cannot get that to lay even with the rocker. Do I just accept all this or is there more work that could be done to get 'everything' to fit within sync?

Now onto the passenger side. I am not getting good alignment here at all. I have reworked the alignment on the passenger door so many times I lost count. The door gap along the rocker is tighter at the front of the door than the rear of the door. I didn't get an actual measurement, but I would guesstimate around as little as 1/6" to 1/8" difference. I dropped the front of the door in an attempt to lessen the amount of shims needed to lift the fender to match the top of the door. I have maxed out the amount of shims the cowl fender bolt would allow as well as the lower fender bolt would allow. None of which ever sucked the fender in even with the door. At this time, there is 1/16" more shim on the passenger side cowl bolt compared to the driver's side. If I lift the front of the passenger door to get a consistent rocker to door gap, then I would have to add even more shims to that fender cowl bolt. In doing so, that would cause the hood to sit that much higher than the drivers side which would make the front cap crooked. Also, I have no shims in the fender jamb bolt. The fender is sticking out well past the door with this arrangement. I did notice that the fender firewall bolt area has a tear in the sheetmetal, which with a tape measure shows the passenger fender is taller than the driver's fender when measuring from the top of the cowl to the top of the fender. I am beginning to think this is where the problem with my passenger fender lies. It has caused the fender to already be stretched more without adding shims, thus not allowing me to stretch the fender the appropriate amount to suck the fender in with the door. If this is the case, then how the heck can I get this part of the fender back within spec without damaging it? Also, the fender is doing the same thing on the passenger as with the driver's side at the rocker. The bottom corner sticks out past the rocker.

Both fenders and doors are original GM. The driver's side fender to outer cowl panel gap is measuring 1/4".

The rest of the pictures

Hmmm, I wonder how well this gauge set could be grafted into the 67 Camaro dash? This gauge set addresses 99% of the problems I have with the Dakato Digital VHX new gauge set. This set offers large gauges with a larger digital readout. I really want this set!

That looks awesome, what vehicle is it meant for? The biggest hiccup is likely to be view angle. That looks like a large radius would have to be sunk into the top of the dash quite a ways... Seems to me that is in the opposite direction of how our dash slopes isn't it?

It's designed to fit the new Marquez dash. The 69 Camaro that Ridetech is building for GoodGuys is utilizing this gauge set.

The problems I see with integrating this set into a stock 67-8 dash is the width of it would cause you to have to relocate the ignition swith and the light switch. I'm not sure it would protrude into the dash top as this gauge set says its 7 1/4" in height. If you installed this set at an angle, laid back at the top, then that would reduce the height even further. It's the width of the set that seems to pose the problem. I don't think the factory a/c vents would work either. The factory opening is 13", so that is a 3" deficit to the VHX gauge set.

I have already broke out the tape measure and stared at my dash to see how will it could be fitted.