Back to hot rodding! Spent the last week (and all the long weekend) doing a whole new roof on my parents' new house. Glad I'm not a roofer for a living.

I got my bar bent by a local shop. It's 1.5" .120 wall tubing. For $30! Can't beat it. Had some 3/16 left over to plate the frame where it mounts. Welded the perimeter of the plate and the center hole of the frame to the plate. Super strong. Thinking about adding a cage nut to the frame where the rad support mounts. Would make it really easy to bolt in since my access hole from the bottom is gone now. This thing should keep the subframe square and be a nice spot to jack the front of the car up. haha

I had to cut up the core support some to get the best fitment. I'll see how that goes this weekend getting the radiator situated again.

http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...9/IMG_0127.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...3/IMG_0133.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...d/IMG_0136.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...8/IMG_0138.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...1/IMG_0139.jpg

I like it! You certainly did a better job than I did on mine.

Here's a pic of my clearance cut. Wouldn't need to clearance it at all if I hadn't modified the core support to work with the wedged subframe.
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...b/IMG_0142.jpg

Made a template and then killed another shelf to make it. I love electric shears.
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...4/IMG_0144.jpg

Went a little overboard welding...but overkill is perfect in my book. Had about an inch overlap on what was left, so I fully welded the top and then welded the bottom as far as it followed the straight edge. It's super strong now. I will weld in the rubber isolator mounts once I get a pair...mine are MIA.
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...5/IMG_0148.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...b/IMG_0149.jpg

Radiator (3rd gen) & fan (Volvo something) fit like a glove now.
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...d/IMG_0147.jpg

Also ended up getting a pair of door skins locally. Got a good deal on them and I'm gonna try it myself. Gonna need some youtube research. haha
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...6/IMG_0150.jpg

Found my color! Finally. That BMW Midnight Blue looks great. Very similar to the stock 80 Dark Blue, but it doesn't turn blurple and the pearls give the metallic a little more flop. So depending on the light it's a little darker than the stock, or brighter reflection than the stock. I really like it a lot. I was almost getting ready to make a compromise on color...so I'm glad I don't have to!

http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...f/IMG_0195.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...a/IMG_0196.jpg

I'm taking the rest of the body panels down to bare metal now. I got the door frames and the core support blasted. And I'm going to shoot epoxy on the fenders and trunk lid too while I'm doing the doors. The pass fender got creased and repaired at some point...and the driver's fender had an antenna hole removed. Didn't these all come with the antenna in the glass? I wonder if someone added a CB at some point to outrun the smokies...

http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...3/IMG_0198.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...6/IMG_0200.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...4/IMG_0201.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...4/IMG_0202.jpg

I also found a surprise on the trunk closeout panel. I see the replacements are cheap, but I wonder about fitment.

http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...4/IMG_0204.jpg

And here's an update from a while back I missed posting here:

So the door frames are getting blasted and my test fender is at the painter's with 8oz of BMW B38 and another batch of custom Volvo 492.

I've been busy trying to build a better mousetrap. I cut a new bezel for the Speedhut gauges and the fit was good - like always. I've done like 3 different stages over the years. But with the whole dash out I saw a way to make it better...so I started using some scrap stock and making changes. Now it's deeper and the gauge panel is angled up to your viewing angle. I'm on rev4 right now and have a couple of little tweaks to make, but it's getting really close. The last version is all made in one piece and thermoformed on a hot wire. Changed the gauge placement too...I think it looks more modern now. And my replacement faces came in so I swapped out the "Giants" blue for the new "Panthers" blue stuff. Much better.

2006:
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...d/100_3473.jpg

2008:
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...e/100_5342.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...3/100_5347.jpg

2015:
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...7/IMG_0188.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...b/IMG_0168.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...f/IMG_0176.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...c/IMG_0177.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...4/IMG_0178.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...8/IMG_0182.jpg

I'm going to backlight the "Camaro" in the center like I did the "SS" on my Beretta project. And I just bought some SPDT 3-pos rocker switches that I can wire in for the fan etc as ecm/off/override on. with an LED indicator each. The big round holes in the center part are for Vintage air vents. Hoping I don't need to add AC, but I'll have the vents to do it if I do. The LEDs in the gauge face are the signals, highs, parking brake, alt light and check engine light.

And here's what I did with the Beretta. Same plan of attack for "CAMARO" but with blue LEDs.

http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...3/IMG_9439.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...7/IMG_9440.jpg
http://www.motortopia.com/files/141/...8/IMG_0007.jpg

You do great work, Woody. Glad you stuck with a stockish dark blue. Power antennas were an option from what I can tell on our cars. If ordered, it was put in the driver's side fender. My car has the same hole in the same spot.

Do you know anyone that can do a custom gauge panel for my car? I like how I have done my gauges but the panel itself is obviously an amateur effort. I want it to have a more professional look which means it's beyond my abilities. Thanks

Looking great!! That will be one nice big bumper love when your done...keep it up. Looking forward to more results...

Beautiful job! The dashes look way better than factory ever did. nice job on the radiator support too. Very impressive!

Thanks guys. I'm working now on replacing the factory pull headlight switch with a rotary dial. Jetta, Caravan and Saab are looking like the best options...hahaha I asked a seller on ebay of each to get me a total diameter measurement to make sure it will fit, whichever I choose. And I also found a Mack truck wiper rocker switch that could work.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111712011878...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
http://www.ebay.com/itm/252015785769...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
http://www.ebay.com/itm/361133521118...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I have heard good things about this guy's Camaro panels, so I would bet the Firebird panels look good too. Give him a shout.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/250712070500

Thanks Woody. Changing over to a more modern switch is a good idea.