Love it.

x2. Awesome.

Sweet!

love it

V8TV built an awesome Camaro. Very cool car in person.

Well, the car was in the Toyo Tires Tread Pass area at SEMA last week.

That turned out to be a really nice spot to display the car because the sunlight really causes the color to pop. The color we chose looks more orange in the sun and more red in the shade.

Here are some pics taken while the car was on display there:

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...psf0f1e382.jpg

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...psf3c322bb.jpg

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...psc93d9a15.jpg

Here are two awesome shots taken by Sieg. Thanks Sieg. Your shots always put the others to shame.

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...psbce88eb6.jpg

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...ps95da6154.jpg

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http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...ps11ec0396.jpg

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3a80f8d3.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-m...mkW3W2k-XL.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Q...QHS9CjP-XL.jpg

Stunning
 

That car looks incredible, congratulations!

That looks great outside Lou,I bet it got lots of attention at SEMA.:trophy-1302:

All I can say is this is one of my top Ten 69 Camaro's ever built.

WOW ... really nice!!
 

The car came out stunning!!!! That red makes it pop and the custom touches came out great :trophy-1302:

Hats off to the crew :thumbsup:

Congrats Lou, Absolutely Awesome!!

Kevin and company, killer job, out did yourselves :thumbsup:

Rich

AWESOME! It really turned out great. Very nice touches with the grill and hood.

Does look awesome! Congrats

Great job on the car! Looked great at SEMA!

In a sea of firstgen camaros this really stands out imo. Great job.

Thanks for all the kind words! The car will be in Chicago at the Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals this weekend, please come by and check it out and say "Hello" if you are in the area!

http://www.mcacn.com

Loved the car Kevin and Lou. Beautiful work.

Looks like I am going to be bringing the good camera !!!

This is one awesome build, congrats! :thumbsup: This is the money shot:

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...psc93d9a15.jpg

While at SEMA, a lot of great people (including a lot of you ) came by to see the car. It was great getting to meet a lot of you in person.

To preserve the moment, we asked a few of our "heroes" to sign the car while they were there. Here's a sampling:

Tom Peters, GM's Director of Design for the present day Camaro:
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...psdeb1bf6e.jpg

Al Oppenheiser, GM's Chief Engineer for the present day Camaro:

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...ps48f5876b.jpg

Mark Stielow, also from GM but more importantly the father of Pro Touring:

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7bfd104e.jpg

Charley, who assured I had the Pro Touring bug by taking me for a ride down the drag strip in Jack Ass during Power Tour 2012:

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...psb8558f00.jpg

Kyle Tucker, who along with his wife Stacy, created many of the parts we used to build this car:

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...psd8770a86.jpg

Later, at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Chicago, I was totally blown away and honored that these two gentlemen showed up to see the car:

Eric Stemmler, the person I bought the car from:

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...ps11cba08d.jpg

Chris Dunham, the person Eric bought the car from:

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1c6d484e.jpg

How Cool is that??!!!

Another opportunity came up when my good friend Kelly invited me to her recent hangar party. It turns out one of her flying buddies is Bob Lutz, world renown car guy. He signed a copy of Dan’s rendering:

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3745717e.jpg

Last but certainly not least, the V8TV crew that built the car signed it too:

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...ps428076f8.jpg

http://v8tvshow.com/1969_Camaro_LC2/...1.08.13_03.JPG

Wow this car is awesome. Hood, grille, engine, emblems, everything ties together nicely.

Excellent work. It's obvious a lot of thought was put into this car.

Cool !

Just plain cool!!

I (along with Marty and Rick) got to meet Lou and see the car at the Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals and it leaves one speechless. I noticed the immediate absence of fender struts and their solution on this car was quite amazing, very innovative!! The use of 3D printing parts on the car is so cutting edge.

Also got to meet Kevin and Kelle, a couple of real cool car people for sure!!

All of the folks that signed the trunklid is a VERY unique deal, GM design director, GM engineer, Stielow and Charley, and the previous owners....hard to top that one.

.....and you got Bob Lutz's autograph? super cool. I just finished reading his book "Car Guys vs Bean Counters". A car guy must read for a behind the scenes look at his time with GM from 2001-2010 as Vice Chairman of Product Development.

Great post Lou!!

Thank you for the kind words Scott. I'm pretty sure the fender braces were Kevin's idea. From day one of the build, he was determined to find a new way to replace the traditional fender struts. The best solutions are usually the simplest ones. It's amazing how many people study those when the car is on display.

Bob Lutz is truly a car guy. He talks about cars as passionately as any of us do. It was awesome to listen to him in an informal setting and hear his perspective on things in the automotive world. He said he would like everyone to bring some cars to the hangar party next year. If I get invited to that one the car is going with me for sure!

Al Oppenheiser and Tom Peters are also true car guys through and through. They both have their own first Gen Camaros and speak as enthusiastically about their personal car projects as we do about ours. Al took pictures on his phone and sent them to his son right away. That was extremely flattering.

I suppose the bottom line is what we already knew. "Real" car guys are cool and fun to be around, no matter how successful they have been.

I believe there is a HUGE difference between people who work in the automotive field to make money and people who happen to make money pursuing their passion for cars.

Good shot for a Friday - Lou's Change the chick magnet at MCACN:

http://www.v8tvshow.com/2013_MCACN/s....23.13_124.JPG

DSE Deep Tub Install Video Lou's Change
 

We wanted to run some big Forgeline wheels shod with Toyo Proxes R888 tires on the "Lou's Change" Camaro, but stock wheel tubs dictate the largest tire size on first generation Camaros. To gain more clearance, we installed a pair of Detroit Speed Deep Tubs while we had the body on the jig for repairs. When installed, these tubs retain a stock appearance, but they are significantly wider to accommodate wider wheels and tires to help put the power to the ground.

That is so wicked awesome! :thumbsup:

Great video.

Quarter Panel Replacement Video
 

The quarter panels were hiding rust and previous crash damage "Lou's Change", so we replaced them with a pair of full quarter panels from Classic Industries. This video explains a few tips to replacing quarter panels successfully.

Lou's Change Hood
 

In this chapter, the V8 Speed & Resto crew creates a custom hood for the 1969 Camaro called "Lou's Change" featuring a new carbon fiber insert from a 2013 Camaro ZL1. The hood reflects the Steinhauser Design rendering, incorporating new design elements into the original '69 shape for a fresh take on a classic design.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

I remember when we started the project how badly I wanted to retain the stock SS hood since I always liked that design so much.

Now, I wouldn't want any other hood design on this particular car more than what we ended up with.

It's always cool when people work together and leverage their various talents. Often, as in this case, obstacles and problems have a neat way of turning into new opportunities.

Lou I love the car. You and your son did an awesome job coming up with the idea's for the design, and you picked some great people to work with. Kevin and the crew did some beautiful work, and I love the job they did on the hood. Its a Beautiful car!

Well, the car has been home for a few months now.

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...psfe36ed23.jpg

Dave Mikels recommends I put a couple hundred more miles on the car before we do the final calibration on the chassis dyno.
That should help minimize rear end noise down the road and assure everything else has been sorted before really beating on the car.

Tony, the GM tech who installed the engine upgrades recommended by Dave and Thomson Automotive, stopped by to check the car out. I asked him to sign the car too.

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...ps62a8da5f.jpg

While the car is not yet ready to beat on, I took it to Gateway when the Optima Ultimate Street Car Challenge series was in town.
They offer an option to enter in just the design and cruise portion of the event. I learned a lot by observing and talking to people during the event.
I found everyone there to be VERY outgoing, friendly, and wanting to offer help if needed, in any way they could.

Unfortunately, while they did "judge" my car for design, they apparently do not tell you how you scored unless you also race.
Oh well, I really went to learn more than compete anyway.

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...psc9c38378.jpg

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...psdc21aef6.jpg

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As is usual on total builds like this, there are numerous things that show up and need sorting/tweaking.

This is the phase when you find out which manufacturers and service providers really meant it when they told you how much they care about your enjoyment of their products and services.

I've found that some really meant it and some couldn't care less once they no longer saw me as a source of additional revenue.

Most everyone already knows this but Detroit Speed really means it when they tell you they want you to enjoy their parts.

I ran into Kyle and Stacy on separate occasions during the event. They both made it a point to say I should let them know if I needed anything at all, anytime.

I took Stacy up on the offer and asked her to sign my car. Kyle had already signed it at SEMA.

Check out what she wrote next to her name:

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...ps44466c8b.jpg

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...psf27e56f5.jpg

The cruise part of the event was fun. It was cool to park among such high class company for a couple of days.

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...psa1c54467.jpg


http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/...ps86a6bbdd.jpg

You built a very nice car Lou,one to be proud of for sure.This car will look great anywhere you park it:trophy-1302:

Amen to that!!

It's surprising to see how many companies are very short sighted and place no value on customer service. It's as if they either do not care or are unaware of the impact poor customer service has on their bottom line. Bizarre mentality in the age of the internet.

As I type, I'm tallying up the sales companies have lost just due to people contacting me and asking my opinion of the products on my car. I know for a fact that two engine makers have lost at least half a dozen sales between them because of my negative review. Two wheel manufacturers have lost four sales between them. One radiator manufacturer most likely lost two sales in the last two weeks alone. Who knows how many sales are lost when I speak my mind at car events... but my guesstimate is I speak to maybe a thousand people a year at cruises and get togethers.

:thumbsup: Great company! I bought a C&R Radiator through them a couple weeks ago. Could have ordered direct from C&R but I'm such a fan of DSE that I ordered it from them.

I'm bringing my Sharpie to Good Guys Scottsdale. Maybe I can get the faster Tucker to sign my car, too.

Oh, and orange Camaros rule. :lol:

Trend Setter
 

You have such a great car. Starts with having a vision, being able to communicate the decision to the builder, and seeing it through to completion. It's unfortunate that some companies drop the ball after the sale. What worse is that this happens at many different levels in the auto industry. After nearly 30 years working for OEM auto makers it's amazing the issues that they have to deal with from suppliers that say "It's not my part that's the problems after a 2 hr powerpoint presentation on the issue and the research to identify the problem.

I was so fascinated with the build that I followed all the episodes on V8TV, checked their website for updates, and eventually downloaded all the video clips from YouTube at 1080p so that I could watch them on my big screen tv freezing it to study details that I couldn't see on my PC monitor.

Really outstanding build and vision. My project vision is far more modest, but Kevin and his crew certainly show a lot to think about in a build plan and how to be flexible when changes occur for some reason.

I hope that you are enjoying it in spite of the issues that have been coming up. And you have to love Staci's signature - definitely being the 2nd to sign has it's advantages.

Rod

Still LOVE this car Lou, I saw it in person this past fall in Rosemont so nice!! You really don't get all the details until you see up close and in person!!