Before you get too far into it.... mock in the glass and window trim. Also don't forget (if you had not already) hammer in the pinch welded section of the rear front fender support. It always seems to scrap paint when you go to open the doors after 6 coats of paint and clear. My body guy learned that lesson once.

Ouch, them puppies always think they are bullet proof don't they. We have two Yorkies and one was like that. Jumping off of everything...not just jumping but close to flying. She has here own credit card for medical use.

Hey Vince. You're still at it putting in the long days! Good point on mocking up the glass and trim. I did the windshield but keep forgetting the other glass. Is fitting the rear enough since the quarter and door glass is adjustable?

I hear you on the fender support. I've had to do that already to get clearence. It's part of the reason I keep debating on replacing the driver side fender. The support is pushed in on top and down and out on the bottom just below the mid line. The mid body line is flattened a little. There were two tears/cracks I had to weld up as well. One at the edge of the top support at the top body line and the other at the mid body line. I've been able to move the metal a little to make it fit a hell of a lot better but it is tighter than the passenger side in the area you mentioned. Things just don't want to move back in place with that big structural support being slightly tweaked. I can't decide if I should replace the fender or not. It's wavy where the support is to the door edge. I ran a straight edge down the side of the car and it's going to take a little over 1/16" of filler at the worst spot. I guess it's not a big deal as I purposely worked the edge out to proper height so I'm not having to build up the edge with filler.

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...1BF2C44B01.jpg

yeah, still going, up at 6 and asleep by 2...plan on a much needed vacation soon. The perks of being a new-ish small business in Calif.

Is that a new fender or original? You have gone this far you may as well tear into it. If you buy a new replacment you'll end up having to work it anyways. -especially at that upper tip won't match the door. Something that bugs me with the aftermarket metal.

side glass is ok, its the rear that I check after quarters and filler replacment.

Flying is right! I hope yours are doing well. I thought puppies were like babies and pretty resilient. I didn't expect her to blow out both elbows from jumping a couple feet off the ground. Our other lab was wild and crazy as a puppy and nothing happened. Guess we were lucky! We were shocked but the ortho doc says its not as rare as you would think. The vet talked about having to amputate both front legs when we brought her in. Obvious quality of life issue and possibly putting her down. We weren't having that so we got an orthopedist to do the surgery on both legs. One has healed ok and the other shows signs of bone loss and hasn't grown back together. 3 surgeries in and they're talking about amputation again. Ugh! It makes me sick to my stomach. My wife found water therapy and stem cell treatment but it runs $2500 to $3k. That's a lot of car parts! I think our puppy needs her own credit card too. And a job to pay for it! The puppy is actually my daughters and she has me wrapped around her finger. What do you do.

I don't know how you do it. You must be younger than me or a machine. I was able to do it until my mid thirties and burned out. Now I work for the man. ;) There are times when I miss my business but never the hours.

Original. The AMD one on the passenger side fit ok but you're absolutely right. I had to work it for a while too. Overall the AMD's a better fit comparing to the accident damage on the original. I also have to change the light flange on the original from RS to standard which was my other excuse. :) It seems easier to go the other way from std to RS. If it weren't for $200 shipping I wouldn't think twice. Back to the garage I go. I'm pretty sure I can make it work.

Vince, I can't find my book and I'm coming up short searching. Do you recall the window opening dimensions. How wide at bottom corners and how tall at middle?

Thanks

had i checked the site at dinner I would have been able to check but im at home with no book or car to measure. I remember there was a thread on the subject a few months ago.

I've got a lot of posting to catch up on. A lot of life has happened since my last post. I got the car put together in primer in the spring. We went to a few car shows to spend time with my dad and friends and ran a few autocross events. I was surprised to not see more restomod pro-touring cars out here in the NW.

I'm currently pulling the 4 speed out and putting a Magnum T56 in.

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...87CAB1F818.jpg

Fantastic! Good to see you post again. :cheers:

Good to hear from ya. I talked to Brendon a few times lately and figured I better get back on here. I've checked out a bunch of the guys cars now and then but haven't posted anything. BTW Your car is ridiculous! One awesome idea after another. Its really coming together nicely.

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...o/IMG_2190.jpg

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...o/IMG_2054.jpg

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...G_1945%201.jpg

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...o/IMG_0672.jpg

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...o/IMG_1454.jpg

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...o/IMG_1391.jpg

I'm glad I put the car together before paint although I'm not looking forward to tearing it down again. I've ran into a number of electrical and mechanical issues which I didn't expect.

The 69 Camaro Painless wire harness didn't actually match the included wiring diagram. After burning up a brand new alternator I found a wire factory spliced into the ignition wire in the main harness. Apparently they expect everyone's running a 1 wire alternator even though the instructions cover multiple configurations. Separating the two and heat shrink got me squared away and my alternator light working as expected. I've since changed the factory Camaro gauges over to Dakota Digital which I couldn't be happier with.

Had some other minor issues such as leaking thermostat housings that were just poor quality, poor quality eBay valve covers that don't properly fit the gaskets, sticky fuel sending unit, unclear heater hose routing that I screwed around with for a month or so finally settling on an edelbrock aluminum pump and rerouting things, along with many interior trim parts that don't fit well/poor quality.

The biggest issue has been a vibration I have yet to track down. The transmission has been out the car numerous times, driveline trued and rebalanced 3 times and a weight recently fell off again! (Don't get me started on that vendor) new trans output shaft bushing and seal, replaced clutch/pressure plate, 3rd member, wheels with road force balancing. It's been a challenge. When I lost the ability to shift into second under high RPM I decided to pull the Super T10 out. I'm currently putting a Magnum T56 in with new bell and driveline.

Its been tough finding good quality shops in this area as well. Im envious of the guys in CA. I've hired out the headliner install, the exhaust install, and glass install. So far the headliner was the only work done to my satisfaction. The glass leaks as well as the exhaust, and it wasn't installed as agreed. The tailpipes are 2 piece/overlapping joint and welded directly to my mufflers instead of band clamped as requested and parts supplied. At this point I think I would have been better off buying a lift and doing the work myself being that I had 1k in parts plus 1k in labor for unsatisfactory work.

looking good!! and laser straight too....hot rod black paint or Epoxy primer?

Thanks Vince. It's epoxy. I think it's close to being ready for paint although someone opened a door into my drivers door already. It's minor so I'll fix it and a few other things when I get ready to shoot it. I'm still going back and forth on paint colors. Red Rock Metallic, Sonic Blue, Black,..

Looks great, choosing a color is always so hard. It is the second car I have noticed this week with front marker lights and no rear marker lights.

I say spray it in a satin clear and call it a day.

On a side note sorry to hear all of the issue you had towards the end but let me just say your semi-finished project looks incredible.

:trophy-1302:

Thanks.
That's funny. I ended up that way cause I didn't want any side markers but in the end I figured I better have something.

MI have thought about keeping it satin as well although it's hard to take care of and I'm not sure how to blend or match satin to fix a couple scratches and a door ding. The sheen of this epoxy is highly affected by temp, amount of reducer, and gun settings. I surprisingly get a lot of compliments on it though. Many people have suggested not painting it. Since I can't decide what to do its stayed like this all summer.

The bugs I've been chasing down are just part of the process I guess. Although building an entire car from the ground up I figured my research and new parts would be acceptable. I can say there's a few outstanding vendors, a few so-so, and a few I won't deal with
again.

Detroit Speed, Summit, Wilwood, Matts Classic Bowties, Dakota Digital have been great in terms of service and quality parts. I also want to point out Formula43 has been amazing to work with. They helped me resolve some issues with a different brand set of wheels and built me a new set and delivered ahead of schedule and with great lateral and radial runout.

OER, Painless, Vintage Air, and AMD have been so-so. Some OER parts look great and fit well and others aren't close. PUI/OER seals and trim fit terribly. I haven't found good fitting seals or door strikers yet. The AMD hood was wavy and the front latch holes are drilled too far back by 1/2". The front upper valance and cowl boxes took some work as well. The VintageAir system is nice but mine came shipped with the wrong air handler outlet to fit the dash hoses. The quality of the mounting brackets is suspect as well. They are very thin and the paint falls off. The Painless harness kit would be great if all the wire colors and connections actually matched the instructions. I tested continuity on every wire tracing things out but that's wasn't enough when I later found the alternator idiot light wire was factory spliced into an ignition wire. I bought a fast ratio steering box from AI-Cardone to get by until a DSE 600 box is available. The threads were so sloppy the bolts pulled right through. I got a replacement and it only had power assist one direction. I bought and AGR box and it only had assist the opposite direction. I ended up getting a box from autozone that I'm running now. It has power assist both directions although the center is sloppy. Hoping DSE ships more 600 boxes soon.

I'm working through some minor American Powertrain issues right now. After consulting with them and ordering a complete kit for just shy of 6k so far it's been hit and miss on which parts will work. Granted I have a bit of a unique setup as I explained to them with half height body mounts and welded in DSE like x-member. The parts are nice quality but the shifter stick is very tall, bent to the left (even though the trans is rotated that way 5 deg) and almost touching my steering wheel. The clutch master cylinder bracket leaves a huge open hole for water to get in where the old factory rod and boot passed through. Because of the factory hole and the bracket design there's also not much metal to get a bolt through. One clean hole and another right on the edge of the original hole. The rest of the support is by the pinching of the firewall between the two plates of the bracket. Again the bracket is nice quality just like the APT crossmember but the bracket doesn't overcome the factory firewall limitations like the Keisler or MSP brackets do.

I only mention the challenges so others have a heads up on things to consider before investing time and hard earned money.

I built a new crossmember for the 6 speed and had to modify the car a bit as well. My original plan was to run some tubing or flat bar with some ribs across the two legs I had shooting straight down from the crossmember. I figured it's better having the fasteners in shear rather than tension so I cut the caps off the 2x3 crossmember and welded in 1/2" plugs. My original design would have been less work but I'm glad I put the time in now that it's done. The .010 ridge on the edge of the plugs was to locate it with .125 exposed for welding all around the perimeter.

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...364EF566FE.jpg

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...DB72CD18C4.jpg

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...24D1501736.jpg

I got -.010 TIR on the transmission input shaft bearing race so I decided to get some .007 offset dowels. It will take me .002 the opposite way but I feel better with .002 rather than .005 offset since that's the max allowed.

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...EAF77F1AF8.jpg

I got .0025 TIR after putting the moroso offset dowls in. I'm very happy with that.

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...59635869D3.jpg

Nice work! That's exactly what I need to do to my car, I'm just dreading and procrastinating in taking it apart. Any plans in coming down to Los Angeles? ha ha

Hey Brendon, After talking to you I'm glad I took the time to dial in the bell housing just to make sure there's no question.

The transmission is in and the mount looks like it will work out.

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...08D0C36C01.jpg

Nice job on the cross member.

Thanks Wayne.

Test drive was a success. No drivetrain vibrations and shifts smooth. Now on to buttoning up the transmission tunnel and a few other updates. Swapping the 3.25 gears for 3.89's now that the close ratio Magnum is in.

Very Nice Build!! Very Nice!!! I like to see home built cars, it lets me at least think I have a chance on working on my own car, instead of pain someone. Your skills and thought processes are impressive. I like the way you approached everything while working on your ride. I was at a standstill on how to approach certain things on my car, Qtr panels, outer wheel wells, Roof, and Truck. If I follow your process, I can finish the rear of the car. I was not sure how to tackle the cowls with sealant. You showed me when and how. I want to thank you for documenting every step of your build. You have helped me in more ways than you can think. Thank You!!!

Thanks for the compliments. This forum is a huge help to me so I'm glad I can provide a little insight in return. There's a lot of great guys on here with quality advise. Since I saw your comment I browsed through my build thread. There's a few things that have changed and a lot of blanks to fill in. Someday I intend to make it more complete. One thing that stood out to me is advise from guys on lat-g has been spot on. I've made changes along the way because of that and every one of them was for the better. Dave, Frankie, Brendon, Vince, Wayne,.. I'm sure I'm missing some, but those guys have helped a lot.

Nicely done! Congrats on getting it to this point and on the road! Hope to see it around next year!

x2 Congrats on getting the car back on the road!

Just found this thread.... Awesome work.. love to see the DIY efforts like this.. keeps me motivated..

Thanks guys! The feedback and compliments are much appreciated.

I've slowly been acquiring parts. I bought a true-trac today so I can get my other 3rd member back together with 3.89 gears. I've also started to look at how I'm going to seal the tunnel back up. I'm hoping to make a section removable but it depends on how it works out where the tunnel meets the firewall. Tying this together looks challenging.

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...390597E3B3.jpg

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...C4D4EEFFF6.jpg

This must be a great idea because I plan on doing that to my car, too, ha ha! (I'll need to do this when I remove my bellhousing next to align it better) If it helps inspire ideas even though I haven't built mine yet I plan on making mine with an overlap of the sheet metal and using rivet nuts so I have an easy way to thread bolts down from the interior of the car. I'll use something like a 3m weather stripping putty to seal the panels yet still be removable.

Here's an example of them from amazon if you're not familiar- these things are awesome and are available in many thread sizes.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&key...l_12ywgmbnmw_b

Hope this helps!

Brendon, that's what I want to do. Thanks for the link to the fasteners. I think those may work better than dzus fasteners depending on how I can create the flange. Im trying to figure out a way to put the offset in the metal. I have an air tool with offset jaws that may work but I need to test it out first.

Understood. Of course, if you're covering this with carpet/ dynamat, etc. you may not even need a flange. A simple overlap should do the trick and should be hidden underneath. To quote Doc Brown " please excuse the crudity of this sketch...." Its rough, and I think I have way too many rivet nuts...

Dude that sketch is awesome! I stared at the car for a few minutes yesterday and thought why do today what I can do tomorrow. I also looked at the kick panels trying to figure out a good way to seal them as I want to keep the vents. At the end of the day nothing got done. Back to the tunnel.. I'm planning to do something along the lines of what you are. I was thinking flange so water would have a harder time making it into the car.

Eaton True Trac showed up today.

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...1F6A2E98CA.jpg