Lateral-g Forums - A humble introduction

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A humble introduction

Hello everyone,

My name is Roger, and I have a '69 Camaro that I've been building / working on for more than 8 years now. It took about 4 years to get running and now I've caught the Pro-Touring bug and want to upgrade the suspention, tires and wheels to make the car competitive.

Here's a picture of the car when I first purchased it and when it was going off to the body man. I picked it up for $1400. This was in December 2002.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3598/...710ae026_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3384/...5f8f9768_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3623/...7270ca6c_b.jpg

As you can see, a very humble beginning.

These next few shots are when it was at the body shop:

Along with a new core support, and right front fender:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3303/...ec7c2a55_b.jpg

Both rear quarter panels were replaced:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3577/...c0916075_b.jpg

Rear deck view (interestingly there was no need to replace the metal between the trunk and rear window):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3355/...411cc06b_b.jpg

Primered - Left rear view:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3623/...d75dcd97_o.jpg

Primered - Frontal view:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3608/...b598e94053.jpg

Just painted - Frontal view:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3360/...a92b823aaf.jpg

Almost done at interior shop, November 2003:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3614/...c8cfae08_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3398/...be22998e_o.jpg

In this next shot the car is 95% complete (body wise). It is sitting in my driveway and is more or less driveable. I find out soon that I have major engine issues.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3574/...10bf63f2_b.jpg

This is the finished interior (except the door poppers weren't hooked up yet, but they are now):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3375/...fbf52559_b.jpg

Interior view (again circa 2005):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3203/...41c15642_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3555/...3a747f49_b.jpg

I am by no means finished with this car. I'm am working on engine #4 now, as the first one was an old tired engine I put in the car and it didn't last long. After saving up for a while (2007 time frame) I purchased another engine from what I thought was a reputable company out of Pheonix, AZ. They shipped me a piece of junk, which I ran for two years (but not much, due to the problems). I tried to warranty the engine and they went out of business, thereby stranding me. That was about $5500 (installed) down the drain. So I saved up again, and put a 383 in it which cost me about $6000 and it was supposed to have about 475 HP. It only put out 420 HP, and that was because the heads I used were from the previous engine and weren't what I was told they were. So I am now building another 383 (using the same rotating assembly from engine #3 (specs to follow) and I purchased new heads, cam and pistons.

I have been through the school of hard knocks on this build. It's my first build, and if ONLY I knew then what I know now. I try not to dwell on the bad because I'll just cry.

I recently (within the past 6 months) made good friends with a car and engine builder who has graciously taken me under his wing. He is helping me build another 383 (engine #4). Here's the specs:

AFR 210 "race" heads, with 2.08 / 1.6 valves.
Competition Cams advertised 300/306 (actual 248/254) with 562/580 lift. The cam grind is 12-444-8 with 106 degree lobe separation.
Keith Black flat top .030 over pistons
Scat 400 crank (4340 forged) with H-Beam (4340 forged) rods.
New block with 4 bolt splayed caps, bored .030 over
Hurricane Plus intake (polished)
Demon 750 CFM Carb (street/strip)
2" primary custom headers in to 3.5" collectors
3" exhaust with 2 chamber flow masters

During this time I am working to clean up the wires and what not under the hood. I'm hoping to have the engine installed and running in two to three weeks.

The suspention is stock, and I'm wanting to upgrade the car (after the engine is installed) to make it Pro-Touring worthy.

I appreciate the site and I look forward to getting to know all of you, and hopefully from here on out the build goes smoother than it has in the past.

Cheers,

--Roger

Welcome, Roger. Great introduction. :cheers:

Welcome Roger! You sure saved that car!!

welcome aboard, nice car :thumbsup:

Welcome! Great intro

Welcome. That's a nice color you chose.

Thanks, guys.

As an update, I'm putting together the short block on Friday, and hopefully will have the long block assembled and ready to put in the car on Saturday.

So maybe in a week or two I'll have it running again. :D

The next step is a 4 link rear suspension with mini-tubs (probably the ones DSE sells), along with tubular A-Arms and rack-and-pinion for the front. Followed immediately by new rims and tires, of course.

Keep us posted....:unibrow:

Talk about rags to riches, looks great!

Welcome

Looks great! Don't worry about the 8 year time frame, I've been building my 442 for 13 years and it's never run!!! :_paranoid

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

As is typical when working with cars and such, things are slower going than I had hoped. But, here's pictures of the "almost" long block (minus the intake & carb). I should have the pushrods in tomorrow so I will most likely have a full long-block tomorrow. Maybe I'll stuff it in the car on Friday! :willy:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3555/...527f4055_b.jpg

This shot is before the freeze plugs were installed, but at a different angle.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3586/...5f932cc8_b.jpg

Great job and great looking project :cheers:

Good job.:thumbsup: :cheers:

Thanks, guys.

A quick update: Tomorrow (for sure!) I am putting it in the car, and I got a picture of it with the intake manifold (currently my old Hurricane by Performance Products), but I have a Hurricane Plus (polished) on order and it won't be here for a few weeks or so, yet. It's on backorder.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3401/...0f9043ca_b.jpg

It's still a little dirty after 2 cans of engine degreaser, and I somehow lost two intake bolts so I have to pick replacements tomorrow. The carb is a Demon 750 double-pumper.

My nephew is arriving from Iraq in two days so I'm hurrying to get it running so we can at least enjoy it while he's here for two weeks. Hoorah! :)

Update 4/9/2012

Hi guys/gals,

Sorry for the long delay in updating this project car! Without further ado...

After a successful year or racing (no blow ups, and a fastest 10.30 at 129.92MPH in the quarter), I'm refreshing the car. The changes:

New Heidts front suspention
Flattened/textured firewall, painted body color
DSE Wiper motor (variable speed)
New hood (not yet ready to show)
Wilwood (7/8" bore) brake system with proportioning valve
Refinished and painted fender wells and core support (metalic gray)
Motor freshened, new rings (hellfire), body color blue paint
New valve springs, new bearings (hardened) both cam and main/rod
Wiring to be hidden under the hood, and A/C & Heater core to be functional
Strange 33 spline axles with 4.11 gears (posi) in existing 9"

Very, Very Nice...:thumbsup: :cheers:

Cool project, very quick too. :thumbsup:

I really like the color on the car. Might seem odd but I think the car in bare metal with the olden days lookin body shop for the back drop and parts hangin on the wall is a timeless picture.

Steve:thumbsup:

Wow! :wow:
Nice Camaro and excellent job restoring it!

I like the textured firewall, I've never seen that before.

Thanks, guys. It's been a long project, but she is a lot of fun to drive. Goes very straight in the quarter. Now with the new sub-frame I'm hoping she turns well, too. I think I'm going to add a BMR Fabrication Watts link to it next year. Then she'll be all done, suspension wise, I hope. She'll also get DSE quarter tubs installed so I can put some nice rollers out back.

And Roxy is her name!

Update - engine is now in the car - she should be ready to drive in a week or two!

Frontal view of engine in Roxy:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7257/7...30c31328_b.jpg
Engine frontal view by ROKN69, on Flickr

Driver's side view of engine in Roxy:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5114/6...dafa42df_b.jpg
Engine - in car - Drivers by ROKN69, on Flickr

Passenger side view of engine in Roxy:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5075/6...b651fc73_b.jpg
Engine passenger view by ROKN69, on Flickr

I can't wait to show you all the finished product. :lateral:

--Roger

Looks good!

Why dual pressure regulators?

I agree with Greg (Looking Good!) and wondering the same about the regulators. Nitrous?

Yes, there is a Nitrous Supply (250 shot) plate that is to be placed under the carb.

We're waiting on the hood to get back from paint for final fitment - and we're having some issues with the hood hinges as the shocks are not allowing the hinges to close all the way. They stay open about a 1/2 inch which translates to a lot at the front of the hood (more like 2.5 to 3 inches there). I've got another style of hinge coming from the manufacter which hopefully will clear up this issue. My stock hinges work fine but they are UGLY.

I'm hopeful, with the Nitrous plate in place, I can also use my 1" phenolic spacer. The hood (an L88!!! by VFN) hopefully has enough clearance. We'll see. I'm getting excited as I can't wait to not only see the finished product, but to drive it. :unibrow:

^^^^^I AGREE^^^^^ :thumbsup:

Very nice... That will be a substantial upgrade when complete. Looks great so far.

BE careful where you point that thing! :knokwood:

WOW Roger!:brix::G-Dub:

You are getting serious now!

Remember the old Monte Carlo days............................
What are you doing with the 383?????

This thread needs to be renamed to "From Humble Beginning's." It has come along way and looks damn nice.

Roger, I think you need a dedicated build thread:thumbsup:

You have done a ton of work to this car. Great job! Nice looking ride.