Camaro in a crate
 

I've been around awhile, just never posted anything, kinda quite, I guess. October the 10th will be the 1st anniversary of our 69 SS convertible big block 4 speed car being stolen. This was my wife's car, it was taken right out of our garage! So we started looking for another one. They were either a basket case, or big money, and not sure what your getting. So I order Camaro in the crate. We've had the car about a month now. We are waiting on the DSE new sub frame, and the quadra link rear suspension. We've already got the DSE mini tubs and frame connectors. We're going to put a 496 stroker motor in it with TKO 6 speed. We also just got the budnik wheels for it. It's gonna have 12 bolt Moser rear end with 3.73 gears. The car looks really sweet, and best thing about it is NO RUST!!! We're going to airbrush all the emblems on the car and we're going with the year one hood. We're putting a custom interior in it, not factory. I'm just really excited about it, and my wife can't wait either, she's a real gear head too! Well that's about all for now. See ya, thanks for chance to share with ya.

Welcome to Lateral-g! Sounds like it'll be a killer car when done. :thumbsup:

If you don't mind me asking, how's the fit and finish of the sheetmetal on your car?

sheet metal fit
 

I haven't fit any sheet metal yet. Waiting till I get the new subframe from DSE and rearend from Moser. I've got it up on rotissre right now, I'm not real happy with the way they used their body sealer. I also want to clean up some of the welds and tidy things up little bit underneath the car. It's awesome to see a brand new 69 Camaro convertible sittin there! We're gonna put a RS front end on it. I was able to order it with a flat fire wall too. We'll put a vintage system on, we're gonna use that new front riunner system. Well I guess you just ask about the sheet metal can't tell ya, yet, thanks.

Just a word of caution, You should be carefull mini tubbing a convertible. If you are set on doing it, you need to consider a crossmember, roll bar, back braceing system, or you will ruin that brand new body.

You can go to our site, ProdigyCustoms.com, and look at Pete's convertible to see what has to be done to mini tub convertibles.

Sounds like a cool project, good luck and keep us up to date as many are interested to hear how these bodies work out.

mini tubs
 

When we had CARS build the car, They built the car with the mini tubs subframe connectors, back bracing for the DSE 4link and crossmember in the car. Kyle was a great help to me in setting this car up. He even went over to CARS and did the installation for the 4 link. I am intersted in your rollbar that you put in Pete's car. I went to your web site, the yellow car is about how our's should look. We had a black cloth top on the one that got stolen, I really like that look and will put one on this as well. Thanks for advise, really appreciate any thing that will help. See ya!

Good luck with the venture. I spent some time talking with CARs at Carlisle. The quality has gone up from their first attempt and I liked what I saw. To me it's a good path if I need to replace my current car. NO RUST - how great is that. Keep us posted.

Send me some pics of the back bracing they did. [email protected]

Yeah definatly put up some pics of the shell when you get it.

do you happen to have the link to the company you went through to get the body?

Yeah what he said. :yes:

Sure would be neat to have a completely new car from the very start. :thumbsup:

Must Have Pics!!

www.firstgen.com - look under Body Shells. Rick's 1st Generation has them in their catalog for $9,995 made by DynaCorp out of Texas. They are licensed by GM.

Someone posted earlier www.mikescustomcars.com. You can get a actual 69 camaro coupe shell with new body panels with a clean title.

A lot of money but they seem very thorough. Best of all they have a bunch a cool pics to look at. Especially if you are replacing metal on yours, you can use this as a reference. :D

Welcome. I'm pretty sure you are the first member with a new/69. Thank you for having the courage to take the plunge. We are all anxious to follow your progess. Likewise we are all concerned about fitment. Be sure to pre-assemble as much of the car as possible before proceeding to paint.

Good luck with the project.

Cars
 

The company's web site is www.classicautomotiverestoration.com. If any of guys are looking to get a body, give me a shout, before you do! It's a great body, but the people I dealt with are not very professional, had me really worried for awhile. I'll try to get pictures to you guys, I'm not very good with computers. See ya.

If you have any problems getting the pics posted, I'd gladly post them up for ya. You can send them HERE

Here are the pics Barry sent me. Sorry for the lack of quality, they're low res because they're hosted on a free site.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...3/Image088.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...3/Image099.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...3/Image092.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...3/Image093.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...3/Image100.jpg

We'll let Barry fill you guys in on what he has planned. Thanks for sharing. :D

new guy from Miss.
 

1976 camaro- 355 small block, victor jr. 830 carb, p1sc procharger @ 5lbs boost, 10to1 flat top, AFR 195 street heads fully cnc,ed. Isky solic cam, harland sharp rockers. MSD with stutter box, 350 trans with brake, BTE 9.5 4000 stall converter, 3:73 12 bolt, weld wheel superlites. Currently building 383 small block for procharger for way more boost. Car also has frame ties with 8 pt. cage. and slide-a-link traction system. Front cap is all fiber glass from unlimited for now. I drive this car.

Any news/updates? :)

I do not see any bracing, it could get ugly.

Frank, I have seen a few convertable that have been mini tub without any bracing. What can be some of the concerns with not putting in a roll bar, etc....

There is a massive super structure in the convertible where the crossmember and tubs go. It is 3 layers thick. Something has to be put in place to replace the support, or they fold up. As I have said before, I have seen a car that could not open the door after a day of launching at the track. We watched the car twist all day,(it was a 8.0 second 1/8 mile car running 335s and NOT dead hooking, so it was not a big HP monster with slicks) many commented, and when the day was over it took someone in the rear seat kicking the door while someone else outside pulled with everything they had. Then 2 thick washers had to be removed from the striker to allow the door to close pourly.

Any updates on this project? I'm very curious as to how much you have in it and what your expected budject is for a turn key car.. Of course only if you want to divulge this info... I've always felt it would be more cost effective to buy a done or semi-done car and make the mods you want to it as opposed to a complete rest-mod and starting with a basket case. However the more I get involved in my project the more I realize I want to change everthing about the way I bought it.... So maybe starting from sratch is the way to go.... WHO KNOWS..... Your project offers an interesting side bar where as your starting from a clean shell and not having to cut, weld, bodywork, replace, etc How do you like the fit and finish of the shell, how are the gaps, are you pleased... and also what are you plans for registering it when complete... Sorry for all the questions, just very interested...

Good luck!

Sorry to hear about the theft. The new car sounds good. A very good friend of mine is in the process of having his car built by C.A.R.S.. He will have the mini-tub kit, Fatman front chassis, and the TKO 600 5-speed hooked up to a 572 crate motor. All this painted in black with the DSE dash insert. Dirk and the guys at C.A.R.S are really top notch guys. I enjoy talking with them. We plan to go down and visit the shop in January to see the car and drop of a set of Track Baer brakes for the car.

Best of luck! And get a lojack. ;)