68 Camaro daily driver
 

Hey, i've learned a lot from this website so i thought i would put up my project. It's a 68 camaro with all of the DSE parts. Me and my dad are building the car together and i've learned so much in these few years.
Here are the plans for it.

Suspension
DSE hydroformed subframe
DSE quadralink
DSE Minitubs
DSE Subframe connectors
DSE 4 point cage (now a 6 point)
DSE half height body bushings
DSE minitubs


Wheels/Tires
Billet Specialties Le Mans
18x10 with 295/35/18 NT05
18x9 with 245/40/18

Brakes
Kore3 C6 Z51
13.4 rotors 2 piston fronts
13.0 rotors 1 piston backs
Hawk HPS

Drivetrain
2004 ls1/t56 (04 GTO)
-American Racing Headers
otherwise stock for now
Narrowed big bearing 9"
strange axles/center 31 spline truetrac
3.70 gears.


Body
Painted BMW alpenwiess white because i like the polished/white combo
still running chrome bumbers but probably removing the other emblems to clean it up.
New floor
trunk floor
roof
both quarters
inner and outer wheel wells
header panel
front fenders
rear windshield panel thingy lol

Interior
I got the seats from 91 honda prelude because they are really supportive, comfortable and cheap :)
The cage has absolutely no visual obstruction and the most headroom you could possibly have in any direction.

It will be my daily driver until the winter when the roads get salted, i still haven't figured that part out yet :_paranoid . We tried to save money where we could without actually skimping on quality of product (seats, used engine, stock vette brakes, etc.) but it should still be a great performing car. heres some pictures

Car in its original form :rolleyes:
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC01095.jpg

Subframe out
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC01115.jpg


There was minor rust in the floor so we had to patch it....
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC00394.jpg

http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC01144.jpg
Anyway... more pictures to come :)

Very cool. I am glad you started a build thread. It looks like you're off to a good start and have a great list of parts going in there.

Nice she is a beauty.

plasma cutting the hole for the Q-link brackets
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC01195.jpg

I know, the pants.... i learned the hard way not to wear those when welding.
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC01216.jpg

New front floors and body mounts
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC01217.jpg

Rear window panel
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC01957.jpg

Tubs, Q-link, and trunk floors in
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02023.jpg

Very nice Ken.
Nice little list of "goodies" going into the car. Keep us posted.:thumbsup:

Quarter panels are on, along with the wheel wells
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC01966.jpg

First part of the cage is in. DSE really did a good job of making it fit well. The main hoop fits like a glove with the most possible room you could get out of it.
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02020.jpg

We took the roof off, wire wheeled it and used a rust preventing primer. It was pretty nasty looking when we first took the roof off.
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC01964.jpg


More DSE stuff. I could... i have stared at this frame for hours. It is a work of art to say the least.


http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02028.jpg

http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02029.jpg

The fresh body panels should make it so that there is not a lot of body work, which is good... because i like welding a lot better :D

Narrowed the rear
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02031.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02032.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02036.jpg
Mocking up the quadra-link brackets and double checking the measurments before I weld it solid and powdercoat it.
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02055.jpg

We finished the front of the cage, two down bars coming from the main hoop to the front of the rockers with a arched hoop between.
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02058.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02061.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02064.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02067.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02070.jpg

Looking through these pictures makes me want to finish it NOW :willy: :willy: :willy:

Very cool ! I like it ! :thumbsup:


Jason

You should be very proud of yourself! Great job.... :hail:

Really kool build to see you and your Dad doing together... love that!

Keep working on it and keep us all in the loop. :thumbsup:

Thanks for all the compliments everybody. I love the point the cars at now because its all coming together. A little bit off work leads to a lot of visual progress.

Roof is on. I welded the front/back and the where it meets the quarter but used 3M body panel glue in the drip rails to keep it clean. It came out really well.
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02087.jpg

http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02089.jpg


http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02094.jpg

Good visual on the cage fitment with the roof on.
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02097.jpg


LS1 6-speed from an 04 GTO. Came with 35000 miles on it. Cleveland pick apart sells a really complete package. It made the LS conversion really cheap. You couldn't build a cast iron small block for this price and it bolts in to the Detroit speed frame like it was made for it.
All i had to do was bolt on a stock F-body oil pan, and a VA AC compressor and it fits fine.
:D :D :D

http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02100.jpg

http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02099.jpg

http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02098.jpg

This is such a great thread ! My son and myself are currently modifying our 68. he is 14 and loves to work on cars as you do ! Keep un the great work, remember these are memories that will last a lifetime !

This is by far the coolest experience i've ever had. There is nothing that could replace the amount we will learn working on it together. :)

The rear is done and powdercoated. The stange axles and center is on order. It should be here in a week or two.
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02139.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02183.jpg
We made a crossmember out of some rectangular tube and flatbar.
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02180.jpg
We also got the DSE subframe connectors done. When the car goes on the rotisserie we'll finish the welding
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02176.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02177.jpg

The engine is in the subframe and the american racing headers are in. It's so much more gratifying when you pay for the parts yourself. The f-body oil pan and pickup tube were also need for it to fit.
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02170.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02171.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02173.jpg
amazing ground clearance
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02163.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02150.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02147.jpg

And no i'm not running the skinnies... Those are the only wheels we have that clear the spindle lol

I also got new seats from the junkyard. They are from a 91 honda prelude....... :willy:
But they are really supportive and have adjustable side bolsters.
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02157.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02158.jpg

This gives you a better idea of how well the cage fits and how large the side bolsters are. I know the seats are kinda funky looking, but they're cheap
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02156.jpg
And the stock GTO shifter is in the perfect position. We got lucky on that one :thumbsup:
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02166.jpg

Awesome Ken. She's moving right along.:thumbsup:
Is that your dad's truck in one of those pics? That white "old school" ice cream truck? Looks pretty cool.

Yep. Its got a 79 transam front clip so it handles alright.... for an ice cream truck. :lol:

:thumbsup: Great build thread

Very nice.:thumbsup:

The car is on the rotisserie so now its a bunch of detail work.
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02190.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02191.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02195.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02198.jpg
Once everything is welded solid and wire wheeled clean of rust, we'll seam seal everything and undercoat it. Than begins the body work....... :willy:

:thumbsup: Looks great! keep it coming

You've got an awesome project going on there. I'm very impressed with your ability. So Did your Dad teach you how to do alot of the work? Nothing beats a father/son project!

Really nice project. Thanks for all the updates. :thumbsup:

Thanks. He taught me everything I know about fabrication and i've gotten pretty good at welding and other fabrication stuff

I got the brakes from Kore3. This is such an awesome kit for the price. Because I'm using the older style big bearing rear, I couldn't use the standard drum-in-hat style parking brake so I got the kit without it. I'm going to use a pinion mounted parking brake from TSM. At first I was worried about ground clearence and how well they worked but I talked to Tobin and he reassured me it will function well and the pictures I've seen make it seem pretty low profile.
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02200.jpg
The red calipers should really look awesome inside the polished wheels.
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02203.jpg
And a shot for a little more perspective on how big they actually are.... I order the smallest pizza they make :rofl:
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02207.jpg

Cool project man! :thumbsup:

Cool thread man. Seems like everyday there is a new update.
GOOD JOB!:thumbsup: :woot:

I guess I should slow down.... I've gone through 2 years of progress in less than a week :lol:

Nice project and awesome pace on the progress! I like your very standarized pizza scale! :lol:

tru dat. those seats are really wide....really really wide:rofl:

ur so screwed when we race at limerock:cool:

When we ordered the axles, last thursday I believe... We noticed that the axle tubes were a bit off width wise so the driveshaft would have a little angle on it. I worked out the math and it came to only about 1.5 degrees of angle so we didn't think it would have a huge effect. When we laid the rear in the car... it was off enough that we couldn't take any chances. We called strange, and luckily they were able to change the axle orders so we didn't end up with a spare set with the wrong length. We're going to have to chop up the rear again :( . But being that this car will be driven really hard, it's better to take the time now, than spend the money later. Heres a few pics of our predicament. http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02230.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02228.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...o/DSC02226.jpg

:cheers:

Lots of cars were built with "offsets" sometimes even the engine was offset...

Amazed that you "discovered" this AFTER installing in the car... it looks pretty noticeable even without a tape measure.

We had noticed it before, and based on the math I had done, it didn't seem like it would have a large effect. Like I said it was only 1.5 degrees but when installed the offset was huge and there is no way we could have run that.
When we called strange our axles were "in production". If we called any later we would have had to pay for two sets. :willy:

lollllllllll......:lol:
No, no need to slow down. Summer's coming!:thumbsup: