HPI Customs Project RS-V : LSA Powered Dynacorn Camaro
 

EDIT: PICS ADDED Starting page 2. I got a photobucket!!!
Hello to everyone on Lateral-G!

We are a growing shop in Manitoba, Canada, and would love to share some of our projects with you! Here is RS-V, a 1969 Dynacorn Camaro convertible riding on Speedtech front subframe and torque arm, sporting Kore3 Z06 brakes, Rushforth/Nitto wheels and tires, and a GM LSA crate engine/TCI 6speed auto as well as:
-Ring brothers door handles
-American autowire Highway 22
-Vintage air
-Marquez tail lights
-Rick's stainless tank
-Stainlessworks headers
-Afco double pass rad and intercooler
-ATS spindles
-Lizard skin

almost everything on this car has been modified. Major mods include :
-2009 Cadillac CTS-V Dash, console, gauges, entertainment package custom fit for an oem look
-Custom windshield frame/flush fitting convertible top
-Custom oval/arched styling bar
-Front end sheet metal welded together
-Molded in steel spoiler
-Custom brake scoop/styling vents
-Minitubbed with the new Dynacorn full tubs
-Hidden wiring/ac lines (master milspec connector on firewall)

-Custom designed/cnc steering wheel hub, baseplate, horn plate that has the tci wireless paddle shifter and display seamlessly integrated.
-Custom cnc motor mounts to fit the GM low mount accessory drive into the Speedtech Subframe

-Custom 3 inch stainless exhaust with cnc stainless tips that match the tail light bezels
-CNC/custom flush fuel filler/door
-custom sheet metal hood to match side vents (styled after a stinger, but very subtle) with cnc vents
-Custom lower valance/intercooler scoops
-Narrowed bumpers
etc etc!
The car is being assembled now, paint is done. I will save that for later!
Enjoy

I like tha dash idea

Looks like you guys do nice work! More pics as you progress, please...

Very interesting project. Been waiting for someone to use that dash.

Tried viewing pics of it. Wouldn't let me get past #5 (?) http://www.hpicustoms.com/projects.html

Sorry our website is being totally redone right now so we haven't updated it. The car is painted and being assembled, I will get some more pics up.

Nice idea with dash.:thumbsup:

Looking forward to seeing them. :thumbsup:

How did the process go of making the CTS-V dash fit?

had to remove about 8 inches of the ctsv dash, and rewrap the covering after making our shape. we also reshaped the speaker grills to fit what we needed and then made mounts to the firewall and pillars.

This is a sweet project. I'm going to enjoy watching for updates.

Welcome from a Westcoast Canuck. Nice project. Some info on the wheels and backspacing they look sick :thumbsup:

the fab work looks awesome guys. cant wait to see the final product. not sure how i feel about the hood but ill save the final opinion of that when i see the finished product. love that dash!

my thoughts exactly!:cheers:

Welcome,
Killer project!
It is awesome to see someone so close to home who carries some neat gear (ATS, speed tech) I actually need an oil pan and and engine mounts for and ls7.
Where abouts in Manitoba are you?

We are east of Winnipeg in a small town. (Beausejour) We just recently got a cnc mill and are doing some of our own parts, as well as carrying a huge selection of some of the top brands that support this forum! I don't want to take advantage of this forum, but you can always contact me about those parts. We also do custom set-backs made to your specs for the ls conversion motor plates.

The hood actually looks really sweet painted. It matches the intercooler scoops and the brake styling on the quarters, as well as the exhaust tip openings, so wait to see the thing together!

we are busy this week and next leading up to SEMA, can't wait for more feedback and to post more pics! Thanks for all the support from everyone, including all our product suppliers!

I have to point out how helpful other shops and businesses have been to us over the last year. They have all played a huge part in making our shop the fastest growing custom fab shop in Manitoba! I can't say enough how impressed I am with other shops across North America for the way they will help us out and answer questions! I use this forum as inspiration for my ideas, and hope to give some back.

We also are doing a super cool merge between street rodding and pro touring, which I will post next week. I should bring up some old threads in the project section and post some updates, like project Vicarious and my 64 Pontiac Parisienne pro touring!

To be honest, I don't know how you guys get 50 or even a dozen pages of posts! The time you must spend on the computer!!!! I usually dont even get to play with the cnc until midnite on weekends, we are too busy!

The wheels are Rushforth Rated-x without the rivets..... 19x12 in the rear

Ok so I openend up a photobucket and started taking some time to put pics on.... lets show you some of the body mods we have done! Starting with the side vents (so they are not really vents, just styling, because to actually vent the brakes we would have ducts where the rear seat should be, as this thing is running 335 nittos and the new dynacorn mini tubs that we installed, which are not really mini! 3 3/4 inches over stock, and they look stock and fit great. Plus we didnt want water and crap flinging up through a vent onto the paint.... I don't know that the owner of this beast will actually drive it like we will.

Formed the sheet metal, flushed it in, added spears and bingo! I actually made a wooden form to fold the two pieces into their shapes then tig'ed em together. you can see the new (ok well new at the time when we got them, but old news now i guess) Ring brothers handles, shaved lock holes, and we deleted the rocker/quarter seam before filler and primer. More to come on the oval/arched styling bar!
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...o/rsvvent1.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...o/rsvvent2.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...o/rsvvent3.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...o/rsvvent4.jpg

Ok, on to the hood....... I know that some may not like it, the customer wanted the fiberglass stinger and I figured he has too much moneygoing into this to have the same hood as everyone else....

So we made the front spear the same as the side vents that we made, and went with a subtle height and we will have some billet vents in behind it. As it is efi, we dont need a scoop really. Also, I hate how most of the cowl hoods and the stinger hood dont have the body lines from the wiper cowl in the hood, only the one peak. So we wanted the hood to roll out of the wiper cowl into a bulge, then back to nothing.

I think it worked well, it looks amazing with the striping on it (save that for later!) Its truly one off... even the bracing underneath we tried to finish off so it looks factory ish. The hood is made of 4 pieces and a stock hood, plus our two vent tunnels that are one piece each.

http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...o/rsvhood1.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...o/rsvhood2.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...o/rsvhood3.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...vhoodbrace.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...svhoodside.jpg

Now I actually like that hood and want to see it done. Very cool.

Hahaha...gotcha! Thanks for the kind words everyone. I will keep posting. This is just one of our projects..... more great ideas to come! I can't wait to get this car out there and show off our capabilities, we are really well setup to build some kick a** cars but our province is so far behind the times that LS1 s are still new ideas :_paranoid Can't wait to get a build from a customer that appreciates this style of car and understands the work it takes!!!!

very nice!!

Here's the bumper hole mods, these stock front ends have way to big openings!
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...umperholes.jpg
Here we got rid of the driving lights to make way for our Afco air to water intercooler vents...... they have a raise lower edge and match the hood vents....
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...ontvalance.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...endmockup2.jpg
The front end has been welded together into one piece, the bumper sucked in a bit, and the license plate frame modified and leaned back to make it a bit less obvious (we HAVE to run a front plate in our province....gggrrrrrrr)
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...tendmockup.jpg

Heres the rear end/bumper mods. Narrowed the bumper 1.5 inches total. also, if you notice we dropped the mounts down 3/4 inch so the body lip rolls into the bumper and you cant see the panel welds or the mounts sticking out the bottom. The exhaust cutouts are scaled down and flipped over tail light size, with a cnc stainless tip that matches the marquez tail lights (which are VERY nice pieces *shameless plug for Marquez!) Any of our suppliers can feel free to "sponsor" us on a future build!

We also since then have come up with a cool fuel cap for the center, hint:its not round, and we did a welded on spoiler lip.

http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...o/rsvrear2.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/.../rsvbumper.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/rsvrear.jpg

Roll bar is two mandrel bent and arched bars welded together, pushed it out as wide as possible to fit under the rear arm rest/side panels and pocketed the body for it.
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...lbarpocket.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...o/rollbar1.jpg

Heres the dash install..... the middle speaker grille covers the defrost vents, (its a convertible, so we figured in this case form over function! plus we kept the side defrosts that came stock in the ctsv)
The side speaker grilles are for the tweeters. these are modified ctsv vents. Overall we took about 8 inches off the dash and made a sheet metal edge for the leather to butt up to in place of the factory 69 camaro dash. complete with a vin tag spot!
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...o/rsvdash3.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...o/rsvdash2.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...o/rsvdash1.jpg

Here is the Speedtech Subframe. Since we started being a dealer for their product, we have grown to LOVE their suspension. It is truly a top notch piece, fits awesome, and has amazing support from Speedtech. Roger and Blake, hats off to you! HPI will continue to do our best to support and promote both Speedtech and ATS!

We had to pocket the frame for the LSA/LS9 style low mount accessories, as well as make custom aluminum motor adablers and motor stands. We made these ones out of 7075 5/8 aluminum, thicker than the standard setback, and have now gone with 1.75 inch setback over a small block chevy. Since then we have done up to 3 inch setbacks for a customer overseas!

The transmission we are using is a TCI 6 speed auto, with a custom steering wheel hub and base that recesses the paddle shifter and display into the wheel instead of sandwiching it between! Pics to follow of that!

http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...chsubframe.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/.../subframe2.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/mockup1.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...amepocket2.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...ramepocket.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...einstalled.jpg

The rear torque arm from Speedtech. Another nice piece! No intrusion into the floor, full 3 link style articulation, fully adjustable, and pretty much a no-modification straightforward install. tons of room for 3 inch exhaust too!
We made our own subframe connectors that do not intrude into the interior, weld in, low pro, and bolt to the subframe with 8 bolts per side. you can see the connection to the subframe here.
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/.../subframe3.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...torquearm1.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...torquearm2.jpg
The entire underside of the car has been treated with Lizard Skin Cermaic insulation, and Sound Control on the inside.

Enjoying the pics and info. :thumbsup:

Very nice build. The dash looks amazing in that car. I bet that wasn't easy to pull off that well.:thumbsup:

Thanks! Took a bit of work! Its taking alot more work to get all the ctsv entertainment and gauges to work

Looking good Tyler.

I'm close to you, and didn't know you existed until this post. If you guys don't do the painting, who would you recommend? Who will paint this project?

I've got a project that I'll need parts for eventually, I'll check you guys out when its time.

DemonSRT8, we are just out highway 44 in Beausejour, 5000 square feet with a huge showroom and tons of pro touring parts in stock! This car has already been painted, and that was a nightmare so I wont tell you who it was, you don't want to go there. We are going to be doing custom paint starting this spring when we add on, I have one of our guys going for his ticket now too.

Come check this car out in person after SEMA week when we get back!!

How did SEMA go? Are you back from debauchery yet? :willy:

I'm sending you a PM.

Thanks

Very cool build. Has some very nice touches and the group of parts going into is top notch.

Awesome build!! Always nice to see another Canadian on here. I used to live in Winnipeg for years until we moved to the west coast. I'm also using the Speed Tech subframe and will be swapping out my g-bar set up for their torque arm shortly also. Keep the pics coming.

Love this build! The dash looks great in there! I also love the ST suspension! I have driven two of their cars and really liked them a lot! I have their front and if my floor boards weren't so modded I would be using their rear suspension too! :thumbsup:

SEMA was awesome, really helped us furthur our business relationships! (like it is supposed to!)

Demonsrt-8, sorry for the delay, will be sending you soem emails tomorrow.

Thanks for the comments, and I will be posting some more pics right away when I get a chance.

Also, I know that everyone at Speedtech really appreciate all the great feedback on the Speedtech products! The whole line works as great as it looks, as they have been proving lately!

Always glad to hear that people are very satisfied with their offerings.

For anyone that has been checking up on us at HPI, our website is going to be relaunched for the new year, so don't get discouraged! More to come there!

Also, to a moderator, could you email me or pm me with some details on becoming a supporting vendor of the forum, and if you have a breakdown of some advertising costs send that too. Thanks alot.

How about a couple updates!

I never showed the new Dynacorn factory style mini tubs. they are a nice option compared to the dse or ame style, and fit well and look like stock. The convertible dynacorn bodies do not come minitubbed, so we had to do it. Let me tell you, these bodies are way stronger than original! Over 75 welds holding the two halves of the wheel houses together, and all GOOD welds. Not like tearing apart the old stuff. Oh and the rockers, both inner and outer, are just shy of 1/8 inch steel! (seriously!) so yes these bodies are built well.

http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/.../wheeltub1.jpg

Here is the rear seat mockup (2004 G35 coupe)

http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...seatmockup.jpg

and the top of our rad shroud. It is a double pass afco, with a dual fan shroud we make.

http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...nshroudtop.jpg

Some of our wiring nightmares with the dash.... we had to sort out a full 2009 Caddy CTS-V wiring harness and delete what we didnt need. Ended up with alot of extra wire in a huge array of colors!

http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...iringstart.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/wiring1.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/wiring2.jpg

and all that is left!....
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...svremnants.jpg

heres one of our front harnesses finished in sleeving/heat shrink prior to weatherpak connectors going on.
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...ontharness.jpg

For the drivetrain, we took our MAST harness and re routed a couple things and installed AMP connectors at the firewall and used a bit nicer sleeving/heat shrink instead of the electrical tape wads that it comes with.

http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...essreroute.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...streroute2.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/...econnector.jpg
the other hole in the firewall is for the TCI trans harness, done the same way