She won't let me drive!
 

We bought my wife's (Beth/yield2me) car a little over a year ago. The original plan was to buy a “completed” car that we could do some cruising in, attend a few local car shows and maybe do a couple road trips. The car came with a few “gremlins” that stopped much of that from happening last year. After sorting through most of them we did get her on the road again last fall for a few hundred miles of fun.

Our current plan is to do some upgrades this winter and be back on the road this spring. We plan on doing some autocross where Beth says "I'm gonna drive it like I stole it!"

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...2010Camaro.jpg

The big items changed so far:
Swapped the spun bearing/cracked block 454 for a built 468
Swapped the Saginaw 4sp for a TKO 600
Swapped the manual rack for power rack
Dual pass aluminum radiator
Dynamat'd the interior

Some cosmetic things:
Modo pedals
Momo shift knob
Marquez tail lights
Twist Machine fender braces
Closeout panel

Our Winter projects:
G-link
Fab9/TruTrac/31 spline axles
Wilwood brakes
Vintage Air
Sound system

Here’s a before and after (so far) of the engine bay.
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a.../enginebay.jpg
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_4618.jpg

Here’s an interior shot.
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...amaro/dash.jpg
The flakey rattle canned driver’s kick panel will be taken care of when I do the sound system.

Some of our goodies.
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_5694.jpg

Whoa. Now that's a pile of parts :D

Out with the old

Got some of the old parts that could be unbolted from the rear off the car this weekend. Gotta do some cutting and grinding to remove a couple crossmembers from the previous setup next.

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_5872.jpg

The old 10 bolt, 4-link, and rotors.
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_5873.jpg

A 1/2 mile gravel driveway makes it a biatch to keep the underside clean.
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_5863.jpg

I'll have to re-route some fuel and brake lines as well.
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_5865.jpg

Cool; it's great that you and our wife can share your interest in cars.

It's great that me and my hubby can share MY interest in cars!

well ok, but you still share the interest!

Looks like you like better her car than your cars...

Yes it is and now it's time to whittle away at it!

Yes it is great!

Yeah, her car is getting more love than mine right now. But mine needs a ton of work and we gotta keep one driveable. I just hope she remembers this when I start back on mine. :D

very nice car... i love the setup and how it looks

Very cool. Seems like a really nice car. Should be even nicer when complete.
Keep us posted.:thumbsup:

Beth those are some sweet upgrades to an already nice car. I guess that new garage is working out well for you guys. I wish I coluld get my wife interested in my car. Keep the updates coming.

Thanks everyone!

Thanks Wayne! Yah, the garage is working out quite nicely...except that it's already full! We're actually storing Ed's '72 C10 at the office cause we're out of garage space!

Got the rest of the old rear setup off the car today. The front cross member with the loop was a major PITA. Took a couple cut-off wheels, 4 reciprocating saw blades and then a BFH but I finally got it.

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_5875.jpg

I need to clean up the frame rails a bit where I cut the brackets off. Then I can start the G-Link install.

Picked up our housing from the powder coater today.

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_5909.jpg

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_5900.jpg

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_5901.jpg

Also started fitting the G-link.

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_5913.jpg

Awesome!:thumbsup:

Very Nice upgrades Ed and Beth!! Hope to meet you guys this summer. The Corvette club and the Sports car club both do autocrosses at the fairgrounds in Sioux Falls during the summer. I usually get to a few of them and always have a blast. Hope to see you there.

Looking good Ed.Please keep us posted.:thumbsup: Scott

Thanks Tones and Scott! We'll keep the updates coming.

Thanks Steve! Hope to meet you as well. PM me a link or when you know the schedule. That sounds like a good time to me.

Ed the rear looks great. I like the double shear for the lower shock mounts

Well I'm living up to my screen name. It takes a special person to turn a couple weekend project into a couple months! :rofl:

Got the Fab9/TrueTrac assembled, the G-link mostly done, and started on the rear brakes. Next I need to clean up my old brake lines and run new fuel lines. I'm also considering building my own 3" stainless exhaust. After all of that I'll remove everything then clean up and re-paint the spots of bare metal.

We're also looking into going EFI. So let me know if you have any suggestions on places to research our options. I've been looking at Holley and Fast's websites and read a couple threads on chevytalk and chevelles forums.

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...IMG_5995-1.jpg

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_5994.jpg

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...IMG_5999-1.jpg

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...IMG_5990-1.jpg

It looks good under there. I like the arms he uses for his four link. Really stout, they look like they could take a beating.

Finally stopped working for long enough to get some things done on the car again. Changed out the master cylinder, ran new front brake lines, and installed the front disc brakes. Since I need to run new rear brake lines I decided I better get the exhaust built/installed as well. I bought 3" Magnaflow mufflers and x pipe and then built the rest with sanitary stainless pipe and pre-formed fittings. I've been wanting to learn how to tig stainless and figured this would be a good project since its mostly hidden. :D I found out that the welding was easy compared to measuring and fitting everything. It took a bit of cursing and a few beers but I got it done.

Master before. It was a little messy
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_6291.jpg

Master after
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...G_0021copy.jpg

Exhaust after welding
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a.../IMG_67182.jpg

After hitting the welds with an ss wire wheel
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_0003.jpg

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...G_0006copy.jpg

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_0018.jpg

I’ll post up pics of it installed later this week. I may try taking 2.5” up over the axle and dump behind the wheels. But before then I need to get her driving again. Next up is finishing up the rear brakes.

Nice updates Ed. Great job on the exhaust.

The exhaust looks great, nice work.

Great work! exhaust came out really nice :thumbsup:

Thanks guys! :cheers:

Here's a few pics from tonight. I mounted the exhaust under the car again and just need to make up some hangers now. I also got my rear brake line most of the way done but it's nothing picture worthy.

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a.../IMG_67432.jpg

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a.../IMG_67542.jpg

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a.../IMG_67492.jpg

Back from Hawaii
 

We just returned from a trip to the Big Island. Had a really great time. The vacation was long overdue.

Since I'm not as far as I should be on Beth's car, we rented a "constellation prize".

We saw it in the parking lot of a rental company as we drove by and her eyes just lit up. This car is damn near the same color as her 69. We had a reservation with a different company already for an Impala (or similar). Luckily the two companies operate together and we were able to have them pull it from the other lot. It was a bit of a price jump but definitely a lot more fun than an Impala to cruise around the island. I probably only got to drive it about 5 out the 800 miles we put on it but cashing in the new brownie points was worth every penny. :unibrow: :D

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...4/IMG_6764.jpg

The island is full of twisty roads that were a blast with this car. We'd never buy a new one because we just love the classics way more but it was definitely the right car for this trip.

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...4/IMG_7726.jpg

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...4/IMG_7454.jpg

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...4/IMG_7457.jpg

There was 8 miles of gravel from construction when we drove up Saddle Road from Hilo to head across the island. The fog/rain gave Beth white knuckles for bit.

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...4/IMG_7690.jpg

Here's a pic of the car at the Southern-most tip of the US.
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...amarosouth.jpg

Self-hijack over.
I did finish up the brake lines and fab up muffler hangers before we left. Bleeding the brakes and doing a tune up are all that’s in the way of driving it again. Though we still have Vintage Air, Rick’s tank, EFI (whenever it arrives) and a long list of other odds and ends to call it “complete for now.”

Good for you two! Doing stuff like that is what makes a nice trip a MEMORABLE trip!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Been working on Beth's car here and there the last couple months. Finally took her out for its maiden voyage of the year last night. Went and bedded in the new brakes and then cruised around town for a while. Between the G-link and new 3.73 gears it feels like a new car. Our previous 4 link just did not work at the ride height we were running and the old gears were 2.73s. :_paranoid The exhaust is quite loud inside the car. It currently dumps right behind the passenger seat floor boards. I have to put sound deadener in the trunk yet. I am also going to work on tail pipes out the rear after I get the Rick's tank installed that's been sitting here a while.

Here's some videos from last night. Audio/video quality is kind of crappy… I'll get some better video once we have everything broke in.







I've also got the vintage air 90% installed. I just need to wrap up the wiring, charge the system, and attach the vent hoses. I'm waiting to hook up the heater hoses until I swap out to the EFI manifold. We did receive our EFI setup. I need to finish planning the fuel system and then decide if I'm taking on the swap this season or just enjoying the car and do it this winter.

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_7852.jpg
These are sooo pretty. :D
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_6359.jpg

Conrats geting it back on the road. Tuff decision to swap it now or wait its geting to be a nice time of the year to cruise.

Thanks Wayne! The weather has been beautiful this last week. The previous 3-4 weeks before were horribly hot and humid. I even bought an AC unit for the shed. All of the things I've done to the car are firsts for me. The learning curve plus long work weeks makes for slow progress on some of these installs. Now is a good time to be driving.

Congrats Ed, real nice mods on the suspension, engine/bay and now with the EFI :thumbsup:

Nice! I'm happy for you!

Thanks guys.

So yeah...
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_7883.jpg

Our little town has had its celebration days all week. Tomorrow is a car show in the park. Tonight was the customary cruise night before the show. We took the camaro to the car wash in town and cleaned her up nice. Then started cruising around. The streets were bumper to bumper stop and go traffic. Go a car length and stop, go a car length and stop. It was kind of boring with 600hp and stick shift. 95% of the vehicles cruising were pretty much brand new. Over 50% of them were pickup trucks. (Gotta love small rural towns) There were maybe 30 classic cars out tonight and a handful of 80s and 90s mustangs and camaros.

After cruising for about 15 mins an 18 year old kid in a 2001 Aurora rear ended us when were stopped. :mad: Luckily it was in the slow traffic and was just a bump. It scratched the bumper, scuffed the lower tail panel and cracked the paint a little. He’s insured and all will probably be fine. But it was quite the buzz kill.

When it first happened I stepped out of the car to look at it. The two cars were up against each other and we were holding up traffic. I told Beth that we should drive ahead to the next block and get out of traffic. I went back to tell the kid what we were doing and Beth had started the car and took off without me. The kid’s car was full so I had to walk a block and a half to catch up to them. Man that was like insult to injury… But we are laughing about her leaving me now.

After that whole deal we took the car for a cruise in the country side to get out of town and blow off some steam. Beth even let me drive for a little bit. She must have felt bad for leaving me.

Nah, I didn't feel bad. :P

Nice build, I was wondering if your car was a drag car (because of the rear 4 link set up) when you bought it. And if it was a touring type Camaro.... How did it handle with that 4 link set up? Thanks