WELD builds another Camaro
 

Since I gave the car back to my Sister and Brother in Law (Rudy) this Sunday... a couple guys on here have been bugging me to do a build thread.

I'm not in the habit of showing my work... unless I'm using it in someone else's thread to help them... but I'm going to post this one anyway.

Backstory is --- they've had this car for 12+ years... it's an old drag race car and was built and raced in the '70's... and the work to make it a race car was less than stellar... Think "field stick welded" style. Well - after years of driving it, it needed a few things to make it safe to drive. The front end was shot... there were electrical issues... the rear end was leaf springs with bird cages - and the ladder bars where put on upside-down. The rear floors where covered in some kind of fiberglass and resin and screen. The ladder bars had beaten the rear floor pans to make their own clearance pockets... and the car generally rode like a lumber wagon.

The project - which started out to rebuild the front suspension - quickly went the way of most remodels... the old "well.. as long as we're here we might as well do X". That was driven by me not Rudy. I just can't stand to see something that needs to be touched - and not do it.

Remember while looking - that this is a complete freebie. My time - my dime. The car was a complete POS... and my goal was just to give it back to them in a cleaner - safer - road worthy version. Not a Roadster Shop SMOY version. I just wanted the thing to be a "decent" driver and function correctly.

The quicky list of what was done:

TCI sub
Slicked inner fenders
Slicked firewall
Rebuilt motor - a spare I had - long story because we ended up not using any of it... so a new 383 roller/stroker with great parts. 624 HP and 581 TQ @ 4000 rpms
New headers
New BowTie Overdrives Stage 3 700r4
New 2800 stall lock up converter
Bowler trans controller for the lockup
New driveline with 1350 joints
New Art Morrison Ford 9" with coil overs and panhard bar - 3:89 gears
New crossmember for ladder bars
New exhaust using 3" tubing and 14" Magnaflows
New Wilwood brakes and master
New Stainless Steel brake lines
New Recaro seats
New wiring
New stereo and amp and speakers
New dash and gauges
New column
New windshield - twice...
Patched floorpans as needed

I did all the work - including paint and bodywork as needed. We only worked on weekends when Rudy would come up from Portland to help. I felt he needed to be "part of" the project. AND I love him and love spending time doing car stuff together - which to me is the most important part of cars.


So it always starts like this....



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While at the Grand National Roadster show we saw a TCI sub at Barry Whites shop -- drove straight over to TCI to pester Evan.. and bought us a new sub! FABULOUS PIECE BTW....


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This is where the "while we're here" starts.... because I couldn't just leave the inners with big azz A arm holes... The sub comes with bolt in Aluminum close outs - but I'm not doing the bolt in version - but they were used as patterns! And that firewall - :wow: - Not leaving that messed up...



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The car had been severely punched in the nose at some point.... and the sub and firewall needed some serious work. I had to make a "shim" for the sub to bolt up... and the hole where the column comes through was mostly "S" shaped! Not flat...


So here's the usual pics of the DSE firewall flattener and TIG work... LOL



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AND the firewall was so THIN that the area where the master cylinder mounted was flexing.... so that got cut out and "fixedededed".


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My Plasma would BARELY cut the 1/2" plate I had left over from building my shop table... But we got there... Then I had to machine the "shim" down to .463 so it would fit perfectly when bolted up.



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Greg,

You appear to be very crafty. :unibrow:

Congrats on seein' it go over the curb. ;)


:thumbsup:

The firewall was an absolute MESS... and the inner fenders were equally hackeymotto'd....



Got the plate in for the steering column/master cylinder which really helped stiffen up the entire ordeal.




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Then it was on to the inners.... were someone had made a hole using a punch and a drill bit!




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This^^ :thumbsup:


Jeff-

In the meantime -- the block and crank and Heads I had went over to the engine builder... turns out the block was already .060 over - so not using it for a blower motor build... the crank was cast... so not using it... and the rods were H beam cast pieces so not using them either.... so bought new block - forged crank - I beam rods - Mahle pistons - roller hydraulic - Used my Canfield 220cc aluminum heads and the T&D Machine rockers...




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Then it was on to the bodywork and paint....




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YES === I DO ALL MY OWN WORK..... and no that's not orange peel in the assembly photo - I just suck and quicky photography





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We decided the wiring et al needed to be trunk mounted - so I built a quicky little hinged rack for that stuff.... it's hidden behind a carpeted "wall" that he already had...And of course the entire car got rewired.


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UP UNDER THE DASH is now super clean....




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And he got a new dash --- TWICE --- because I accidentally caught the first new one on fire (using the plasma under the car - while leaving a moving pad inside the car when we were kneeling on it... OOPS! WTF?!?!?! What's that orange "glow".... oh -- that would be MAN MAKING FIRE!



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A little crispy wiring....




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Since I actually LIKE doing plumbing - you've all read the banter between Bent Fab and I... I'm sure... It got all new 3/16th SS lines...



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nice work there buddy, you need a full time job?? we got openings :thumbsup:

So the old rear end - which was all bound up because the arch of the leaf spring perches (bird cage style) and the ladder bars were DIFFERENT... and someone had tightened the bird cages so that they were clamped tight on the leaf springs... :rofl: We cut all that old crap outta there.... and installed a new Art Morrison Coil over rear/ladder bars/panhard bar suspension. Thanks go out to Roger at Ironworks and Chris at JCG for their phone tech on this!!




Rudy with the old crap!




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My scribbles on paper taped to the floor.... As Roger said so delicately -- mumbling about backyard mechanics.... [/COLOR]




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Just FYI -- when I took the car up for a 4 wheel alignment - the rear end was "out" .79 degree..... YEAH BUDDY -- the old paper on the floor got me all back with less than one degree to correct for with the F'n LASER alignment rack! HA!






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When it's home built - ya just gotta use what ya got.... :rofl:



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The frame -- needed a couple patches.... OMG... the backyard work this poor thing had suffered...





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AND SOME FLOOR WORK.....



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So after it was all blown apart again for the zillionth time - parts painted - parts powder coated etc.... we ended up this weekend slamming that bad boy into the trailer and sending it home. He'll enjoy the balance of our Pacific NorthWET summer -- and then I'll have the interior done. It needs custom carpet - we're deciding on door panels (Marquez vs Deluxe factory) and a custom back seat to match the new Recaros - since I showed him Vegas69 back seat interior shots and he went crazy.



LOVE THE NEW RING BROTHERS HOOD HINGES BTW! Wow -- a ton of adjustability...



HATE THE VALVE COVERS -- the BLUE is just all wrong and Rudy is going to have them re-done with just silver and black where the blue is.




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I'm too old -- your workers comp would get canceled. Do you remember when I called you to inquire about maybe finishing this POS up for me? You have no idea how close I came to just getting it in the trailer and heading north! Trying to do that rear end on the lift -- and I'm somewhat of a perfectionist -- and the car was so out of square and nowhere to pull a good tape from... OMG! But I just kept at it and thank god for tack welds... and it finally all came together.

Thanks for the compliment BTW... :cheers:


It drives like a million bucks --- and after driving it for the first time - before it got aligned -- I called RUDY and said to him.... ya know what? We built this whole car in my shed -- and I just drove it all over the place and never had one single issue...and it drives straight - rides great - brakes work great... STEVE'S AUTO RESTORATION can't say that! :rofl:

Nice work man. :thumbsup: To the guys that think he's just a short, rich, prick, take that. :unibrow: :lol:

You forgot "old" and "fat"... :D

As a pre-teen I still remember helping my Dad set up the rear suspension on his Woodill Wildfire the exact same way! Pumb-bobs and paper taped to the floor with measurements scribbled everywhere! :thumbsup:

Thanks Jeff! That truly is exactly how I feel about this stuff.... I'll drive or fly a gazillion miles to volunteer at some event - not for kudos or anything like that - - I just want to be with my friends and have some fun doing what we all like doing.

Next up on the shed list --- a 496 ci transplant in my 74 year old buddies beautiful '56 Chevy. His motor is an old worn out POS... and it needs some umpf!

I told Pierre (he's Italian - I call him Frenchie - 'cause who's Mother would name an Italian dude PIERRE?)... he had to wait til NOVEMBER -- because I need a break! I'm OLD and this crap ain't gettin' any easier...

WOW its good to see you getting your hands dirty greg and I guess you dont need to get rid of your tools you do just fine with them. Saw your daughter at the game the other night are you going to come out to any this year?

I just love the tire stands.... you guys do know you have a lift so you can lower the car to the wheels.....

Great story Greg! After reading your first post about the 383 with 624hp, you had me guessing how you got there. The big 6-71 a few posts later gave me the answer. Very nice! :cheers:

That's what I did -- put the wheels on the garbage cans -- then lowered the car - and I could take measurements etc...

But damn! If you touched ONE THING -- everything moved! OMG so frustrating!

But we got 'er done! :cheers:

Damn, you never cease to amaze. Outstanding work by an outstanding gentleman. :bow:

Looking good GW (and Rudy)! I remember seeing this car at Tim's a few years back, You guys do nice work :thumbsup:

Thanks!

I actually don't just sit here and post all day... although it probably seems like it to many. It's the beauty of being retired. I have all dang day to do exactly what I feel like! :D


Yes - we'll be down to AriDzona for a game or two... I leave that to Gwen and Adrienne to plan - so I'm out of the loop until the night before when I'm told to pack "we're going somewhere" and "no you can't wear that!"...

I hope AJ gets some playing time...

I'll also be down to see about the new "rig" when it arrives at Chandler. When I pick it up I'll come to the shop and we can check it out.:cheers:

Don't get weepy on me... I'm still an azzhole at heart!

Rudy did all the dirty work... I'd save the "here! you're going to clean that down to bare metal"... and "help me lift this"... and "get inside there and get all that Dynamat off there!"

We had many many enjoyable weekends together... it was fun to see his delight in getting much needed new parts... getting his first REAL motor and running it on the dyno... and then that first drive... OMG! The grin he had when it actually went STRAIGHT down the road... had a nice WORKING suspension... was "quiet" as in squeak free and rattle free... but had the big blower whine and 3" exhaust note. Priceless! He was tentative to hammer it... so I booted his sorry butt and showed him how it's done! Just blip the throttle and it lights those 18" wide tires like they're 2 ply nylon 7:75 X 14's.

Frankly -- even I was surprised at how well it runs and drives.

Nice work Greg!! :thumbsup:

Very impressive, especially for an RF. :D

Nice write up Greg. You guys did a great job. Its nice to see you and Rudy are good friends and enjoy the same things. I'm lucky to be close to my family too, except I'm the only one crazy enough to try a build like this.
Way to go!:thumbsup:

Cool story and very nice work Greg :thumbsup:

nice work as usual! love the stainless lines. This is pretty much what we find. A car comes in and you end up chasing all the "ugly" stuff...wiring, etc- hard to know where to stop

Yep.... can't tell you how many of my friends drive around in complete denial. They stop by and see if I can help them with some issue or another -- and one look and you just want to back 'em out of there and close the doors. Ya kinda hint that "maybe..." something could be done to fix that hole in the floor... or that a complete wiring kit really isn't very expensive... but they're "fine" with the way it is. Then what do you do? You really can't fix the entire friggin' car in a half an hour. :woot:

WOW!!!!!,Very Cool.:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Sounds good man, let me know when you hit town for a game if you have time we can get a drink or something. If not no big deal but its fun to hang with the players. I am doing a few cars for the guys right now and one I think you would like is a murdered out 61 rolls with a LS-7. Its flat super dark gray and black powder coated everything. Its mean looking

Great thread Greg! Nice job on the car! You need the "Built in THE SHED" stickers.

Well that, and talented :thumbsup:

I almost posted it in the "home built" section... :lol:

That's really not fair though... the shed is a bit more "equipped" than the average garage. The skills might be the same - but a few decent tools here and there sure help a guy out! I've got some I've yet to master but I'm tryin'!



This would be one of them.... I'm not a particularly good machinist... and I'd like to be.




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Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain there....:D



Thanks Rob.

Yet another reason I wish I lived closer to you.

:woot:

Wow I'm Impressed :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

That's some awesome work Greg. :thumbsup: It's just as equally awesome that you helped out your brother-in-law like that, makes for some great memories.