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Father and Son 74 Camaro project
Well I guess I should finally introduce myself; my name is Tim. I have been hanging around here, lurking for a number of years, but haven’t had a project until recently.
A little background about myself. I bought my first car when I 16 years old, a 1968 Ford Galaxie 500. I got it from a friend in school… all I had to do was pay the tow and pound fees and it was mine. I drove that for about 6 months, cruising up and down the strip in first gear (thought it sounded cooler that way) with a set of 5 spoke Crager’s on the back. After 6 months the frame snapped and the car went to the bone yard. I went a couple other cars (76 Cougar XR7 and a Beetle) before I purchased a 67 RS Camaro with a 350 and a 4 speed. The Camaro was a fun car until the spring perch came up through the floor. I decided at that point I was going to make it a strip only car, so I had the floor replaced, pulled the 350 and 4 speed and built another 350 with a powerglide. That didn’t last long. Along came the era of prostreet and mullets… I already had the hair and I seized the opportunity when an ex-drag car became available, a 69 Camaro with a narrowed Dana 60 (5.57 gears), full cage and lots of fiberglass. Spent a couple months converting back to a ‘street’ car…needed everything; interior, wiring, etc. I built a roller cam 350 with nitrous (that’s when ‘Mighty Mouse’ started), and kept the powerglide (big mistake...car needed more gear out of the hole). http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...atthetrack.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...usewithNOS.jpg Well I had the 69 for a couple years, until I got hired by Toronto Police and moved up to the big city. The Camaro was a bit much to be driving around in Toronto traffic, so I traded with a friend for his prostreet 82 Cutlass Supreme. It was mild and very streetable, but I lived in an apartment and needed to rent storage space to keep, so it too didn’t last long in my possession. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d.../82Cutlass.jpg Then life happened; policing career, kids and responsibilities. Well 23 years later, four kids and marriage number two brings to today. My youngest son just turned 16 years old this year. He has seen pictures of my cars and heard me talk about the ‘old’ days, and he started to show an interest in cars. We have spent a fortune (trust me, I could buy a Steilow car with what we paid for hockey) and the last 9 years on the road with his hockey. He’s at the age now where we don’t have to pay anymore. A few weeks ago I came across a 74 Camaro on one of the local lots. I knew it was going to need a lot of work, but I thought this would be the perfect learning experience for him. I made an offer (too much in hindsight) and took it home. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/100_1213.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/100_1211.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/100_1223.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/100_1222.jpg It hasn’t taken us long to strip her down and find all the ‘ugly’ buried beneath. This going to be a very budget build…my first wife is still on my ‘payroll’. (Looks like they fastened the patch panel down with whatever screws and bolts were laying around) http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/100_1219.jpg The first priority is to get the body in order. It’s going to need new floor pan, trunk, quarters and maybe frame rails (Canadian winters are car killers). I will mini tube while we are at it. No one makes full quarters for a 74 Camaro and the NOS ones that are still floating around are way out of my budget. I did find someone on line that made 73 quarters work, just need to graft the back corner around the tail lens from the 74. Front bumper is going to be sectioned to fit a little ‘tighter’ and the rear bumper with be tucked in a little. Suspension upgrades, front and rear are a must. I haven’t decided what we are going with; I will have to keep my eyes open for some used parts to piece together…budget willing. Ideally we would like to put a LS motor and a T56, but that may be a pipe dream. So far the most expensive part has been acquiring the tools. I’ve sold off some of my woodworking tools to make room in the garage and to finance a mig welder and other odds and ends. Still need a better compressor. I picked up some steel this week and started building the rotisserie. My son is having a great time learning to weld… I’m still re-learning myself (it’s been 24 years since I was welding bumpers in the factory). Here are a few photos of the project. Floor pans are shot. Previous owners tried to patch them at some point... had expandable foam covering the holes this time. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/100_1260.jpg Stripped down waiting for the rotisserie (metal laying on the ground). My son has scraped most the paint off...hoping to cut the cost of media blast down. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/100_1256.jpg Previous applied quarter skin. It had lots of bondo covering the seam. I started messing around to see if I could pop it off so I could butt weld a new skin on, but I think I will go with converting the full 73 quarters. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/100_1261.jpg The roof has a couple patches; one on each side. I'm not sure what I'm going to do here. May need to go with new roof skin. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/100_1262.jpg Had the original 350 (was a two barrel, now has a Q-Jet) in it. It's sitting in the garage on a stand. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/100_1259.jpg Thanks for looking. I will try to keep it up to date as the project slowly progresses. |
Welcome neighbor, good to see a father and son project. :thumbsup:
Looking forward to seeing this one come together Tim. |
Nice project! I was originally looking for a second gen(I had 2 when I was younger). But my friend made me a deal on a 69(not a bad thing).
Looking forward to seeing your progress:thumbsup: |
Have a real soft spot for 74-77 camaros. My brother inlaw had one when I was a kid and thats what started it for me!! This is a great project between father and son.Love the car and keep us posted. Welcome neighbour!! Where abouts in Toronto are you. Im in Pickering.
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Welcome to Lat-g. This will be a nice project for you and your son.
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Thanks everyone.
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I hear ya thats why im in the outskirts
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This car brought back memories of what my car used to be, and even had the same problems mine did. Have fun with the build. Its good to see another 74 on the road!
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I love pretty much all Camaros, except the 93+ ones, even though they're amazing cars, they're just ugly. But theres something about the 74's with the early 2nd gen rear glass, and the middle/late second gen style nose that I just like a lot. I prefer the late 2nd gen noses more than the middle ones, but I'd take a 74 over a 79 just because I love the lines of the rear glass so much with the rest of the car.
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Welcome Aboard!!!.I also am working a project w/my 16 year old.Good Luck.Keep posting your progress.
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rotisserie built
We managed to get the rotisserie built and the car mounted on it. My son had a great time learning to weld.
We got the front suspension all off late today...just need to drop the rear out and then we can spin it to get a good look at the underside. Front clip is still on because the frame has been 'tied' by a previous owner. Once we get it rotated, we will cut the welds from the front clip, drop the clip and mount the body back on the rotisserie. The rotisserie was a fun project and I got a lot of enjoyment watching my son learn something new. It's been a learning experience for me as well, it's always been hard for me to relinquish control, but I'm learning to step back and say, "Figure it out". http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/100_1266.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/100_1269.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/100_1270.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/100_1271.jpg |
Decided to change direction....a little. I decided with the amount metal that needed to be replaced and the lack of available sheet metal for 74's, I was better off to convert it to a 70.
I replaced the complete right side and firewall. I replaced the inner left side rocker, before eventually deciding to replace the outer as well. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps6184a9a6.jpg I had to wait a long time for the complete trunk with frame rails. The complete floor was in stock, but they didn't have a complete trunk so a had to wait a few months, which was ok because I was working a lot of overtime (helped pay for parts). They finally called me after a few months to advice me the only complete trunk they had in North America had been dropped (bent the driver's side frame extension). I waited a couple more weeks before I decided to take the complete trunk as is. (they agreed to nice discount and a replacement frame rail). Once I got everything home I realized they gave me the wrong side frame rail (new one is on order, but will be a few weeks). I was able to 'massage' the bent rail back in place, but I may hold off installing the complete trunk until I have the replacement rail to compare to. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...psfaebf1a5.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps4b12fd3b.jpg I have a 70 parts car coming on Friday and a line on a Detroit Speed mini kit (tubs, springs etc.), just need to pick up the outer wheelhouses, then quarters... I already have the tail light panel. I still haven't decided what I'm doing about the roof yet. |
I picked up the parts car today. It's rough, but the front sheet metal will work. I will inspect the front subframe and decided which one I will use. The roof seems to be in good shape in the area where mine has issues, so I will see if I can work with it.
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps7ec9654a.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps12b3ce57.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps69355630.jpg |
I needed to replace the left side wheelhouse.
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...psfdad1dee.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps3d04927c.jpg Figured out my roof dilemma... the donor car donated it's roof. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps158ce87e.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...pse072e405.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps49afcd9b.jpg Outer wheelhouse welded on. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps0d3b223c.jpg My Camaro didn't have these braces (don't know if they eliminated after a certain year or not?), but I salvaged them from the donor car. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps385d818d.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...pse9515a70.jpg |
Very cool build! Are you going to use the donor car tail panel for the brake lights, or repro sheet metal?
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Underside is all in, welded and welds have been cleaned up. I will pick up the Detroit Speed mini tubs next week. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps6765e119.jpg The quarters and and tail panel are completed...had to see what it looked like with bumper and tail lights. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps66be41bb.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps6185ce8e.jpg Once the Detroit Speed mini tubs are in I will move on to smoothing the firewall. I already picked up the DSE upper shock re-locator and off-set spring hangers over on Pro-Touring. Still not set on front suspension yet. I have to sand blast the doors and see how much work they are going to need...I have a feeling I will be looking for replacement doors. |
Wow! You guys have done a lot to save that car. Impressive work. Good luck moving forward.
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Wow you guys have been going to town on this! Very nice job!!!!
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Nice work it coming along great.
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Wow Tim this project is really coming along!! You and your son are doing a great job!!!
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WOW! I'm not sure how I missed all this but you guys are kicking butt! Keep up the good work and post as many pictures as you can.
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I managed to get the Detroit Speed mini tubs installed. It took a little longer then I expected, only because it's tight quarters in the trunk....as my son says, "you couldn't even fit one dead hooker in there.":lol:
BEFORE http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps6765e119.jpg AFTER http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps5821ed84.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...psc757bf49.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...psbc84d034.jpg I have some work to do on the front subframe to get it cleaned up, mount holes repaired and powder coated before I install the frame connectors. I haven't decided on what I'm doing about suspension yet; I'm talking with a few different companies to make sure I make the right choice for me, before I jump in. In the meantime I guess it's time to start on the firewall. |
Great project.
I see where you bought the DSE offset shackles and Spring, Mini-tubs. My suggestion would be to buy the DSE subframe connectors as the offer the cleanest fit & Finish once installed. That being said you've started purchasing DSE stuff for the rear then you should stick with DSE upper, lower control arms, springs & shocks to match the rear. Don't forget to get their subframe bushings as they will complete the package. DSE kit offers a static ride height just like a factory type set up however with a lowered stance. For my project I choose Ride-Tech for the suspension front and rear but I did use DSE Mini-tubs, SubFrame Connectors, Body Bushing and Brake Booster. I love the offerings from both of these companies. You should also look at Speed-Tech because the have a pretty cool set up for the front of 2nd Gens. ? Are you keeping the 74 Subframe |
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I have the DSE subframe connectors, offset shackles and rear upper shock crossmember, but I haven't purchased springs or shocks. My plan was to run the leafspring setup for now and upgrade to the quadralink down the road. I contacted DSE to see if they sold the upper bar pockets separately as I wanted to install them now(while the car is in the raw state) rather than have to pull everything apart again later just to install the pockets...DSE advises they do not sell them separately so I started to rethink things. I have an email in to Ride-Tech now and just waiting to hear back from them. Yes, I plan on using the 74 subframe (I have the one from the 70 donor as well). I'm not sure which one is going to need the least amount of work. |
Well get that bike off the ceiling and go out and ride.
I to started out with DSE springs and Shackles and mini-tubs thinking I was going to keep this car simple. However when I called DSE and they told me they don't split up there kits. Then I decided to call the guys at ride tech and they set me up with their new Coil-over kit for the rear and I couldn't be happier. DSE makes great stuff but I was concerned that if I was in an accident or god forbid damaged a part they wouldn't help me out. In the end I spent about 10 grand with DSE and now have moved with this project to other vendors. I have a good friend that misplaced the wire harness for the RS door electric kit and they told him he needed to buy a complete kit. I should mention that he spent over 20 grand with them and they still wouldn't help him out. They make great stuff they just need to work on offering replacement parts. Heck what would you do is you damaged a spindle on one of there subframes. Would you have to buy a new one ?? Quote:
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Nice job on the car its moving right a long.
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A little bit of an update:
I got the subframe cleaned up and the body mount holes repaired. I've sent it off to the power coater and should have it back next week. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...psf027bcd3.jpg Frame connectors are in. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps69014c50.jpg I got the passenger side of the firewall 'smoothed'. Just did the metal work...no fill yet, I will leave that for the body man. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps00acd875.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps463a926e.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps6771b693.jpg http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...psad2dfb89.jpg I spoke with Tobin (great customer service) at Kore3 yesterday and ordered the brackets for the C6 Z06 brakes. I hope to order the RideTech front and rear suspension(without shocks for now) at the end of next, so I can get the rearend mocked up. |
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