Project ""Mercury Rising"" 1969 Camaro
 

Where to begin....picked up this car in Oct '12 as I have always wanted a 1969 Camaro and lately Pro Touring. This was a 3 yr build completed in 2009 and was in Chevy High Perfomance magazine Dec '09. Two owners later it became mine. With those previous owners some needed upgrades were made like guages, seats, T56 Mag with hyd clutch, etc. but more were needed. Many changes needed to be made in my opinion to take the car to the next level. So here we go and hence the project name.

What it did look like.

Overall a good build with extensive investment in the mechanicals:

DSE Quadralink with 9" rear
DSE mini-tubbed
DSE polished SS fuel tank
Chassisworks subframe with subframe connectors
ZZ572 w/ Hogans intake and FAST XFI injection
T56 Magnum w/ hyd clutch
Wilwood brakes - polished 4 piston on all four corners
Forgeline ZX3 18x12, 18x10


Vintage Wheels - Cobra knock off wheels (old)
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Forgelines

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Replaced mirrors with 2nd gen models, had gaps adjusted, front bumper was repaired among some other paintwork. Added some billet parts, etc.

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Current - Subframe removal for smoothed firewall - Anvil 100% CF inner fenders, Concept 1 pulley/accessory system, VA Gen IV a/c evap upgrade, Ididit steering column, Restomodair Diablo bulkhead, Clayton Machine works pedals, wiring upgrades, plumbing changes/upgrades, DSE dash with Ultra-Lite II guages, VA controller, Optima battery relocate to trunk with MAD electrical upgrades, complete exhaust redo and so much more

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Looks like you had a good base to start with.

And 572's always get my attention. :thumbsup:

nice car!!!

The Forgeline's set it off just riiiiight!!

Sweet Ride!

Thanks for the comments! Much inspiration comes from the builds on this forum.

Need some guidance on limiting turn stops with the rack and pinion. Speaking with Chassisworks they know their system turns sharper than it should. They suggest spacers to remedy the issue. Running 265/35 tires now and will be going to 275/35 tires with the new inner fenders. The issue is not the offset if that is what you suspect. I would like to know what turn limiter spacers you have used or recommend. I could always make my own too. Thanks in advance.

Bump for answer to post above^^^^

Most Definitely!

Plan is complete.....Ready to start cutting and welding after a weld paper wrap that is. Meanwhile engine is removed from the subframe, headers to Jet Hot for new Cermachrome coating after welding v-bands onto the collectors. Bunch of parts to the powder coater to be refinished to freshen everything up. Varishock double adjustable shocks sent off for rebuild. Need to shoot some more pics.

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Nice, love the new wheels!

Cool Project!!!

Yep, looking forward to seeing this one come together.

Sending the intake to Mark at BENT Custom & Performance so he can work his magic. Will clean up that wiring too.

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Sent the front shocks off to Varishock for a rebuild (one was leaking from the top seal) then reassembled. Super fast turn around.

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Very nice build. That Hogan intake is sweeeet! They make some nice peices. The intake would look awesome black or gunmetal.

That would be very tempting if I did not have all natural/polished billet throughout. Gunmetal would look bad ass. The Concept 1 pulley system is anodized brushed in natural which I already have. I was going to have the intake polished after it returns from Mark. Works with the polished Ron Davis radiator. Plenty of black anodized plumbing/hardware is planned. What do you think?

Headers are done. 3.5" 304SS V-Bands then CermaChrome from Jet-Hot.

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Some pics of the SS fuel lines from the master Mark Bohlen of Bent Performance. Now to rework some wiring, throttle cable then to polish.


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Engine block and valve covers smoothed and re-sprayed....oil pan is next.

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Were you able to get the info you needed?

:thankyou: for the props!

Things are looking good :gitrdun:

Mark

Other than just cut some custom spacers for limiting the rack and pinion turn limits not really.

I'll send you a pm shortly. :)

Some mock up pics

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Decided to paint the frame instead of spotting in the paint after some welding some bulkheads to clean up brake lines, etc. ...after all powder coating does make great primer. Had a number of blems too.

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Progress update: frame painted, SS brake line w/ hidden bulkheads underneath frame, 1" sway bar, double adj shocks rebuilt and more.

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Now for some addtl firewall mockup for clearance.

That looks absolutely terrific! Is the 572 stock internally?
I'd wager that the car will scoot...

That 572 looks amazing

It is stock internally. The Hogan's fuel injection system bumps it to 700hp. Fun car for sure.

Thanks for the comments!

Couple other custom pieces making their way onto the firewall. The RestoMod Air bulkhead and steering column will match on the firewall with the bulkhead recessed 3/16" in the custom stamping completed by Dan from Holohan's Hot Rod Shop.

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And then the CF Hydrodipped inner fender brackets so they blend in with the real CF Anvil inner fenders. Them being black just stood out too much.

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Wow!!!!!!! The project is turning out amazing!!!!.Love the Holohan Part's.:thumbsup:

Definitely some nice work fab work,that engine looks great in the subframe with that intake.

Everything looks great, I like the idea of the carbon dip braces.

The car started off nice, now its going to be awsome!

Where did you get the steering colum mount from?

Thanks....the steering column piece is from Billet Specialties (pictured on the left) and RestoMod Air placed it into their CNC machine and cut it down(squared the shoulder) and drilled/tapped for the bolts to match their bulkhead.

Perfect man---love that Hogan's intake and the 572---and you got the right wheels on the car now---looks killer.

DF

Great looking setup...esp the intake. I have a similar 572 setup and wonder if you're going to have room between back of the distributor to rout the fuel line there along with the pressure regulator.
I was advised to run the pressure regulator back at the tank to not transfer engine bay heat back into the tank. This setup has worked flawlessly in hot weather with no heated fuel problems nor any engine starving issues.
Just a suggestion.
One other issue I had to remedy was overheating at idle before installing a closeout panel between the core support and the front header panel. I even fabbed up a closeout below the core support too with my Ron Davis radiator.
Good luck and can't wait to see how it all finishes up.

Thanks. Are you running a return style fuel system? Yeah the fuel line is going to be tight. We are at the mockup stage now so we will make it fit by taking back the firewall slightly in that area. You can see in the pics that has been started.

The fuel system before was not sufficient by where the fuel pump was too small, the feed line was too small and it ran a loop at the fuel rails rather than balanced feed. Will now be running an Aeromotive 340 pump, AN-8 supply line, AN-6 return line and as you can see the plumbing for the intake is fixed with simultaneous AN-6 feed lines to each rail. I have been told from numerous builders to locate the regulator as close to the fuel rails as possible for consistent PSI at the rails.

Have plans for using an Anvil CF closeout panel. Custom one below sounds like a good idea.

I'm running a vaporworx tank which is a very well engineered setup. Do a search on here. It returnless and just controls pump speed...same setup these days in late model performance cars..CTS-V, ZL1 vettes, etc. You can get all the pump you'd ever need as the setup works with a number of fuel in-tank pumps.
If you plan on driving this much distance you won't want a return type setup. Do a search on here for overheating fuel and you'll get lots of info about frustrated hotrodders with their return EFI setups...esp big horsepower builds. And this 572 motor is a massive heat pump in the engine bay of a 1st gen Camaro.

Looks like I'm buying someone a beer. Thanks David.

Here's the latest https://lateral-g.net/forums/showthread.php4?t=43259 Twin turbo making somewhere in the 1300hp range, so there's some underhood heat issues brewing, but not with the fuel.

Very cool to see a Big Block in a car that can do more than just drive straight...

The wheels look awesome too.