Ovidiu's Split Bumper Camaro Project at GAP Racing
 

This is a 1972 Chevrolet Camaro that was purchased by a member on here named Ovidiu. The car will be receiving a Roadster Shop IRS Chassis with Baer brakes along with a set of Forgeline wheels. The car started out as a pretty solid car that someone had previously done a restoration on but was not able to make any of the panels line up correctly. We will be posting up the progress of the build along with Ovidiu who will have some things to add to it. We are really excited about this one.

Here is the car when it arrived at our shop.

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psff18c089.jpg

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psbriqs3ho.jpg

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psrxjjffwa.jpg

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...pswfc4eh2n.jpg

The Chassis arrived

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psde3a276a.jpg

We put it on Display at the Houston Autorama before we started tearing into the project. We thought people needed to see what a work of art The Roadster Shop sent us

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...ps80db005a.jpg

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http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1094a068.jpg

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2120a56c.jpg

The tear down begins

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5k8lbnlr.jpg

That's gonna be a killer camaro,that chassis is unbelievable.

Going to be an Awesome project. Can't go wrong w/Roadster Shop IRS full chassis.:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Thanks Tim for posting the build thread. Needless to say I am super excited about this. :woot:
I will post some more info about it later today when I get back home.

throw out that rear spoiler! :superhack:

:)

It's almost a shame to cover their frames! Look forward to seeing this one come together!

That's a beautiful car to start with, and a great list of parts. Should be great when you guys work your magic.

Thank you. We have been looking forward to this project

A bit of a backstory on the car: I bought the car in July of 2011, after a long search for a solid, running and driving split bumper (RS) Camaro. I wanted a running and driving car because I wanted something I could still occasionaly enjoy, rather than starting from scratch and not having anything for years and years.

I found the car in Dallas, bought it from two brothers that had spent a few years doing a period correct restoration. They showed me some of the pictures of the car when they bought it, some of the work, plus the car looked pretty decent as far as I could tell. Tim may correct me if I am wrong in the future, but it looked like a good solid car.
Bringing it home:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-C...716_135851.jpg

After that, I did a few odds and ends to pass a proper Texas state inspection, fixed the parking brake, installed seatbelts, fixed the horn.

Photo pretty soon after getting it:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j...o/IMG_0909.JPG

Next, I noticed the car had a bit of a lean to the right, on the back side. I decided that since the front end suspension had been rebuilt, the springs in the back must be the culprit, so I changed those out. Turns out I was wrong. The culprits ended up being the collapsed front subframe bushings, which I replaced with some solid aluminum ones.

That's pretty much the story for the car, I spent a couple of years afetr that driving it occasionally and researching options for the project going forward.

Here is more progress of the tear down

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psokutbprq.jpg

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...pssq92vynh.jpg

I certainly had no idea dynamat was in the car.

Anyway, onto the plans for the car. I've decided at some point in time that the thing that makes sense for me is to do the car in stages, and get the best I can afford for each stage. The guys at GAP are just going to have to take it apart and put it back together a few times I guess :underchair:

Phase 1: chassis/suspension, brakes and wheels

Like Tim said, this has been in the preparation for a while. After quite a bit of research and back and forth, I decided I wanted to go with the RoadsterShop chassis, and I am very pleased with what I have seen so far.
Wheels, I am pretty much decided on Forgeline RB3Cs, 18/19 staggered with a 275/345 tire width, from what I understand those should fit.
At this stage, other than a few minor things, I will keep the recently rebuilt (per the previous owner) SBC350 and TH350 trans and have the car on the road again so I can enjoy the chassis for a while while I plan (and save up for) the next phase.

Phase 2: engine, transmission, fuel system, electrical system.

For now, I am thinking for the engine some sort of LS, or maybe LT engine now that they are out. I also haven't decided if I should stick with NA with a good sized cam or a supercharged setup. Transmission with definitely be a T56, I am a huge fan of manual transmissions

Phase 3: body, paint and interior

I haven't thought about this one too much yet, except it NEEDS to be worthy of the RS chassis, and I would really like a pearl white color with charcoal stripes, I think that would look really good.

Comments and suggestions are appreciated :)

Sounds like a very well thought out plan. It should turn out great. Looking forward to it & good luck.

That's a lot better than laying it up if you can't do it all at once.

^ I agree with Wayne here.
That chassis is a work of art. Can't wait to see the final product!

I’ll definitely be watching out for this one…I’m looking forward to seeing this car come together. This project has a great build team and the right ingredients for success. Thanks again for working with me and choosing the Roadster Shop Fast Track Chassis.

Thanks Bryan!
Thanks for answering all the million questions I had, you guys are a pleasure to work with. I am looking forward to seeing what this chassis can do.

Subscribed!

Hey Ovidiu,

Great build you've got going there. Only suggestion I would offer is to consider the LS swap with the new chassis. A decent pull out will get you going down the road quite nicely while saving the time and expense of having to reconfigure your set-up later. Going back in to rebuild the engine for more power later would be less of a hassle than having to go back and reconfigure for the LS swap.

Tim will certainly have more options/suggestions than I could offer, just thought doing the actual conversion while setting up the chassis would save you time and hassle, read 'dineros!'

On the other hand, having your car on the road while GAP builds you a stout LS would be way more fun! Decisions, decisions . . . .

At any rate, your in great hands at GAP. I hope to have my '72 there soon as well.

Joe

Few more pics from the tear down

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...pswjjnwxll.jpg

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3ysggjm6.jpg

making room
http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psxkugcuep.jpg

Car is down to an empty shell

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psq75ttwu5.jpg

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psixvwlwoo.jpg

Time to start trimming to fit the chassis and start on some of the custom touches we are doing

Todays update
http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psltkavksy.jpg

Completely removed the factory rear rails
http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psfnex7z5o.jpg

Got the floor trimmed and the body sitting on the chassis. Need to start the mini tubs and sheet metal work now that it bolts up.

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psoaotqk9z.jpg

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psjhkqfgdh.jpg

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Great progress guys! That chassis is killer.

Got the firewall cleaned up !!!
http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psgzf70bcm.jpg
Now its time to start on the tubs

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psnaofpoav.jpg

Awesome work, man that's a nice body!

Starting installing the wheel tubs today. We took a DSE tub which will clear a 335 on the second gen, trimmed off the edge and moved it over an additional 1 1/4" to give him plenty of tire clearance for the 345 he wants to run
http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psyans8kah.jpg

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...pscw1hrfzd.jpg

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...pscupvvne4.jpg

I'm loving this!

Yeah, what he said ^^^^^^!!!!!! :popcorn2:

Very nice. Definitely following along on this build.

Finished up the passenger side tub.
http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psivhb0jt8.jpg
http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psre1f7xm3.jpg
Now we can start covering the holes back up.

Covered the floor where the frame came through and located the rear body mount also.
http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5pfq0q2c.jpg
Started covering up where the frame rails come through inside the car.
http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psihbwgw7w.jpg

Reshaped the tubs and attached them to the floor area. Finished out the trunk too
http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...pstjk60o1w.jpg
http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psrnufgjiw.jpg

Extremely excited about all the progress!!!!

Firewall is all finished up
http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psxhkvxbyf.jpg
http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psrhovfhls.jpg

Started hanging the front sheet metal back on to see what adjustments are needed .
http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/...psneecw4cx.jpg
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