Project Intro: 68 Camaro "Cha Ching"
 

Hey, just wanted to introduce my 68 Camaro project. I've been reading up on projects and threads here for quite a while and I wanna say thanks to you guys...I've gotten a lot of good ideas and knowledge here that's helped me huge along the way! Anyway, I'll try to post up some pics although I must say that I've not had great success with actually getting them to post.
This project has been going for basically a year with some pretty substantial progress I feel. I'll attempt to go back and bring you up to speed and hopefully, in the process, I can help someone else in their project along the way!

Here's a few pics of what the car looked like when I started. I've had it since I was 17, so 26 years. It's seen several makeovers but at the time I started was a 427 BBC, Borg Warner T10 4 speed, 10 bolt, nice paint, 17" rims, 4 wheel manual disc brakes (that I was never happy with), etc. Nice car but had some issues that needed worked out to make it more reliable.

Project "Cha Ching" Update
 

Attachment 65438So, here's where it started, when I first got the car 26 years ago, we put some driver/passenger side full length floor pans in it. At the time, that was the best you could do. We take for granted nowadays that you can go buy literally any piece (let alone a whole body shell) for these cars. Anyway, I was never quite satisfied with it and knew that before I did anything else to the car, I was gonna lay a solid foundation to build from. With that, a new one-piece floor pan, full trunk pan, driver/pass toe panels and one cowl panel were installed by a local hot rod shop.

Nice Build!

That would make a cool license plate "Cha-Ching" several of us would get it :G-Dub:

Nice car,keep the pics and updates coming:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Nice! Would like to see more, keep it coming.

Thanks for all the kind words, I actually had thought about using "Cha Ching" as the license plate...definitely seems fitting. I'll do my best to post more pics as I've got tons of them but I've had trouble getting multiple pics uploaded within each post for some reason. Further proof that you've gotta be smarter than what you're working with!:confused59:

More parts...sorry for having to do this the short bus way!

....

I've learned lots on my journey thru this. Perhaps one of the most valuable lessons was that despite agonizing over certain parts and combinations and then pulling the trigger on said parts, it's funny how you seem to be unsatisfied with certain aspects of things and waste money along the way, all in the name of form or function or just minor direction changes. Case in point was with the hydraulic clutch that came in my American Powertrain T56 Kit...great kit and great people to work with but didn't use hardly anything from their hydraulic clutch kit except the braided line and a fitting. It's those seemingly small details that you don't know what you don't know at the time you're buying it! If anyone needs one, let me know, I've got a 95% complete Hydramax kit I'd sell...

This was another one of those "minor direction changes" I was talking about. Since my original plan was to keep the 427 BBC engine until I could swing an LS, I opted for the Baer Remaster 15/16" with plans for manual brakes (the motor doesn't make enough vacuum to properly supply power brakes and I didn't want the extra clutter of a hydra boost). When I ordered the master, I inadvertently got the wrong prop valve from Baer so i had to order the Remaster valve. Maybe I should call this project "Nickel & Dime!"

So, as I mentioned before, one of the goals of this build was to fix some of the issues I could never seem to get lined out on the car and ultimately have a reliable, fun driver that would stop, go fast, corner like a beast, have the perfect stance, etc...overall, I wanted to challenge myself as much as I could, not overstep my abilities and turn out the closest thing to my dreams that my budget would allow.
One of the biggest problems I've fought over the years was simply getting the car to stop. Sounds simple but way back when, I put factory style manual front discs on the car and they worked perfectly. Then, after a time, I wanted to put rear disc brakes (still manual) on the car for both the cool factor and function. That was my biggest mistake ever! Not just the brakes, but the supplier I chose. I won't name names but for ease of reference, I'll just refer to them as a "Small ****ty Brake Company" or SSBC for short. It was hard to determine which was worse, the brake kit or the customer service. Anyway, for years, I battled trying to get the brakes to stop, stop dragging, and everything else...too stubborn to just put the drums back on and eventually it just made it so miserable and frustrating to drive that the car sat almost year around for several years.
With that said, one area I was not going to compromise on was my brake system. I determined that among many great mfg's out there, I would go with Baer and I'd make every effort to use only one supplier's parts to hopefully get the best outcome.
After I ordered the brakes and the Quadralink, the more I thought about it, the more I knew I'd never be completely satisfied with my original subframe and if I was gonna spend money upgrading my subframe, then I might as well just spend the difference and buy what I felt would be a subframe I could grow into that would also check the "handling" and "steering" boxes while simultaneously lending a hand in the "braking" area! That's where this thing of beauty comes in...Attachment 65460

While waiting what seemed like an eternity for parts to start showing up, I had the body shop start cutting and replacing what few panels were still original to the car...I never thought I could enjoy seeing my car cut up that much but knowing I had a plan, parts on the way and people I trusted doing the work made all the difference!

Trunk pan installed...mini tubs are next...

Driver and passenger toe panels installed...

Trunk area complete...ready to install the DSE Quadralink parts...will have to have the rear tail panel murdered out to cover up where the paint lifted from welding the trunk pan to the rear tail panel. Always liked that look anyway but had to bring the paint line down lower than what it would've been from the factory...at least it's still hidden by the bumper.

Quadralink pockets and rear coil-over crossmember installed...

Finally got the call from the body shop that it was ready to bring home...now it's my turn to take the ball and run!

Got it home, jacked up and began stripping all the stuff off that I wouldn't be using again....which was basically everything!

Awesome looks like you have a great start and some nice parts. Keep the updates coming.

Love this pic for some reason! This is the same place/position this thing would stay in for the next 6 months...to this very day, actually, although not for much longer but I'll get to that part later.

One thing I didn't mention yet was the importance of this build to me on an emotional level. As I said, I've had this car for 26 years...it's been wrecked by me, painted by me, disassembled more times than I care to count, stolen from my driveway by a couple of D-bags and totaled out while running from the cops. It's also been loved by me, hated by me and enjoyed by me, my wife and two young boys. But it was by necessity that I decided to turn this car into the car I'd always dreamed it would be. Shortly after my wife and I were engaged, she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 25. After surgery and some treatment, we were able to move forward with life, got married, had two wonderful boys 11 months apart (that's a whole other story), and went about living. It was 7 years later that her cancer came back and had spread to her lungs, so again we went thru various treatments and therapies and we stayed positive and kept the faith and stayed focused on living. By age 37, it had spread to her brain and by age 38 she had won her battle and was resting in her eternal home.

I only mention this because I learned many things in those years we were together (20 in all)...many things about myself, about my faith in Christ and about how amazing and selfless a gift she was to me. Among those things I've learned and tried to instill in my boys is that at the end of this life, having watched my best friend take her last breaths, our legacy is the only thing we leave behind in this world that can continue to make an impact once we're gone. How we treat people, how we deal with people both personally and professionally is what we leave as a testament to our character.

So after being on the back burner for a long time, this project was born from a necessity to keep my mind focused on something productive as much as it was a desire to make it a project of bringing the boys and I together to build something we could enjoy while at the same time teaching them the same skills my Dad taught me...

I promise I won't rain on the parade again! But sometimes the back story is the main story!

Here's the Quadralink in mock up...

That back story is worth it and your faith is in the right place. Teach those boys through the way you live your life. Wish you well on finishing that project. Create lasting memories

T56 in mock up. Will a T56 physically fit under the stock trans tunnel of a 68 Camaro? Yes. Will your driveline angle be so severe that you'd be nuts to leave it that way? Yes:beathorse

This mock up consisted of a BBC mock up block sitting on big block frame stands with solid motor mounts, Quick Time bell housing, T56 and Bowler trans cross member. I also test fitted the engine on SBC frame stands and it seemed to fit better but either way, the moral of the story is that you'll need to raise the trans tunnel...life will be much easier and if you've come this far, why cheat now!!

Here's another view of the mock up...using Heddman hedders I had Jet Hot coated. Fitment was very spacious on all sides.

Mock up of the DSE wiper motor and Baer Remaster m/c...my goal is to not have any wires visible along the firewall. The car's gonna get an AAW Classic Update kit so I'll route the engine harness back inside the car and out to its respective destinations. Did I mention I hate wires and clutter??:yes:

It's hard to see but I also just had the DSE clutch/master cylinder bracket bolted on.

Battery mount/location mockup. I wanted something clean and as unobtrusive as possible in terms of the mount itself. I also wanted to incorporate a shut-off switch. It's crazy some of the seemingly minor things you agonize over as you go along. I debated putting the battery on top,of the coil over crossmember but at some point you're gonna have to change that thing and why torture yourself! Besides, put it where the extra weight can also serve a purpose. I welded nuts on the bottom side of the trunk floor so the battery mount can be removed without using two wrenches. Again, I try to think about things in terms of having to work on it by myself, always considering ways to make life easier when you have to turn wrenches on it.
When deciding component placement, I find myself envisioning being broken down on the side of the road on Power Tour, then I ask myself, is that where I'd want this thing in that situation? It's a delicate balance; form and function! At the end of the day, this car is meant to be driven to events, shows, etc., auto crossed and (hopefully) driven home again.

Here's the trans tunnel patch panel I got from Bowler. This piece is really nice! The front section is rather unusable in my case although it could be modified in any number of ways but at least it's something to build off of. I laid it on tape so I could determine how much I wanted it raised in the front and back. I wanted the front section to blend into the firewall and the rear section to blend into the rear portion of the tunnel. I have no intention of running a console so I determined where I wanted the break and where the shifter boot would be. If memory serves me correct, the front was raised 2 1/4" and the rear of the patch was raised 1 3/8". I made a rough template from cardboard for the forward section keeping in mind that when I did the LS swap in the future, I wanted to use the DSE 1.5" setback motor mounts for better weight distribution. The front section of the tunnel will be plenty spacious to accommodate the Quick Time bell housing and give access to all the bolts that attach it to the engine block.
One other item I wanted was that the tunnel be high enough to give the driver somewhat a feeling of being surrounded in the car while not looking blatantly non-factory.

Time to install the subframe connectors... At the risk of sounding like a paid DSE advertisement, I can't tell you how well all of their stuff fits! I mean, it just works. As someone who's had their fair share of buying "bolt-on" parts and having to spend half a day modifying them to fit, I can't say enough about how well the DSE stuff is engineered, produced and provided with excellent instructions.
When shopping for components I found myself often having to stop and think, "am I buying this part because it says DSE on it or am I truly buying because I think it's the best?" The answer is "Yes!" It's a little more pricey than some other brands but I just know I'm yet to be disappointed and, well, if it ain't broke....

I fabbed up some enclosures for the clutch /mc bracket. Got it fitted up pretty good and welded to the firewall. I also enclosed the holes on both sides of the lower firewall where the subframe bolts to the body. I wanted to be rid of any surplus holes.

It's gotta look worse before it looks better! I'm not the best welder so it's a good thing I'm not afraid of a grinder! Practice, practice, practice...:weld:

Trans tunnel patch is welded in. I'm really happy with the end result! It seems like such a shame to go cuttin' up all that new sheet metal but if there's one fear I've gotten over, it's the fear of taking a saw, welder or grinder to this thing! Once you've had to drill a couple of holes in a $9,000 subframe, everything else pales in comparison!

Firewall view of the forward trans tunnel mod...raised enough there should be plenty of room for engine setback and still have easy access to bell housing bolts and running the ECM harness down the back of the engine...

This is what the tail panel looked like as a result of the new full trunk pan being welded in. Good time to get it blacked out...

This is after...again, it would've been ideal to stop the black along the body line where the factory did but at least it'll still be behind the rear bumper. Besides this thing's gonna sit low enough that anybody that notices that will have found much more by then in the way of flaws.

Finally, all ready for some epoxy primer! It'll be nice to see it a consistent color.

Getting the roll bar in...as much as I enjoy it, at times it seems like the welding will never end! Lucky for me I have some good help!
Btw, if you own stock in 3M's yellow tape division, you're welcome!!

Closer to some paint...

Roll bar?...Check:thumbsup:

Created a makeshift paint booth in the garage and got the epoxy laid down inside and out. Also got the Upol Raptor bedliner put down under the car, in the trunk and along the firewall cowls, terminating it where the front fenders attach.
I gotta say I love that stuff! I bought 1 kit (4 bottles) plus 2 extra bottles and only used a little over 2 bottles for everything. I was going for a nice even finish with a fine texture. I didn't skimp on it but having the black epoxy laid down first really helped keep the bedliner even since your not having to use the bedliner as the only cover. I found that 80 psi air pressure gave me the results I wanted. I also found myself wanting bedline everything I could think of!!

More shots of the finished product...