Kyle's 69 Camaro
 

Hi All,

My name is Kyle and this project has been a long time in the making. I originally purchased my 1969 Camaro when I was 17 from a shop owner in PA. Fast forward through 14 years of dates with my now wife, most recently baby #1, car shows, one blown motor, rear end build, motor rebuild, and too long sitting as a paperweight it’s time to start and journal it’s build.

I’ll be using this to journal to update my progress as well as pick others brains on the details of building a great drivers car. The end goal is to have something to drive and enjoy. It doesn’t have to be beautiful, but I’d like it to start and preform all while having fun.

Things completed over the past couple weekends:
- Rear end, engine, interior and subframe removal
- Chassis saver painted on the floorboards

The picture below is a week after I brought it home! More to come...

Big thanks to those who have come before me and paved the road on projects like these. I’m grateful to have learned from your builds and appreciate your continued help with this one!

Welcome to lateral-G!

Kyle, looks like you have a great 69 Camaro to build.
I am excited to follow your progress so please keep us posted and fire away with questions.

Sweet start Kyle. What are some of the other plans for it. :goggles:

Nice looking car.

Welcome to the site! Best of luck on the project, Kyle.

This should be fun to watch.

Thanks all for the warm welcome!

I'm about to start sanding and wire brushing the underside in prep for painting on Chassis Saver. - Any tips on the best grinder attachment for this job?

The wire brush attachments I've used in the past have been pretty aggressive or go bad in 5 min and send wire shards everywhere.

Starting to cut it close on the roadster shop spec chassis delivery!

More pictures to come.

Welcome, Kyle, and best of luck with the build! Looks like you’ve got a great car to start with - love the 69s!


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:ttiwop:

Welcome to the site Kyle! I've been working on a 69 Camaro as well, but let's just say it's been a long term project...someday it'll be done...someday. It looks like you've got a really nice starting point and you've owned the car for a while so you must know exactly what it needs. If you have any questions this is a great site with a wealth of knowledge. I can try to help out as much as possible, but I'm just a weekend warrior myself.

-Aman

It's been a while...
 

It's been a while.

I've got the car 99% of the way stripped and I'll be using chassis saver then monstaliner on the underside to stop rust and protect it in the future.

I've been using these scotch brite bristle discs that are insanely expensive but do a great job.

A couple questions for those who have been down this road...

1. I'm taking off the undercoating on the inner rear wheel well using a torch and scraper. This is a really nasty job. Anywhere else on the underside where I should look to remove this before coating with chassis saver and monstaliner?

2. I'm going to be running the mentioned paints up to the firewall but considered doing the firewall as well. Any input or thoughts from those who may have done this?

3. My front wheel wells are still on the car and in excellent condition. I'm thinking about removing them and coating them as well. Thoughts from those who may have done this?

4. Lastly I'm about to scuff and spray the 383. Any heads up on things I should double check are blocked off?

5. I have a 3.70 rear gear and I'd like to order a TKO600 kit. Any suggestions on best companies to order from. I have a quote from American Powertrain, are they reputable?

- What will drivability be like with a .64 overdrive?

Thank you for your help!


Thank you!

Pictures!

Glad you're making progress. I can only comment of the overdrive. I have a 3.90 rear gear and 27" rear tires. My 2nd overdrive is 0.5 and first over drive is 0.8? or there about. I only use 6th on the interstate. Even then, 5th gear would work just fine. I typically don't go over 4th in the city though the car drives and accelerates in 5th just fine at lower speeds. Personal preference there I guess. Point being, I wouldn't worry about having a six speed. So long as your engine is tuned well, it will run fine in the lower rpms the overdrives will keep you in.

Now, if budget is tight and or putting a 6 speed in a first gen is significantly harder than using the 5 speed, I'd go with the 5 honestly. I had the T56 so there was no question I'd use it. I don't need it at all. Though, it is fun to hear the exhaust noise completely drop away at interstate speeds because I'm scooting along below 2000 rpms.

Good luck.

I went with American Powertrain on my 68 Camaro T56 swap and they’re definitely a reputable company. I actually ended up not using a good portion of the kit including the crossmember, hydraulic clutch MC, reservoir, and firewall bracket, etc. I still have it in boxes. Doing it again, not buying those things twice would’ve saved me a considerable amount but I wanted the install to be more “factory” looking so I went with DSE firewall bracket and a newer Camaro style clutch MC and Bowler’s crossmember. I’ve been very satisfied with the parts and service from American Powertrain. Me personally, for the money, I’d go 6 speed, especially since there’s a strong likelihood that you’ll have to modify the trans tunnel anyway to get the proper driveline angle and keep things tucked up tight. With my setup, at 70mph I’m cruising at 2200 rpm with 3.73 gears.

I have some thoughts for you...

The front wheel wells... The factory sound deadening/undercoating is tough stuff... Leave it if it's in great shape.

Since you're going through all this work, skip the chassis saver and use a 2k epoxy primer to coat the bare metal. It is certainly tougher than chassis saver. Monstaline over that, and it'll last forever.

-Nick

Keep up the good work. Looking forward to seeing the progress

Man I wish I could have found a car with a body that nice, I would have been done ten years ago. Nice work.