Lateral-g Forums - 69 Camaro Project

Here goes…
I swear I’ve got OCD when it comes to motorsports: About 18 months ago I found Lat-G and PT.com and started poking around. I’ve been on both sites just about everyday since. The back story here is I’ve owned and built bikes, boats, a 70 Camaro in my teens and 68 later in life (I never shoulda sold that 68). Basically If it had a performance motor and could be customized, I was in. I found myself with no project and too much time on my hands, so I joined the sites and found all these beautiful builds and bunch of great people. So many killer builds, so much inspiration…

I started looking around on eBay and Craigs and met a good group of local Camaro guys but no real prospects to build on. To this day I still hunt there, just in case. Like I said, I’m kinda obsessive about this stuff.

Finally I found what I thought was a good eBay deal on a 68 and had it shipped home. Seller was a hot rod/ Camaro shop and it all looked good. Turns out it was more of a sheet metal project than I was sold or down for. That was my first lesson in how to truly assess a resto project. So the search continued. Months later I found a 69 in Denver that had some pretty good parts to go along with it. It was a painted roller and very straight so after going out there and inspecting it I had it shipped to the body shop.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/P1250004.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/P1250003.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/P1250002.jpg

The plan was to fab in the suspension/subframe connectors/mini-tubs, cut and buff and get her back home. Well during transport the truck had an airbag failure and small fire (!) and my car ended up on top of a mid-year ‘vette. Also in the trailer was a Lambo, a beautifully show restored Caddy, along w the ‘vette. Of course, I had the most damage! My beautifully gapped factory sheetmetal/NOS black painted car was now a whole new ball game. Every single body panel was dented or scratched!

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...Thread/091.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...Thread/110.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...Thread/111.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...Thread/106.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ash911/094.jpg

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ash911/117.jpg

It took about six weeks and I got every insurance penny I could for the repair without totaling the car (I didn’t want a salvage titled Camaro) and the work commenced. It’s been a long road, and very soon the car will come home as a fabbed, freshly painted roller.

The plans and process for the car are as follows:

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/a...ad/69636-1.jpg

Suspension: AME GT Sport clip, DSE Quadralink and subframe connectors, double adjustables all around. Working on a couple of tricks to improve on the design (more on that later).

Wheels, tires, brakes: Still deciding on wheels. Forgeline is top of mind. The car came w brand new HRE’s/KDW’s, but they’re too narrow. I have a set of R888s that I’ll mount on the new wheels (thanks Stielow) and Baer stoppers all around. Manual brakes, definately.

Body mods: Modified drip rails, flush glass, Anvil, Marquez and Vision goodies.

Drivetrain: LS3 w a hot cam and CNC heads for phase one. Ol’ buddy Brad @ QMP will make it go like he always does. Close ration T56 magnum to go w my narrowed Moser 9”, 3.70 gears. Mcleod RST twin disk will get the power to the pavement inside a Quicktime SFI bell.

After the car gets home, maybe try and talk Carl into wrenching a bit and testing his stuff on my car. I’ll then bring the car home to button everything up, add fluids, wire and fire it. I’m looking forward to that day, video camera in hand. After that I’ll finish the interior and start tuning the chassis. The goal is to beat the crap out of it.

I’m so, so thankful for all friendships I’ve made and technical assistance gained from people on and off this site. These people just take my calls and help whenever they can! Guys like , AME Matt, Tyler B, Musclerodz Mike, Talent Motorsports, Vegas Todd, Killer Fernando, Dave-o 68, MSA Matt 69, Luke, Mr Bad Penny and many others. Y’all are probably sick of my calls but I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to help me through this journey. I’m by far no pro, and it really takes a team to get through a PT design and build.

I’ll try to update this thread as I go, and look forward to any feedback or ideas you have!