RS SS LSA 69 Camaro / Pioneer Stage 3 Build
 

This year for the 2011 CES show in Las Vegas Pioneer showcase three 69 Camaro's. Pioneer approached Five Axis to build three identical vehicles. The theme was "modernization of the muscle car". Each vehicle featured modern technology headunits at different price points along with advanced drivetrains in the vehicles.

Stage 1: RS 350 V-8 T400, column shift vehicle, Head unit = DEH-3300UB, Base line vehicle.

Stage 2: RS LS3 E Rod motor 4L60, Heidts front and rear suspension components and Wilwood disc brakes along with a console shift with Hounds tooth interior. Head unit = DEH-P6300UB with custom rear trunk bass and amp enclosures.

Stage 3: RS SS LSA 6.2 motor 4L80, Heidts Pro G front suspension, subframe connectors along with independent rear suspension.:thumbsup: Mini Tubs added in the rear to fit the 18" Centerline wheels and BF Goodrich KDW tires. Wilwood disc brakes all round, rears are actually inboard discs, Classis Air, Autometer "Cobalt" gauges surrounded by a unique dash assembly with , custom center console featuring the Top of the line Nav head unit = AVIC-X930BT featuring Pandora interface. The unique seats were fitted from another car and were retrimmed with Alcantara and leather by Turin Models in Santa Ana. Other parts of the interior such as the door panels were replaced with new units from Classic industries, I wanted to keep some of the original look of the vehicle interior, but one thing I did change was upgrading to the pile carpet, I hate the hook and loop. This really steps up the interior of the vehicle. The rear trunk has been trimmed with unique bass and amp enclosures trimmed in leather and carpet.

All three of the vehicles have a similar theme cleaned up bodies with no side markers the side gills have been removed, the front and rear bumpers are tucked tighter to the body for a form fit. The RS grill was also added and painted a unique accent color to match the wheels and the rear tail lamp panel in the rear of the vehicle. Hot Rod TV got involved and a filmed an episode on the builds of the three cars at Five Axis in Huntington Beach and was feature on May 14th on Speed Channel “Triple Threat”. GM Performance, Summit Racing, Monster Transmission, Heidts, Classic Industries, ISIS power, BF Goodrich, Aero automotive, Pioneer all provide support for these vehicles.

The cars were a big hit at the show, it really brought out peoples old memories of these types of vehicles. I talked to a lot of people and all thought the cars were pretty cool. The three cars will be on the Hot Rod Power Tour and can be seen at any of the stops. I will be there on the tour hope you get a chance to come out and see the cars.

Unit,

Nice builds. Did you build these cars? Is your shop located in HB?

David

We did all three, the first one was done last year and was the inspiration for the CES show. We are located right across the street from Chip Foose's shop.

Nice job Sir...:yes:

I know right where that is. I used SW Performance for all of my trans needs. Also, that little restaurant next to foose's shop wasn't that bad.

Awesome. :thumbsup:

But I have to question why the grill surround isn't painted. That's how the plastic part looks coming right out of the box. I guess being a 69 owner, it's just one of those things to me. lol

looks like they painted it to match the rear panel.

The grill portion is painted the color of the wheels and the back portion of the car. We did leave the chrome surround and the healamp covers also chrome. We also fitted the grill to the body opening they usally fit very bad around the sheet metal and it does not look that good if you do not fix this. I'll post some added images of the grill.

More on the build of the Pioneer Stage 3 car
 

Here are some picture from the start of the project. I got the car from Redding Ca. and was an abandon garage project. The car was bought site unseen and when it arrived we were all kind of weary of what could be under the primer. So off to the blaster to see what was underneath. The body did have some issues but I have seen worse so cut out the old, weld in the new. Since there was rust in the seat pan area I got hold of a pair of seats from a Honda CRZ. I fit them to the removed floor pan sheet metal and fabricated new mounts for them. Then the seats were retrimmed with leather and suede and the perforated suede has red in the backing of the perforations. The dash panel uses a Detroit speed metal dash panel but I wanted to do some thing different to improve on the standard cut the holes out and stick the gauges in. I made an additional panel that surround the gauge openings and added the gauge hoods for the speedo and tach (similar to 60’s Mustangs) also created a unique turn light lens and unique vent openings. Another item I changed was the plain old ugly headlamp and wiper switch, I hate these so I used a light switch from a Dodge Dakota (it helps when you know some Chrysler dudes that can aid in making this work) and made a custom knob and switch assembly for the aftermarket switch for the variable wiper motor assembly that needed to be added because the stock unit hits the motor. One of my many discoveries on the build. Classic air provided an electrical switch panel to replace the mechanical levers and this was located on the other side of the lower panel. On to the center console, since Pioneer wanted to showcase a Nav unit I needed to make up a center console that would fit the bill. After a few patterns mocked up in place the design came together and I was able to make up the console. One thing we did on the console was to make it look like a production part. Most consoles I have seen, builders make a console and just cover the entire console, just does not look finished and do not have different levels of details. I worked on cars for the Sultan of Brunei for his private collection and we built many consoles with the same techniques I used on the Camaro. I wanted something clean and looked like it belongs there so no over the top just clean design and execution. Another item added is the finish panel above the glove box. If you look close the Camaro emblem is on the right side, not the left side that it usually is and it has a clean finish with no ribbed surfaces. One more item we did in the interior on the alum parts, we put a tinted matt clear coat on top to give the alum a darker appearance almost anodized looking, the effect is quiet good. That is all I am going to write for now.

Fantastic Car
 

Looking forward to checking this car out in person, will this be on the Power Tour for 2011?