69 Camaro Makeover

[Tony@Roadster]

With the ever growing vintage and pro-touring market, it is now easier than ever to find decent 'restored' vehicle as a starting point for a project.

Vehicles with older (80's and 90's era) simple restorations can be purchased at a fair price when compared to a completely new 'from scratch' pro-touring car build. This creates a much more enticing and affordable long term project for those on more of a strict budget.

At our shop, we are seeing more and more of this type of project: vehicles arriving in good running order, nice paint, simple interior and drivetrain. The owners are happy with the cars, but are seeking the ride comfort and quality of a newer vehicle. With a good foundation for the chassis and handling, many upgrades (such as bigger brakes, audio, wheels and tires etc) can come over time or as the project evolves.

As an example, I thought I would post up a thread on the makeover of this '69 Camaro we currently have in the shop. The aim, to help illustrate how the average builder can build a fun and competitive car without starting from scratch with drastically improved handling and ride quality. We will be removing the existing factory subframe and rear rails, doing the necessary modifications to the floor and installing one of our FAST TRACK full frame chassis. (info on chassis HERE)


This is our starting point. A decent and clean '69 Camaro with good paint, standard interior and a healthy little small block with a built TH400 which, at this point, the owner still plans to re-use.


The first step is to completely wrap it to protect the paint and start dissassembly and removal of the original suspension.