Round 2 Pro Touring 69 Camaro - Lateral-g Forums

fatelvis · #1 11-23-2021, 07:06 PM

Ok, I have been a member since probably 2008 and have never posted. I originally built this car back in 2007 with the intent of selling it to pay off my house. Unfortunately, by the time I got it finished, the housing economic crash halved the values of these builds. Fortunately, by the time I got it finished, I had my house paid off and fell in love with it. So, I kept it! After driving it for 10 Years, two engines,2 transmissions, and 2 interior redesigns, it started to show some signs of wear (Rust, Road rash etc.) The following photos are from the original build and I intend to document the second round of this car's life. I think you will find it interesting as it turned out very nice.
This car has served as a business card for me and enabled me to start a niche restoration/ customization shop. For 13+ years this site has been a constant source of information and ideas and it is time for me to contribute. Sorry it took so long, and I hope you enjoy!

**camcojb** · #2 11-23-2021, 07:18 PM

This should be fun, thanks for posting!

zz430droptop67rs · #3 11-23-2021, 07:44 PM

Liking that 59-60 dash a lot.

Also the Zo6 on the tail panel.

fatelvis · #4 11-24-2021, 06:42 PM

Widened the rear tubs 3" to allow for the 11x19" wheels. Already had a DSE "style"(as I stole their design and made my own in 07') rear 4 link. Integrated the wide tubs into the coil over pan and narrowed the frame at the rear. I Would later add wider exhaust "bumps" to allow for increased exhaust room, as this was always a problem with this car. 4 links and tail pipes do not get along well. Also added a fuel pump access door that turned out to be needed after a couple of shake down runs!

The park lamps were recessed to make the factory lenses flush. Not intended to be a full custom Frenching, just wanted a subtle recess. Had to build my own stamp press. turned out great, very little body work necessary to finish for paint. The bezels were ceramic coated black.

The front spoiler was hand formed sheet metal of my design. Notice the fog lamps removed and the opening with the "teeth" cut out of 1/4" aluminum. these would be ceramic coated black when finished. The opening was designed around the need for air flow for the intercooler radiator. The bumper bracket openings were tightened up when the car was originally built in 07'.

fatelvis · #5 11-24-2021, 07:07 PM

This is the rear diffuser idea that I had been tossing around for a couple of years. Actually, went to SEMA in 18' and saw one similar but decided to put a little more character into my design. By far the most ambitious metal project the I had taken on to this point...F'it, jump in!
Photos speak for themselves, measure, cut, fit, repeat. Took a month and half of nights and weekends. Definitely worth it. honed my metal skills and gained confidence in the rest of the build. Another month of body work to finish.
Intended on making a mold of this for a Carbon Fiber piece but later deemed it too challenging for my beginner skills. If anyone knows someeone with these abilities, I would still like to do it.

fatelvis · #6 11-24-2021, 07:48 PM

More pics of rear diffuser. Playing around with front quarter side scoop as well. Ultimately decided not to do it as I suspect this mod may "Date" the build. Also started on the rear bumper tuck process.

fatelvis · #7 11-25-2021, 07:53 PM

Cut up a perfectly good L-88 hood because I'm stubborn like that. My intent was to make it a shaker style hood (RIP Bandit) but the engine placement and spacing of the scoop didn't want to cooperate. The shaker insert is a plug for a Carbon Fiber piece that I will show later. This is my favorite part of the car and looks fantastic while driving. Cut my teeth on using an English wheel that I purchased just for this purpose. Amazing the number of subtle curves and bends necessary to make these custom pieces look right on these old designs.
Ironically very few people notice this modification. I guess this is a compliment.
Also found a photo of the diffuser ready for paint.

fatelvis · #8 11-25-2021, 08:56 PM

Here is the Carbon mold project. Sorry for the lack of photos but this is idea. It looks pretty easy, eh? NOT so, huge learning curve! This is attempt#4. Buried it in clearcoat and sanded out the imperfections. I always thought that Carbon was unrealistically priced until I did it myself.... I get it now. Attempted to make front and rear bumpers and have since abandoned this venture, for now at least.
Only have after photos of the flush mount glass. This is not as easy as "they" make it sound. Definitely not a throw in deal! I have seen cars with the glass installed to factory bodies and the fit isn't right. I had to add metal to the sides and top of the body at the front, also added metal to the top of each fender as well as the cowl panel. The rear took careful massaging of all 4 corners. As my application was a "floating" glass set up, I had to make the entire jamb smooth and paint ready since your eye will carry into the gaps. Also needed to build spacing pads to get the glass to lay correctly relative to the body. It took two tries for the front and three for the rear. I'm no Dave Kindig but I think it turned out nicely.

fatelvis · #9 11-25-2021, 09:21 PM

Here I started cleaning up the underneath of the car. Sprayed the floor with a bed Liner, repainted the rear end after narrowing it for the wider wheels. This is my rendition of a DES design 4 link. Sorry DSE, we all have to work within budgets! Upgraded to their sway bar though. Wilwood rear brakes work quite nicely. The cast aluminum pan stopped that pesky 80/90 drip.
Just a respray of the dash. The dash was pulled out of a 59 Impala from a tree line in north east Kansas. The top half is original metal narrowed in the middle. The lower half was formed over a welding tank and I used exhaust tubing for the heating vents. I believe I used Billet specialties vents and Classic Industries gauges. This dash has been in the car since 2012 and the gauges were just offered the month before I ordered them. I really dodged a bullet on that one as I hadn't looked for gauge options before I installed the dash. I kind of wished that I would have left the glove box door as it is a nightmare to access the right side of the dash for wiring and A/C box purposes. Looks good though.
Threw in a couple pics of the new rear wheels mocked up and looking sexy!

fatelvis · #10 11-25-2021, 09:43 PM

Miscellaneous body work photos. Cleaning up all the gaps and edges. Releaded the quarter seams and A-pillar. Notice the lower ground effect as well. At this point I was unsure if they would look right. Seemed to make the car look too thick. I later decided to paint the lower effects Flat metallic black. This made them less dominate visually and really add to the overall look of the car. My trip to SEMA back in 18' was spent researching wheel and tire sizes. My conclusion was that 20" wheels were just too large for what I was building. After 3 days of photos and arguing with my buddies, as I was leaving the main hall, there at the entrance was a beautiful orange 69 with 19" rears and 18" fronts...Perfect!
So, after weeks of constant measuring and discussions with Billet Spec., 18x9 fronts and 19x11 rears were decided on. Yes, I could have squeezed 12" rears in there but at this price point, I just wasn't comfortable making a mistake. I'm old and conservative, I guess.
The floor was sprayed with a Ceramic sound deadener as was the trunk.