1968 DSTRYR Camaro

[ADiCarlo]

** Due to my thread being deleted during the server change I'm starting over - sorry if it's repetitive lol**

So in June of last year after coming off of building and working on two import cars I decided it was time for another muscle car.

I finally got a decent job and had some income and seeing that I already had a 68 Fastback ten years ago I thought why not do a first gen camaro seeing it's on my bucket list of must own cars.

Originally I thought I'll do some quick fixes and get it up and running... man was I wrong. A couple hours on here and seeing coil over set ups, built LS motors, 335 in the back.. ITS LIKE A FAT KID IN A CANDY STORE.

*I would also like the thank the Vengeance Camaro as it haunted me wherever I went because of all the press*

Out went the window of a basic build and on came the onslaught.

So with a buddies trailer and some saved up cash I picked up a camaro shell that was relatively clean but was pretty much that - just a shell.

This is still in the sane days before ProTouring/Lat-G filled my head with none sense and convinced me that this was a good idea lol:

[ADiCarlo]

Once we got the car home we cleaned it out and really got a good look at it.

To start someone had attempted a half assed smooth firewall which would need to be fixed and the trunk pan and trunk lid brackets had been cut out.

Also a engine front mount had been welded to the subframe and it looks like some used square tube to notch the engine cross member. Well that's going to have to go.

Just an idea of what were working with.



Here's my buddy helping me tear down the car.



Once the car was stripped it was time to get the car blasted. While at the blaster I met a welder that was working on concourse cars and decided that out of everyone I spoke to he could do the best work, was passionate about muscle cars, and work with me on getting this done right.

So instead of a factory firewall we decided on doing a road race firewall out of 18 gauge steel and really tie it to the body for better rigidity.

Us dropping the car and parts off:



Once blasted while we faced the issues listed about the car was pretty clean with a solid floor pan. The only additional issues were a stress crack near the passenger rear window and the fender lips were a little rusted out.

Out of blasting:

[tubbed69]

sure looks like a nic e car to start with

[ADiCarlo]

Thanks ^

From the sandblaster it went to the welder where a new road race firewall was to be installed. Seeing we were going full custom we mounted Wilwood drop pedals and braced the wall the handle the force of extreme braking during track runs. A special cove was built into the firewall to give us more accessibility when working on the trans and additional metal was added for down bars.

Now for pictures:

How it started:



A special buck was made to hand shape the metal:



Some fitting



Mid progress bracing



Getting it in place



Notching the floor to allow better pedal movement



Pretty much on



Money shot

[tubbed69]

Very nice fab work on the firewall,looks great

[DETON8R]

I love build photos...

Someone buys a car, and it has PROBLEMS. A roached firewall and a cut up subframe.

So what is the answer?? Take what you got and make it automobile art.

AWESOME!!

Keep the pics coming!!

[Tuske427]

Nice work! Keep the pics comin'

[ADiCarlo]

Thanks guys - all the new metal in the car is 18 gauge cold rolled steel and some 16 for bracing.

So originally I bought the car with the following issues:

1. Firewall
   Trunk pan
   Trunk lid brackets
   subframe
   windshield

After sandblasting we discovered that the fenders had a good amount of bondo on them and that it would be better to buy new fenders. We also discovered that someone had rolled one of the fenders pretty badly to add a 1/2 inch of additional clearance on the passenger side so that would need to be squared away - plus the lips had started to rust all together.

So the list turned into:

1. Firewall
   Trunk pan
   Trunk lid brackets
   subframe
   new fenders
   quarter lip repair
   windshield

To get all this squared away we put a large order into AMD for fresh metal and it arrived like a christmas package to the welder!



While all this was getting taken car of I was on the hunt for drivetrain/suspension and came across a hybrid LS motor for sale that was used by Hot Rod Magazine to do a cam test then shelved and never put into an actual car... I had to pick it up.

[ADiCarlo]

While the firewall was being worked on I knew I needed to get my suspension squared away. Original I thought of just doing a factory restore with some after market arms and brakes for the front and a new mono leaf set up. A neighbor of mine had done the same to his firebird but he had been working on the car for over 10 years so I thought it might have been a bit out dated even though he swore by it.

So after months and months of research reviewing stuff from Speedtech and Chassisworks and DSE I settled on the DSE Quadralink.

Why?

Well I liked Speedtech's set up but the idea of a torque arm running down the center of the car bugged me. Chassisworks stuff is nice but I couldn't find more than 2 cars running the set up and I'm big on hearing what customers say about a product and not ones that are on the sellers website.

Then DSE.. more expensive then the rest but multiple people have used the set up. Its customizable and upgradable when it comes to the shocks which are made by JRi which are the same people from Penske. And I found plenty of real world reviews and test video... even Jay Leno's reviewed it lol

At the same time the Quadralink would be installed my welder made a very valid point. My trunk is cut, the car is sandblasted... there is absolute no better time to mini tub the car. So after some careful consideration and weighing the cost (even throwing up a forum thread to discuss it) the car will get mini tubbed with a DSE Quadralink set up.

After 2 months of waiting it was like christmas in the shop again

[ADiCarlo]

Now that we had a good portion of the parts in house it was time to move to the back of the car.

Modification list for the rear:
Road race package tray and close out panel
DSE Mini tubs and Quadralink
Custom trunk pan and Fuel Cell
Speedway Engineering Full Floater Rear End
New trunk hinges and mounting brackets

To start a custom package tray was made and and re-enforced with a dimple die back brace:



The factory tubs were also cut out and the mini tubs fitted for clearance and fit against the tray



Once installed this is the view of the dimple die brace from the trunk side. I think it looks pretty nice and a perfect detail piece.



With the package tray made next up was mini tubs and the DSE Quadralink mounts.

Nice clean fitment of the tubs and getting the center cross member in place. These are still in progress shots, everything has been re-enforced and closed out to make a really solid rear structure. Once the car is done with welding I'll take some detailed shots of the bracing.





Seeing that the floor was cut out the welder went ahead and made a solid piece forward of the cross member to weld to the factory sheet metal and add further bracing in the rear.



Nice shot of it almost complete: