New Member Build - DETONATOR - 69 Camaro

[DETON8R]

I need to start documenting the build of my 69 Camaro, I've been talking about it for a while.

Sooooooooooo - Let's start at the beginning........

I bought my first Camaro in high school, Hugger Orange with white rally stripes, and had to sell it for a down payment on the first house 10 years after I bought it. Sad day, 396, 4 speed M-20, 12 bolt 3.73 Posi, frame off / front end rebuilt, restored interior, the best available stuff at the time. Wonder where that car went.......

Fast forward 14 years and my son is now getting into cars, and I wanted a project for him to learn about hot rods (yeah, I'm showing my age), and that was my first realization that the hobby I left long ago had developed into what I really wanted it to be back then, Pro-Touring. And there was this magazine that I'd never seen before Camaro Performers, and I got WAY TOO MANY IDEAS!!!

So I started looking for a good candidate build car, and found the car in the next town over, after looking for candidates all over Northern/central California.

When this car came up I had to have it for my foundation, the car was a body shop fixture and the owner couldn't keep it after it FINALLY came out of the body shop with a new coat of paint. I couldn't resist the color, the Hugger Orange was obvious, but I wanted the black rally stripes, because orange and black are the colors that represent my occupation, Ordnance Safety. That cemented the deal. Yep, I play with explosives at work all day, and of couse that is where the inspiration for the name of the car came from, DETONATOR.

So here's a few photos of the car, with the front end torn off. The engine and trans in the car for fitting things in. The donor LS1 needs a rebuild and T-56 is already rebuilt. The donor is a 1999 SLP that I bought totalled, I wanted an LS2 but I couldn't pass up the price for a complete car.

The frame is already in, and the suspension will be Chris Alston's replacement frame and G-link rear, next big project is the roll cage. My son and I have been cutting, welding and finishing up inner sheet metal work, mini-tubs smooth fire wall and a few rust problems, for almost a year now, those photos and progress are for another post.

Junior is quite a welder although he is ready to drip the MIG and get tearing into the LS1. What a gear head, I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.