OMG! Another second gen Camaro, from down under!

[jaba]

So about 2 weeks ago the post man came.



Which contained some great bits of gear.







and finally a beautiful piece from Speedtech, it will be a shame to paint it but it just wont match the theme of the car.




My large order of parts including the subframe and torque arm also arrived which i'm yet to be able to un pack. However I did get sent this pic of the subframe.



Car is now at a workshop having the mini tubs installed, flat firewall made and a few other little bits and pieces.

After reading the G5R build thread on here about 100 times I decided to clean up the ATS aluminum spindles by removing the casting marks and having them bead blasted and clear coated by Greg Hogan aka CRISIS







Quickly hit them with some primer to make sure there weren't any deep marks left from the Dremel. First time 'detailing' parts like these, hoping to do a lot of the engine bay parts to go that little extra mile.



Keen to see how they turn out once I get them back from Greg, will be getting all my suspension parts and driveline painted in the coming weeks ready for mock up.

[waynieZ]

Nice update. Doing all those little extras make a noticeable difference in the finish product.

[woody80z28]

Very cool, and coming together pretty quick. That thing is gonna be nasty. I did some of the same mods to my second gen. Mine is still a long way from done though, you're smart not to paint it!

BTW, my wife and I visited Australia in December and loved it! I want to build a RHD Ute now. Although I will say it was awesome banging gears left handed in the rental. She couldn't do it though, too weird for her.

[jaba]

Originally Posted by woody80z28

Very cool, and coming together pretty quick. That thing is gonna be nasty. I did some of the same mods to my second gen. Mine is still a long way from done though, you're smart not to paint it!

BTW, my wife and I visited Australia in December and loved it! I want to build a RHD Ute now. Although I will say it was awesome banging gears left handed in the rental. She couldn't do it though, too weird for her.

Thanks mate! I'm looking forward tot he challenge of driving a LHD stick car, hopefully won't take too long to get a hang of it haha!

[jaba]

Bit of an update, got the spindles back from Greg which turned out perfect.



And I've spent the past few weekends painting all my suspension components and motor / box.

It all came out absolutely perfect with a finish as nice as a lot of exterior paint on new cars.

Both colours are from a Maserati, Grigio Alfieri is the lighter colour and Grigio Granito is the darker colour. All components are finished in high gloss with the exception of the motor and box.

First up we prepped and painted all of the smaller parts that i could fit in the car.



















Then came the motor box and frame, unfortunately being in a rush to get this stuff out of the panel shop I didn't have a chance to get any decent photos.





Then we mounted the driveline to the frame to storage and transport. And fitted a few bits to see how it all works together!





Plan is to add a Drive Junky front accessory drive in brushed with Black anodized pulleys, and carbon fiber rocker covers. Should all tie in nicely.



Hoping to get the car back from having the tubs and firewall done soon, then ill work on prepping the underside for raptor liner and getting the diff chopped up to suit the 335 rear tyres which are waiting in the US for my new wheel pieces, headers, trans tunnel cover and drive junky setup.

[Zspoiler]

Welcome aboard !.Looks like you are going to have an "interesting car when you are finish .especially a foreign car.Must best "fun" getting parts for your car.Good lick on your build,

[jaba]

Well, this has escalated quite quickly. Long story short I went to remove a piece of the wrap and it just pulled the clear coat right off with it. This happened even with the aid of a heat gun right from the get go. I knew one of the 1/4s was butchered and needing replacement and that i wanted to undercoat the floor. So i decided to get the entire shell blasted, with the remainder of the sheet metal at a later date.

Shell after media blast and epoxy primer by Jake Baldwin, on Flickr
Dodgy 1/4 panel repair attempt 1 by Jake Baldwin, on Flickr
1/4 panel drop offs rusted right through by Jake Baldwin, on Flickr
Dodgy repair attempt 2 by Jake Baldwin, on Flickr
Dodgy repair attempt by Jake Baldwin, on Flickr


As it turns out, both 1/4s require replacing as well as the boot floor / tail light panel. So I've ordered basically the entire back half of the car, door skins, twin headlight / RS nose cone and cowl panel. It's a shame so much needs replacement but it leaves me open to do some custom touches to the 1/4s and rockers, as id like to have a bit of functional aero on this car including a large splitter, flat floor panels, diffuser and spoiler.

Going to try and attempt as much of the repair work myself as possible, other than the 1/4s as I'm aiming for quite a high standard with the fit/finish/quality now to match the stout suspension / driveline.

Have begun by removing the cowl panel to repair the inner structure rust on both corners.

Old cowl removed, inner structure repairs required by Jake Baldwin, on Flickr


I also received my new outer wheel halves from the states to make the overall size an 18x12, fits with a surprising amount of room to spare with the minitubs.

Forgeline test fit 2 by Jake Baldwin, on Flickr
Forgeline wheel test fit by Jake Baldwin, on Flickr

Now away again for work until late November, then hoping to really get stuck into it during Decemeber when I have some time off. The remaining replacement sheet metal is about to leave the states but I can tidy up the rest of the small areas that need attending too, along with the cowl without having to rush.