69 Camaro - JKnight

[WSSix]

Glad to see progress being made!

[JKnight]

Progress continues…trunk pan is in, Restomod tank and Vaporworx controller are done, IIMuch vent is in and ready, fuel lines are plumbed, AAW harness is going in now, so its wires everywhere and lots of little updates along the way. Need to re-learn how to do pictures, will work on that too

[JKnight]

Progress has been steady over the past year. Jumping a bit forward to current, I actually drove the car to the gas station this weekend. The update I’ll try to make today though is on a part of the car that has no impact on its drivability, but is one of the most overdue and visually impactful improvements that I could make.

First, I have to set the stage that this car’s path back to a reliable, somewhat modernized state of existence is rife with compromises, most of which are necessitated by the early 80’s tilt front-end and the rear fender flares from the same era. I bought the car in 1998 as a teenager and the fact the car had no grille was of little consequence. It bugged me, but not enough to do anything about it.That has changed, and it needed to be addressed. Funny thing though, whoever molded this front clip had zero intention of someone ever being to use a factory front grille insert or headlight buckets. My guess is it was built for rectangle headlights and a billet grille, remember…1983…

So here we go…I sliced the important bits out of a repop 69 grille, trimmed off most of the now superfluous brackets from the buckets and set about righting a 40 year old “wrong”. Enough words, here’s the pics (apologies for thumbnails)







Is it perfect, heck no, but seeing something that resembles the grille and headlight setup the car should have is an incredible improvement for me and my enjoyment of the car.

[camcojb]

Good job!

[ScotI]

Glad to see you're still around & chipping away @ this.

Keep the updates coming.

[JKnight]

Oh yeah, still chipping away at it. Everyone here understands how much work goes into making a car that works decently. The big trunk pan replacement was a good learning experience. It turned out pretty well given it was my first panel replacement.



Cooling system needed a total overhaul. I chose to work within the confines of the 80’s custom aluminum core support. A new stock size, 3 core, Frostbite aluminum radiator was acquired and modified to hold a new fan from a modern Chevy that needed some serious cooling help. The Holley Term X ECU is controlling the C7 Z06 cooling fan via PWM, thanks to Andrew B. who set that up in the tune and assisted with initial startup.


With the exterior of this car screaming “modified”, I always liked the idea of keeping the interior somewhat stock or classic looking. But, I made some exceptions in the name of improved functionality with Dakota Digital HDX gauges (RTX wasn’t released when I purchased these), Detroit Speed wiper motor and a beautifully crafted MPI steering wheel. All were chosen to provide at least a nod to the factory style.

[JKnight]

Rick’s Restomod tank was paired with a ZL1 Camaro fuel pump and corner pickups (because…why not?) and a Vaporworx controller to make the fuel system as reliable as possible. Also added a fuel vent canister, which does seem to be keeping the fuel smell to a minimum, but I did have an unexpected amount of fuel coming out of the vent when fueling up the car this weekend. Not sure what that’s about. Anyone have any ideas?

[Sheck44]

Great work Jeff !
Cheers
Steve

[F'in mine]

Originally Posted by JKnight

Rick’s Restomod tank was paired with a ZL1 Camaro fuel pump and corner pickups (because…why not?) and a Vaporworx controller to make the fuel system as reliable as possible. Also added a fuel vent canister, which does seem to be keeping the fuel smell to a minimum, but I did have an unexpected amount of fuel coming out of the vent when fueling up the car this weekend. Not sure what that’s about. Anyone have any ideas?

Re: Fuel coming out of the vent, I noticed that you're using the LS3 or ZL-1 pump and sending unit all in one rather than the separate sending unit.

Some possible things to check.
Vented cap? Some of Ricks newer tanks have the new style screw caps that I believe are non-vented. I had to try a few reg. vented caps until one that worked properly.
The vent line in your pic looks to be tucked under the fuel feed line, I would get it up high as quickly as possible, maybe you did?
Maybe you over filled the tank and the trigger didn't get activated to stop soon enough. I try not to over fill and listen as I fill up.
The hoses going to the vent canister are in the right ports?
Gas coming from the in ground gas station tanks is cooler then pumped into vehicle gas tank will expand somewhat.

I added another tank vent boss on my filler tube at around the 1-2:00 position to help with the venting, hoping it helps and no issues so far.