LSA Powered 69 Camaro -"Lou's Change" - Page 8 - Lateral-g Forums

Vince@Meanstreets · #71 09-02-2012, 10:45 PM

great project guys and a lot of in house ingenuity.

There wouldn't be a part number on that fuse box and relay center would there??

**V8TV** · #72 09-03-2012, 09:58 AM

That fuse / relay panel is part of the GMPP LSA controller system # 19259293. It's a nice piece.

We found a nice home for it in place of the original ash tray, and we'll be making a custom hinge for the ash tray door to flip down for easy access.

Vince@Meanstreets · #73 09-03-2012, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by V8TV

That fuse / relay panel is part of the GMPP LSA controller system # 19259293. It's a nice piece.

We found a nice home for it in place of the original ash tray, and we'll be making a custom hinge for the ash tray door to flip down for easy access.

haa thats exactly what i was thinking. thanks Kevin.

Sonar Chief · #74 09-04-2012, 07:06 PM

WOW ... just went through the pages of the RUST found on your car and it made me sick to my stomach. It is worse cuz someone tried to cover it up.

At least the RUST on my car was from natural causes and I knew there were no body men helping out the cause. Kevin has his hands full now, GOOD LUCK!

Lous69 · #75 09-04-2012, 09:35 PM

Yep. There were some surprises under that fairly decent paint job.

On one hand, you could argue that we would have been better off selling this car and starting with another for this build because the car really did look nice enough to sell for a pretty penny. While we thought about that, my son Dan and I have played around with this particular car since he was in high school so it has considerable sentimental value to us.

On the other hand, we have no complaints because the car looked great and served us well all these years. Besides, I would have felt terrible if someone had payed me that pretty penny and then found the secrets it was hiding from us all.

Actually, to be honest, we were anxious to have the rear quarters replaced even if NO rust was found.

Our reasoning was that someone had previously installed partial quarters. While there is nothing inherently wrong with partial quarters, we want this car built true and square from the ground up, starting with new full quarters installed while the tub is mounted on a jig. Anything less just wouldn't seem right for a build of this magnitude and caliber.

We knew about the dash being wasted as we could see evidence at the base of the windshield. The black tarish material someone used to mask the rust makes it look even worse in the pics. :

A couple of spots in the floors were a surprise but they look to be easily fixable. V8TV's repairs to spots like these are virtually invisible when done because they only use butt welds and finish both sides so you can not tell they were ever there.

The holes at the top of the A pillars were a surprise:

The inner cowls will need repairs due to the rust above inviting water to congregate within them:

Sorry to say the rust we found so far is not all that surprising for a car that has lived it's whole life in the Chicago and St. Louis areas.

The car is at the media blaster right now. I can't tell you how anxious I am to get the final verdicts upon it's return.

To me, that day will represent the "bottom" of the build. From there on, the car and the project will just get better and better, both physically and emotionally.

If you look through the galleries of V8TV's previous projects you will see they have repeatedly saved numerous cars in much worse shape than this one.

Vince@Meanstreets · #76 09-04-2012, 10:07 PM

Youch, I can't believe that's the same car from page one. But you are right. I have seen and fixed worst.

Fingers crossed for a good base coming back from media blasters.

Ron in SoCal · #77 09-04-2012, 10:08 PM

Not sure I follow the logic of ripping out well replaced partial quarters but not redoing a full floor on a build of this caliber and magnitude?

All respect, just trying to follow along

EDIT: :lightbulb: maybe a good coating in the understructure?

**V8TV** · #78 09-04-2012, 10:47 PM

We should have the body back from the blaster in a couple days. This clown has told us it would be ready by now, only to push the date back several times... not happy about that, but I think he's actually close this time.

We suspected some rust issues on this car, and honestly, I think Lou has the best outlook one could have in this situation. On one hand, you don't like to see it the shoddy repairs, but it is worse to pass it along to someone else. He also has a great point how their "first life" with the car was fun, and now our crew will have the opportunity to right the wrongs of time and make the body worthy of the mechanical features of the car. It can be a wrenching ride, but the results are always worth it. Our plan remains the same, to repair the shell using as much of the original sheet metal as we can... trying to keep the "soul" of the car intact in some form.

Vince@Meanstreets · #79 09-04-2012, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron in SoCal

Not sure I follow the logic of ripping out well replaced partial quarters but not redoing a full floor on a build of this caliber and magnitude?

All respect, just trying to follow along

EDIT: :lightbulb: maybe a good coating in the understructure?

Due to keeping the structure from falling into itself, it might be a good idea to do the floors after the quarters, tubs, dash, filler panel and roof.

**V8TV** · #80 09-05-2012, 08:18 AM

We'll be doing all the sheet metal replacement with the body braced on our jig to make sure it goes together squarely and the panel fit is correct. The rotisserie is great for gaining access for scraping and blasting, but to your point, things can get outta whack if you're not careful!