Meenaggie 1968 Camaro Build at GAP Racing

[GAP Industries]

I am starting a build thread for a customer that has allowed us to take part in his project. Casey has had the Camaro for a while and bought it as a partially done project with no drivetrain.

Here is the plan for the 1968 Camaro :

LS2 crate motor with zero miles
Head are stock 243 castings, stock intake, drive by wire, etc
Texas Speed Cam 224/228 .581/.588 on a 142 LSA with new pushrods and springs
Autokraft oil pan for F-body swaps
S&P motor mount adaptor plates to put engine in stock location
Wegner black anodized front accessory drive with A/C, P/S, and alternator
Stock GM water pump
GMPP LS2 24X crate motor 411 ECM and O2 sensors, drive by wire pedal, and engine harness from Painless Wiring
Wegner black anodized valve covers (need to figure out what to do with oil fill)
Prodigy dual pass radiator set up for LS with steam return line and dual electric fans painted black
Going to keep battery up front in stock location (Braille to save some space)
Cold air intake with filter near driver side inner fender well (K&N kit from 2005 GTO)
Dynatech MuscleMaxx 1-3/4” long tube headers for LS into 1st Gen F-body – ceramic coated
Dynatech 3” stainless steel dual exhaust with x-pipe (most likely need to customize over axle bends)
Monster Transmission 4L65E “Mega” automatic transmission
Bowler tubular transmission crossmember with Energy trans mount
Hotchkis front sway bar
DSE 600 series power steering box in ceramic finish
American Auto Wire Classic Update Kit
DSE modified stock subframe with their coil over kit
DSE upper and lower control arms
DSE Koni coil overs with 550 lbs/in spring 10” springs up front
RideTech Air-Bar in Rear with Varishock Coilovers with 175 lbs/in 12” springs in rear using both upper and lower weld-on mounts to rear housing
Moser 12-Bolt with 33-spline axles, new big ford bearing ends, Tru-trac posi, 3.73 gears, billet 1350 yoke, Moser aluminum cover with pre-load, narrowed for deep dish wheels
Solid stock height body bushings by Speedtech
Rick SS Tank with Walbro pump and notched corners
New fuel hard lines with Corvette fuel regulator
Baer Track 13” 4-pistion brakes in front
Baer Sport 12” 2-pistion brakes in rear
DSE power master cylinder
DSE Selcta-Speed wiper motor
Budnik Tiller 5 17X8 in front and 17X11 in rear with Sumitomo HTR Z Tires 245/45/17 in front and 315/35/17 in rear
Lots of black anodized billets parts from Fesler (hood hinges, trunk hinges, door jamb vents, hood latch, tail lights, 69 driving lights)
Billet sill plates in black anodized from Route 66 Motorsports
RideTech black anodized gas cap
Billet grille (black)
Ididit black powder coat tilt wheel
Billet Specialties black anodized steering wheel
Corbeau GTS II buckets seats in black leather with double locking sliders and brackets
Front and rear 3-point seatbelts by Morris Classic Concepts (black with starburst)
Dakota Digital VHX gauges (silver with blue lights)
MCI Camaro low-rise console
Marquez door panels and package tray
Power windows for all four by Nu-Relics with black console mounted switches
All black interior with cut pile carpet by ACC (Essex)
Black cut pile carpet trunk mat by ACC to match interior
Prodigy stainless body hardware kit
Totally Stainless bolts for suspension, door striker, body mounts, steering box, etc
LED headlights from JW Speaker
Double-din in-dash CD and small four-channel amp
Vintage Air GenIV surefit system installed with hoses in inner fender for clean appearance
Modified dash for Vintage Air black louvers

Body / exterior mods :

Remove side markers (front and rear)
69 driving lights in 68 lower valance (metal)
Fill vents in cowl with solid piece (metal)
Delete center speaker grill in dash
Delete front bumper and weld fender extensions to fender to remove bumper bracket gap
Smooth rear bumper painted black to match anodized finish of tail lights and gas cap
Modify body to remove need for windshield and rear glass trim
Shave drip rail
Trim / roll fender lip for better tire clearance
Smooth firewall
DSE minitubs installed
No emblems

Paint :

Black (base / clear in gloss)
Satin black engine bay and chassis

[GAP Industries]

Here is the car the day we picked it up




Casey had collected a ton of parts for the project which made our job a lot easier.

[GAP Industries]

The process began by doing an inventory of the parts and then digging into the car to see what we needed to knock out all his requests.

The car is a very solid car.

We started the tear down

[GAP Industries]

Before all the drivetrain was removed, we started to fit the Dynatech exhaust kit he supplied and try to modify it from the axle back to work with the rear suspension setup

[GAP Industries]

Once the exhaust was sorted out, we took it off the car and welded it all up. Then on to the body modifications
Deleting the door locks


Removing the vents in the cowl


Welded up the side marker lights


Deleted the front bumper bracket and welded the extensions in


Deleted the center speaker in the dash


Welded up the factory AC vents


Repaired the damaged dash area


We made a recess for the push start button


And modified the center of the dash

[GAP Industries]

Then we pulled the engine to make some changes to the firewall and core support



We also finished up the drip rails






Here is the core support before we started cutting and welding on it




Now he can take advantage of the entire surface of the radiator

[GAP Industries]

Started to fit all the pieces and make modifications before it ships off to paint

[GAP Industries]

Doing a little Engine upgrade while the body is at paint

[GAP Industries]

Here is an update from the body shop.

[GAP Industries]

I know Casey has a lot of pictures he will be posting. I just wanted to get the build up to date. Should see a lot of things happening in 2014. Hope to se color on this thing soon. We will be posting updates as soon as we can and once the car is back at our shop in our clean room we will be posting.