Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Yep, the wait was just killing me too! You know, just a little over a month ago I posted on my old K30 Build thread some recent pics trailering the painted Camaro. Different topic over there but it’s a sneak peak of it going somewhere for something, more to come on that later. The build thread is still running roughly 8 months behind the actual build.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...postcount=1218

Great question, the stripe was added after color and buried in clear. Kevin is also correct, Chris marked everything including the SS emblem locations (dimpled) to be drilled later. I do recall that he also wanted a reference of where the stripe went from panel to panel (for some precise measurements?). I believe this was the last time the front end was bolted together before paint.




Thanks for following along you guys it’s a good time documenting the car coming together. This is a little story I'm calling "My original plan was." I intended to bring the car home, install the rollbar, drill the emblem holes, weld the firewall and seat pans, and place the shell back on the rotisserie. Excellent plan, wasn't it? Only issue: Chris and Kelly weren't too fond of my one-person, four-post lift method that involved grabbing the roof and quarters with ratchet straps to attach it to the rotisserie. :but:

Also, as previously posted, Chris wanted another round of blocking with the car altogether. Once this was done it was a good time to lay out the bumblebee stripe with the SS fender emblems simultaneously. Not to mention (but I will), because I'm slow and the body shop is very busy it did take slightly over six months to get the car back into process the last time, I brought it home.

So, to save time and possibly hours of body rework it was agreed earlier that the car would stay. I’d come in and assist in placing the shell back on my rotisserie when the time came, using their 2-post lift. That is exactly what happened next, the front clip was removed and the body shell went back onto the rotisserie. Went fairly smoothly in my opinion, just a few hours one morning.

The good news is that the car is another step closer to paint. In hindsight doing it this way probably cost a little more but, with the time savings (?) and Chris and Kelly’s skills I’ve got no complaints!

The End.

A few days later I stopped back by and found they’d repaired the trunk floor (hanger holes created by the exhaust shop earlier, see link). I’m fairly sure Chris will take advantage of the rotisserie angles to block some more on the roof as well.

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...&postcount=288

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

I’ve been waiting for this! With the body on the rotisserie, it’s time to rebuild the worn-out front steering/suspension, finish some other subframe repairs, add a fast steering and disc brake upgrade, as well as prep and paint the diff. Just in time, I was starting to run out of Camaro stuff to mess with. :ito:

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

When you remove the control arms, just sell the uppers and the entire brake system and buy Global West tubular upper control arms and their disc brake set up as a package. The original lowers are fine, but when replacing the rubber bushings, install their bushings in that too. Better handling geometry built into the tubular arms.
The rear axle has been highly modified from original too. It appears the frame rails have been modified for the 4 link, coil over modification, but if the channels with all the holes on the frame are for the shocks to mount to, I hope there is another bar connecting them together and mounting to the floor pan for strength.

Mine with the GW uppers and disc conversion. Sorry about the huge pic, don't know how to downsize that.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...psuue4y4dx.jpg

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

1 other item, I hope you are eliminating the throttle rod to the carb and going to a cable. I have a Lokar pedal in black to match the other pedals without the bling looking out of place. It is the Midnight series.
But what I found when I added this same pedal to my Chevelle is, the added stress of that set up cracked the firewall where it mounts and the Camaro was already cracked there. I made a reinforcement plate from 1/8" steel for the Camaro and welded it on.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...320&fit=bounds

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...320&fit=bounds

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...ps35pgytzl.jpg

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Found another Grumpy pic. Looks like they are running four abreast!

I haven't kept up much on the board lately ... I hope you're going with white. Maybe its already been decided?

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Nice upgrades and build btw, I am aware of the poor steering geometry and considered updated control arms or perhaps the Dick Guldstrand modifications. Here’s an interesting read. https://pozziracing.com/first_gen_suspension_geome.htm

All of the used takeoff parts were part of the deal with Kelly (Perks shop manager) when he purchased our original body. If I don’t use it, it goes to him to use or dispose of.

You’re correct on the rear suspension, that was a tough decision for me one thing led to another (link). https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...&postcount=136
And yes, the lateral bar is removable and out for floor access at this point. I’m focused on trying to hide the newer technology that’s finding its way into our car. It's more of a D2Restomod, heavy on the D2Resto part.

Besides, I’m running skinnies up front. :lol:


That’s a cool picture, just love Grumpy’s Toys! Yep, Ermine White it is, I’m sticking to the original vision for the car.




My workbench has been an absolute drop zone lately, or is that all the time? :lol: First up, start pulling cotter pins and giving all the fasteners a good shot of WD40.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Once aftermarket control arms came around with the Guldstrand mod built in, that modification faded away quickly. I'm surprised you came up with the Pozzi article, I haven't seen that come up in a search in many years, nice digging...:)
Just do the tubulars, much easier than cutting and welding on the sub frame. With the rear already heavily modified, matching that on the front will be expected. My resto-mod has turned more that way too, as time passes, but hey, you'll have a better car as a result.
If you're set on cutting, consider getting a different frame. Yours is a very early one and would bring a nice income from a 100% original restorer looking for it, just don't tell Kelly about the swap...;)

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Just dawned on me, are you familiar with the threaded rod compression for disassembling that suspension without it turning into a bomb ? Yes, people use the finger style compressors, but they aren't as safe, or easy to use.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Thanks, I am just that old! :lol: Dick Guldstrand aka “Mr. Corvette” is a big deal in early Corvette history. I first became aware of him in the mid to late 80’s and again while enjoying the NCRS community.

https://www.chevyhardcore.com/news/d...way-at-age-87/

No worries, already put some work into this subframe repairing a rotten body mount (additional links below), and I think that its early LOS uniqueness is cool. It’s in great shape and I’m only restoring/repairing and keeping modifications to a minimum.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...0&postcount=31
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...9&postcount=32
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...0&postcount=33

The next guy to own this car after me has the option to do just that. They could add additional handling components to complement the rear 4-link in that way or go further and swap out the subframe. This car has the potential to go in a lot of different future directions if so desired, lowered ride height, autocross, fuel injection, etc. For my purposes, good old straight line, carbureted goodness is the plan.

Remember I’m reporting on the past, the subframe is all done about 8 months ago. I’m betting you’ll get a kick out of how I removed the coils which is coming up. :frog:



Decided to take a lot of reference pics (surprise, surprise :lol:), brake line routing, steering, etc. Thinking I might just want to reference them later which I did a couple of times when it was going back together. Dropped the shocks and continued pulling all the cotter pins as well as another round of penetrant.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Ah the Guldstrand mod, about the best thing you can do if you dont want the look of the tubular a arms and gonna have some corner fun. I thought about it on my 68, but the car is too original, low mileage to really mess with outside of just replacing bushings. Which is something I need to do at some point as the entire car still has all of it original ball joints and bushings. So Ill be following along with the subframe tear down to take notes, lol.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

So true, that and a good tire choice are a game changer for a first-generation Camaro. Nothing against tubular control arms (an excellent product) but, I acquired most of my stock-ish frontend goodies way back on post #120. https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...&postcount=120

Ha, I’ll try and not Sister Mary this too bad! Class,,, class,,, thank you! :lol:




Let the tear down begin. Popped all the tie rods and pitman arm loose and then dropped the steering complete. We will reuse the subframe itself, the center link, steering arms, and possibly the coil springs (they were replaced at some point and sat tall during earlier mockup sessions).

I'm not a fan of how I removed the springs, the freebie Autozone tool rentals (yeah, 2 of them) did the job. This particular tool didn't fit the smaller inner diameter of the Camaro coils very well, hence the sandwich approach. I’m positive it’ll scratch the crap out of everything and be a battle trying this method again. So yes, reassembly will go differently more on that later.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

You’ll come up with a better plan
(I see the K30 in the background :))

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Thanks, I thought the same thing when I saw that pic. I do miss having it around.



And over at Perks, Chris smoothed out the rear frame rail spot welds and then applied some Zolatone black/aqua splatter paint. Wow, it looks great! After the trunk hinges get painted body color, he’ll go back and add some splatter overspray on the hinges.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Took a minute to assess the subframe, good old factory booger welds. I do want it to look factory but some of these welds don’t look to hold up to our “Good to go” 511. :ito:

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Wow, yeah, really crappy. I went over mine before powder coating too, but it wasn't as sloppy. I rewelded and ground on my '66 Chevelle too. Those factory welds were really rough.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Ha, it’s surprising 57 years later and these crappy welds have held up and are just as nice (?) as the day they were done. But hey that’s what factory looked like in late 1966.



Up next, I’ll fix the very worst booger welds with better booger welds! :lol: It’ll look factory and hold up just fine, you won’t even know some welds got re-boogered. Here’s a link to some earlier handiwork on this subframe. https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...7&postcount=36 As they say “The bigger the glob the better the job”, it’s ok if you have to look away.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Yup, ...(sadly) typical welds from back then.
I see that's an early subframe too (no tow hook holes ;)

Brett,
Ref. your post #451, on the coil springs. This is nothing new and you may already know, but a 'trick' that's worked for me. I've put a (hydraulic) floorjack under the lower control arm, then a (good/car) tie-down strap up and over the top control arm, where when you pump the jack it compresses the spring. Putting a couple rags under the straps should keep from scratching the newly painted/powder coated parts. Obviously a number of ways to 'skin a cat' as they say, but this has done the trick for me a few times.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Thanks Kevin as usual a very good suggestion, I did end up going a different route though. Yes, it is an early subframe that’s actually in pretty darn good shape. Just needed a little attention here and there.


Almost but not quite finished with the subframe repair. I straightened up the frame horns earlier just before fitting the front bumper but still need to fix a couple of chewed-up bumper bracket holes (link). As I don’t want to possibly move the original mounting hole I decided to try and make a plug that replaced just the missing material.
https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...&postcount=295

Side note: Jumped at an opportunity to add this very limited reproduced sticker to my collection of Hurst Ram Rod stuff. :metal:

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

This first side is turning out pretty well, I flipped the frame over, and here’s what the backside looks like. Of course, the other side is as chewed up as the first. :sexy:

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Yup, this is working out well, a little weld, a little grind. :smoke: Here’s an inside pic of both plugs.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Coming along nicely! Love the vintage sticker. I collect vintage stickers and water slide decals, Ive never seen that one.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Thanks CG. That’s a cool hobby, a little Google research shows a similar sticker with a different header and also a completely different foil version.



Both sides got welded up, ground down, and chased with a drill bit to size. Once the subframe gets media blasted and painted even Barney shouldn’t be able to detect any of the subframe repairs.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

The floor and firewall are scuffed and ready for some paint. I found some cool stuff in Perk's shop today!

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

That same day over at the other building here’s one of Perk’s complete builds coming together, it’s a 67 C10 shorty chassis with QA1 goodies all over it. Caught it covered in some body shop dust, but still cool to look at from all angles. This C10 came in shortly after us and has me thinking about mine as I watch its progress. :chevy:

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Here are a few before and after media blast pics. Next time we see it, it’ll be painted.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

The last thing needed was the original steering arms. Inline Tube's manual disc brake conversion kit includes everything else that is hub/spindle related. Besides the subframe, there’s not too much left in our keep pile. Especially without the springs that are on a go, no go bubble.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Driving by the body shop look what we found in the parking lot! :ww:

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

That's got to be exciting to see!

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Ditto. Great to see paint going on, even if the underside :)

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Very nice work! I'm sure it's great to see the trunk and bottom side done. Don't worry, they didn't just do crappy welds on the 1st gens, they still did them on the 2nd gens too. :lol:

Where did you get that sticker? I've been waiting for 2-3 years for a guy on ebay to run another run of them.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

It took a few but I’m very pleased with how this part has turned out, had a big ol’ smile on my face. :D

No worries, those crappy welds sure did and do hold up. :crazy:

You’d mentioned you were looking for a sticker before, I did PM you about 8-9 months ago (when I got mine), not sure if you saw it. Brad Barrie on FB (link) did a limited run of these Hurst Ram Rod stickers almost a year ago, sent him a PM and he fixed me up. https://www.facebook.com/oldschoolplateframes




With the firewall and underside paint dry it’s almost time for body color!!! It moved from the main building to the paint shop in preparation.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Brett. I forget (it's probably a few posts back), but what color did you decide? (Ermine White?)

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

the underside looks really good

I am following this thread now

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Yes, it is Ermine White. That was always the plan, except for a short brief weak time. :lol: Like my friend always likes to say “Just like Grumpy had!”.

Thanks, the wagon is a cool project I like watching the metal repair progress you have going on.




Wow, the subframe is back and looking good! Even our minor repairs look pretty darn good. Wondering if I (with help from “Mr. Incredible” of course) can rebuild the subframe right here on the little trailer? Yep, that’s the plan, not even taking it off the trailer. It’s going back over to get mated with the car very soon anyway, time to get after it.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

The sub frame looks great! It's getting closer every day!

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Thanks Ryan.



Tada, it’s White! Right out of the booth, it's just amazing how nice their paint is, beauty. :clap:

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Looks great! I can't wait to see it going together.

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

Awsome!!!! Congrats Brett :)
This is a major milestone for sure


...and you know I'm partial to that color lol :)

https://photos.imageevent.com/hvclas...15_172628.jpeg

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

What a fantastic thread and beautiful car! So glad I stumbled into the "Alternate Tinkerings" area!

Re: 67 Camaro Build
 

I appreciate the kind words, thank you guys. :metal:

I’m with you 69cam, can't wait to start the final assembly!

Kevin your vert looks great! You know I have got to be partial to white also, the last 3 projects we’ve had painted and the last 2 dailies purchased have all been white. :lol:

Hey Scott very nice of you to say, some talented folks are doing cool stuff in this section.




Back at Perk’s the doors and spoiler trunk lid are getting some final sanding. Meanwhile, I’m starting to prep the diff for paint. I've removed the Lokar emergency brake cables that came from Moser. My thoughts are I’m going to try and run the factory setup instead, either way the cables need to be out of the way for paint.