67 Camaro Build

[7dee2]

That’s Mrs. 7dee2’s new car sitting in the driveway from the last post, well new to us that is. It’s a CPO 2020 Mercedes CLA 35 AMG that just came off lease with a little over 13k miles. I’ll tell you what this thing has got so much technology hopefully us old farts can figure it out. Surprisingly it’s only supposed to be a few tenths slower in the ¼ mile than her last super sedan (13.4 vs 13.2 for a 2017 Chevrolet SS as per Motor Trend). She likes the fancy stuff, I like that it can get with the program when floored.

[7dee2]

Back to the Camaro. Right off the bat before it even came off the trailer Chris & Kelly (Perks Owner & Shop Manager respectively) noticed that the right front seemed to droop a little. Once unloaded a quick measurement of the core support bared this out, the panel was ¾” shorter from top to bottom on the right side. My old eyes didn’t see it at first but I did once they mentioned it.

Unfortunately, Don has moved on to other opportunities and won’t be working on the car this time. Everyone parted friends and the upside for us is getting a chance to work with Kelly (that’s him in the pics). Working for Perks Auto Body for 30 years Kelly’s developed an impressive skill set and his work is top shelf. He’s a perfectionist and the perfect guy to take over.

Here’s a quick catch up of the Camaro’s problem areas.

Right side panel fitment,
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=183
Right wing window,
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=232
Right door skin window opening, (aka, the canyon)
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=248

The first thing addressed was the lopsided core support, I had another earlier aftermarket stamping that came with our parts car. That one turned out to be closer and will be the one we use moving forward. While making this adjustment Kelly double checked the prior front clip work and made any corrections that were needed.

[7dee2]

With the fender out of the way, the poorly fitting right wing window and door skin opening were addressed. After some inner door modification, Kelly has got the wing window fitting better than ever! The lower part of the gasket was left out to help train it to close the gap as well. In addition, he cleaned up the front lower adjuster opening (incorrectly placed) that had required modification just to install the adjuster.

Closing up the door skin window opening required breaking loose the upper inner door structure and physically removing the bow. Removing the bow did result in a small dent that’ll be addressed down the road. I'll tell you we came so close to replacing this door and probably would’ve if we'd known for sure that it would’ve been better. The good news is that he stuck with it and is putting these problems to bed.

[7dee2]

Yippy skippy, hot dang our 511 is all done and here! Big thanks to Mike and Larry (Fastlane Machine, Orem Utah) for building it and taking the great assembly pics that I’ve been posting. Really pumped to see what it’ll do, anything north of 550 horsepower will be a win with this street combo.

Here’s what the Go Fast Math horsepower calculator thinks.
https://www.gofastmath.com/Horsepowe...wer_Calculator

Stage 2: Dual Plane High-Rise
Intake duration @ .050: 233
Tappet type: Roller
Dynamic compression ratio: 8.92:1 (best guess)
Engine displacement: 511
Cylinders: 8
Peak intake flow in CFM @ 28” of water: 320 (best guess also)

I need to grab just a few small items (distributor, plugs, etc.) and make an appointment with Kidd Performance for a break-in and dyno tune. Then we’ll see how close the calculator came to the actual figures.

[7dee2]

Here we are 3 hours up the road at Kidd Performance in Twin Falls, ID. That blur in the photos is the owner Mark Kidd getting our motor ready for the break-in. Time to party!

[joesscamaro]

Oh man...looking forward to seeing the results! I know you're excited as well!

[7dee2]

Oh yeah, you betcha I’m excited! Turn up the volume and watch the videos it’ll be like you were there, it was a very cool experience.



The break-in is complete and no drama, motor acted as expected. Mark commented on how really clean the remote Clear View Filtration filter was, he says he usually traps a lot of junk, shop rag lint, bearing material, etc. so kudos to Fastlane Machine for such a trouble-free, clean build. Bonus, no leaks except for one seeping head bolt that self-healed itself with more heat cycles.

Here’s a bunch of short break-in and full pull videos, Mark was dialing in the tune (mainly jetting) the whole time.

https://www.youtube.com/@6dee7-7dee2

Break-in #1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU6e45Ys_DQ
Break-in #2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXWwPgcaegk
Break-in #3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEszC5iLJqw

Dyno Tune #1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sajkNSklotQ
Dyno Tune #2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtL_Fd0vMfo
Dyno Tune #3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiQc4uEgUCA
Dyno Tune #4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OJSALZh7IY

[rgunlock]

That's a monster! Bet you were at least a little nervous the first time he took it up to 6K. I know I would have been. I'm excited for you. That's going to be so much fun in that Camaro!

[mongocanfly]

Man..that's killer..!!!!

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by rgunlock

That's a monster! Bet you were at least a little nervous the first time he took it up to 6K. I know I would have been. I'm excited for you. That's going to be so much fun in that Camaro!

Thanks Rick, I was a little anxious at first but Fastlane just killed it, those guys are the best. Hoping to have as much fun as this old guy is in his V-Gate equipped Mustang, check out the grin on that man’s face! https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8X1sld3zeAk

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Man..that's killer..!!!!

Thanks Greg! It's a really big motorvator to get our Camaro done.



It took just over 19 months of work, parts acquisition, machine work, assembly, and finally the break-in and dyno tune. Here’s the now truly “Good to go!” 511 back home all mummified from the trip. Had some wet weather for the ride home so Mark gave me a hand shrink wrapping and weatherproofing.

If you didn’t catch it in the final video here’s the dyno printout. Horsepower is just shy of 575 @ 5800 and torque is 590 @ 4600 on non-ethanol 91 pump gas. Yes, triple bonus points for naturally aspirated, pump gas and doing it with the old L-88 style parts. I’m very pleased, should make a reliable and fun street engine for the Camaro.

Ha, anymore powah and we might’ve had to start rethinking our transmission choice. I’ve heard and run across comments (link) on this cam grind saying It’ll show no mercy to manual transmissions. In fact, it is starting to get close to the recommended max of what our trans can hold (builder Paul Cangialosi when asked said it would do 650 ft-lbs). I’m sure it’ll be fine since this is a street car and it’s rarely going to hook up well enough to be a problem.

https://www.claysmithcams.com/hr-920...rpm-5800-6200/

[joesscamaro]

That is awesome. Glad for the good break-in/dyno runs and the very stout numbers that it produced.

[7dee2]

Thanks Joe, me too. It’s been a while (since last May) but I’m still stoked about the outcome.



Perks strips the EDP coating from the new panels in order to ensure proper adhesion with the BASF Glasurit products that they use. Chris is a stickler on this, no shortcuts.

It turns out that Kelly is a 1st Gen Camaro fan, he’s decided he wants our old parts car and jig. I can’t think of a better home and look forward to seeing what he does with it. It’s great having the space in the garage but strange to not have it around at the same time.

[7dee2]

Would you look at that, our stripped down bare-naked Camaro has moved over to the Perks paint building!

[72 tigger]

I’m staying tuned for the next exciting update!!!

[regan wilson]

Looking nice

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

I’m staying tuned for the next exciting update!!!

You know it, exciting times with the motor done and Perks making some good progress on the body!

Originally Posted by regan wilson

Looking nice

Thanks Regan.



Bang, it’s gray now! Me and the Mrs.’s after seeing it in person all sealed up and ready for the first blocking.

[7dee2]

I’ll quote Chris from the Perks FB page “How straight are brand new panels?”

https://www.facebook.com/PerksAutoRe...7186237427620/

[7dee2]

Got a new set of seat belts for the Camaro. My research (link) found 1967 is unique in that the standard configuration only came with 4 lap belts, 2 up front and 2 in the back, rather than the usual 3 in back. Also, the 67 Camaro was the only year with either the Fisher Body carriage or the GM release button in the standard buckle. The deluxe buckle came with the Fisher Body carriage only in 67. Our 55-year-old standard buckle originals have seen better days, but we only had 4 of them, and they did have the carriage buttons.

For whatever reason, some vendors lost or didn’t renew the GM License and now use a starburst on the release button. The OER set ordered came this way and Mr. Picky Pants (yep, that would be me ) wasn’t having it. I did locate some carriage buttons from another vendor and swapped them out. In addition, a not so stock looking tag attached with white thread was just not going to fly either. Tags are gone, and the seat belts got a done stamp and went back in the boxes for later.

http://www.camaros.org/seatbelt.shtml

[7dee2]

Made the trip down to Fastlane Machine to share the 511 dyno sheets with Mike & Larry. Found our second engine (“Why build one when you can have two at twice the price 489.” ) in process. Mike says he’s pleased with this core also and was working the main caps a little (stretched #3 the most) to fit the saddles better prior to the line bore process. They've set the bar pretty high with the 511, it’ll be interesting to see how our 489 for the C10 does.

The guys requested I bring them the tins for this motor next time. So, it’s time to pull the machine shop, traveling, dyno set of valve covers off. I lucked into this very lightly used chrome Moroso set off our local classifieds for $50. After adding some baffled grommets and the breathers they worked perfectly for dyno round #1, we’ll reuse all the hardware, rubber gaskets, etc. for dyno round #2.

[CAMAROBOY68SS]

Originally Posted by 7dee2

Got a new set of seat belts for the Camaro. My research (link) found 1967 is unique in that the standard configuration only came with 4 lap belts, 2 up front and 2 in the back, rather than the usual 3 in back. Also, the 67 Camaro was the only year with either the Fisher Body carriage or the GM release button in the standard buckle. The deluxe buckle came with the Fisher Body carriage only in 67. Our 55-year-old standard buckle originals have seen better days, but we only had 4 of them, and they did have the carriage buttons.

For whatever reason, some vendors lost or didn’t renew the GM License and now use a starburst on the release button. The OER set ordered came this way and Mr. Picky Pants (yep, that would be me ) wasn’t having it. I did locate some carriage buttons from another vendor and swapped them out. In addition, a not so stock looking tag attached with white thread was just not going to fly either. Tags are gone, and the seat belts got a done stamp and went back in the boxes for later.

http://www.camaros.org/seatbelt.shtml

I was laughing a little at this, because I can confirm all of this from having a couple of 67 and 68's. I have always found the middle belt in the rear seat to be funny because I have never been able to shove 3 people in the back of my 68 and that middle area has really no spring or foam there. Your pretty much riding on the tunnel.

All the 67s that have passed through me all had the carriage in the buckle. I will say with that hokey tag on the belt, at least the put in the about the same area as the originals had their tags.

Love camaros.org. lots of great info and a decent forum as well.

[7dee2]

And with a convertible or deluxe interior (like us) the back seat is even more narrow. Ha, I’m guessing stuffing even a couple of extra-large folks could be a challenge!



Mocking up a stock looking valve cover for either engine, I’ve got a couple sets of these factory style cheater (1/2" taller) covers. Perfect when the low-profile standard height valve covers don't quite clear roller rockers and polylocks. The only issue found so far is that the supplied hardware doesn't fit the stampings, you can't get a socket on the upper row. No biggie, a ¼” flange bolt has a smaller head and does work just fine.

[7dee2]

Since I'm messing around with valve covers what will it take to run our old M/Ts? It’s probably hard to tell from the pics but there is a small gap between the head and the old cork gaskets. So close, but they’re sitting right on the polylocks, also this set still has the drippers (I’ve no plans to remove them either). These and the old Pro/Stock Ansen covers (link) might work with thicker or double gaskets. For these low profile M/T’s I’m thinking I’ll end up using spacers to play it safe, ½” or better would give plenty of room.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=212

[69cam]

Those stock looking chrome covers look great, but I also love the M/T's. They look right at home on that motor. I'm a huge fan of old school/day two stuff.

[7dee2]

Thanks 69cam. I’m liking the cheaters as well, I tend to gravitate to a factory style cover painted or chrome depending on the build. But this time we are really indulging ourselves with the day two stuff (Ansen, Moroso, M/T old skool kool parts).




1st blocking progressing nicely, is our baby a little lumpy or is that just me? Not really sure where the golf ball sized ding came from in the right fender extension.

[joesscamaro]

Funny comparison picture! Got to feel good seeing it in the early blocking stages.