67 Camaro Build

[7dee2]

Thanks, making progress on the Camaro always puts a smile on my face.




Here’s an off-topic “Squirrel” moment! A friend acquired this 66 Vette with perfect patina out of Colorado. Reminded me so much of our old car (link) I had to share it. The plan is to rebuild the 427, make it run and drive and leave it crusty.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=127

Fast forward a few months and that’s exactly what happened, the 66 got a fresh rebuild and he was able to drive it home. After a few more months went by this same friend has just recently revealed his latest (and greatest) find to the world. It’s blowing the minds of the Corvette community, 1953 Corvette vin number 001!


Here’s a few articles on this amazing find.
https://www.corvetteblogger.com/2023...-rediscovered/
https://www.streetmusclemag.com/feat...make-the-call/
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/fir...lCf0fe8XLLMPY0

[69cam]

Read the articles. Wow! What history and a great find. Used to work in a body shop. The owner had several Ford Skyliners, but the last couple years I worked there he bought, and we restored, a very nice 54 Corvette. It was a lot of fun.

[joesscamaro]

Both vettes are really cool but the story on that '53 is amazing. Thanks for sharing!

[7dee2]

Yep, really cool stuff I’m sure we’ll hear more on the first 53 Corvette as time goes on. Corey's current plans are that he'll take the car to some major events and let people see it in its raw state before any restoration takes place. I believe a reveal is being arranged at the National Corvette Museum for later this year.




It's time to get back to the steering column, we left off by blowing it apart and ordering in a very nice rebuild kit (link). Took some reference pics of the firewall mounting plate so I can try and get it close on reassembly. Before and after going through the blast cabinet, no special media just sand. Used a wire wheel and some sandpaper on the inner sleeve and column to knock off all the surface rust.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=266

[7dee2]

The Camaro has moved back over to the main building and is getting some more bodywork. They're just starting to work the roof to quarter panel seams, etc.

Sent the old M/T’s and some extended hex nut hold-downs out for polish and wow, they turned out great! Everything matches the polish on the breathers now, long time local vendor Metal Masters does a great job.
https://www.slcmetalmaster.com/

[7dee2]

Continuing on with the steering column parts getting some paint and a clear coating for the bare metal stuff. Several coats of rattle can Rust-oleum Satin Canyon Black & Satin Clear are what was used.

[72 tigger]

Chrome and column are looking great!
Cool Vette stories

[7dee2]

Thanks Kirk. Yeah, those old M/T’s polished up just like new.



Media blasted the seat tracks as well to remove the 55+ year old surface rust. After a quick cleanup, they got some satin clear also. Only had one good (?) original set of seat adjusters and seat return springs, ordered new springs and adjuster knobs for the final assembly later.

[7dee2]

There are a few more do-dads to prep this round, even threw in a flex plate for our half-ton project. Yep, still geeking out over the dated blower motor that works great. The steering column coupler flange should be a natural finish but since the new mating piece on the steering box side is coated, we’ll walk on the wild side and paint this to match.

[7dee2]

Our steering column is ready for reassembly. First thing was to create a homemade seal between the inner and outer sleeves. Found disintegrated remnants of a foam gasket during disassembly. Had some of this window seal stuff left over from the sandblast cabinet redo, it’s very close and will work fine. Just a little bit too thick, which some electrical tape solved.

[7dee2]

The new lower bearing assembly fit perfectly and went right together. The upper white plastic bearing had a small piece broken which I super glued back into place and will function fine. Cleaned and repacked the upper bearing which was still in good shape as well.

[7dee2]

So, rebuilding this style of column (floor shift, non-tilt, and no lock cylinder) is as easy as they come. I’m pleased with the results and that NOS-dated turn signal switch is a pretty darn cool piece. The rest of the stuff (turn signal lever, hazard button, etc.) will be installed when it’s going into the car so this is the final on this for now.

[7dee2]

Some polished Ansen valve cover spacers (link) arrived. Man, this stuff looks so good, can I really bring myself to punch holes in the covers to mount the old M/T breathers? Yep, of course, that’s why I got the breathers and then the valve covers in the first place. I need to gather the hardware and make some gaskets as well as decide if they’ll be functional or not (functional will mean they’ll probably leak), here's a pic of what the functional gasket would look like.

https://www.ansenvalvecovers.com/col...acers-polished

[7dee2]

With the steering column rebuilt (and building up some guts to punch holes in the M/T’s. ) my attention has moved back to the Hurst Ramrod shifter collection. My goal is to build as close to a NOS shifter as possible for the Camaro. The first step in that process was to disassemble our original mockup shifter. Here are some pics of the order and orientation of the different shifter plates for reassembly.

[Lost in the 60's]

I found this thread about 1.5 hours ago and I didn't read every page...
Sooo, after all the time, frustration, expense and work, do you still think the new body was worthwhile ?
This is my '67 ss/rs about 1 year ago. New left quarter skin, 1 piece trunk floor, extension panel, NOS right quarter and tail panel.

[7dee2]

I’m glad you found our thread, you have a nice car Lost in the 60’s! That’s a good question, I’ll say that everyone’s situation is different (as in the quality of their donor, or lack thereof, skills, finances, etc.). Just like everyone’s end goal can vary greatly as well (driver, racecar, restomod, show car, etc.). In our case, the new body has not been a cost or time savings really. I’ll also add there isn’t much of the original car going into the new car either, I made a list (see pic).

Now some good points, there’s absolutely no rust anywhere in our shell (that’s a biggie. ). I believe it’s put together as well, perhaps even better than an original body (more spot welds per foot, etc.). The mini tub installation is top notch and was installed prior to the quarters going on which isn’t always the case for a modified original car. Thanks to Perks Auto Body (Don, Kelly & Chris) the fit and finish are going to be as good or better than a brand-new car (more on this to come). I think it’s cool that this route is even a possibility so yes, for me it is worthwhile.




And the rest, down to just the stick and trigger assembly which is pretty straightforward. Remove a self-locking nut and pivot pin and the lower trigger assembly will disassemble.

[7dee2]

Here are our three recently acquired shifters with the one on the left being an early style. As previously mentioned, the earlier one is in great shape and will be left as is. An early version is easy to spot as the reverse lever is flat not round. Also, they are riveted together and I think might’ve come loose over time. Later versions got the welded tapered round bar lever.

In the same picture of the reverse lever rivets, notice the chrome stick on the right has been repaired (or customized) and the threads are much larger with a finer pitch than the original. Folks could slam the shifter so hard that they would bend or break the top right off! This particular stick will be replaced on the reassembly of this shifter.

[7dee2]

Another small difference is the pull-up trigger lever, weld vs a roll pin to hold the two halves together. With all three shifters being disassembled let the cherry-picking begin.

[Troy Sr]

I may have missed it, but are you a collector of Hurst Shifters?

[7dee2]

Ha, I didn’t think so but I’ve got a few. It all started off just wanting to run our very nice Mr. Gasket Vertical Gate that I bought years ago (1st link). Then I switched to the Hurst Ram 4 when we figured out Mrs. 7dee2 couldn’t shift the V-Gate in a side by side comparison (2nd link). That led to building the best one I could (just cuz) and before you know it, I’ve got 4 of them (3rd link), Jimmany Christmas!

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=119
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=254
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=276




One of the challenges with the roof to quarter panel transition is the inner drip edge. Factory cars have a raised area right before the bottom of the gutter. With our aftermarket panels, this was not consistent from roof to quarter panel or even left to right, each side being a little different. Kelly is making sure these areas are uniform on all sides.

[7dee2]

Here’s the reveal molding collection with some additional OE pieces that were acquired to replace the worst stuff (almost 2 sets). Also, an original drip edge molding which was not quite as good as I’d remembered. The boxes in the bed are all new reproduction pieces, this could be a molding overload!

With the body shop making every effort to make the car fit better than new, my question is what’s going to fit the best? The right side wing window was a problem in the initial fitment so back to what was said earlier, and is still holding true. We’re not assuming anything fits correctly and this is the first time these pieces have been tried, fingers crossed.

Since it’s a reproduction body and everything on the exterior will be a repro I am leaning towards the new moldings. Another thought is that original pieces always seem to need additional work and are getting harder to acquire if needed in the future.

[CG]

Pertaining to 67's (dont think I mentioned it here yet), a buddy has had a 67 just sitting at his place forever. Just a shell, from the doors back, and the back half had been modified (poorly) to run larger tires. No seats, engine, trans, nothing.

He decided to sell it, figured he'd start at 7500 bucks, you know, ask for the moon. Phone rang off the hook and first caller couldn't get out there fast enough to get it. Crazy times.

Im enjoying watching your progress.

[Lost in the 60's]

Originally Posted by CG

Pertaining to 67's (dont think I mentioned it here yet), a buddy has had a 67 just sitting at his place forever. Just a shell, from the doors back, and the back half had been modified (poorly) to run larger tires. No seats, engine, trans, nothing.

He decided to sell it, figured he'd start at 7500 bucks, you know, ask for the moon. Phone rang off the hook and first caller couldn't get out there fast enough to get it. Crazy times.

Im enjoying watching your progress.

You certain that was a '67 shell, not a '69 ?? No vin tag/title with it ?

[regan wilson]

Even wrecked race cars bring good money for the VIN.

[7dee2]

Thanks CG, I’m glad you’re enjoying the build. It’s fun going back and putting words to the pictures, telling The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly story "ah ee ah ee ah wah wah wah".

It is surprising how much Camaro shells can bring, and the lengths folks will go to save them. The good thing is it’s made for a stronger aftermarket for not only the Camaro but most muscle cars from the big three. I hope it continues and as David Freiburger says “Gasoline Forever”!




One shifter piece that always seems to be missing is this little plastic flange bearing, they get brittle over time and disintegrate. When that happens the pull-up trigger rod will rub against the stick so it's metal on metal, it ruins the rod over time and is noticeable when using the shifter. Found a very close replacement on ebay (link), just remove the locator tab and it’s a good match. With a lot of 50, we now have several lifetimes of replacements. https://www.ebay.com/itm/262376570626