67 Camaro Build

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by Lost in the 60's

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...

Thanks, I am just that old! 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.

Originally Posted by Lost in the 60's

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.

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.



Decided to take a lot of reference pics (surprise, surprise ), 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.

[CAMAROBOY68SS]

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.

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by CAMAROBOY68SS

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.

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!




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.

[72 tigger]

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

[7dee2]

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.

[7dee2]

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.

[CG]

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

[7dee2]

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.

[7dee2]

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

[7dee2]

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.

[7dee2]

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

[joesscamaro]

That's got to be exciting to see!

[KevinK7]

Originally Posted by joesscamaro

That's got to be exciting to see!

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

[Dieselwrencher]

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.

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.

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by joesscamaro

That's got to be exciting to see!

Originally Posted by KevinK7

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

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Very nice work! I'm sure it's great to see the trunk and bottom side done.

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

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Don't worry, they didn't just do crappy welds on the 1st gens, they still did them on the 2nd gens too.

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.

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

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.

[KevinK7]

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

[Tempest67]

the underside looks really good

I am following this thread now

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by KevinK7

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

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

Originally Posted by Tempest67

the underside looks really good

I am following this thread now

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.

[joesscamaro]

Sure looks nice and can't wait to see more pieces added during build-up.

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by CAMAROBOY68SS

awesome! looks great!

Thanks, they did a great job. That was a sharp convertible.

Originally Posted by joesscamaro

Sure looks nice and can't wait to see more pieces added during build-up.

Thanks Joe, me too!




The new control arms come powder coated and preassembled, easy peasy. And yes, I went with new springs, and am waiting for them to arrive. So, now would be a great time to mockup the brake lines on the shortened diff.

[Dieselwrencher]

That looks so nice! Now for the nerve racking part to not scratch it.

[7dee2]

Thanks Ryan, that’s so true.



The brake distribution block didn’t fit its bracket but that was an easy fix. Welded on some brake line tabs and reformed the lines a little bit without shortening them. Once satisfied I pulled this stuff back off for paint.

Yes, the last shot is the rear end showing you its bottom!

[mongocanfly]

Lots of extremely nice work going on here..I'm really liking all the white..!!

[7dee2]

Thank you Greg, that's some impressive hub work you have going on. The last pic I saw with the sticker mockup looks great!



And paint, nothing special just a few coats of Rustoleum Canyon Satin Black. Direct to metal in a spray can, quick and easy, I like it.

[7dee2]

Springs arrived and reassembly of the subframe was underway. I wanted to see if I could leave it on the trailer which I did initially. This threaded rod, finger-style spring compressor does a good job and is easy on the powder-coated finishes. It required that I enlarge the upper shock mount opening slightly for the threaded rod to fit. Also, the shorter finger makes it easy to clock and arch the spring a little bit to aid with the installation.