67 Camaro Build

[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.

[Lost in the 60's]

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.

[7dee2]

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! 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.

[KevinK7]

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.

[7dee2]

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.

[7dee2]

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.

[7dee2]

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

[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.

[7dee2]

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.

[7dee2]

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

[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.

[Dieselwrencher]

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