67 Camaro Build

[mongocanfly]

Good grief..!!

[7dee2]

I know, crazy luck. Here it is in our garage letting some bad mojo run out the side!


Unfortunately we’ve still got a lot of distractions keeping me from really getting back on this project. Mrs. 7dee2 & I decided to build a new garage (ugh, home? ) which brought progress to a halt. Our decision was made about two months prior to taking delivery of the RDS Camaro body.

[7dee2]

Found this pic on FB and had to tease the wife, “Gee hun wouldn’t this be great! ” all I got was stink eye and an “ah no”!

Here's a pic from this January, we are building a new garage with an attached house!

[mongocanfly]

Haha....that's a man's house for sure...

[7dee2]

We are seeing some light after several months of moving stuff into storage, selling the old house (btw sold 24 hours after listing, YES!), then 9 weeks in a hotel because it did sell so fast , months of moving it all again, glad to report that we’re in our new place and all our junk is here. My advice, don’t move your junk pile if you don’t really have to!

Left the Khaleesi Camaro on her side for months in storage, Ha all the bad mojo has got to be drained out by now, right? No moving damage or mishaps to report, so maybe those other transporters were just, you know, doofuses?

[Dieselwrencher]

Brett, the new place looks awesome! Are you still in it and kicking?

[7dee2]

Hey Ryan, yep still kicking thanks for asking.

Overall it really took some time to get all moved, settled, and situated. A real quick rundown of lost Camaro build time includes getting our new yard in including a fancy she shed.

[7dee2]

Also added a large craft room, bath, and hallway downstairs for Miss’s 7dee2 which was only fair after making the new garage space a first priority. In addition, and after putting it off as long as I could finally have had both my knees replaced as well.

Now that’s all done it’s time to get back to this build. The good thing is we have been picking up parts here and there all along, I do have progress to report with lots of pics.

[Dieselwrencher]

Brett, great to see you active again. I hope my wife doesn't see that she shed. I built my kids a covid hut last year and she wants to take it over. I told her to get in line.

The craft room and bathroom look great also. I'm looking forward to your progress pics on the Camaro. I picked up an empty shell 68 that I will save for a street/drag car. I have a soft spot for a 1st gen camaro but their prices are too high. So as usual I will start with nothing. Haha

[7dee2]

Ha, Covid Hut, that’s a good one! Lol, me too 1st gens rule!



Last winter I decided to mock up a big block/manual trans in the subframe with correct motor stands, mounts, trans cross member and such. The only thing that I noticed was the old 6-cylinder clutch linkage mounted differently, no problem we’ll just punch and tap a new hole to secure it correctly. This original 67 subframe was born with a 6-cylinder manual, then upgraded to a small block automatic before me.

Hooker headers fit quite well at this point also. Just touching the steering box and the right upper control arm.

[rgunlock]

It's great to see you back Brett! Your place is looking great and glad you are getting settled in. May have to steal your she-shed design. Looking forward to more regular progress and posting.

[7dee2]

Hey Rick! Thanks, I’m going to try.


After reading back through the thread I realized I’m getting just a little ahead of myself. Back when we ordered the Real Deal Steel (RDS) body shell, we opted for the complete frontend option as well. To save on freight costs it was all shipped to a friend’s shop and arrived in good shape shortly before the body shell had shipped from Florida. Since we already have a new 67 SS hood, we subbed in a stinger hood (steel) like the old fiberglass ones that the Baldwin Motion, Yenko, etc. cars could have had if ordered.

My thinking is with a hood swap and a couple of quick changes (wheel/tire swap, trunk lid with & without rear spoiler) it could give the car a different look fairly easily. The hood is not everyone’s cup of tea, including mine when I was younger. I remember telling someone what’s a Corvette hood doing on a Camaro, stupid! After many years and learning that they (in fiberglass) were an option on the early supercars they’ve grown on me. Here is a pic of some 67’s with the hood, very Day 2 high-performance stuff.

[72 tigger]

Like the day 2 look, good choice. Keep us updated

[joesscamaro]

I'm a fan of that hood...especially when done in a good color combo. I think the wrong colors can make that hood look like it doesn't belong.

[72c20customcamper]

I bought the Stinger hood for my 66 Chevelle . Had it on for few months didnt grow on me so I'm back to the original SS hood .


Your Camaro is coming out great

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

Like the day 2 look, good choice. Keep us updated

Thanks Kirk, me too.

Originally Posted by joesscamaro

I'm a fan of that hood...especially when done in a good color combo. I think the wrong colors can make that hood look like it doesn't belong.

Yes, I agree Joe. We’ve always planned on Ermine White (a Grumpy’s Toy III look with the SS Hood installed) and even have single-stage paint, bought extra when painting my K30. Trouble is if we need more paint (they don’t sell it in Utah anymore, the supplier says Utah made it illegal ) or finding someone to spray it. Collision shops can’t do it, again illegal here. I’ll say that if I’ve got to buy paint over again that color may change, maybe.

Originally Posted by 72c20customcamper

I bought the Stinger hood for my 66 Chevelle . Had it on for few months didnt grow on me so I'm back to the original SS hood .


Your Camaro is coming out great

Thanks Mark, I’m thinking the two hoods two trunk lid deal is a great idea for me, the stinger has grown on me but I really like the SS hood also. I really like the spoilers but also like the without look as well. When this extra stuff is not on the car it’s going on the wall, garage art, ho, ho double win!



Around the same time (prior to our move to the new place) and in addition to the frontend sheet metal, we sprung for a new and improved Auto Gear Muncie M23 from Paul Cangialosi at 5speeds.com, it’s one of his M22W/2632DS Drag Special transmissions. It's been boxed up until yesterday, looking forward to mocking up the shifter and backup switch soon, here are some pics.

More info about the M23
https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/in...r-engineering/

Paul’s youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/c/GearBoxVideo

[7dee2]

More info on the transmission selection is the gear ratio 2.56, 1.91, 1.37, 1. That low first gear ratio should complement the 3.55 rear gear ratio we are planning to run. I’d like the car to pull hard from a standing start and still have freeway capability.

Using the Spicer transmission gear rpm calculator with the rear gear, tire height, etc. we should be just under 3K at 70 mph. https://spicerparts.com/calculators/...rpm-calculator

Here’s a chart and at 65 mph with our rear gear, tire height puts us at 2770 rpm smack in the middle of Balanced Power/Gas Mileage. Ha, gas mileage that isn’t this build!

Next up the standing start, here’s a free article that talks about Drag Racing Traction. https://www.cartechbooks.com/blogs/t...making-a-pass/ About 2/3rds of the way into that article it talks about the Starting-Line Ratio. According to this an ideal starting-line ratio is 8.5:1. Ours is 2.56 x 3.55 = 9.088, is that good? Well, some more info says 4.375 Stroke & 3500 lbs. = 9.0 via the chart below.

I’m thinking that’s pretty good for a fat street Camaro with a fat driver. Merry Christmas!

[Dieselwrencher]

I've always liked a 3.55 with no od. My Camaro has 3.08s and a Super T10. Not so fun starting out unless it's 3k on up. But it works. Haha

Your trans definitely sounds killer and I really like that stinger hood! I do like the SS hood but they are everywhere around here.

[7dee2]

Ha, I’m guessing burnouts for distance and freeway cruising are not a problem for you! My subframe mockup trans behind the old 72 402 posted above is a T10 with the 6-ring input shaft and the super low 3.42 first gear. That’d make your old Maro roll out from a stop sign a little easier.


We’ve been collecting parts for years for this build and one of those old-school cool parts is a Mr. Gasket V-Gate shifter. I had a Hurst Ramrod inline shifter many, many years ago in a 67 Chevelle. Such a great car with a high winding 327, Offy crossram, Super T10, and a 12 bolt posi with 4.88’s. Just loved banging gears with that shifter so much that I needed another one. Truth be told it’s a big gawd awful thing that scares some folks, I dig it!

To run this shifter is a bit of a commitment, it can be a little tough (on your Nancy hand) pulling up on the lever for 1st & 2nd, it also takes a large hole in the floor and you can forget a factory console. No console means no console gauges (especially the fuel gauge), factory tach, etc. I’m ok running period correct style aftermarket gauges with the standard idiot light dash setup.

Talk about a commitment just had to take a grinder to my new M23 tail housing to make clearance for the reverse rod to function correctly. That gusset was not on the old Muncie housings and wouldn’t let it acuate reverse. Still need to figure a way to connect the reverse lever to a 67 Camaro backup light switch, but I’ve got some ideas.

[7dee2]

Here are some pics of the parts gathered for our big-block/trans mockup, we also grabbed almost everything to rebuild the subframe including, control arms, steering linkage, etc., and a fast manual steering box. The original clutch linkage was present with our parts car but really worn and my research showed that the car came with a 250ci/155HP L22 L6 and a Saginaw Manual 3-speed. Worn out and fitment in question we’re replacing that stuff also.

With a manual trans, v-gate, and now manual steering, I’m thinking Arnold would be proud. This isn’t going to be a girly man car!

[Dieselwrencher]

Brett, I absolutely love those shifters! My friends 70 Cuda 383 4 speed car had one and I loved it! I actually bought one for my camaro but haven't put it in yet because of the mods you just mentioned needed to install it. Boots are really hard to find for them. I have an 83 or so small output super T10 I might put all this in my son's 70 Camaro but idk yet.

[7dee2]

You know it Ryan, parts can be difficult for these shifters. We’ve got 2 Mr. Gasket v-gates one was purchased just for parts and better linkage to support the one I’ve mocked up. We have acquired 3 boots in varied conditions from very worn to new. Wanting to make sure that we can maintain this shifter choice for a long time. Your boy is one lucky kid if the old man helps set him up with such a great car.



If for some reason I find I don’t like the v-gate as well as I did a Hurst Ram Rod 4 (that's the exact shifter that was in the Chevelle mentioned earlier), we sourced one of those as well. It’s not currently as pretty as my v-gate and finding a boot for that shifter has proven even more difficult than the v-gate. We’ve watched eBay for years and when they show up, wow (money money)! One “NOS 1960s RAM ROD HURST VERTAGATE 4SP SHIFTER BOOT & RETAINER CHEVY FORD MOPAR” has been on there for years, $1,000 for a shifter boot, a shifter boot, unreal. Funny thing is, I did just find one of these boots and pulled the trigger. Not perfect but it’s not a grand either. https://www.ebay.com/itm/30424938070...0AAOSwAzBhqS7Q

I can report the backup switch is working with a pretty simple fabricated piece. The Hurst Ram Rod 4 linkage has a reverse lever designed to work with these switches. Using it as a pattern, made a thin 18 gauge arm to actuate the switch as it doesn’t take hardly any force to accomplish this. Thinking a little paint and this will work perfecto, we can move on to servicing the shifter (clean, lube, and reassemble with the best pieces).

[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice! I've been trying to get the guy that used to reproduce the Hurst Ram Rod shift pattern sticker to make some more but he hasn't yet. I so badly want to put this shifter in my current car but I don't want to have to chop up my console.

[KevinK7]

How did I just stuble upon this thread, ...Definitely going to follow along

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Very nice! I've been trying to get the guy that used to reproduce the Hurst Ram Rod shift pattern sticker to make some more but he hasn't yet. I so badly want to put this shifter in my current car but I don't want to have to chop up my console.

Thanks Ryan, you sound like me, I’ve been on the fence but finally got to the point of “Just Do It!” on my build. After seeing some pics of 1st gen Camaro’s online with the console cut up for the shifter quickly came to the conclusion, no console was the cleanest install. Besides then there’s nothing to block the view of that antitheft device!

Originally Posted by KevinK7

How did I just stuble upon this thread, ...Definitely going to follow along

Hey KevinK7 hope you enjoy the build, gotta say I’m liking your avatar!


Back to catching up on the build thread. We opted for a big block treasure hunt next, found a pretty good deal on some Mark IV 454 cores on our local online classifieds. Both have a 14015445-casting number which is 78-90 454, 2 or 4-bolt, Mark IV, short deck. Both are out of heavy-duty applications with remote oil cooling provisions. Could they be 4-bolt main cores, I decided we needed to find out.

The previous owner told me one of them had come out of his motorhome, it had gotten hot climbing a hill and failed. The other he’d purchased as a rebuilt replacement and was told it was good to go? Either way, he wanted them both gone and for $300, I was game.

The one on the engine stand is out of the motorhome, it’ll be the first to be torn down. The other is supposed to be rebuilt from a 1-ton truck. They’ve both got pudding on the dipstick.