67 Camaro Build

[72 tigger]

Love all the BB goodies! Body will be beautiful when done

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

Love all the BB goodies! Body will be beautiful when done

Thanks, me too, plenty more BB stuff to come. I’m so pleased, Don is doing a great job with the body.



It’s time to get after the motor work, currently, BBC stuff is drying up and going up in price. Our solution, I’ll quote the character S.R. Hadden in the movie Contact; “First rule in government spending: why build one when you can have two at twice the price?“

My thoughts are I’ve got the blocks and several sets of heads for both the Camaro and C10 projects. Go through the financial pain one time, combine freight and any discounts (Ha!) I can find. My guess parts are going to get harder to come by and surely going to continue to go up also. Looking back on this decision now our crystal ball was right, everything is more costly and still or even harder to get.

Last August we loaded up our “Good to go!” block (445) as well as the other (286) 4-bolt core. The Gianino stamped 077 heads are there in the Edelbrock boxes as well as a bare cast iron set of 781 ovals under some towels. In addition, the new repro Winters rect. port and an RPM Air Gap oval port intake are also hiding in the bed covered up by towels.

[7dee2]

Last post I had the motors all loaded up and ready to go but didn’t mention where they were going. They’re going to the best high-performance shop in Utah, Fastlane Machine (Larry & Mike “Gold”). Mike’s nickname was earned because everything he touches turns to Gold, sounds like our kind of guy. They’re a small specialty shop that’s in high demand, I’m fortunate they took on our street motors.

As part of our deal, I’m sourcing the majority of parts. Wasting no time orders were placed and the wait began. We’ve got a new Holley 850 w/mech. secondaries sitting on the shelf for the Camaro but we’ll need a carb for the C10. OMG, prices on new Holley Classic carbs! Holley days were coming up so maybe we can get some off of that carb.

Felt lucky after talking to Chris Straub (Straub Technologies) that he had most of the valve train parts we needed in stock. Cam cores and lifters were in short supply but they had the C10 cam and we got some of the last lifter sets they had at that time.

https://www.facebook.com/Fastlane-Ma...41349179245100
http://fastlanemachineinc.com/

[72 tigger]

You have a outstanding parts department!

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice collection of BBC stuff! I agree, these parts aren't going to get easier to get. I hope and pray my Hemi parts source stays open for many years.

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

You have a outstanding parts department!

Thanks, a good part of our basement is just that, a parts department.

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Nice collection of BBC stuff! I agree, these parts aren't going to get easier to get. I hope and pray my Hemi parts source stays open for many years.

Thanks, yeah I hope they do also, things are changing for sure and I hate seeing so many smaller vendors disappear or get swallowed up by the big companies. The knowledge, selection, or customer service seem to disappear with them as well.



While talking to Don about pinning the hoods he suggested we get these little magnetic pins from Eastwood. This was a great suggestion to help facilitate swapping hoods and nailing the alignment quickly. Both hoods to the hinge alignment holes are the same. The hinge to fender locations is specific to each hood, the SS hood uses the upper holes (circled in red) while the Stinger uses the lower as pictured.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-pi...nt-system.html

67 Camaro’s need wing windows right, I’m a big fan of the poor man’s air conditioner especially since this car will not have A/C. We didn’t have any to start with but got a repro set toot sweet so they could be fit during this panel alignment phase.

Speaking of glass, a windshield and back glass would be most helpful as well. This did lead to an all-new factory tint glass kit, only trouble was the freight companies just kept buying damaged windshields. After three windshields and two pieces of back glass, we now have a complete set for the car. Side note; we have the original clear door and quarter glass (with tracks & regulators I'm hoping to reuse) which will work for an initial fitting when we get the car back.

[7dee2]

Lower front valance and grill fitment, getting close!

67 Camaro’s did not come with a rear spoiler, that started with the 68’s. GM modified the trunk lid inner structure to accept the spoiler mounting hardware. That made the 1967 trunk lid unique to a 67 and we have one that came with our parts car. Don fixed up the 50+ year old original and used it as the master panel for the trunk opening.

Don sent me the first 2 pics and I was so impressed with the trunk lid I went straight there to see it in person, of course, I took some more pics!

[KevinK7]

...that car is going to look/be awsome.
Truly a breath of fresh air to see the work being done. You can tell the shop that has it is top notch, and is taking the time to do it right. There is so much 'massaging' needed to the repro panels and to see they are doing it speaks volumes.
...and bingo on the 67 only trunk lids . those are the sort of details that often get overlooked

[7dee2]

Thank you Kevin. I agree Don is killing it, and Perks (Chris & Kelly) are just great to work with. Pretty sure we don’t have a single untouched panel, if so, it would be the SS hood. The whole car just gets better and better the longer it is there.




Researching and chasing down cool day 2 stuff has been a fun part of this build. I’ve got a friend that is really into Mickey Thompson Super Scavenger Headers. He has several sets of originals and I’ve got to admit they’re just badass. These headers have a very unique tinging sound (link) and were only produced for a few years in the late 60s early 70s. Here are some old ads I found on the internet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiAIw1BeGVM

Thought we had the C10 camshaft handled but after inspecting it I found a low spot on the rear cam journal. After contacting Straub Technologies, they had me send it back to their cam grinder. So, at this point, we are waiting on both camshafts.

[Troy Sr]

Originally Posted by 7dee2

Reassembled with LED light tape from eBay (a tip from friends) and electrical hardware from the big box store. Wired the outlets to be hot when the light switch is on, that way everything plugged in is also off or on with one switch.

Would you have a link to these LED lights? I'd like to try them in my blaster!!

[CG]

You're really going all in with the Moroso bling! I had a 427 in my old Vdrive boat it had Cal Custom finned aluminum covers. Those are the style I loved as a kid. I gave the engine to a good buddy, but I kept all of the aluminum pieces off the engine. Most of it was boat stuff. Good wall hangings.

Love checking in on the progress, looks like its moving right along.

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by Troy Sr

Would you have a link to these LED lights? I'd like to try them in my blaster!!

Hey Troy you bet, I selected the brightest light (6000k Daylight White) and the included power supply.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/363061001821

This LED tape does have an adhesive backing but it was suggested that I use a little aluminum foil tape to help make sure the tape stays put, something like this is what I used.
https://www.amazon.com/Feet-Yards-in.../dp/B01FROBUXE

Originally Posted by CG

You're really going all in with the Moroso bling! I had a 427 in my old Vdrive boat it had Cal Custom finned aluminum covers. Those are the style I loved as a kid. I gave the engine to a good buddy, but I kept all of the aluminum pieces off the engine. Most of it was boat stuff. Good wall hangings.

Love checking in on the progress, looks like its moving right along.

Thank you CG. Ha, really had the gold fever there. I’m a big fan of finned covers as well, they look great on big blocks. We are making some steady progress with the build thread being about 9 months behind the actual at this point.




Nate at Sweet Ave. Fabrication reproduces these headers, after a few messages back and forth we’ve got a set on order for the Camaro. Here’s a very cool dual-quad Big Block (wearing 077 heads btw) with an early reproduction set of Nate’s M/T Super Scavengers. Freaking orange headers, oh yeah!

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.p...19946468092467

Shortly after this, I did run into a set of those Pro/Stock Ansen valve covers that apparently nobody wanted on FB. They cleaned up well and have a great original patina. Don’t know what I’ll do with them but I’m starting to think that when we switch the car up with the different exterior looks, we could do the same under the hood. A quick valve cover and air cleaner swap?? Ugh oh, where’s this going to lead?

[Troy Sr]

Thanks Brett!!

[7dee2]

No biggie, I think you’ll like the light that tape gives off.



Don made short work of fitting our repro trunk (spoiler) lid, originally the inner radiused corners fit terrible and had some thin hinge shims from the manufacturer (Real Deal Steel). Then some quick epoxy was sprayed here and there including the roof and it was time to take the car back home for the winter. Here are some pics I stole from Perk's FB page, this was just prior to loading it up for the short trip home. Can’t say enough about the great work at Perks Custom Auto Body everything fits so much better, and time well spent.

[7dee2]

Back home, yes. Here is a quick test fit of the rear spoiler and taillight bezels. Everything fits fine, Don had also worked the trunk lid specifically for the spoiler and the upper right corner of the tail panel which had a low spot.

Now the front lower valance area, Don ran out of time to finish the grill as well as the wing window fitment. Must say it was my fault, I was just jonesing to get the car back last fall. The grill does fit pretty well but when you are standing right in front of the car and look down there’s a gap between the lower grill and the valance on both sides that shouldn’t be there (last pic). This is with either the repro or an OE lower valance.

[rgunlock]

Looking really bada$$ Brett! I can only imagine what it looks like now several months later.

[7dee2]

Thanks Rick, I can’t wait I think it’s going to be a great car. We’re making good progress so much to tell.



Thinking our day 2 Camaro could use an old vintage set of M/T 427 valve covers. I’ve always liked these and found this set on eBay that should look pretty good after a polish. In addition, I lucked into a very rare, very cherry set of large M/T breathers to go with them. Those breathers are just sitting on there but you get the idea, should go pretty well with the street freak orange headers.

[7dee2]

We placed both short block parts orders together (one order) with CNC Motorsports. They had most of it in stock but were missing pistons for the C10 and rods for the Camaro. After waiting what seemed like forever, I asked them to go ahead and ship what they had so perhaps we could start on the Camaro short block (rods are the same for both, and these kits are unbalanced). I’ll tell you what that forged crank (pic) for the Camaro is noticeable heavier (5-10 lbs?) than the cast crank for the C10.

Here are the kits we chose:

CAMARO
42383 SCAT BBC 509 COMPETITION ROTATING ASSEMBLY, 10.4:1 MAHLE DOME PISTONS
https://cnc-motorsports.com/scat-1-4...e-pistons.html

C10
91610 SCAT BBC 496 STROKER KIT, ROTATING ASSEMBLY, 10.1:1 MAHLE PISTONS, 2PC
https://cnc-motorsports.com/1-91610-...stons-2pc.html

Not really sure why the Scat vendors call this kit a 509 and Eagle’s comparable kit a 511? Both advertise a 4.375” stroke crank, and use the same Mahle pistons and rod lengths, using a cubic inch calculator that = 510.64.

Ha, I’m calling it our “Good to go!”, 511.

[regan wilson]

That's a cool find on both sets of valve covers. The car is coming along nicely as well. When it comes to displacement calculation on a V8 the way I learned it is Bore x Bore x Stroke x 6.283.

[7dee2]

Thanks Reagan, since both sets are a low-profile style cover we might need spacers to actually run them on the car. Dang it, I don’t want to shave the poly locks so we will see. I checked Scat’s online catalog and it looks like they are calling the rotating kit a 510 (with a 4.28 bore? ).

Stock 454 bore is 4.25, .030 over 4.28, .060 over 4.31 (Good to go! will be .060 over)
4.28 x 4.28 x 4.375 x 6.283 = 503.54
4.31 x 4.31 x 4.375 x 6.283 = 510.62



We’ve got some factory 8” timing chain covers but needed some oil pans. Grabbed a couple Moroso 20403 kick-out pans, I’m thinking they’ve both got the windage screens in 180˚ backward. ?? One is lightly used, I was told it came off a fresh 540 in favor of an even larger capacity, and the other is new. The plan is to scuff them with scotch-brite and paint them both engine color.

https://www.moroso.com/chevrolet-big-block20403/

[7dee2]

Yep, the parts keep coming in, practically on a first name basis with the delivery folks! ARP bolts for both motors were kind of tough to find lots of vendors were back ordered. Grabbed what I could where I could so several different vendors for those and some of the smaller stuff. Decided to try some new Scat 8” balancers. I’m thinking they are the crank manufacturer's brand, plus our internally balanced lower rpm street engines should be just fine with these. Bonus, they are degreed and look very similar to a stock GM piece.

And the last pic is our missing C10 pistons, they showed just a few weeks after the initial CNC Motorsports shipment along with the 2nd set of rods we needed. Both of the cams we were waiting on from Straub also arrived, they both looked fine no issues. It’s time to load up all this internal big block goodness and take it down to Fastlane.

[7dee2]

Starting to figure out the side glass (vent, door & quarter), looking at what hardware we have and what we don’t, what’s good and what isn’t. Lucky that we have most of this stuff from our parts car and quite a bit of it is good enough to run again. Ran into a small issue with one of the door glass guides. We had one original guide but the other one was missing. Ordered this Dynacorn part that’s supposed to fit a 67 (?), but they don’t work with our AMD or our OE doors (perhaps with some modification ). Here’s a pic I sent to the vendor, they claimed this was the first they had heard of this.

Hunting for the missing window guide sent me to a local guy that has restored lots of 1st gen Camaros. Didn’t find the guide but I did drag home some newish (2014) 15x10 Cragar Rally wheels with the same backspacing (4.25”) as our Cragar SS's. Thinking this could be a good start to a cheap rally wheelset for the Camaro, hoping I can find a matched pair of Cragar 15x6 direct drill?

A few days later I did score a matching window guide. Posted an ISO ad on some 1st gen Camaro FB groups and quickly located one in Las Vegas (Jeff Wheeler). Jeff also had a right rear window mech for us, I discovered the stem that attaches to the window crank on ours was stripped.

[7dee2]

Man, easy come easy go, Mrs. 7dee2 has decided to part with her 2017 Chevrolet SS. I’d just finished getting it ready for another winter nap. That’s when our local Chevrolet dealer made us an offer we just couldn’t refuse. Here it is in the driveway after the final wash and on their showroom floor a couple of weeks later. I posted about us acquiring this car earlier so it seems proper to post it's leaving, still not a big fan of sedans but I’m going to miss her 4-door Corvette. It wasn’t at the dealer for very long, must’ve been a Christmas present for someone (sold last December).

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...7&postcount=84

[7dee2]

Started fitting our rear door panels to the mini tubs. Here’s a pic showing how much material needed to be removed.

Had no luck finding the 15x6 direct drill Cragar rally wheels. Every vendor I spoke with said that Cragar had discontinued them (even though they still list them on the website). Was told they only offer a multiple lug pattern rally wheel. Going for that day 2 look a multiple lug pattern type wheel won’t work. Me not wanting to cut the extended lug studs and really didn’t want to run center caps anyway. Ended up ordering from a Corvette parts vendor, pretty sure it’s Wheel Vintiques that makes these. Zip Corvette had them on sale and in stock along with some other do-dads I was looking for.

https://www.zip-corvette.com/67-15-x...lly-wheel.html

Here they are side by side, the powder coating sure matches well, not! Our 15x10’s are more of a gray and have no metallic while the 15x6’s are silver metallic. Ah crapola, thinking our rally wheelset just got more expensive. Tried to match the powder on the fronts but my OCD (and a little nudge from the shop) just couldn’t let this go so all 4 wheels are out for matching powder coat. Funny thing is, that back in the day I don’t think most gave a crap if wheels matched. Kind of a racer thing, slicks mounted on different wheels.

I was on the fence about subframe connectors but decided since we upgraded the rear suspension with a 4-link, mini tubs, etc. they’d be a good idea. Settled on BMR’s subframe connecters mainly because they don’t hang down, we don’t have to cut the floor up, and they’re also a bolt-in. Just started to mock up the left side in this last pic. We’ll be removing the hammer tone powder coating and finishing them the same way we do the subframe. Trying to hide the fact that they are even there.

https://www.bmrsuspension.com/?page=...228&superpro=0

[7dee2]

After looking for an old tachometer to fit our build this beautiful Stewart Warner 970-B pedestal tachometer & 990-B ignition monitor became available. It has been professionally serviced/restored with a new glass lens and was tested prior to me.

I’ll tell you I was very nervous about testing it myself with the HEI in our K30. Frying this thing was not the plan, hooked it up with a Sun Super Tach II to see how it performed vs that tach. It does seem a little slow to respond vs the Sun but does get there and reads exactly to within in a few hundred. Not to bad for 50-year-old technology.