I found this car in Texas. It was last registered in Georgia in 1977. It looks like the owner blew the engine, and wrecked. I found a hole in the number 7 cylinder. Windshield was busted out, passenger door was caved in, and the pass subframe rail had a little bend in the front inch or so. The rest of the sub measured up perfect to factory specs. It will need all new floors, some patches on the firewall, and the drivers door jamb. Also, the typical window frames, and trunk gutters. Wish me luck!:beers:
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0730.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0717.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0716.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0806.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0808.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0809.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0810.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0811.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0812.jpg

Sweet! Bet you are done in a few weeks!

Love it! What dealership is the sticker from on the tail pan?

Yup! Just gotta grab the ole buffing wheel.

Dealer sticker is from Andean Motors in Cumming Georgia.

Another '68 joining the chain! Nice find! Have fun with it and let us know if you need anything. :beers: I just started on one a little over a month ago too.

It's been a lot of fun so far. I just finished a total rebuild on my 00 T/A WS6. These simple cars are much easier to work around!

Without a doubt. I've worked on many 82-92 Camaros too and know exactly what you mean... These are a pleasure to work on.

I've been working on the trunk area for a while, which I heard is always the worst part of the job. This is defininitly true! I tried sliding the one piece floor in through the tail panel opening. I realized this wasn't going to happen, so i had to carefully remove the frame rails which are mint in the car. I then had to remove the tail panel brace as well, to finally get the pan in.

Here's the old "floor":

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/DSCN1337.jpg

The rest of the trunk was in excellent shape:

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/DSCN1336.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/DSCN1335.jpg

Ready for the install:

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/DSCN1333.jpg

I also got a good look at the package tray from underneath. Have a new one on order.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/DSCN1334.jpg

Are you sure you can save that package tray by just replacing the rear edge of it? They repro that section which is included in the trunk gutter set. it's alot cheaper than the package tray for sure... just curious. It looks like it will be fine after a light blasting and coat of epoxy. no?

It's hard to see in the pic, but there are numerous pinholes around the speaker openings. I would be welding those up forever. I'm also going to replace the braces, so it will be just as easy to remove the whole unit. The car sat in a field with no glass for the better part of 30 years. Pretty much the whole center of the car needs to be replaced.

Awesome project, going to be watching what you do here, I have a 67 that I'll be doing next that needs full floor from toeboards to tailpanel so will be cool to follow your progress.

keep up the good work!

I really gotta hand it to you fellas in parts of the country where cars rust and you have to go to such effort to restore.

Out here in the climate where I live, you have to really look hard to find a even a spec of rust on my Camaro that's roamed these parts since '68. I really got it easy in not having to deal with that in the build process.

Hats off to those who conquer rust :thumbsup:

It looks like you have a lot cut out with out welding in braces and supports to keep everything in place. Be careful and good luck!

It is tough dealing with the extensive rust. That's why I bought a southern car, and had it shipped. Much less rust in the south west.

I got the trunk welded in, and the put teh original frame rails back in place. I was able to use the nubs left over from the spot welds to line everything up.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0941.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0942.jpg

Today I cut the main floor out. This went MUCH smoother than the trunk. It only took about an hour to get it out, and the rockers cleaned up.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0945.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0944.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0943.jpg

I cut out the center of the floor to save. I'll need it for a template to drill the holes for the shift cable and center console rivnuts. Then it'll go on eBay so some lucky owner can fixed there hacked up floor:thumbsup:

Floor is in, an welded. I had a tough time getting the frame rails to line up, then I realized the cabin floor goes on top of the trunk:yes: Then it all lined right up.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0963.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0965.jpg

Next step will be the cowl and firewall.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0964.jpg

Got the tail pan in as well. It did NOT drop right in. Luckily, I'm welding all of the seams closed so it didn't need to be a perfect fit.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_0961.jpg

Great progress. Quite the undertaking that you took on! Always glad to see another gen1 resurrected. :thumbsup:

Thanks!

I also got some "good" news on the motor. It's number matching, but had a blown piston. It was also pretty rust seized. The machine shop will have to sleeve 3 cylinders. Luckily, it will only add $250 to the bill. LS1 sleeves can run $150 EACH.

Just out of curiousity, how did you find this car?.

Ebay. It was on there a couple different times, and the Buy It Now price was finally where it needed to be.

Ebay is a tough place to find a decent deal. So many pitfalls buying through Ebay makes it a crap shoot. I bought my convertible from an Ebay auction that had ended without meeting reserve and I emailed the seller. That will be the last time I ever buy a car from photos. I didn't get totally screwed but the seller definitely was selective on the photos of the rust issues he had sent me. I am seriously thinking about hunting for a 6 cylinder first gen Camaro for a daily driver since my daughter is going to be driving soon and taking over my current daily driver. Not a lot of the 6 cylinder cars around anymore. Keep up the progress, you seem to be kicking butt on the project.

Thanks. Yeah, it was worse than it looked in pictures. I expected to have to do full floors, windshield areas, lower quarters, tulip panel, and an entire rebuild on the drivetrain. So far, I've added the package tray, firewall, cowl and tail light panel to the list. About $1000 added to the budget, which was pretty low to begin with.

Today I got the filler panel and package tray removed. I thought the package tray could have been saved, But the entire front side was pin holed. The back was just about gone.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1817.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1818.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1820.jpg

Once I got these panels out, I was glad to see the spring mounts were in excellent ship. A little bit of sanding and some weld prime, and the new one will go right in.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1819.jpg

I see you tacked the tailpanel to the quarters. Aren't you replacing those and the roof skin? They're turning to powder.

Nice work there Ryan !

Progress is being made quickly. Keep the ambition going and it will be done sooner than you think :)

Kev

Thanks, Sixty!

Sauron- the quarter and roof are in good shape. I have some rot at the bottom of the quarters behind the tire, trunk gutters, and that's it. As for the roof, it only needs the window channels. I'm going to shrink down the openings anyway, because I'm ditching the trim.

I'm not being discouraging, just realistic. With with the amount of rot on the perimeter if that roof, I'll bet it needs attention to the substructure. Do you have a donor piece for the LH quarter trunk gutter? How thin is the LH sailpanel where there's pitting? I've done 3 roof skins in the last year, the best looking one was better than yours and the underneath was rusted on all. Media blasting was required for all three. As it is for all properly done frame off restos with threatening or obvious amounts of rust. Good luck in your endeavor.

The car is a bit unique in the way it's rusted. It sat outside for about 30 years with no windows. When I got it, the interior was almost mint besides the rugs obviously. The inner frame of the roof doesn't have a spec of rust on it. The rust was only in the package tray do to direct exposure. I planned on cutting the rotted area of roof back about an inch or so. I have heard that when doing flush mount windows, the curve isn't always correct in the window glass to meet the roof evenly. I will be hand rolling patches to repair the rot, and extend the roof line to meet the glass in it's stock location. i will also be adding an addition strip to the inner part of the channel to build it up a bit. this will help raise the window glass without having to goober it up with tons of urethane. It will also reinforce any area weekend by rust.
As for the left sail panel, it is strictly surface rust. A lot of what you're seeing is left over vinyl material. It really isn't as bad as it looks.
The left hand trunk gutter area still has the turn down from the quarters intact. I just have to fab a 90 degree bend to weld in.

great progress!

I got the package tray in about a week ago, but forgot the pics. Very uneventful, as it dropped right in. Added some new seat braces as well.

Yesterday I fabricated a patch to re-make the rotted out trunk jamb. Today my trunk gutters arrived. I probably should have waited for these before making the patch, but surprise, surprise, everything lined up perfectly on the first shot:hurray:

I also started to fill in the seam in the new filler panel. Made my first pass to bond it, now I'll go back with low heat to fill in any imperfections. Shouldn't take more than a skim coat of polyester to perfect it.:thumbsup:

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1821.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1822.jpg

I started to focus on the front end today. I want to get the car done underneath from the trunk to the cowl, so I can get it under coated and start assembly of the suspension. I cut the firewall out today. Wasn't too bad, except the spot welds along the top are damn near impossible to find. I had to pry out gently to see where it wouldn't move, then guess and drill.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1837.jpg

The old one was in pretty rough shape on one of the toe boards, tunnel, and the heater opening. All the normal spots.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1836.jpg

The new firewall was listed as fitting a 68-69. I didn't know that 69's used a different floor plate for the steering column. It takes 4 bolts instead of 3. I will have to change over to a 69 floor plate to get it to work.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1838.jpg

After getting the firewall lined up with the old firewall, and tacked in place, I removed the inner cowl.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1170.jpg

I thought I would be able to save it, but after crawling under the dash, I noticed the rot through. Once it was out, I could see just how bad it was. Too much effort to patch this.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1172.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1173.jpg


The new Dynacorn unit dropped right into place. So I pulled it out, prepped it, and now just waiting for the weld-thru primer to set.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1171.jpg

Motor came back from the machine shop...finally. I told the guy I was in no hurry. Big mistake! Had my block for almost 5 months!

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1365.jpg

Had to have 3 cylinders sleeved due to corrosion. He was able to deck the block without removing the numbers, so that was a win. Hard to see in the pic, but they are legible in person.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1366.jpg

Dragged the sub frame outside for some serious degreasing. Used gunk gel and a soft wire brush. Worked like a charm.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1367.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1368.jpg

I only have one repair to make. Instead of buying an entire patch kit, I bought a piece of 20 ga. sheet for about $8. The other mount is perfect, so I can make a template. Not sure about the weld splatter next to the mount. I know some of the factory welds were a little rough. Hopefully, this is evidence of a repair.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1371.jpg

Nice progress!

"I only have one repair to make. Instead of buying an entire patch kit, I bought a piece of 20 ga. sheet for about $8. The other mount is perfect, so I can make a template. Not sure about the weld splatter next to the mount. I know some of the factory welds were a little rough. Hopefully, this is evidence of a repair."

I just checked for you. I measured my frame and it was 1/8" thick. The patch kit was slightly thinner. I would think 20 ga is too thin. If I misunderstood, I apologize.:)

No you understood perfectly. I just types it wrong.:p
I ordered 12 gauge, which is slightly thinner than factory, but roughly the same as the patch kit. It mics out to approx. 1/10".

Finally stopped snowing enough to get outside and get some work done. I finished up the patch on the sub frame with the sheet metal I ordered.

Here's the before:

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1371.jpg

Here's the patch welded in and ground:

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1481_zps53b8d0ab.jpg

Here's the template I made from the other side. Luckily one whole was still intact, so it made it much easier to line up. The template is made from a sand blast cabinet protective sheet.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1483_zps9a0e23b9.jpg

Couldn't find my marker, so a quick shot of Chevy Engine Orange made the mark.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1484_zpsf0953826.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1485_zpsb767ed40.jpg

Quick run through with a hole saw, and just like new!

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll98/rnrspeed/68%20Camaro%20RS/IMG_1486_zps04288fed.jpg

Looks great! I'll be doing this too on the '68's subframe soon... Keep it up!