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'69 Camaro for my Daughter- Build Thread

20K views 66 replies 15 participants last post by  69rustbucket 
#1 ·
Finally got around to getting a Photobucket account set up, so I figured it was time to start a build thread.

We bought our project in March, and so far we've got it stripped down to a shell and up on the body jig, and we've started replacing sheet metal.

First order of business was replacing the lower door jamb and inner quarter on the passenger side, and the rocker panel and saddlebag should be installed this weekend. Then we'll repeat the process on the other side. Also had to re-weld the inner and outer portions of the cowl together, since the previous owner had started to take the firewall out, and managed to drill too deep with the spot weld cutter, separating the cowl panels.

The car will be getting a new firewall, one-piece floor, frame rails, full trunk, inner/outer wheelhouses, new doors, quarters, tail panel, and a whole new front end. I think the roof and cowl will be all that's left of the original shell....

I'll keep updating the thread as there's progress. Here's a link to the Photobucket site.

http://s1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii586/BobKovacs/
 
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#2 ·
Hey Bob - Congratulations on starting a really cool family project; the progress looks promising already, and your daughter will gain invaluable mechanical skills and understanding through doing this with you. Plus you'll get to share some great times together along the way! Awesome :thumbsup:
 
#3 ·
Yeah- she's having fun with the welding- that's about the only time she wants to help so far. The pic of her welding the cowl was taken when she came out in the garage and found that I was welding and hadn't told her. I was planning to just fabricate a patch that night and not weld it in, but I got motivated and started welding. She came out, still in her school clothes, and was upset that I hadn't told her I'd be welding, so she put on the helmet and went to work....lol.
 
#4 ·
Bob-- having a photobucket account will help big time! Especially for those of us helping you along the way. Easier to see what you're talking about each time a question comes up. We love pics! Have fun with it! Glad your daughter is lending a hand too. That's awesome and creates priceless memories. :beers:

*make sure she wears the right protective clothing to prevent burns... especially on her feet... flying sparks are not fun!
 
#5 ·
*make sure she wears the right protective clothing to prevent burns... especially on her feet... flying sparks are not fun!
Yeah- that pic is a fluke- she just plugged two holes.

She's normally dressed appropriately for welding- I just couldn't keep her away from the welder that night...lol

Speaking of wearing the appropriate gear, I was working on the cowl last weekend, and kept going back and forth between the grinder and the welder, so it was getting to be a bit of a pain to keep switching between the leather welding gloves and my regular gloves. I figured "it's just a few quick spots- the regular gloves will be fine". Of course, as soon as I said that, I felt a burning sensation on one of the fingers on my left hand. I quickly ripped the glove off, and found that an errant blob of metal has burned through the glove and landed on my fingernail. It burned about halfway through the nail before I got it off. Leather gloves at all times when welding now......
 
#7 ·
Had a good weekend- lots of progress. Got the inner cowl cleaned up and epoxied, and got the drivers side inner quarter replaced, which allowed me to brace the quarters. I then cut out the passenger side rocker and got the new rocker installed. Thanks to Todd (6781camaro) for the inner rocker stiffener, which fit great. Installed the outer cowl and got it primed. Just need to seam seal the inside and get the outer cover installed. Then the process gets repeated on the other side.

Updated photobucket with some additional pics.

http://s1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii586/BobKovacs/
 
#8 ·
Always happy to see someone make good leaps of progress. :beers: You're getting there!:yes: Glad to hear you got the rocker brace installed too. I appreciate the nice feedback on it.:cool: :beers:
 
#9 ·
Had a good weekend. Spent most of Saturday at the Chevy High Performance car show. Got to meet the folks from Detroit Speed, including Staci Tucker, who was throwing their '69 test car around the autocross track like it was child's play.

Got back Saturday afternoon, and decided to finally test out the Harbor Freight HVLP gun that I spent a whopping $9.99 for for. I've got to say- I was impressed. While I don't know that I'd shoot the final coats on a whole car with it, it laid the epoxy down very nice on the rocker, firewall and cowl pieces.

Yesterday I managed to cut out the rest of the old firewall and got the new one installed. It fit pretty good, once I managed to tuck the front edge under the existing floor. The design of my body jig made that a little tough, since the firewall sits down on two locator pins/pads where the subframe mounts, and that made it hard to roll the front edge under the floor. It's in now, though, so it's time to replace the driver's rocker and cowl next, and then on to the floor, trunk, and frame rails. Fun stuff!!

Here's the photobucket link with updated pics.

http://s1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii586/BobKovacs/
 
#11 ·
Thanks. She's doing well- didn't get her out there yesterday for the firewall install- she was fried from Saturday's show. Both her and her sister got to do some welding in Miller's tent at the show though.

They seemed to really dig the autocross, so maybe I'll dump $10k on DSE's full front and rear suspension package and go the pro-touring route. That assumes that I hit the Mega-Millions jackpot this week, of course.....:thumbsup:
 
#15 ·
I didn't know that. I was wondering how people were getting so many pics in their threads, whereas I kept getting messages that I was over the limit when I tried to upload pics using the "manage attachments" button.

Here's the latest pic showing the firewall installed.

 
#16 ·
Another day of good progress. Got the driver side rocker cut out, installed the new inner and outer rocker, and installed the outer cowl. Got it all tied into the new firewall that was installed last weekend.

Cut out the majority of the floorpan- left the rear section so I can take it out cleanly so as not to disturb the frame rails. I need to get measurements on them so I can get the new rails installed when I put in the new one-piece trunk.

Got paid today for some side work I did last month, so it's time to oder the floorpan, trunk floor, frame rails, rear inner valence and wheelwells. That should keep me busy for a while.

Updated photobucket link:

http://s1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii586/BobKovacs/

http://i1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii586/BobKovacs/IMG-20120609-00039.jpg
 
#17 ·
Awesome build. She will never forget the time you and her will have together. I let me girls go with me and get as much involved as they want. Even at ages 9 and 7. One day dad might not be as cool as they thought I once was but in there mind they will always know how much they mean to me. They love to go to races, cruise ins and shows. Means the world to me.
Best of luck on build
 
#18 ·
Nothing too exciting to report for this weekend. Got some sanding done on the firewall and dash in preparation for a final coat of epoxy, and filled in the AC hole in the firewall. The previous owner had purchased an AC firewall, not realizing that the aftermarket kits for non-AC cars don't use the factory AC hole in the firewall, so I had to fill it in.

Love the new filler compared to the old-school Bondo of my high school/college days- Evercoat is much smoother to apply, dries quickly, and sands great. Should have the tulip panels installed later this week, then the whole firewall/cowl/dash will be in epoxy later this week, then its onto replacing the wheelwells.

http://s1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii586/BobKovacs/
 
#19 ·
Been a while since I posted, so I thought I'd provide an update.

Over the past two weeks I got the wheelwells installed, cut out the balance of the floorpan and trunk, and got the new frame rails, trunkpan and floorpan set in place for a first test fit. So far, everything is about as I expected- needs a few tweaks here and there, and I have a 1/4" gap at the frame rail/torque box joint, which seems to be typical based on what I've seen in other build threads.

Picking up new door shells and a hinge rebuild kit tonight. I got the old hinges taken apart, cleaned up and primed yesterday, so once they're put back together I can fit the doors to the old quarters and then set the rear clip in place referenced off the doors.

My goal is to have the shell off the body jig by August if all goes well.

Link to updated photobucket pics:

http://s1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii586/BobKovacs/
 
#20 ·
Don't know where you are getting you hinge kit but vendor bushings are not that great. I had to rebuild sloppy hinges someone "rebuilt" with vendor bushings. They were undersize or nominal. I have a W&E catalog and get mine from my jobber. Dorman is just one of the others. All have on-line catalogs. I mic mine up because they have tolerances obviously.

I also get molding clips from the jobber, not the repro boys.
 
#25 ·
Don't know where you are getting you hinge kit but vendor bushings are not that great. I had to rebuild sloppy hinges someone "rebuilt" with vendor bushings. They were undersize or nominal. I have a W&E catalog and get mine from my jobber. Dorman is just one of the others. All have on-line catalogs. I mic mine up because they have tolerances obviously.

I also get molding clips from the jobber, not the repro boys.
Getting them from John's Classic Cars- so far I've been happy with the quality of everything else they've sold me. I've got a jobber that I've been getting my paint supplies from- if the bushings in the rebuild kit aren't tight, I may get some from them. Thanks for the heads up.
 
#21 ·
Bob, congratulations on your ton of progress you are making! Photo of your daughter welding made me chuckle. My 15 year old daughter is taking a metal class right now for summer extra credit and she literally freaked out when the instructor tried to teach her how to use the wire feed. It scared her pretty good so the instructor is having my daughter and her friend build a life size doll house for charity instead since the wood shop is adjacent to the metal shop. I think that is genius to make sure the daughter has some invested time and effort into the car. She will appreciate the car all that much more and also realize what dad is going through in order to give her a nice ride!
 
#24 ·
I think that is genius to make sure the daughter has some invested time and effort into the car. She will appreciate the car all that much more and also realize what dad is going through in order to give her a nice ride!
Haven't had much participation from her recently- it's too hot in the garage for her, and it's far too easy for her to be lured to the pool by mom.....lol.

I think once the shell is off the jig and we start suspension, brakes, etc., she'll dig in a bit more, as she tends to get a bit bored of the slow fitting, welding, grinding process. Her younger sister may end up with a nice Camaro if she doesn't start participating more....lol
 
#22 ·
Bob-- I just reviewed all of your photobucket pics.... and you're Camaro is coming along nicely! :yes: Can you post up a few pics of the inner rear rocker braces installed for everyone if you don't mind? I'd love to see them installed.
 
#23 ·
Bob-- I just reviewed all of your photobucket pics.... and you're Camaro is coming along nicely! :yes: Can you post up a few pics of the inner rear rocker braces installed for everyone if you don't mind? I'd love to see them installed.
Ummm.....I don't know that I've got any pics of them, to be honest- I'm always forgetting to take pics while I'm working. I can snap some pics of the tops of them as the sit now- that's all that's visible at the moment.
 
#26 ·
Bob, Another thing to look for with the hinge rebuild kit is the pin lengths. There
should be 2 different lengths. Mine came with all 4 being the same. You'll see in
the pic the middle pin is what came in the kit. It was fine for the shorter pin
(left) replacement but about 3/8" short for the longer one (right) required. The
original pins pictured have been hammered blunt during removal. I bought 2
longer Dorman pins. I just couldn't live with it. The short pin did not provide
full contact with the bushing.

 
#27 ·
Bob, Another thing to look for with the hinge rebuild kit is the pin lengths. There
should be 2 different lengths. Mine came with all 4 being the same. You'll see in
the pic the middle pin is what came in the kit. It was fine for the shorter pin
(left) replacement but about 3/8" short for the longer one (right) required. The
original pins pictured have been hammered blunt during removal. I bought 2
longer Dorman pins. I just couldn't live with it. The short pin did not provide
full contact with the bushing.
Thanks for the info, Al. I picked up the rebuild kit last night, but didn't have a chance to really dig into it yet. I got the hinges all cleaned up, and will be putting a coat of epoxy on them tonight, and then getting them back together later this week.

The kit is from OER, so hopefully it has the right size pieces, but we'll see.
 
#28 · (Edited)
There is no play in the hinges I rebuilt with correct pins and bushings. If the bushing OD is nominal, it can spin or wiggle in the hinge, provided the hinge itself is not toast. If the bushing ID is oversize, the pin play can be excessive. There are also fluted and non fluted bushings. Most supply you with fluted. While they will work fine, I prefer the non fluted. A very small amount of play is acceptable; but I have encountered excessive play with a combination of bad bushings. Vendors repackage pins and bushings, they don't pick the cream of the crop.
 
#29 ·
Time for the weekly Monday moring update.

Went out and bought a small blasting cabinet at Tractor Supply. It works great, other than the fact that there's no way a 1 1/2" opening with a paper filter on it can provide enough relief air to balance the 6cfm that's being put into it while blasting, so the seals on the lid leak, causing dust to seep out everywhere. I found that by putting my Festool vacuum on the opening, I can practically suck the plastic lens out of the the lid, so that provides a good balance to stop the leaks. Unfortunately, I didn't find that out until after I was done with my first blasting project- cleaning up my rusty steering arms.

After that little experiment, I got the door hinges rebuilt, and mounted the new door shells and aligned them to the old quarters so I'd have a point of reference for the new quarters. The OER rebuild kit from John's Classic Cars worked great- the hinges have no slop in them, and the pins have retaining rings on them, so no peening required to keep them in place. I know it's not "factory stock", but that's not what I'm building anyway.

I get the rest of the rear sheetmetal stripped off, and fitted the new deck filler panel before taking the quarters off so it'll serve as a reference for the new quarters. I picked up some Clecos, so I set the new filler panel in place with them so I can take it on and off and have a constant point of reference. I've still got to peel out the small strip of quarter that's under the roof edge, but have read the posts in Todd's thread about how to find the spot welds that are holding it in from the inside, so that shouldn't be a big deal.

The wife and kids are leaving for a week-long vacation next Saturday, and I'm trying to take some days off from work next week, and will hopefully get all of the read sheetmetal fitted. There's still some tweaking needed to get the trunk, framerails, and floor exactly where i want them, but I don't want to get any of that stuff final-fitted until I get the quarters and tailpanel set. Then I'll be able to weld it all in at once.

Fun stuff! Updated Photobucket link below:

http://s1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii586/BobKovacs/
 
#30 ·
Had a hectic week at work last week, including a trip to Tampa for a few days. I took that opportunity to rent a 2012 Camaro (could only get an RS- no SS- bummer..), and drove out to see Todd (6781Camaro). Had a good time hanging with him for a while and checking out the progress on his cars- it's amazing what he's been able to accomplish is a 3-car garage with two in-progress cars stuffed in it.

Got back in town late Friday, and spent yesterday and today working on the '69. I got the remaining strips of metal out from under the roof, which was much easier once I saw where the spot welds were on Todd's 68 that was on the rotissiere. Still not a fun task, but not as bad as I'd expected.

Then I got the quarters set for a first test fit, and they fit pretty good. It took some work to get them tucked under roof edge, and they still need to go in further, but I had to deal with the back edges of the quarters, which were hanging up on the rear lip of the trunk pan- it was about 1/4" too far back, so the quarters couldn't tuck in behind it or come up high enough to let the tail panel get vertical.

I pulled the trunk pan out and slid the frame rails forward, which tightened the previous gap at the torque boxes nicely. While the trunk was out, I shot a coat of epoxy on the back of the y-braces, the package tray, and the inner fenderwells, so I won't have to climb in the trunk on my back to do it later. I got the trunk pan back in, rehung the tail panel and inner valence, and things are coming together much better. The flanges on the rear of quarter need some adjusting to lef everything suck together properly, but that's a project for tomorrow, along with getting the floor screwed down to the frame rails and the firewall so it can't move around anymore.

Overall, if things go well, I hope to have everything final-fitted by the end of the week, then I can pull the quarters back off, prime and seamseal the soon to be hidden areas, and start final welding. I'm trying to get the shell off the body jig by the end of August so I can start on suspension, brakes, and electrical over the fall and winter.

Updated Photobucket link below:

http://s1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii586/BobKovacs/
 
#31 ·
Glad you closed the gap on those torque boxes to floor. That's great! It's looking awesome. It was cool to meet another Team Camaro member who shares the same passion for perfection. Can't wait to see your Camaro back on the road.
 
#32 ·
Had a doctor's appointment this morning and some vacation time to burn, so I took the day off and made some great progress. Got the trunk and floorpan screwed down to the frame rails- it all came together nice and tight. Then I tackled the rest of the rear sheetmetal. I was having a problem getting the quarters to suck in tight to the tail panel and deck filler, so I put a few ratchet straps around the wheelwells and deck filler, and was able to suck everything in nice and tight. Still need some minor massaging when I final-fit everything to tighten the gaps a little more, but is was good enough to get holes marked for plug welds.

I tore the rear clip back off to punch holes, and then shot a coat of epoxy on all the inner surfaces that I won't have access to later. Tomorrow I'll start welding the floor and trunk in, and do a few little odds and ends that need to be done prior to final installation. Maybe I'll get the shell off the jig sooner than I thought.....

http://s1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii586/BobKovacs/
 
#33 ·
Haven't updated in a while, but I've gotten a lot done. Got the welds ground on the quarters and tail panel, and got everything in epoxy. Then I filled the quarter seams, using Everglass Kevlar-reinforced filler for the base coat, followed by Evercoat Lightweight. Next week I'll get the trunk welds ground, and get the trunk and deck filler epoxied, then there's just a little more welding underneath, and it's time to take her off the body jig and start on the suspension and brakes.

http://s1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii586/BobKovacs/
 
#34 ·
It's been a few weeks since the last update, but there's been a lot of progress.

I got the roof insulation stripped off (that was nasty...), and got the inside of the roof epoxied. The firewall seams were sealed, then the firewall was shot with SEM Trim Black.

Friday night I rounded up a bunch of neighbors, and we got her off the body jig and sitting on jackstands. Once she was off the jig, I was able to roll underneath and finish welding the rockers to the floorpan, and get the welds along the inside of the framerails done. Everything underneath was then shot with a few coats of truck bedliner to give the epoxy some UV protection and extra protection from rocks, etc.

The subframe was cleaned up and shot with black epoxy, and is now installed with new polyurethane body bushings. The body jig proved its worth, since the subframe mounted up flawlessly, and is nice and square to the body.

Suspension is being ordered today (CPP Stage II with tubular uppers/lowers and QA1 coilovers), and brakes are being ordered as well (4-wheel power disc from Matt's Classic Bowties).

Updated album link below.

http://s1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii586/BobKovacs/
 
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