I got the subframe back on the '67 and I wanted to post a few photos. This has been the winter project that was suppose to be done for July 1st but it looks like I will be a few weeks late. The scope of phase 1 was to do the engine bay, subframe and firewall. Next will be the rear end, a very minor interior touchup and finally gold paint.
I am looking for some feedback to make sure I have restored everything correctly and hope you guys enjoy a few photos!
There are a few things that I am aware of... I want it all original but I will be adding a pertronix ignition (hence the new wiring harness). I have replaced the heater fan, alternator and washer pump with aftermarket parts until I have time to rebuild my originals because I want to get this car back on the road before summer is over.
My 68 conv was a 327/210 hp , so I decided to go with a restification.
If my car had been a true SS like yours, I probably would have restored it like you are doing.
It will be a real attention-getter when you start driving it. :thumbsup:
The detail is great, all the way down to the french locks and lift stops. That kind of stuff is usually missing from 'restorations'. Kudos for going back to Gold. The world has too many red Camaros.
Well, got everything back together for the weekend.
I broke in my cam for 20 and got an alignment. I was almost bang on and the subframe is perfect. I used the recommended alignment specs from http://www.pozziracing.com/first_gen_suspension.htm#Alignment as a guide.
Time for an update...
It was a big project and now that I have put a few miles and fixed a few problems, everything is working great. Here is a quick before and after.
My goal with this project is to bite off a project every winter and drive it again in the summer. Once I get it all done, I will start going back through and touching up the previous projects again. The engine bay, MS code engine, M20 trans and front subframe rebuild was expensive so I had to wait a year collecting parts until I started on the next project. That brings me to this winter.
Winter 2011:
This year I wanted to tackle from the transmission back. I pulled the original rear end, gas tank and suspension to refinish the underside of the car. After struggling to remove the bolts from the front of the leaf springs, I was happy to find that it was only a little bit of surface rust and didn't find as much as a pin hole. My goal for this car is to build it original with a few bolt on upgrades to make it more street friendly. Eventually, I would love to get myself a project coupe... I'll put this car back to factory original and move over all of my upgrades to the next car. The way I look at it, I am buying my next Camaro "one upgraded part at a time" (just don't tell my wife). I am also refinishing each of the original components that I remove.
After sanding off the surface rust I used POR 15 on the seams and primed / painted the underside. I did the front half of the underside when the frame was off so I only needed to do the back half this time. Turned out pretty good.
I blasted and painted the original QL 3.31 12 bolt rear end and components. These will be reassembled and hung on the wall.
I purchased an original 67 12 bolt PI 3.55 posi rear and used calvert racing split leaf monos and caltracs to get rid of the dreaded wheel hop that came with the original setup. I could always switch and put it back to original in an evening but I really like the new setup.
I took it for a drive this week but I will dig out a few more photos and do a final assembly post in a few days.
After adding my Caltracs I realized the improvement that modern bolt on equipment can make to these cars.
I have now changed my plans from having an all orignal perfectly restored camaro to creating a "modern restoration". I plan to do this by adding some bolt on improvements while restoring the original componants and putting them away so that I can always put it back to stock.
Winter 2012 projects:
- Atomic EFI throttle body injection
- Upgrade intake to RPM performer (to suit Atomic EFI)
- Dynatech headers
- Dynatech dual exhaust
I have everything in place and now comes the work on the details to hide all the extra wiring, touch up the paint, and torque everything in place.
Update:
- Atomic EFI seems like a high quality piece but I have heard there are issues without a return line so I am adding that with a regulator to the build plans (Christmas gift)
- I was not sure where to put the control panel as I don't want to screw it to the firewall. I made a bracket to install over the RS headlamp relay board up inside the drivers side fender. I got it all mocked up and it is the perfect place to hide it. Best news is that I won't even need to extend the wires.
- The small tube dynatech headers fit fantastic! They are so nice and fit around my factory power steering box with over half an inch to spare all around. Just had to remove my clutch z bar to get them in.
- Dynatech dual exhaust fits nicely but I don't like the rear hangers as they require me to drill a hold in the frame. I'm going to fab something to mount to the original rear exhaust hanger holes.
More photos and what I learned to follow but here is a progress photo...
Dynatech Headers:
Installed the Dynatech 740-11210 headers on my original 350 with original power steering and no A/C. The quality is amaizing and the fit was perfect. I needed a standard open end wrench on two bolts and the rest used a socket. With a manual transmission you need to removed the clutch z bar / bellcrank to get the drivers side header in place. The flange on these are very thick and the quality is as good or better than anything other headers I have seen. I used copper gaskets instead of the ones dynatech supplied.
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image.
Edelbrock Intake:
Purchased an Edelbrock performer RPM intake manifolds part number 7101 to use with the throttle body. Since I had to replace the original intake to get the correct carb/tb offset, I decided to get the best flowing intake I could find that would still allow me to install an oil fill tube to retain my original valve covers. I took it to a friend that has a machine shop and had the oil fill tube boss machined to fit the edelbrock oil fill tube. I also had him machine the front pass side on the face to accept my heater hose at the same place as the original. This also gave me an extra place to install my temp sender for the EFI and one for my guage at the top http://www.summitracing.com/parts/edl-7101 http://www.summitracing.com/parts/edl-4803
Istalling the 4803 oil fill tube was straight forward. Keep tapping on it until you get the angle perfect and it will go right in. Painted it black before install and I used some permatec RVT to make sure there is no leak.
The one thing you may want to watch is if the valve cover is resting on the intake. This happened on my friends dodge 340 as well and we had oil all over the top of the engine at start up. The original valve covers have a small flange all the way around and it hits the intake becuase the edelbrock goes slightly higher up where it meets the head. This can be fixed by notching the small vertical edge on the orginal style valve covers or installing a thicker gasket.
When you fellas have your subframe out for cleaning and painting, do you check all the dimensions/measurements as called out by the Service Manual before reinstalling it? Do you follow some process to *align* the subframe to the body when you re-install? I'm curious what must be done to ensure no issues later when the body panels go on...
When you fellas have your subframe out for cleaning and painting, do you check all the dimensions/measurements as called out by the Service Manual before reinstalling it? Do you follow some process to *align* the subframe to the body when you re-install? I'm curious what must be done to ensure no issues later when the body panels go on...
I certainly did. There are a number of threads on team camaro with how to do it and references to the original dimension requirments. This camaro had never been disassembeled so I was able to mark and measure how the factory did my car as a double check.
Hey Vince your car looks amazing. What paint did you use on the underside, it looks great. I am presently in the middle of removing all of the undercoating from the underside of my car and am looking for paint advice.
Keep up the great work. That is one sweet car.
Thanks for the compliment. It's slow and steady but I want to drive it every summer so it's one winter step at a time.
I used Sikkens Rally Black for the frame and many of the engine bay, rear end, and suspension parts (since we spray Sikkens at work). For some of the other areas that I didn't get into the spray booth I used Eastwood underhood black as they are both a direct match to many of the original black componants. I used other finishes of eastwood paints for some other componants, like the heater box cover, that have more gloss. I would clean up each piece and reference the original gloss before repainting. This website was a great reference: http://www.67z28.com/finishes.htm For the underside I only had a little bit of surface rust around the seams. I sanded everything down and used a wire wheel into the tough spots. I used a small "super starter kit" of POR15 to cover all the seams then etch primed and painted. Luckily I did not have to remove any undercoating. Good luck with the continued work on your build! I have been following along.
Hey Vince your car looks amazing. What paint did you use on the underside, it looks great. I am presently in the middle of removing all of the undercoating from the underside of my car and am looking for paint advice.
My wife came accross this picture today from last summer and I had to post it. I try to keep my kids involved... it can be as simple as cleaning the dust out of the grill dressed as a princess.
Alternator Brackets:
Now I see why people have so many questions when they move away from stock... I have been reading that people have to use aftermarket upper alternator brackets when reinstalling a driver side alternator with headers. I used the following parts with my headers as a lower alternator mount. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/trd-9254/overview/ http://www.summitracing.com/parts/trd-9008/overview/
I was able to use the stock upper bracket that mounts to the intake and water pump bolt without any modifications. I used a 54.5" fan / alternator belt. There is about 1" left from the end of the stock GM upper alternator bracket slot (when adjusting the alternator towards the fender) and the alternator is very close to binding with the F bracket (when adjusting the alternator towards the engine). I installed the alternator with the belt in place as there is with very little adjustment room to get the belt over the alternator pully while assembled. It worked! Once I confirm everything is aligned perfectly, I plan to weld the F bracket to header bracket to elminate the possibilty of the bolts backing off.
Return Line - Stock Sending Unit:
There are aftermarket options for tanks and sending units but since I already had a brand new OEM style tank with a single line 3/8 sending unit I decided to modify what I had to keep a stock appearance and save some cash. I will update additional items on my EFI install later but here is what I did for the sending unit. I used the stock 3/8" line for my return and I am running new line for my supply. After removing the sending unit I needed to remove the support bracket. It is just spot welded so I cut the bracket in half and pulled both sides off without damaging the unit.
I then drilled a hole in the sending unit for a -6AN 45 degree bulkhead fitting. I am using Aeroquip socketless EFI hose as supplied with my Atomic EFI and that is the purpose of the nickel plated barbed fitting in the photo. Try to ignore the messy bench.
I moved the filter over to the new supply line and used AN fittings. This was the mock up to make sure I was picking up from the bottom of the tank.
It needed to be taken apart and reassembled part way into the tank
Gotta make sure you put the lock and o rings in place so you don't need to do it twice. Seems like the first time a tackle something I always have to do it twice.
I hooked up the hose and reinstalled the tank. There is still clearance between the fitting and the trunk but it's tight.
I am looking for an aftermarket or used original SS350 style snorkle air cleaner without a lid for use with my atomic throttle body. There is no notch like there is on the front of a quadrajet so I will need to modify to suit. If you have one you want to move, please send me a PM. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/gmk-4011230661s
Fuel pump is mounted. I am running an external pump and I don't want any holes in the trunk floor or the frame rails. I have seen a few mounting options on this forum but I wanted something clean that would place the pump close to tank base and also be a mounting point for the filter. My solution was to run aluminum flat bar behind the tank straps and sandwich it between another shorter piece of flat bar on in front with a gasket between. I used the supplied clamps to mount the pump and it is solid.
I'm really happy so far... I'm adding a hidden MSD 6AL-2 box and MSD distributor so my Atomic can also control the timing. I'll post an update soon with the install details and a review.
Got the Camaro running today with atomic controlling the timing! Ran awesome for about 100 feet... Didn't get a chance to try the 2 step or line lock before the screw driver in my engine bay punctured the rad and went through the fan shroud. Fail.
I put a 3 core dimple tube between my original tanks to replace the 2 core. Dropped it off this am and got it redone. Next time I will do a quick tool inventory before taking the first drive of the year.
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