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My 68 resto-mod finish up build

135K views 568 replies 51 participants last post by  zboss86 
#1 ·
Hello from Bama to all, first off. Id like to say ALOT of help came my way from a few of you guys and I promise you if in any way I can give back any info or help to you or any member on this site it wont go without question.
Well here goes from the top, I had been stalking this car for around 3 months. It was a hard decision being the shape it was in. "In the middle of a resto". I purchased the car in Texas and it began its long life which most are out of Ohio plant. And then traveled to Nevada and spent around 28 years in the dry part of the country. Not sure who first bought it in TX but it wound up there for the rest of its time there. The gentleman I got it from had purchased it from a local guy and he had already started the process of bringing it back to where it was when I got it. So it changed hands a few times in its fore coming. Which kind of had me on edge a little. Anyway we struck a deal and met in Louisianna in a Crackerbarrel parking lot and made the deal. Anyway the car was "stripped" of its insides and only thing left was the front two seats and the rear. Sounds bad and probably is to most but the way I saw it I could take the car in any direction I wanted to without having any second thoughts about changing anything important to its value. It was a column shift car with I am not sure if it was factory or not, A/C. But anyway the only thing the car had replaced on the body and structure was quarter skins both sides and a trunk pan. The floor was near perfect and had never been replaced. The only thing it needed was an upper dash panel which did not have any visual rust on the outside of the winsheild area where the almost all rust at. So I read and took some of you guys advice and sure enough it was there hiding in plain sight on the underside. I got luck and the rust had not gotten into the inner cowl area underneath the dash. But anyway thats the story on how I ended up with what I think will be a nice driver one day when I get it done. So here are some pics from start to where I am currently now. Its nowhere near the build as some of the ones I have been keeping up with on here, so I feel kind of lucky hope you like the pics.And thanks for looking



The paint was new and never been cut or buffed so I got to work and got started right away.


I know some may not like the stripe on it but I like it so far. I will leave it on for a while and maybe re-do it at another date. The paint was just too good to re-paint.




Cut and buffed the top and the sides up to the front fenders and took the front end off for the upper dash panel replacement.


Got the old panel removed and did some polishing and grinding on the cowl panel and ready for fitment for the new one.

Got that all stiched up and seam sealed, then on to the doors. They were in lets say adjusted enough to get them closed without damaging the paint. So I set the doors for the glass and 99% of the inner door hardware. Tracks bolts nuts washers and of course the glass.

I didnt go with aftermarket chrome so I got a near perfect set of door reveal moldings and spent near 40hrs sanding and polishing them back to life. Installed the glass and outer window fuzzies. The quarter glass got new weather stripping and refurbished chrome strip.



Again,..None of the glass with the exception of the front and rear are all original used parts. Tracks, bolts, nuts etc.. were all from a donor car. Not that re-man parts wasnt good enough just thats the way I wanted to go with it.
Now on to the headliner and new dome light and base. Before the front and rear glass install. (which I am glad I searched and asked some of you for advice on) Thanks again for that help.


I got most of my used original parts from a very nice gentleman in Michigan. And his visors were too long for some reason. So I done a little digging on why they were too long. So I done some research and found that some of the first 68's that came off the line had the same length sun visors as the 67's. As I am not sure how long GM did this. I am guessing not too long.
But anyway he had a set with the correct fabric and length. Again the information I found out may or may not be correct. He just found the correct length visors and sent them to me. The guy I got them from found all of this out for me and also said that some of the early 68's did not have rear marker lights as well. Anyway it all worked out and I am happy with the results. Here are a few shots of how the wrong length ones looked.

 
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#5 ·
Jeff I'm really not sure as of yet but I'm going to get both paint codes in a couple weeks from a local body shop to repaint the spoiler. He has a handheld paint code gun he can shoot it and get the codes that way. He can match the codes perfectly. The first owner that had it painted I wasn't able to contact him to get the color for it.
 
#8 ·
Looks awesome and the paint job is stunning! but I am a little confused--- tubular control arms and manual brakes? (no booster?)
 
#9 ·
Thanks for the compliments guys, :thumbsup:.
I thought about putting a booster on it Todd. So I got to thinking and made a few calls to some local camaro buddies to meet up asked them if I could take a test drive in one with a booster and one without. Again I know the A-arms would be more suited with power brakes. "But" I dont want to take anything away from the motor. My other car didn't have it so I am gonna try it with this motor setup and see what happens.
 
#11 ·
Paint and colors look great, I want to see it all put together with that stripe to how it comes together, I like that it's out of the box and not the norm.

Tire wheel combo? I am hoping it will have a 15 inch tire wheel combo because again it would be out of the box in comparison to all the other projects being done.
 
#12 ·
The color is awesome!..... and the engine compartment certainly looks better without the booster. I was just curious. Cool looking Camaro! :yes::cool:
 
#16 ·
Well after a few weeks I managed to get a few things done on the car. I had planned on taking pics of the interior before I taped it back up to re-cut and buff the top. So I will post those up tomorrow after I take the masking off. I got the harness almost finished up on the inside and all but a couple pieces of dynamat. Steering column is in and bolted up with new seals. Waiting now to order the gauges bezel and a cig lighter and wiper switch.


And my new Rushforth wheels came in this week.

I talked to Jason, and asked him if the guy with this Stellar 67 could maybe give the specs of his wheels out. He was very kind and did not mind at all. Thanks again Fred! Not sure if he is a member on TC or not but a great guy no doubt. Here is his beauty, and what mine "I HOPE" looks like when I am done.

 
#86 ·
I talked to Jason, and asked him if the guy with this Stellar 67 could maybe give the specs of his wheels out. He was very kind and did not mind at all. Thanks again Fred! Not sure if he is a member on TC or not but a great guy no doubt. Here is his beauty, and what mine "I HOPE" looks like when I am done.

Smitty asked me to do a photoshop of what his car would look like with the new wheels and paint job. He is on the fence as to whether he should do the wheel well mouldings or not. Since his car has the same wheels as Fred's in the picture above, I thought I'd use that as a base, give it a paint job similar to Smitty's and then do it with and without the mouldings (I actually just did the mouldings in body color to make them fade away for the sake of the comparison).

First, Fred has a killer '67. But if he's a member and takes offense to me 'chopping his car, I'm happy to remove it, just shoot me a PM.

And Smitty, I love the color of your car, but it changes color with every angle, so I can't fully do it justice. At least this will give you a start.

What do you guys think? With or without the mouldings?



 
#17 ·
Got my 350sbc/355 short block done today. Had the block bored 0.30, decked 0.10, line bored, new freeze plugs, all Clevette rods mains and cam bearings. Eagle SRP rods Wiseco pro tru pistons, Total seal file fit moly rings, and ARP rod and main bolts. Not much,,but will be there when called upon..:yes:

 
#22 ·
Damn Jon, I'm jealous! Great looking car. When I get done painting mine, I'll have you come over and "cut & buff" mine! Bring your kick panels. ;)
You don't need a new steering wheel. That one has character. :D
Was there a hole in the roof for the boot to screw into? I'm talking about the sun visors and where they clip into. My mirror is mounted on the windshield and I just want to use half of that boot to be able to clip my sun visors in.
Again, very nice car. You got a great build going.
 
#23 ·
Thanks Rob,..:beers:
My boot screwed into the bracket for the mirror pedestal. There should be holes in your roof brace for the main bracket and the boot. If I remember correctly the bracket is a two piece unit. I think you will need just the top piece that holds the boot in place and screws to the roof brace. There should be 3 screw holes up there and the one furthest away from the window and in the center of the two forward holes will be the one the boot attaches to. Give me a call if you need me to take mine apart or shoot more pics of it for you.
And yes my steering wheel will be a pair of vise grips...:p. When I make it out to your neck of the woods we will trade up on projects. But I think you will be a little more busy than me...;):D
 
#24 ·
Thanks Jon. I was busy today and didn't have my phone around me. It'll look in the catalogs to see the bracket you're talking about. I was hoping to just screw half the boot into the roof brace!
 
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