67 Camaro project "It Don't Fit"

[makoshark]

I am now presenting the Lat-g debut of my world famous 67 Camaro. This car will be the standard for all builds to follow. It will be the pinnacle of the pro-touring movement. It will achieve what others have set out to do, but would fall short every time.:unibrow:

Ok, back to reality. I decided to showcase my build, not only, to show off my lack of skills, but to, hopefully, get the help I need instead of starting many threads.

Objectives of my build:
1. GET IT DONE! I started this build 10 years ago and its time to get it done and enjoy it.
2. Chew bubble gum and kick ace:cool: at the events.

Details:
67 RS car. It is an early build. Bolero Red with black vinyl top. Factory console with gauges and tach. Black deluxe interior with fold down rear seat. Tinted windshield. Interior bright trim. Big ole bumper guards. Powerglide car with 12 bolt rear. 4 wheel manual drum brakes. All of which has been changed for a more modern setup, except the 12 bolt.

First was rust repair...

Dash top
Toe boards
LH and RH floor boards
Center trunk pan
NOS outer wheel houses
NOS quarters
Patch lower corners of front fenders
NOS header panel

I built a rotisserie and finished all the welds and sandblasted the majority of the car. I then finished the bottom all the way up to high build primer.

It took me several years working on the car every now and then to get all the above done. I then got burned out on the car and it sat for a few years with very little progress made.

Flash forward to today...

I had a friend build me a 4L60E trans with all upgraded internals. It will be utilizing the Baumann Optishift trans controller.
I had so many new SBC parts laying around that I scraped my LS1 build and put together a 450 horse SBC 350.
I put all new bearings and new Moser axles in my factory Eaton posi, 3.73 12 bolt rear diff with a 'Jegs' aluminum diff cover. Need to find someone to weld up the tubes.
I recently purchased the Ridetech AirBar with their new single adjustable coilovers.
Speedtech ATS Chicane front coilover mounts for the stock subframe.
Ridetech upper and lower control arms
DSE 600 steering box
Ridetech Tru Turn setup
DSE subframe connectors
DSE firewall fill plate
DSE mini tubs
Vintage Air Gen IV hvac setup with billet controller
Speedhut custom gauge set
Custom center console modeled after the 67 original gauge console, but with an arm rest and cup holder
Lokar billet 6" shifter
Lokar LED shifter display bezel with boot
Billet steering wheel
Cheesy Ebay aluminum radiator
LT1 electric fams
Spal PWM fan controller
PI Vigilante 2600 converter
B&M trans cooler
-AN fittings
SS hardlines
Wilwood 13" 6 piston front brakes
Wilwood 12.19" rear brakes
G-Force transmission crossmember
EMS billet hood hinges
EMS billet tail light bezels
Hotchkis front sway bar
LED tail lights and 05 Grand Am LED center brake light. Will be inserted in rear spoiler
AAW Classic update wiring harness
18" C6 Z06 Motorsports wheels
Nitto NT 05 tires

That is where the car is at the moment. I am, now, in the process of mini tubbing the car. To save a little coin, I'm going to just split the factory inner tubs and add metal to them.

[makoshark]

Few more photos of the car and where it is at the moment

[Mrfixit]

Looks good so far. I like that you have utilized the 67 console trim in your custom console. It's sad that most people, other than those on this forum, will never appreciate the amount of work that goes into the under-side of these cars. Keep up the great work.:thumbsup:

[Sonar Chief]

Very Nice, I was wondering when I'd see some pictures :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Keep us up to date! Good job so far:cheers:
Did you order a new air grinder yet?
Michael

[makoshark]

Thanks guys:cheers:

Yeah, I received it a couple weeks ago and finally put it to work this past weekend. It works a little bit better than my old IR's. The cut-off wheels I bought are not up to par though

[makoshark]

Am I doing this right?

Minitub...

[tubbed69]

job well done so far,motor looks great

[72Z/28]

Great progress. I wonder where you purchased the toe boards and floor pans from.

Keeps the photos coming man. :thumbsup:

[makoshark]

Great progress. I wonder where you purchased the toe boards and floor pans from.

Keeps the photos coming man. :thumbsup:

I got them from Rick's first gen. They were the USA made panels

[makoshark]

Small update...Progress is progress though:woot:

I also decided not to reuse my original inner tubs and modify them. I just bit the bullet and ordered a new set of DSE inner deep tubs. Less work involved:thumbsup:

[makoshark]

Not much going on this weekend as far as the car goes. I did get out yesterday afternoon and built 1 of the 2 sub boxes.

I'm still waiting on my DSE deep tubs and some sheet metal to make any further progress for the mini tub install:(

[makoshark]

:rolleyes: Gotta get out today and do some Spring cleaning and a little work in my veggie garden. Later I will get some work done on the car. Stay tuned...know you all are waiting

[makoshark]

Well, I tried to get the driver's side tub done this weekend, but that did not happen. I made progress and am almost ready to weld in the tub, just not quite there yet though. Mini tubs are more difficult than I realized. I believe I would rather install a quarter panel than do mini tubs:faint:

[makoshark]

I'm still plugging away at the driver's mini tub. I am almost ready to install the new inner tub and complete that side. My timing for getting this done keeps getting interrupted, so it's been a bit of a slow go.

Also, I picked up a bunch of steel, pneumatic ram jacks and a geared hand winch for another project, as if I need more. I need to have this done ASAP, so it will interrupt getting started on my passenger mini tub install. However, it will help speed up the install and allow me to work more comfortably on all areas of the car.

[Sonar Chief]

I'm still plugging away at the driver's mini tub. I am almost ready to install the new inner tub and complete that side. My timing for getting this done keeps getting interrupted, so it's been a bit of a slow go.

Also, I picked up a bunch of steel, pneumatic ram jacks and a geared hand winch for another project, as if I need more. I need to have this done ASAP, so it will interrupt getting started on my passenger mini tub install. However, it will help speed up the install and allow me to work more comfortably on all areas of the car.
Looks like you are building a rotisserie ....:thumbsup: I can see in the picture where you notched out for the nuts, how you gonna close that off?
Looking good ...:thumbsup: but it is Thursday already.

[214Chevy]

Not much going on this weekend as far as the car goes. I did get out yesterday afternoon and built 1 of the 2 sub boxes.



I see you chose CDT speakers. I have those in my Chevelle and couldn't be happier. The are a great quality speaker. You will be happy with them.

[makoshark]

Yup, a rotisserie. I'll have it done, HOPEFULLY, by next weekend.

My week has gone nothing like I was expecting. I was taking off tomorrow to go to Super Chevy, but someone passed the buck on me and I have to take care of something in the morning and then can make the show:(

Only thing I can do is just weld a small piece of flat stock over the notch. My frame rail is stout now though:thumbsup:

The plan this weekend is get the drivers side tub done and start drilling holes on the rotisserie. As soon as my round tube comes in I will begin to make the housing for the worm gear assembly. I have to have 2 sections of the round tube machined to fit the outer races of the tapered bearings. Once that is done, then I can do finally assembly of the roto

[makoshark]

I see you chose CDT speakers. I have those in my Chevelle and couldn't be happier. The are a great quality speaker. You will be happy with them.

Yeah, I have been using their speakers for quite a few years now. I love them:thumbsup:

[makoshark]

I want to give a shout out to the great folks over at Matt's Classic Bowties and Ridetech. Great bunch of people to deal with and all my future business, as has been in recent history, will be with them.:thumbsup:

Danny, here's one for you:cheers:

Truturns on are backorder:( Still have plenty to do while I wait on it though

No progress worth reporting at the moment. I'm waiting to get my tool and die guy to machine my round stock to fit the outer bearing race I'm using on my rotisserie. That, of course, will keep me from getting it finish built.

[makoshark]

I took my last final exam Tuesday and am not due back in school till middle August! I finally have most all the time I need to get busy on my project. I took today off so I could do absolutely nothing. I needed to give my brain a break. I'm off of work for the rest of the week, so I'm looking forward to getting lots done on my car. Hopefully I'll have my round stock back early next week so I can finish my roto. I'm anxious to see how well my design works out compared to my last rotisserie that I built.

[makoshark]

FINALLY got the driver's side mini tub installed!!!!!!!

[makoshark]

I have been researching driveline angles and am a bit still confused on exactly what I need to set my rearend and transmission angles at. I spoke with the company making my driveshaft and they told me they usually try to shoot for 2* down at the trans tailshaft and 0 to 1* down at the pinion. I am running Ridetech Airbar with coilovers at all 4's. What do I set them at?

[Roberts68]

Looks great!

Is there a bluish gray coating on the tubs or is that a camera deception?

I was wondering whose tubs you used as I have not followed your thread all along, then I saw you were going to split and widen the OE and thought NO WAY, that looked too good! :lol:

Read on to where you decided to use DSE.:thumbsup:

[makoshark]

Thanks...lol, I got lazy and just ordered a set:) The blueish grey your seeing is Dupont epoxy primer. My whole car is coated in it. I primed the tubs prior to installing them. Keeps them from flash rusting and helps already having them coated once installed.

[Sonar Chief]

FINALLY got the driver's side mini tub installed!!!!!!!

Nice :thumbsup: Are you gonna stitch weld the inside to the trunk and pan?
Looks good, keep it up and you'll be done:thumbsup:

[makoshark]

Nice :thumbsup: Are you gonna stitch weld the inside to the trunk and pan?
Looks good, keep it up and you'll be done:thumbsup:

Yeah, I have a bit of a gap where I cut out too much metal at the rear of the tub. I'll finish welding it all there once I get it up on the rotisserie. It's just plug welded at the moment. Just like the factory did it

[makoshark]

I take that back, I forgot. I have to fill in a gap at the rear of the tub in the trunk and I'm going to use some Lord Fusor body adhesive instead of stitch welding it there.

[makoshark]

Driveline angles! Any help?

[Sieg]

Driveline angles! Any help?

Here ya go:
http://www.iedls.com/Education-Zone.asp?CID=6

http://www.hurst-drivelines.com/wp-contehud/uploads/Universal_Joint_Alignment_Proc_111606.pdf

[makoshark]

Thanks Sieg

[makoshark]

I got the passenger side tub cut out and prefitted. I'm pleased with how well it's fitting with just my first cut. There is not going to hardly be any trimming to this side to make fit well.

I have to finish notching the frame rail at the bottom. Make the closeouts and the reinforcement bracket that I made to go inside the frame rails. I also have to epoxy prime the tub and drill holes in it. I wonder if I can accomplish all this tomorrow:_paranoid

[intocarss]

THAT looks good :thumbsup:

[Sonar Chief]

Very Nice :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Keep us posted with pixs, you know we like pixs!!

[makoshark]

Thanks guys...More comin'

[makoshark]

I want to use my thread to give a praise for Ridetech. I was just reading a thread over on pt.com where someone was being impatient with Ridetech. I saw where Brett let this person know he will take care of his problem, but he will not let him run over him or his employees. Brett did a fine job in handling that situation. I chose Ridetech because they 'USE' their suspension and it has been proven time and time again. It may not be the best of the best out there right now, but it fit what I wanted. I wanted a clean looking, simple setup WITHOUT a panhard bar. Ridetech just went waaaay beyond the call of duty with me because my TruTurn was on backorder for so long. They really did not have to do what they did for me, however they have a lifetime customer with me!

A+++++++ to AirRide Technologies...Customer support and products are top notch

[makoshark]

I finished installing the passenger mini tub. I still have to weld in the trunk hinge bracket to the tub. I got most of the AirBar installed as well. I can't find my freaking angle finder, so I can't weld on the upper brackets. Also, the company that sold me my u-bolts sent 2 of them the wrong size. I took pictures of everything thus far, but for some reason my computer will not recognize the memory card anymore. Needless to say, it's been a good day, but also a VERY frustrating day as well:mad:

[makoshark]

Also...

My TruTurn finally showed up Friday. Excited about that. My front wheels will be here monday, but still have to order front tires. Plan is this week, after I find my angle finder and finish up the rear suspension, is to halfa$$ sandblast my other subframe and install the ATS upper coilover brackets, slide it under the car and weld on the DSE subframe connector brackets. Then install the motor and trans to modify the crossmember. Once I can manage to get that done, I will send the measurements over to the driveshaft place to custom make an aluminum driveshaft for me. I'm going to mock up the entire car. I'm tired of cutting, welding and grinding right now. I want to turn wrenches for a while so I can get sick of doing that:rolleyes: Think I can get all that done by the end of next weekend?

[makoshark]

Pictures from installing the passenger mini tub. Tubs are now basically complete

[Sonar Chief]

Looks good :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

What cut measurement did the mini tubs come out to be? (2.75" and make a flange outa the last 1/4") that will be my next adventure after I get the cowl all welded up.
Turning wrenches is a nice break from welding, I'm working on my engine while waiting for parts.

[makoshark]

From the shock tower to the rear of the car, you have to actually cut at the 2.75" line and then from there forward, you fold over the last 1/4". When you get going on them and find you need some help, then I can shoot you my # to help you through them. DSE makes minitubbing as easy as it can be made, but it is not an easy task. Prior to these, quarters were the hardest I had tackled, but I now feel mini tubs are the hardest. It could be because of the internal brackets I made. Those definitely created complications

[makoshark]

Also, I suggest making a template of the new tub on some poster board. The rear curve, DSE, does not give you the instructions as to what to do there. If you make a template off the new tub, then transfer that to your pan, you'll have the correct line to cut on

[makoshark]

A few more shots of the progress I have been making.

Started setting up the rear suspension only to find 2 of the 4 u-bolts I ordered were the wrong size. I have since pulled the rearend back out of the car also.

I started to rebuild the posi with new carbon fiber clutches and 400# springs. When I pulled the springs out I noticed they were considerably smaller than the original springs. I grabbed the boxes for the clutch pack kit and spring kit and ran the #'s online. I found out Jeg's, who I purchased the parts from, sent me, not only the wrong springs, but the wrong clutches. I now have to pull it all back apart and send them back. I did debur the posi carrier and clean it up real well. I also installed the new 3.73 Motive ring gear.

I halfa$$ sandblasted the original subframe to my car. I welded the seams up on it and began test fitting the ATS coilover brackets. I screwed the threads up on one of the lower arms cleaning out the powder coat. I had to call Speedtech to order the double shear brackets for the lower control arms. I'm waiting on those to arrive. I also found out my Ridetech coilovers hit the bracket, so I have to order new upper spring cups that will clear the brackets.

I pulled a muscle in my neck, so no progress over the holiday weekend. I'm just now started to get full movement out of my neck again. Sucks getting older

[Warang27]

A few more shots of the progress I have been making.

Started setting up the rear suspension only to find 2 of the 4 u-bolts I ordered were the wrong size. I have since pulled the rearend back out of the car also.

I started to rebuild the posi with new carbon fiber clutches and 400# springs. When I pulled the springs out I noticed they were considerably smaller than the original springs. I grabbed the boxes for the clutch pack kit and spring kit and ran the #'s online. I found out Jeg's, who I purchased the parts from, sent me, not only the wrong springs, but the wrong clutches. I now have to pull it all back apart and send them back. I did debur the posi carrier and clean it up real well. I also installed the new 3.73 Motive ring gear.

I halfa$$ sandblasted the original subframe to my car. I welded the seams up on it and began test fitting the ATS coilover brackets. I screwed the threads up on one of the lower arms cleaning out the powder coat. I had to call Speedtech to order the double shear brackets for the lower control arms. I'm waiting on those to arrive. I also found out my Ridetech coilovers hit the bracket, so I have to order new upper spring cups that will clear the brackets.

I pulled a muscle in my neck, so no progress over the holiday weekend. I'm just now started to get full movement out of my neck again. Sucks getting older

good updates about your project. keep doing it man and in the end you are the one will see through all your hardwork.




http://www.niceledlights.com

[Jay Hilliard]

Nice job on the tubs and write up. You are going to have a nice car to enjoy when finished.

[makoshark]

Thanks guys...I hope all my hard work pays off with a nice car.

[makoshark]

I am beginning to become seriously burnout on my car. I began early last year to make a push in getting this done. My original timeline, set last year, has not panned out. My timeline had this car done by now. I have suffered from many set backs due to mistakes made by suppliers and waiting on others to perform their job which always took WAY longer than they originally quoted me. I am running out of time to have to devote to this car. I do not see myself having the time to finish this anymore. Things in my life have changed and take precedent to the build of this car. I, at this point, am ready to sell it. I'll continue to finish up the mock up and fabrication of this car's setup. However, I expect to be putting this thing on the market in the coming weeks, unfortunately. I could set it aside for a future time when I have time again, but I do not foresee that being within the next few years. I'd rather move on from this and concentrate on my schooling, work and most of all family. I, intend, in the future to get back in the game, but this time around, I'm gonna have to bow out.

[Rick D]

Well that sucks, sometimes you have to just walk away for a while and then come back to it. I have had mine for 10 years now, at first I bought it to flip, then I was just going to sell it. I tried to sell it and trade it a few times, but in the end I would just move out of my shop and put it in storage and then when I would feel like the time was right I would pull it out and start to work on it. I have done that 4 times over the last 10 years. Just food for thought, you have some nice parts and lots of time already in your ride, but you are going to lose half of what you've got in thows parts or maybe more. Try walking away for a few weeks, or a months or two and see if you have the desire to get back on it. At the very least get it a roller and then try to sell it you will get way more for it! :thumbsup: Good luck with what ever you decide to do.

Oh and DO NOT put a time line on it unless you are a shop and that is what a customer wants. Everytime you miss that completion date you will get more upset! I go some months with out touching mine and then I hit it hard for weeks or months at time.

[makoshark]

I understand what you are saying, however that is not the case with my car. I have owned this for over 12 years now. I have stepped away from it from time to time throughout the 10 years I have been restoring it. I am getting burned out on it, but not enough to quit. The reason for my post is my time is about to have to be completely devoted in another direction for the next few years. I do not intend to keep it just sitting in the garage again for several years. I'd rather sell this car to someone who can finish and enjoy it as I had planned. I will have the car driving before I let it go, so it won't be a pile of boxes. It's unfortunate I have to make this decision, but its the better decision for myself and family at this time.

[Sonar Chief]

Sorry to hear you are selling the car ... but you gotta do what is best for you and your family :hail:
I understand cuz I raised my boys and then they went off to college and then I started on the my car.

[makoshark]

Thanks guys...I really hate to let this go and am still not completely convinced to do so, but time is becoming a priceless commodity to me. I'll see what things will be like in the coming weeks for me and the project. With all that said, it's more than likely going on the market:(

[Spiffav8]

Please whatever you do, don't rush to a decision. How many guys have let a car go, thinking it was the right thing to do, only to regret it. I would hate to see that happen to you.

Best of luck my friend...whichever direction you go.

:captain:

[makoshark]

My tool and die friend finally finished the pieces for my rotisserie that he and I collaborated on. It is my design with his tweaks. It uses a worm gear to rotate the body when attached. I incorporated trailer spindles and tapered bearings. My friend machined the round stock for me to accept the bearings and helped me to get the worm gear setup to work within my design. The chamfered areas are to allow for better weld penetration and also to allow room for the piece to fit over weld beads. Once I have the rotisserie done and post finished pics of it, it will make more sense

[Roberts68]

That looks like it will be awesome.

Do you have any dimensions and such for that?
I know of a machinist that would probably like to see that. He's helped me out on a few projects and I even get to sleep with his sister all the time.:yes:

Please be sure that selling the car is absolutely the right choice for you. Of course, I am biased... I have had mine since I was 17 in '89.
Last time I drove it much was in '97 except for once on my birthday in 2004. I know it will be worthwhile when I drive it again Someday soon.:cheers:

[WSSix]

I am beginning to become seriously burnout on my car. I began early last year to make a push in getting this done. My original timeline, set last year, has not panned out. My timeline had this car done by now. I have suffered from many set backs due to mistakes made by suppliers and waiting on others to perform their job which always took WAY longer than they originally quoted me. I am running out of time to have to devote to this car. I do not see myself having the time to finish this anymore. Things in my life have changed and take precedent to the build of this car. I, at this point, am ready to sell it. I'll continue to finish up the mock up and fabrication of this car's setup. However, I expect to be putting this thing on the market in the coming weeks, unfortunately. I could set it aside for a future time when I have time again, but I do not foresee that being within the next few years. I'd rather move on from this and concentrate on my schooling, work and most of all family. I, intend, in the future to get back in the game, but this time around, I'm gonna have to bow out.


I know that feeling. I'm still living it myself. I wanted my TA on the road before I moved away to, originally, Colorado. That was July 2010. I missed it by a small amount. The car is still sitting back in Georgia and i have no idea when I'll be able to bring it out to where I am. I'm in Kansas now and am trying to get back to Colorado. As much as I hate seeing and knowing it's sitting, that's easier than me having it out here with me and having to move it each time I move. So I try to be patient and save my money. Admittedly, I live vicariously through people on this board. I get ideas from their builds and I learn what I can so that I can apply it all to my car when the time comes. All the while though, my car is for sale also. If someone comes along and buys it, fine. If not, fine. I have other priorities to devote my time to and can't change that without making what I believe would be a mistake. Maybe take a similar approach to what I have done. Put it up for sale and see if anyone wants it. If you don't need the space it occupies, let it be. Just be sure to put it in a state that it won't deteriorate too much. Maybe one day you'll get back to it and finally finish. Patience and perseverance.

Good luck.

[makoshark]

Thanks guys...Time will tell. I won't let this car sit idle for a number of years as I have done before. I've owned this car for quite a few years now. If I let it go, I can always buy another. It's not the only car on the planet:)

[makoshark]

I'm off to purchase a new refrigerator thanks to the heavy thunderstorm we had here last Monday. Any ideas on how to prevent this from happening again? Maybe I need to invent a circuit breaker with a built in surge protector!

[makoshark]

One more step closer

[Ron in SoCal]

Your selling and reinventing a roto at the same time. :willy:

6sJqTDaOrTg

[makoshark]

I'm bipolar:cool:

[makoshark]

I ordered new carbon fiber clutches and spring pack from Eaton through Jegs to rebuild my Eaton posi. I specifically asked for the 18 pack clutch set. I had to send back the first order they sent to me. This time, I did get the right spring kit, but they still sent me a 14 pack clutch set. I'm tired of this. Will this clutch set work? I'm about to go bipolar on Jeg's:lolhit:

[makoshark]

I got out today and did some work on the car. Another frustrating day:rolleyes:

I was wondering if anyone has had the problem of sliding a new yoke onto a new pinion. I can barely get my Moser yoke to slide onto my Motive pinion. Any tips to get this to slide on more so I can install the washer and nut to pull it on further? Trying to set the pinion preload and get the rearend setup.

[makoshark]

What's wrong with this picture? Look at the lower attachment of the coil-over. These are the 3.6" stroke coil-overs from Ridetech with 8" springs. I believe I'm going to have to go with longer coil-overs with 10" springs. Any ill-effects having the 4.1" stroke coil-over on the front? Also, is there any problem with shimming out the steering arm around 1/4"? I'm having interference with the Truturn at the wheel.

[Rick D]

What's wrong with this picture? Look at the lower attachment of the coil-over. These are the 3.6" stroke coil-overs from Ridetech with 8" springs. I believe I'm going to have to go with longer coil-overs with 10" springs. Any ill-effects having the 4.1" stroke coil-over on the front? Also, is there any problem with shimming out the steering arm around 1/4"? I'm having interference with the Truturn at the wheel.

Are you using Ride Tech lower control arms also? I would think that if you bought all the components from them or a vender then you should have the correct shocks? I would call them and see what they say, but yes you seem to have an issues with the shock being to short.

[makoshark]

No, I'm not running Ridetech's control arms. Ridetech didn't seem to be hugely familiar with the ATS/Chicane brackets, which allows for a coil-over with more stroke. I'll have to call Speedtech tomorrow, I suppose, to hopefully get an answer. When I spoke with them in the past, they didn't seem hugely familiar with this particular setup either. They didn't design my front setup and I don't know how much experience they have with it.

[sniper]

Why not just build a higher lower mounting point on the control arm? I'd do a temporary one and make sure you have the desired travel. Is 3.6" enough stroke?

[makoshark]

I have thought of that, but the amount of fabrication to execute that is more than I am willing to do at this point. I did speak with Speedtech today and was able to get more info than I did before. They spec'd the same size coilover that I have on the rear with the AirBar, which is 5.2 stroke, but with 10" springs. That would be the easier solution to this small hiccup, it seems

[makoshark]

I have emailed James of the OLC Camaro and Tyler, the originator of the ATS/Chicane bracket setup and both have confirmed to me the 5.2" stroke coil-over with 10" springs is what the system was designed to run. I got a rough measurement of front suspension travel in the neighborhood of 7", so the 5.2" stroke shock will definitely work. Now I just gotta convince Ridetech that is what I need and the system was designed to run.

I had some problems in setting up my rearend and finally realized why I was having so much problems. The Moser yoke I am trying to run is out of spec. I spoke to Moser and was told that the yokes are put through a heat treating process after they are machined and sometimes get out of spec from the heat treat. I sent it back to Moser to get them to broach it for me. Hopefully, I will get it back and all will be good to go. I am so ready to finish up this suspension so I can get the body ready for paint.

I'm doing my best to hang on to this car. I really don't want to let it go after working on it for so long and have so much time into it. I really want to see the fruits of my labor. Time is not on my side, but I'm trying to tough this out.

[Roberts68]

Hang in there. You aren't the only one struggling and you are farther along than most.
I have more parts than time right now, and no money for remaining items at this time.

Lately I have considered changing the name of my project from "Someday" to "Setback"!

I moved just 9 months ago and just last weekend moved back... Once listed my house "sold" in 8 days but then the appraisal killed the deal coming in way under sale price due to all the foreclosure/short sell stuff on the market.

I will say organizing the garage is pretty easy since I have a fresh memory of how it was.:thumbsup:

You'll get there.:cheers:

[makoshark]

Hang in there. You aren't the only one struggling and you are farther along than most.
I have more parts than time right now, and no money for remaining items at this time.

Lately I have considered changing the name of my project from "Someday" to "Setback"!

I moved just 9 months ago and just last weekend moved back... Once listed my house "sold" in 8 days but then the appraisal killed the deal coming in way under sale price due to all the foreclosure/short sell stuff on the market.

I will say organizing the garage is pretty easy since I have a fresh memory of how it was.:thumbsup:

You'll get there.:cheers:

Fortunately I can say that I have nearly all the parts I need. One area I haven't given much focus on and will have to be a work in progress is the interior. I did change directions on my gauge setup and ordered and received the new Dakota Digital VHX gauges the other day. I can't wait to see those in action. I love all the options these gauges have. New Vintage has a better looking version of this style setup, but they lack all the options the VHX gauge set has, so I went with those. I just wish they were a little more retro looking.

I'm on the downhill slide and in the coming weeks I should be able to show major progress on my build. It's been stalled lately with all the changes I have made and all the snags I have kept hitting. I definitely have lived, first hand, the 'nothing fits' experience.

[Roberts68]

I got to see those gauges in person at CARCRAFT St Paul last Saturday. I was really drooling, lemmee tell ya.

Can you highlight some things they offer NV USA does not with their 3 in 1 sets? Without getting too muddy? I am curious what pushed you to the decision. When I talked to NV it sounded like the sky was the limit... if you pay enough.

[makoshark]

The VHX gauge set has the optional BIM add-on modules. They add to the original cost of the VHX gauges, but can be added at later times. The VHX set has dual digital displays, so allow for more things to be displayed as well as 2 trip meters. You can set one trip meter for oil changes to remind you when to change your oil. It has a 0-60 timer, 1/4 mile eta and mph as well as RPM recall and MPH recall. The cluster is wired with a single CAT5 cable coming from a seperate box where all the main wiring is done allowing you to remotely mount the box removing a bulk of wiring from behind the dash. They give you digital display of all readings as well as analog. They have warning lights and you can install a shift light. You can also setup different warnings especially if you add any of the BIM modules. One of the BIM modules that I purchased allows you to add 4 more temperature readings. I'll add one for the trans and oil temp. I'll also add a rearend temp later to it. You can also add another module to give you a compass reading as well as a temperature reading inside the car or outside. There are several more BIM modules that do different functions. It can also display what gear your in for automatic trans cars. They are awesome gauges, I am just not overly smitten with the display appearance options.

[Roberts68]

I concur with your last statement 100%

I think the font could be better... bolder or something. I like that NVU has a variety of looks, and if you want to go custom for about $200 more the imagination can run wild.

That said, I really like the features now that I hear your testimonial and took the time to look at their site more. I didn't really grasp the scope the first time as I was mostly browsing for appearance.

I definitely want to do a pair of 3 in 1's but I am not sure yet what they will be or when that might happen. Thank you for the info. Did you announce what color scheme you went with? I might have missed it. For my ride it would likely be blue with silver face but I admit I would prefer the red lighting especially at night. I had an '08 Pontiac Grand Prix and an '82 280-ZX that both had red cockpits and it is hard to beat and easy on night vision.

[makoshark]

I never mentioned the color scheme I went with. I decided on the carbon fiber setup with red. I chose the red for the reasons you mentioned. The blue is just too harsh on your eyes at night. I like the red layout much better. After owning a 2001 WS6 TransAm, the red, to me, is the only way to go.

I really like the gauge layout with this style setup. It allows you to continue the use of the original gauge carrier keeping a stock appearance. My interior scheme will be retro, so this will fit better in there. My car is an original console gauge car with factory tach, but those gauges just wouldn't work with the electronic transmission, at least not without spending more money. I built a custom console that is reminiscent to the original console and I was going to utilize aftermarket gauges in the console as the original was. Now, I can't do that with this gauge setup, so I may make use of that area for a double din stereo headunit with GPS. As of right now, I will probably just make it a pocket for storage.

[Roberts68]

Mine has original console with an early 4 pod aftermarket insert in front of the shifter. Mine is straight and not angled toward the driver. My tach is on the column and just have OE Speedo and fuel in the cluster.
I would either do a full aftermarket gauge layout or a pair of 3 in 1's in the cluster and it is pretty obvious which is a cleaner look. I really haven't compared overall costs.

I'd like to see or try the blue at night before I decided, and I see they have a dimmer option that might dull the effect.

[makoshark]

To get a nice set of aftermarket gauges, you will spend quite a bit more than what the cost of the Dakota Digital VHX setup costs. I weighed both options and chose this setup for all the reasons I have mentioned before. I even had an AutoMeter gauge setup prior to purchasing the VHX and decided I did not want gauges scattered all over my dash like a race car. Everything is integrated within the VHX, so it, to me, provides a cleaner, simpler look.

[makoshark]

As I wait for Moser to fix the yoke they sold me and for Ridetech to swap out my front coil-overs, I got a little more work done on the rotisserie. I, now, need to find someone that can cut an 8" hole, 7 1/2" hole, 6" hole and a 5 1/2" hole from 1/4" plate. Also make a few gussets and brackets to mount the pneumatic ram jacks.

[makoshark]

Finally got to drop my motor into the car and found some fitment issues. I purchased Dynatech headers and was told that the one's I am buying WILL fit with the DSE steering box. Well, no can do. Doesn't fit:mad:

Also, I received my Moser yoke back from Moser yesterday and it still doesn't fit. It fits just like it did before they were suppose to broach it for me. I'm at a loss as to what to do with this rearend.

NOTHING FITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Roberts68]

I thought Dynatech was supposed to be the go to?

Sorry to hear about the frustrations. :(

It seems to me that there was a run of Dynatechs where something changed. I might have read it on Team Camaro? If you still have the boxes I would call with part numbers and lot numbers in hand and ask them what is up. I might have heard that Dynatech is now owned by Speedway, perhaps you will have some good luck. It seems you should be due for some right?

I would be chewing hard on Mosers' @$$. Stand firm, make them make it right at no cost to you. :mad:

[makoshark]

I'm supposed to have the revised headers. I just checked my purchase and they were bought on 12/15/2011. I called their tech, but only got voicemail. I left a message, so I'm waiting to hear back from them. As for Moser, I'm kinda in a pickle here. This yoke was purchased through Jegs in 2004. I can't get anyone at Jegs to dig that far back to find the purchase. Moser won't take it back because it has sat on a shelf for several years and obtained a patina, so it does not look new anymore. I'm dreading calling them. I am quite angry about all this. I dented my freshly smoothed firewall while installing the motor last night to top it all off. What I get for trying to restore a car in a closet. I am almost to the point of moving it over to the double garage and kick my animals out. I'm tired of cleaning up their shed hair all over the garage anyway.

My thread has turned into a 'rantfest' it seems. I sure am due some good luck, but don't see that happening anytime soon. I have taken off for the next 3 weeks. This is do-or-die for this car. If I don't major progress on it within that time frame, its hasta la vista baby.

[Roberts68]

So what are your goals for the 3 weeks? If you are giving yourself an ultimatum you might consider setting a benchmark even if it is something you don't share publicly.

I have gotten a bit too accustomed to not making my goals with mine and while I don't like it I do believe I named my project accordingly... although "Setback" has a nice ring to it too.:lol:

As I read what you wrote about the age of the yoke I remembered the story. While it would mean more out of pocket for you do you have any "Clutch and U-Joint", "Proven Force" or other drivetrain/differential specialists in your area?

Alot of us love our cars so much it is tough to enlist help like that sometimes preferring to use race shops and such. That said, machined tolerances and setup are not that different from high horsepower race/touring than they are from heavy duty/ over the road abuse plus some of those guys share our passions outside of work.

Just thinking outside the box, but what you seem to be struggling with is all in a days work for some shops and it would be one mountain reduced to a molehill and out of your path.

Please keep us up to date on the Dynatech saga too.

I wish you the best over the next few weeks.:cheers:

[makoshark]

I fit the same description as you. I quit making deadlines because I never was able to meet them. However, this deadline 'must' be met.

My goal is to have the car sitting on the ground with all the suspension done, rearend setup, driveshaft ordered and installed, headers fit, trans lines made, brake lines fitted, brakes installed, steering installed, power steering lines made, ignition setup and installed, prewire the car, fuel lines installed AND motor fired. My goal is to basically have this a driving car within the next three weeks. That goal is really not a tall order if I can get through all these snags. I'm only doing mock up right now to get everything to fit before anything is painted/finished.

If I can meet my goal, then take it all back apart and prep the car for paint and paint it.

As far as people around here that have more experience to deal with the rearend, I already tried that route after deciding I was not able to get the yoke to slide down far enough. I dropped it all off to a guy I know that owns a speed shop. I get a call from him the next day telling me the yoke is a 10 bolt yoke. I never took any measurements from it, so I asked him, over the phone, to measure the seal area of the yoke. The measurement he got was for the 12 bolt rearend and not a 10 bolt, as the 10 bolt has a larger diameter yoke in the seal area. I spoke with Moser, today, and we decided I send the yoke back along with the pinion this time. I should have sent the pinion to them in the first place, but oh well. Hopefully they can get it taken care of the problem for me this time.

Another thing that does not fit...oil pressure sending unit:lol: The sending unit that came with the VHX gauges is too fat. It hits the intake right at the block. I need to source an adapter that will lift the sender further off the block.

That is all I have tried to fit at this point. I need to get back out to the garage, but am worried something else may not fit:willy:

[Roberts68]

Get the hell away from the keyboard and check in later tonight with a progress report.;)

[makoshark]

I spoke to the folks at Dynatech. They are going over my problem, along with my pictures, to see if they can find a solution. I certainly hope they can come up with something. I hate to not use their header as it is an extremely well made product. I'm definitely not giving up my DSE steering box.

Gotta go take the rearend apart and get the pinion and yoke shipped back to Moser. Looks like my day is pretty much done on the car for the moment.

[Spiffav8]

I spoke to the folks at Dynatech. They are going over my problem, along with my pictures, to see if they can find a solution. I certainly hope they can come up with something. I hate to not use their header as it is an extremely well made product. I'm definitely not giving up my DSE steering box.

Gotta go take the rearend apart and get the pinion and yoke shipped back to Moser. Looks like my day is pretty much done on the car for the moment.

Man..that blows. I'll be watching to see what happens. Hopefully the turn around will be quick and you'll be back at it soon. Is Moser taking care of the pinion and yoke?

[makoshark]

I have some good news on the yoke. I was getting ready to package the yoke and pinion when the 2 together would not quite fit in the box. I had the yoke attached to the pinion, which was too long to fit in the box. To try to get the yoke a little further down, I pounded the yoke, while attached to the pinion, onto my work bench. As doing so, it was sliding down more than it would before. I grabbed a hammer and tapped the yoke back off the pinion and placed the pinion back into the rearend housing. I was able to get the yoke further down this time and enough to install it. So good news there, I will be able to setup my rearend and not have to send this yoke back to Moser.

That was the good news...

Here's the bad news...I do not see these headers fitting with the DSE box. These are suppose to be the redesigned headers made to fit the smaller boxes, but they don't. I received a call back from Dynatech, late yesterday, and was told the reason they are not fitting is my motor mounts I am using. I have to call BS on that. The motor mounts are not going to make any difference, whether I run the short ones or the tall ones. The pictures I posted here will show why. I am running original 302/350 stands with Prothane tall mounts. I get to deal with Dynatech some more tomorrow/later today. Only solution I see at this point is sending these back and finding a header that fits. I have to run 1 3/4" headers due to my heads having raised exhaust ports, even though the bolt pattern is in the standard location. If I were up to the challenge, I would build my own headers, but I don't have the time to deal with building a set.

[makoshark]

Are there any differences in size between DSE's 600 steering box compared to the Lee Manufacturing 670 box?

[Roberts68]

You keep some odd hours friend.:wow:
Glad to hear the pinion and yoke are willing to play nice with you now.

I am confused about the headers. Why would they design a header to work with a smaller box? Wouldn't ones for a larger steering box (such as stock) clear? Or do they not offer the 1 3/4 primary to clear stock PS so the smaller box is their compromise?

[makoshark]

HAHA! There's reason to that. I have gone back to school working towards a new degree, so I'm stuck on my old schedule. I take naps is all anymore.

I can't answer any of that. I was just told these headers are the redesigned header to work around the 600 series box. I believe they will clear the stock style 800 series boxes as well. I'll inquire about that today.

I really hate to not use these headers. The build quality on these are extremely nice and the price couldn't be beat. My steering is more difficult to change than the exhaust, so the easier route will be the one to change, which in this case seems to be the headers. If the Lee box is dimensionally smaller than the DSE box, then I'll switch boxes. I haven't been able to confirm that yet, though.

[Roberts68]

I'll be interested in the outcome on the headers.
I have an AGR box which I believe is dimensionally the stock box, so if that is an 800 I guess that's it. I know they offer it in an OE look without billet caps for the resto crowd.

How snug are they to the floor?.. or how much do they hang below the subframe?

[makoshark]

I'm almost certain these headers would fit an AGR box. I would dig out my stock box and see if it fits, but I'd have to degrease it and its not worth the time to go through that for me. The headers fit great otherwise. They don't hang down anymore than the subframe. They seem to have good clearance between the floor and header. I have not installed the passenger header as I know it will fit, but if the drivers header doesn't fit then no reason to install the passenger.

I'll snap some pics of how the fit around the floor and relation to the ground and post them up for you.

[makoshark]

Here's some pictures showing the Dynatech headers in relation to the floor pan and how low below the subframe the header goes. One thing, I do not have the transmission crossmember installed, so the engine is tilted back further than it should be. Also, the car is on jackstands

Also, I'm working on setting up my rearend. What do you all think of the pattern thus far.

[Roberts68]

That was kind of you to post the header pics. It is virtually identical to my Hooker Comps as far as apparent height but if your engine is tipped then they would likely nestle in a bit higher. I am referencing the centerpoint of the primary into the collector.

In my case 2 primaries actually go forward from plumb and then curve back to the collector at 90* or less while all 4 of yours look to be converged higher, closer to the head. It was one of those two forward sweeping primaries my pitman arm hit in my '96 crash. You cannot turn the steering far enough to duplicate that much motion.

I can't comment on the pattern for lack of experience, but I think I have seen a pattern interpretation guide/tutorial on Strange's website. I'm not sure if that is where I saw it but that is all I can offer.

[makoshark]

I was just thinking:wow: yeah, I need to check how much the transmission needs to come up. I have a TH400 crossmember and a 4L60E transmission. I have to modify the crossmember, so that is why its not installed yet. I was thinking, though, if the transmission still needs to come up quite a bit, I may, just may, gain some clearance at the header for the steering box.

My gear pattern looks good on the coast side, but the drive side I'm not crazy about. I've setup rearends in the past, but it has been a while.

Back to garage and check on that crossmember

[Roberts68]

My gear pattern looks good on the coast side, but the drive side I'm not crazy about. I've setup rearends in the past, but it has been a while.


So, since the teeth are shaped a little like a sharks tooth can you tell the uninitiated like me which side is which?
I'd call one the round side which would be the head and the other less than 90* angle side would be the tail. Which is drive and which is coast?
One side has a small round pattern and the other looks to be the full face wearing. I have a rear end out right now too that I could at least clean/paint the teeth on out of curiosity and see what sort of pattern it has.

It would seem to me the side toward the "tail" would be the drive side because the teeth woul dbe more engaged that way but I am just speculating.

[makoshark]

The steering box still does not fit:(

The concave side of the gear is the coast side and the convex side is the drive side of the gear

[Roberts68]

The concave side of the gear is the coast side and the convex side is the drive side of the gear

Huh. Well, not the first time I was ever wrong and probably not the last.:D

[makoshark]

Don't feel bad. At glance, that is the way it would appear to be, but its actually the opposite.

I've been on the phone, off and on all day, with Dynatech. So far, no solution. It's not looking good at this point. They asked me to measure my heads from side to side. I got 18 5/8" from passenger side head, at the header flange, to the drivers side head, at the header flange. They told me, they built the headers based on 18", which is stock head size.

If anyone out there reading this and has aftermarket aluminum heads, non-Edelbrock, can you please measure from the passenger side head to the drivers side head and see what measurement you get? This is with a SBC.

[Sonar Chief]

If anyone out there reading this and has aftermarket aluminum heads, non-Edelbrock, can you please measure from the passenger side head to the drivers side head and see what measurement you get? This is with a SBC.

Hey I just measured my 327 w/AFR heads and came up with a measurement of 18 3/8 inches, hope that helps!

[makoshark]

Hey I just measured my 327 w/AFR heads and came up with a measurement of 18 3/8 inches, hope that helps!

Dynatech told me they built the revised header off of the stock heads, which according to them, measured 18". They said I was the only one that has had interference problems with the revised header hitting the 600 series box.

I'm wondering, who would buy a $600+ steering box and $500 headers and use stock cast iron heads?

[Roberts68]

Mine is the OE 327 sbc block with earlier camelbacks, 18 1/4" at the head faces, not including gaskets or measuring to the header flange.

I'm not so sure a more stock set of iron heads would or could be any narrower but you make a good point. Most would have gone aftermarket aluminum before all that.

Besides that, I thought the smaller 600 series boxess were supposed to be a clearance advantage? WTH?!

[makoshark]

If your's measures 18 1/4", then how did they get 18"? I'll have to dig further into that with them Monday. Something they are telling me is not adding up, but I suspect my head distance is the main culprit.

Yeah, you would think the 600 box would give more clearance being its a smaller box. I don't know what Dynatech has done or is not doing. I'm going to try one more thing, which they suggested. I'm going to unbolt the drivers motor mount and lift the motor a few inches and try to bolt the box in and the header and then slowly lower the motor back down, hoping there won't be any clearance issues. Although, I know there will be. If they aren't able to come up with a solution, then it looks as though I will building a set of headers myself:mad:

[makoshark]

I did some more checking and there is no reason for me to try and lift the drivers side of my engine to try and install the DSE box along with the Dynatech headers. I only have a fingers amount of clearance with the transmission to the transmission tunnel.

I was over on camaros.net and found where someone else was having this same issue, but with the older designed header. Dynatech revised the header and swapped headers with this particular poster giving them the revised header. They still had slight interference, but was able to mount both together.

I suspect a distance of 3/4" to 1" of clearance would be needed for me to clear the header and the DSE box. That's too much to try and gain in dimpling the tube. The tube would be nearly collapsed at that point. I'm out of ideas with these headers and do not see how Dynatech is going to be able to make this happen. Looks like I'm gonna have to try and pull a rabbit out of the hat and make a freaking set of headers:mad:

[makoshark]

This weekend I have been out working on the car trying to get some stuff done. I gave up on my header issue for the moment due to the fact Dynatech headers do not fit my setup. I moved on to other issues like modifying the TH400 crossmember to fit my 4L60E trans. I cut the mount off to reposition it like I was told I could do. Well, that is a no go. I would have to cut the crossmember completely in half, doing some major modifcation to make it work. I don't want to do that because of the aesthetics of how it would look afterwards. I'll have to hunt for a already made crossmember to satisfy me. I wonder if one would bolt directly on with my luck?

Next, I was checking my front brake setup to see if it will fit. My rotor hats are too deep, so I get on Wilwoods site to see if I can get a shallower hat. Guess what? No go! Now, I have to scrap my front brake setup and order a bolt-on kit from Wilwood. I'm looking at the FN6LR front brake kit for my car.

To sum up my weekend, yesterday cost me around $200+ for a new crossmember that will bolt up and today cost me $1500+ for new front brakes.

Working on this car is costing more money then not working on it.

Gotta love it:woot:

[BBC71Nova]

Sounds like we got luck in common ha!

Did you look into G-Force Crossmembers? They are nice and I y
Think they have one for that setup.

[makoshark]

If it weren't for bad luck, we wouldn't have any luck at all:cheers:

I looked at that cross member, but it looks quite hefty. I wonder what it weighs?

[makoshark]

I'm starting to get pissed with Dynatech. They are basically blowing me off at this point. I'm not getting any communication from them now and their last communication was saying it was the motor mounts. We, both, came to the conclusion that motor mounts had nothing to do with why these aren't fitting.

I measured between the motor and steering box and got just over 2 inches between the two. They sent me a picture which appears to show a lot more clearance than 2 inches.

[makoshark]

Anyone out there with a SBC, can I get a measurement from you all please?

I need to know how tall your engine pedestal with the motor mount is. Measure from the frame itself to the mounting pad on the motor. Also, tell me what stands and mounts you are using please. Thanks!

I'm showing mine driver's side and passenger side respectively.

I am using 69 Camaro GM 302/350 engine pedestals along with Prothane tall poly mounts.

Also, if you happen to have a DSE steering box, could you possibly measure the distance from the box to the head. I listed a picture showing the measurement I'm getting.

Thanks again everyone!

[makoshark]

Dynatech and I have finally came to the conclusion that these headers are not going to fit my application. I do not know why these headers do not fit my application as they were specifically made to fit my application:(

Now, back to the drawing board. What headers now? I have to fit the DSE steering box and the Ridetech Truturn

[boogyman]

great job man...keep da pics coming:thumbsup:

[makoshark]

great job man...keep da pics coming:thumbsup:

Thanks boogyman:_paranoid

[makoshark]

I had a productive Saturday. FINALLY!

I got the rear pinion angle set and the upper bar tabs tacked onto the rearend for the rear 4-link.

I managed to get the Dynatech headers to finally fit the DSE steering box as well. I had it setup for them to go back, but thought I'd give it one last go today and try to get them to fit. After researching last night for headers and only came up with custom built headers for around $2000, I found more motivation to try and make these work. They do not fit perfectly, though. I will have to dimple #5 primary tube to clear the steering box. I can live with that:thumbsup:

My longer front coil-overs came Friday, so I will get the front suspension setup early this week. I ordered a G-Force cross member and it will be here Tuesday. Providing I get the front suspension done Monday and no later than Tuesday, I will be able to put this car on the ground with its new suspension and complete drivetrain in the car.

I, also, measured for my driveshaft, so I will be ordering that Monday.

Here's some pictures for those that like the picture books instead of the books with words:P

Rear suspension at ride height:yes:

[Roberts68]

That looks awesome, congrats on the progress. Keep up the great work!

[makoshark]

Thanks Robert. I'm stoked, to say the least. Can't even go to sleep. Getting those headers to even come close to fitting has lifted a huge weight off my shoulders as well as getting the rear suspension finally setup along with driveshaft ready to order:woot:

[Ron in SoCal]

Lookin good mako!

[makoshark]

Thanks Ron

[Rick D]

Great progress :thumbsup: Keep at it you will have in done in no time.
What wheels are running? I've seen those before?

[makoshark]

Thanks Rick. They are nothing special. They are aftermarket replica wheels. They are called the C6 Z06 Motorsports wheel.

[Rick D]

Thanks Rick. They are nothing special. They are aftermarket replica wheels. They are called the C6 Z06 Motorsports wheel.

eBay? I thinks thats where I have seen them, they look really nice. I thought of going with those at one point but then I got this crazy idea that I have to have Forumla 43 wheels :unibrow: Now I just need to find where that money is tree my kids think is in the back yard :lol:

[makoshark]

eBay? I thinks thats where I have seen them, they look really nice. I thought of going with those at one point but then I got this crazy idea that I have to have Forumla 43 wheels :unibrow: Now I just need to find where that money is tree my kids think is in the back yard :lol:

I actually found them cheaper just buying direct from the Manufacturer. They are not a bad looking wheel. They are definitely not the wheel I want, but I'm not willing to shell out $5k for a set of wheels right now.

I tried to grow one of those money trees. The problem I found with them is I can never get the seed to germinate. Guess it takes money to make money, right:lol:

[Rick D]

Come on their not 5k for the wheels only $4200 :lol: Yah my wheels will come a little later in the build. Unless I find another great deal like I had before but had to back out because of some uncertainty at work.

[makoshark]

I'll sport the 'el cheapos' for a while. I am really digging the Forgeline Concave series wheels and those are the wheels I'll have. I just gotta figure out how to get that darn tree to grow:rolleyes:

[makoshark]

My new GForce 4L60E crossmember came yesterday. Guess what? It doesn't fit:wow:

I would laugh at this point, but being told the same joke over and over makes it not funny anymore.

[makoshark]

The subframe has 2 bolt holes on each side of the frame that the crossmember bolts to. The G-Force x-member only catches 1 of the 2 on each side. The transmission poly mount has 3 holes in it and came with 2 studs. The x-member has 2 sloted holes in it, which the 2 outer holes on the poly mount line up with outside of the car. When I install the x-member, I have to put 1 stud in the middle hole of the mount to only catch 1 of the slotted holes of the x-member.

Looks like G-Force is my latest company to go round and round with.

[Rick D]

I can here it now, "your the first person to ever complain about this" not trying to bash anyone because I'm sure they will make it right. But when my shop was open we heard that all the time :rolleyes: It does get old after awhile. And I know it's Hot Rodding but something like this can get you very frustrated! Good luck I'm sure they will take care of it.

[makoshark]

Yeah, that is what I am expecting to hear. Either my car is a mechanical oddity or these vendors are full of ****. My vote is for the latter.

Quite frankly, I don't know what they can do to fix this. They only make the one x-member for my application. It's offset to the passenger side, as if it were made for a big block with the offset motor mounts. However, it does not catch all 4 of the frame holes, only the back 2.

I wonder if it would cause any problems to run just 1 bolt in the trans mount to the x-member? Seems like I remember having a car once that had a trans mount like that.

[BBC71Nova]

I think you need to rename your project as it is bringing you bad luck ;)

I'd give the guy at G-Force a call. I've spoken to him a couple of times and he's always been helpful. He can at least confirm that the crossmember was designed for a big block setup. It does appear from the pics that way but the offset looks much more significant than I would expect. I think the offset is only 5/8" or something <1" anyway. The longer trans would require more off set though due to the angles involved.

Anyway, if that is the case I guess you could swap your mounts out? Although not sure that would be what you'd want to do and could just move the problem. It might help your steering box clearance though. I have a set of big block frame stands and a couple different sets of solid mounts I could send your way to experiment with if you'd like.

[makoshark]

I think you need to rename your project as it is bringing you bad luck ;)

I'd give the guy at G-Force a call. I've spoken to him a couple of times and he's always been helpful. He can at least confirm that the crossmember was designed for a big block setup. It does appear from the pics that way but the offset looks much more significant than I would expect. I think the offset is only 5/8" or something <1" anyway. The longer trans would require more off set though due to the angles involved.

Anyway, if that is the case I guess you could swap your mounts out? Although not sure that would be what you'd want to do and could just move the problem. It might help your steering box clearance though. I have a set of big block frame stands and a couple different sets of solid mounts I could send your way to experiment with if you'd like.


Thanks John...I may take you up on that offer if I can't get this setup to work. I did speak with the tech guy over at G-Force. He was very helpful and very knowledgeable. He pointed out something I'm surprised I did not catch. He told me the tail of my transmission needs to be shifted over to the passenger side of the car. He said the mount should fit no problem. He also told me to double check my motor pedestals to see if I had them on backwards. They weren't. However, shifting the tail of the trans over just may be the ticket. I was having some clearance issues in the tunnel with my transmission on the drivers side that I was not expecting. That little bit of shift just may give me the amount of clearance I'm looking for with the driver's side header fitting to the DSE steering box as well. Now I just gotta figure out how to shift all that weight over to the passenger side by myself

[makoshark]

I played around with different motor pedestals that I had laying around, today, and ruled out any alternatives there. I have the correct ones for my setup installed. Thankfully! I did manage to get both bolts through the x-member into the trans mount. However, I'm not able to get the x-member to catch the 4 factory mounting holes. It is hitting the trans pan keeping me from getting both sides to catch. I can catch both on one side, but not the other. I can adjust the x-member to the rear of the car and make new mounting holes or notch the x-member to clear the pan. If I notch the x-member, then that would require a good deal of fab work, as well as, make my rear trans pan bolts inaccessible while the mount is installed. At this point, I feel I will just relocate the frame mounting holes. It also appears the x-member needs to shift to the passenger side another 1/4". I have gotten it to move over a bit, but these poly mounts are tight and seem to not give the ability to make many adjustments. I can see that the motor and trans will, definitely, need to be installed onto the subframe fully assembled before installing it to the finished car.

I'm making progress an 1/8" at a time right now:rolleyes:

[Rick D]

Just a thought, have you tryed to lift the trans up out of the way and see if the mounting holes line up? At least then you know they made it correctly.

[makoshark]

Just a thought, have you tryed to lift the trans up out of the way and see if the mounting holes line up? At least then you know they made it correctly.

Yeah, I checked that while I had the engine lifted up a bit. The crossmember lined up with the frame then. Big thanks for helping me think out of the box though:bow:

I talked to Dave, tech guy, over at G-Force crossmembers and he and I believe we found what the problem is. Their website does not mention this, but another company that sells their x-member does. They said the x-member fits all 700r4, 4l60's and early 4l60e's. My trans builder told me the 97 4l60e, what I have, is basically the same as the LS ones, minus the removable bellhousing. Dave told me the LS trans is a tad bit longer. That seems to be my problem. The x-member is hitting the trans pan keep it from lining up on both sides of the frame. The only solution Dave and I came up with is just to drill new mounting holes in the frame. No big deal to me really.

I just looked on their website and they now say fits only early 4l60e's. I guess they changed it after I spoke with them. They requested I send over pictures of my install with their x-member so they can try to figure out exactly what is going on and so they can make possible adjustments to their x-member for the future. Wonder if I get the first one, free, for point out this problem to them?:unibrow:

Anyway, they are a great company with great customer service. I highly recommend G-Force crossmembers.

Side note, my driveshaft has been shipped and will be here next Wednesday!!!

[Rick D]

Well at least in the end it is an easy fix!
As for the crossmember, I would offer to get them all the pictures and measurements they want, in exchange for the new crossmember? Even if you don't want to change it out at that point you can keep it for a future project :willy: Or sell it?

[makoshark]

I'm not completely sure they will build a new crossmember. If they do, hopefully I can exchange this one or something for a new one. I am, most definitely, going to give them all the info I possibly can, though. If I give them everything, maybe I can get lucky:rolleyes:

Been out in the garage today messing around getting my front suspension finished. I got the new coil-overs mounted. From the looks of the front suspension at full droop, I'm not completely sure the 5" stroke shock will work. In the pictures, the upper arms are sitting on the bump stops, however look how low the front suspension droops down unloaded compared to the rear set at ride height. Does that look right? When the car is set down on the tires, will all the weight in the front compress the shocks 2.5"?

Also, I installed Ridetech Truturn system. It fits the Dynatech headers and my oil pan as well. Finally, something that fits. But! I'm not sure these wheels are going to work. It appears the adapters I have on there right now, 2", are pushing the wheel out too far. I don't know how to accurately measure for the correct size without having a reference measurement to go by. I found a great calculator on the net, but without a reference measurement to go by, I just have to play the guessing game. Anyway, the tie rod stud is within a hair of touching the rim. I could cut it shorter as it sticks out around a 1/2 inch past the nut when fully tightened and gain clearance there?

[makoshark]

I made some brackets and mounted my power steering cooler. I still have to make the steering lines. I might make them tomorrow.

I, also, installed the transmission cooler lines. What a mfer it was to install those after the motor was installed. I knew I should have installed them prior to installing the motor/trans. They are TH350 lines and they fit right up to the 4L60E.

I would say, today was a good day:yes:

[makoshark]

The latest episode in project "It Don't Fit."

I ordered my driveshaft last week. It came this past Wednesday. I quickly unpackaged it and installed it. I slid the trans yoke into the transmission and raised it to attach it to the pinion yoke. Guess what? It wouldn't go onto the rear yoke. It hit the yoke on the side of it. The driveshaft was built too long! Gotta send it back to be shortened and rebalanced:(

[makoshark]

I finally had time yesterday to send back the driveshaft. After speaking with Shaftmasters, they goofed and did not account for the amount of slip in the slip yoke. Per their measuring instructions, I was to measure from the center of the u-joint on the rear diff yoke to the center of the u-joint with the trans yoke slipped all the way in. They were suppose to calculate the amount of slip, but did not do it. This is suppose to be corrected and sent back to me. We'll see!

I also got the front sheet metal attached to the car and started working on getting lined up. While I was at it, I installed the rear coil-overs, taking out the makeshift ride height brackets and had the front tires installed on the wheels. I tightened up all the suspension and set the car on all 4 wheels. I like the ride height. I think the front, with some adjusting, needs to come down a hair more and the front wheel adapters are too long. I need to order some 1.5" ones to replace the 2" ones I have on there now.

I pretty much got everything I needed to get mocked up before prepping body for paint at this point. As soon as I get the front sheet metal perfectly lined up, I will take the car all back apart and throw it up on my newly constructed rotisserie. I have a few welds here and there that need to be finished and others that need attention. I'll take care of all the final welding, then, and then sand, spot prime and spray the Raptor liner on the bottom of the car. I'll also paint the rear diff and subframe. After that, its finish spraying the high build primer on the car and block sanding time. I'm so close to paint, but with no time for all this!

[Rick D]

Looking good! Its a great feeling when you get back on the ground :cool:

[makoshark]

Indeed it is! Even, though, it will, very quickly, be back up in the air.

[Sonar Chief]

Looking good :thumbsup: On four tires .... that's a milestone rite there :woot:
Good job !

[makoshark]

Thanks! It's been a frustrating and bumpy ride to get it back on the ground. I made it through though!:yes:

[makoshark]

I have not made any progress at all on my car lately. I have been swamped. However, I am getting some free time again, so progress with commence soon. I'll be making my last Wilwood order this week for my front brake kit. That will finalize my brakes and complete my entire drivetrain.

I was out at George Poteet's place this past weekend. He had a big event there. His sister invited me over to check out his collection. He had his land speed car there for the first time at his place. I wasn't able to get any good pictures of anything as there were just too many people standing around all the cars.

Sorry for the crappy iphone pics.

[snappytravis]

I finally had time yesterday to send back the driveshaft. After speaking with Shaftmasters, they goofed and did not account for the amount of slip in the slip yoke. Per their measuring instructions, I was to measure from the center of the u-joint on the rear diff yoke to the center of the u-joint with the trans yoke slipped all the way in. They were suppose to calculate the amount of slip, but did not do it. This is suppose to be corrected and sent back to me. We'll see!

I also got the front sheet metal attached to the car and started working on getting lined up. While I was at it, I installed the rear coil-overs, taking out the makeshift ride height brackets and had the front tires installed on the wheels. I tightened up all the suspension and set the car on all 4 wheels. I like the ride height. I think the front, with some adjusting, needs to come down a hair more and the front wheel adapters are too long. I need to order some 1.5" ones to replace the 2" ones I have on there now.

I pretty much got everything I needed to get mocked up before prepping body for paint at this point. As soon as I get the front sheet metal perfectly lined up, I will take the car all back apart and throw it up on my newly constructed rotisserie. I have a few welds here and there that need to be finished and others that need attention. I'll take care of all the final welding, then, and then sand, spot prime and spray the Raptor liner on the bottom of the car. I'll also paint the rear diff and subframe. After that, its finish spraying the high build primer on the car and block sanding time. I'm so close to paint, but with no time for all this!

It's always the cars fault why the parts don't fit, or sometimes you have to kinda jack things around a little bit, I had a manufacturer tell me that, I was thinking, dude I have jacked more sh=- around then you can imagine, one of them even told me that we don't build the cars we just build the parts, well maybe you need to build a car to see how your parts fit? Keep after it I have been there as well. Makes you want to jab a straight screwdriver in your head sometimes. Good luck

[makoshark]

It's all part of building these cars that parts do not fit. It would be nice every once and a while to be able to bolt a part on and walk away though. I have a lot of the major bugs worked out now. One thing I still have to figure out is the routing of the parking brake cables. I don't like the way the factory did it. I, also, have to route my exhaust. With the Ridetech rear Airbar, I can't use the Magnaflow over axle tubes that came in my kit.

[coolwelder62]

I am enjoying this build :thumbsup:.It is nice when the parts bolt right on.But I love it when folks don't give up and keep working to make everything fit togather.Thats hotrodding at it's Best.:thumbsup:

[BBC71Nova]

...It is nice when the parts bolt right on...

Scott, you are kidding right? I didn't know that EVER happened. I bet you've seen a unicorn too huh. :rofl:

It's not just your luck Mako. I took off Friday thinking I could make a little progress. Easy "just bolt it on" stuff like installing the steering box and the headers were first on the list. HA! Even the steering box didn't fit. Casting flash on the box hit the frame before it set flush. Nothing like having to take an angle grinder to your new Lee box :( . A few hours and a different set of frame mounts later the headers still aren't on. Maybe one night this week.

[makoshark]

I feel for ya John. I just went through that same saga. I have turned my build thread into venting my frustrations. After beating my head against the wall and the concrete floor a few times through the process. I have managed to accomplish my goals. They just took weeks longer than the few hours I originally thought they would. It doesn't help when the vendors I order from goof up the order either, though

[makoshark]

I will note, the reason why I have not made any progress lately is that I am running for State Representative in my district. That has taken most all of my free time, but I'm going to make a little time to get some stuff done.

Contributions to my campaign are welcomed:)

JeremyBryan.org

[makoshark]

I need a new trunk lid for my car. I have tried 3 different reproduction lids and the fit was terrible with all of them. I put on an original lid and it fits perfect, but that particular lid is beat up pretty badly. The original lid would require quite a bit of work to use, so I'm looking again for a lid that will fit like it with less work involved.

I was looking at the Heartbeat City lid and was wondering how well they fit?
I was also looking at the Anvil lid, do they fit well?

I want a lid to fit as well or as close to the original lid fits. The reproductions are worthless and should not even be sold!!!

[coolwelder62]

The Anvil componet's I have used fit good.:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Ron in SoCal]

The Anvil componet's I have used fit good.:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Not only that, the decklid was one of the best fitting parts they sent me:

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac52/flash911/Build%20Thread/IMG_1475.jpg

[makoshark]

Good news! Thanks guys. Anvil was what I was leaning towards, but haven't found much info on how well their deck lids fit.

[Ron in SoCal]

Good news! Thanks guys. Anvil was what I was leaning towards, but haven't found much info on how well their deck lids fit.

As much respect as i have for Matt and Co, please remember that it is a carbon fiber part and the recent batch will only be as good as the mold it's pulled from. Also I did find that under spring pressure the center bowed just a teeny bit; trunk seal will also effect fit. Just something to keep in mind...:cheers:

[makoshark]

Good points, Ron, and those still have me considering the Heartbeat City one. However, the few reviews I have found from Heartbeat City are not the most positive. I wonder how true to form the Anvil will stay over time being in the elements?

[makoshark]

It's been a long time since I have had the time to work on my project. The only thing I have done is get my new Wilwood front brake setup ordered and delivered. I have been campaigning for state representative in my district and it has gone into a runoff. The election date is this coming Tuesday. Responses have been positive, but I will not know if I win till all the votes are counted, of course. I'm anxious to get this campaign over with and get back working on the project. Keep me in your prayers for a win Tuesday!

[makoshark]

Since I'm still a regular 'Joe' after losing the election in a runoff by 11%, I figured it was time to back to my long neglected project. I haven't made a great deal of progress, though. I'm having to catch up on everything that had to be put on hold during the campaign. I did get my brakes mocked up, master installed and my Lokar pedals installed. Now I need to route the brake lines, attach the accelerator cable to the pedal and route the emergency brake lines. Once I get all that done, then I can get the exhaust routed. Then mockup will be completed!

[makoshark]

Merry Christmas to all the lat-g folks out there. Hope you all have a very safe and wonderful day with your family and friends.

[fleetus macmullitz]

I am now presenting the Lat-g debut of my world famous 67 Camaro. This car will be the standard for all builds to follow. It will be the pinnacle of the pro-touring movement. It will achieve what others have set out to do, but would fall short every time.:unibrow:



I like it! :D


Merry Christmas to all the lat-g folks out there. Hope you all have a very safe and wonderful day with your family and friends.

And Merry Christmas to you, 'regular Joe'. ;)

[makoshark]

Happy New Year to all the lat-g viewers out there!

This past year has been full of frustrations for my project, but I managed to work through most of them. I am going to continue to plug away on this heap and do my best to get it finished. Hopefully this year will bring better fortunes for my car.

I have been researching colors for quite some time and have finally settled on a color that I feel would satisfy me. I purchased a small amount and sprayed out a test on my header panel to see how it looked. I've been staring at this for the past week and have finally been able to settle the frustration of finding the right color. What do you all think?

[Roberts68]

I LIKE IT! But then... I might be somewhat biased.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e214/YamaCowboy/Camaro/photobucket-21518-1340881551010a_zps7a711ede.jpg

Mine is 1994 Corvette Admiral Blue, with a little pearl in the clear. Painted in '96

[makoshark]

We think alike:)

In that picture, that is about as dark as that color gets. At different angles and lighting it gets lighter. The color I have chosen is House of Kolor Stratto Blue in the Shimrin fine metallic line. It appears to be very close to GM Jetstream blue, which I absolutely love but do not want a tricoat paint.

Here it is with a closeup shot at a little bit different angle...

[Roberts68]

That sounds killer. Pictures never seem to do paint a lick of justice but when you show that panel and say it is the same panel? Balls, that is some cool effect in the paint. I like subtle but I also love how some of the paints today shimmer, shade and change over contours and what better canvas than a classic.

I regret being talked into doing my flames and wish I had a more factory muscle appearance such as I was asking for. The shop swayed me from a white stripe around the nose to the purple flames.:rolleyes:

I keep my eye out for cooler shades that resemble the ash gold I see hidden within my car, underdash or undercarpet etc... and I could see myself going back to a factory remenescent hue and adding a black stripe someday. Especially if I found a Pewter/Gold color that makes a change like you just illustrated. That is very alluring.

[makoshark]

I highly recommend House of Kolor. You can make any color you want and get whatever affect you are after. The panel I displayed with the blue I'm going to use is their standard metallic in the Shimrin line with no effects added to it. However, HOK regular base, such as this color, does provide a pearl look to it without it actually being a pearl. I was considering using their Shimrin2 base and adding a pearl to it, but after spraying a test with this color I'm deadset on this. I might like the Shimrin2 with pearl better, but cost would more than double. I can shoot the Shimrin in this color for $40 a quart unreduced.
I am thinking about spraying a charcoal grey bumblebee stripe and possibly also the tail panel. I'm still on the fence with that right now, but have plenty of time to decide.

One thing that is bothering me right now is my car came with the RS package. The doors have the large holes at the bottom for the RS trim and the rockers and fenders have the holes for the rocker spears. Also, the car had, originally, wheel well trim. I am just not feeling all this trim with the direction I have went with this car. What does everyone think about welding up the RS trim holes in the doors, rockers and fenders? The roof rain gutter is supposed to have chrome trim as well. Should I delete that trim as well?

[Roberts68]

This might be more of a Team Camaro question but did only RS package cars come with all the trim? I only ask because mine has all that bling but to my knowledge was a standard coupe with deluxe interior.

If you have moved on and do not want to go back then buzz them shut. It is your car... if you have the trim, and are still intent on selling it I think I would put it on. Tough call.

[makoshark]

I'm confident the answer on TC would be to keep the trim on the car. Too many purist over there. Quite frankly, I'm not fond of a protouring car with all the trim and badges all over the car, but that's just me. To me, one of the goals of building a protouring car is to give the car a sleeker appearance. It's a difficult call, though.
The 67 RS cars came with trim on the doors, fenders and quarters along with a spear directly below it on the rocker along with wheel well trim. I really like blubalz trim delete look. Maybe I should weld it all up and shave the rain gutters:willy:

I do have some rare NOS wheel well trim and some mint rain gutter trim I could sell for more parts funds. One thing I can't really delete and actually like are the wing windows. Let me rephrase that, I like the functionality of the vent windows, but don't care for how they break up the flow of the side appearance of the car. Make sense?

[Roberts68]

I guess I phrased that rather poorly. I meant to be inquiring to you about whether non-RS Camaros would have been optioned with the full trim... and that my question might be better served on TC.
I hear you on the oversaturation of purists over there, but it is a good resource.

As to PT cars bearing trim and emblems it is a personal choice. Some shed them as "weight" as well as seeking a different appearance. I like a mix, but then if my build was more advanced to the PT curve who knows?

What's a "wing window"?:unibrow:
:lol:

[makoshark]

I suppose non-RS cars could received wheel well trim and the rocker spear, not completely sure about that though. The fender, door and quarter trim was specific only to the RS optioned cars though.

'Wing window' cars were the 50 hp extra cars that were only specific to the 67 model Camaro, hence making them faster than the slower two years:P

[WSSix]

You answered your own question about all the trim. I agree for the most part with you as well. To me, by the late 60s and into the 70s all the excessive trim is almost a distraction so I like seeing it deleted completely or reduced. No wheel well trim for sure. On older cars, the trim seems to fit the design and personality of the cars more. Early 60s Impalas come to mind.

I really like this blue you've chosen. I think it'll look great. Don't over analyze this or keep scrutinizing your choice after you've painted the car. Lay on it nicely and as best you can and it'll be great. You don't want to keep questioning your decision after it's done. That might lead you to dislike your choice instead of enjoying the car.

I also like the charcoal accents idea. In general, I like seeing the tail panels on 1st gen Camaros an accent color or blacked out. It just gives it a different attitude. Hard to explain. I just know I like it.

Keep the vent windows. You can always darken the window trim to make it stick out less. I personally like vent windows on vehicles unless you go really hardcore and start doing major body line changes. Then deleting them almost seems necessary.

Good luck.

[makoshark]

I did some measuring the other day and found out I didn't install my subframe completely square to the body, so I pulled it back out. I never was able to get the same measurements I found in the Fisher body book. I was an inch shy of one of their cross measurements...strange...I did however get it square. I finally welded on the DSE subframe connector brackets to the frame as well. My frame has a flare at the end and the DSE brackets would not fit flush, on the side, to the frame, so I had to get creative. What do you think?

[Roberts68]

Well that post was enough to create paranoia over swapping my subs one for the other...:_paranoid
I think your fix looks about like it was made that way. Got a pic from above? Or another angle?

I'm still torn over whether I want to take the front clip apart or off, contemplating pulling the motor then dropping the sub out... and so on.

[makoshark]

It's strange, I had a 68 frame under the car for a while that I did the permanent Guldstrand mod to. It fit perfectly under the car right on spec with the Fisher body manual. I switched back to the original frame to this car when I purchased the Truturn system. Ridetech states their system cannot be used with the G-mod. Now, the original frame to this car measures nearly an inch shorter at one of the cross measurements from what Fisher manual states. I'll find out tomorrow how the fenders fit with this frame.

I'll snap some more pictures tomorrow for you from different angles.

[makoshark]

I'm still torn over whether I want to take the front clip apart or off, contemplating pulling the motor then dropping the sub out... and so on.

I would do everything I could to not have to remove the fenders. I've been trying, off and on, for quite some time to get my fenders aligned properly and have yet been able to get a fit that I'm satisfied with. I have all GM metal, minus hood, and still am having trouble. I'm about to defeat these ill-fitting fenders though!

[Roberts68]

I would do everything I could to not have to remove the fenders. I've been trying, off and on, for quite some time to get my fenders aligned properly and have yet been able to get a fit that I'm satisfied with. I have all GM metal, minus hood, and still am having trouble. I'm about to defeat these ill-fitting fenders though!

Kick their @$$
You'll get 'em.

I am fortunate to have GM fenders too since the body tech insisted in '96 My hood is Goodmark I think. I learned last summer the rad support is GM too.

Was that first line your advice based on experience? Keep my front clip together if at all possible?

[makoshark]

Yes, sometimes you get lucky and they line right up, then other times it can take days. If you do remove them, make sure you double tape all the edges up and document what shims went where.

[makoshark]

I've been working on front cap alignment. It's still not where it needs to be, but am getting close. Once I'm satisfied with the fitment, I'll move on to working the gaps and the flatness of the panel edges. Factory panels had a curve to them up to the edge from the stamping process. I like for them to be flat across the gaps.

[Sonar Chief]

I was just reading your update .... looks like you have your work cut out fer sure. Did you say those were GM fenders? They don't look so good :(

Again you are ahead of my car and I still have the whole panel alignment to look forward too, new door skins! :willy: :willy: Maybe I'll start drinking and they will look better from 20 feet :rofl:

[makoshark]

Maybe I'll start drinking and they will look better from 20 feet :rofl:


Now that is the best idea I've heard all day:thumbsup:

Yes, they are original GM fenders aligned to original GM doors:wow:

I'm sure I'm making it more difficult than it should be:faint:

[makoshark]

I have still been fighting the front cap alignment. I never would have dreamed this was going to give me such fits. No forward progress to report for alignment.

I did manage to reinstall the front suspension. I had to repair a damaged area on the passenger lower control arm pocket in the subframe. After I set the car back on the ground, I believe I'm going to need shorter front coilovers. I recently switched to Ridetech control arms and I believe they are going to require the coilover to be about an inch shorter. I'll have to contact Ridetech again and see if they will, once again, let me swap these coilovers for some shorter ones.

I was wondering if anyone would be willing to take a measurement for me. I need to compare my car to others. I need a measurement in the quarter window channel from front to rear please?

[tubbed69]

people that do not do this alot have no idea how much work you put into perfect gaps and body lines,cars looking good though,mine is a 69 if the measuements are the same let me know I will get whatever you need.

[makoshark]

people that do not do this alot have no idea how much work you put into perfect gaps and body lines,cars looking good though,mine is a 69 if the measuements are the same let me know I will get whatever you need.

Thanks Jeff. These cars, to make right, require significant amounts of very frustrating work!

69 bodies would be the same in this area

[Roberts68]

Jeremy, My interior is out and I will measure anything I can for you too.
If you can give exact instructions point to point for accuracy.
You want rear quarter window channel width? Or from there to where front to rear?
Or length of quarter window channel where the fuzzy window felt goes?

PM or email, anything I can do Buddy.

[makoshark]

Thanks Robert!

I'll snap some pictures and post them so everyone will know what exactly I need measured. I'm sure each car will vary and that is what I'm wanting to see, so hopefully a few more will pop in with measurements to compare with

[Roberts68]

I'll snap some pictures and post them so everyone will know what exactly I need measured. I'm sure each car will vary and that is what I'm wanting to see, so hopefully a few more will pop in with measurements to compare with

:idea: Good call. I will have a look once you get some pics of what you need.

[makoshark]

The first two pictures are from the passenger side and then, of course, the last two are from the driver's side.

[tubbed69]

Just measured mine and the passenger side looks about the same as yours but mine is a little tighter than yours on the front of the drivers side which is not good because these glasses are really hard to roll up and down with interior panels in place.

[Sonar Chief]

The first two pictures are from the passenger side and then, of course, the last two are from the driver's side.

Jeremy.... I'll get pictures when I get back later today. I still have the OEM quarters on too.

[Roberts68]

First of all, relevant to our earlier conversation Mako, it is -12 degrees :eek: here in my garage so if you want to factor in some shrinkage to my measurements it may be justified.:headscratch:

Anyway, one difference is that my car has the outer window felts and trim at the window ledges but the measurements I took were around those attachment points to try and be consistent to yours. I measured body to body only so the trim would not be a factor.

At the rear of the pass quarter window slot I get 1 5/16"
At the front of it I get 1 1/4"

My pass door slot is mostly 1 1/2, and I measured at the mirror and before/aft the window stabilizing clip with felt on it, window guide they might call it.

My drivers qtr window slot was a touch narrower at the rear I got 1 3/16 and maybe a fat 1 1/8 at the front.

My Drivers door is the same as pass.

My car's body is all original behind the firewall.

[makoshark]

Awesome, thanks guys. Seems 1 1/4" was what GM engineered that channel to be. My driver's side measures that consistently throughout the length of the channel. however, My passenger side is a 1/16" narrower in the rear and 1/8" narrower in the front of the channel. I have replaced my quarters with NOS metal.

I asked for that measurement because of my fitment issues with the front cap. I can get the doors to fenders aligned together, but I can't get the doors to quarters to sing in harmony. I have the tops of the doors adjusted further in to work with the fenders. By doing this, it pushes the door in past the quarter plane. Make sense? My only solution to this problem right now is to place a block of wood in the jamb at the top of the door and twist the door a tad to get it level with the quarter. I'm worried, though, by doing this it will kick that bottom of the door out past the quarter at the jamb.

-12* is cold enough to shrink a lot more than metal:D I think the coldest it has ever gotten around here is 0. That was freaking cold. I could only imagine what -12 feels like. ouch!

[makoshark]

Today, I woke up from my on-going nightmare of 4 weeks of working on panel alignment. I have the driver's side aligned as best as possible. I have 3/16" of shims on the top cowl bolt and I need to remove 1/16" to push out the fender to even it with the door. The door to quarter jamb still needs a bit of work, though. The top half of the door is leaning in and not even with the quarter. I haven't decided to either use a block of wood and twist the door or make a slice in the quarter just inside the door jamb. The driver quarter, as opposed to the passenger quarter, is thicker on the top edge than the door. Passenger quarter narrows up and is even with the door as the top edge transitions into the door. With that, I'm leaning towards surgery on the quarter.

The fender will need a bit of work where it meets the rocker as well. The two are not following the same contour, so I'll have to work on that. Also, towards the top of the fender it lays in past the door as it gets to the top edge. Looks like I'll have to make a slice on the fender just inside the fender-to-door gap to work that even with the door.

With that work left to be done, the shimming process on the driver side is DONE! I'm still working on the passenger side, but seems I'm making better progress today than I have in the past 4 weeks. Can I get an amen?:lol:

[Roberts68]

AMEN. :relax:

[Sieg]

Amen Brother!

I'm not feeling so bad about my trivial journey after reading your exercise in patience. :hail: :thumbsup:

[makoshark]

Thanks Sieg and Robert:cheers:

Patience, I don't think, really is the word for it. Persistence would fit better. If I were patient, then I wouldn't have a hole in my sheetrock from throwing a hammer through it this morning:bang: :sieg:

[Sieg]

Thanks Sieg and Robert:cheers:

Patience, I don't think, really is the word for it. Persistence would fit better. If I were patient, then I wouldn't have a hole in my sheetrock from throwing a hammer through it this morning:bang: :sieg:
That's passion!

You can put a poster over the sheet rock. :)

I'll never forget thrashing one night to prep a bike for a x-country race the next day that involved leaving town at 4 a.m. to make the starting line at 8:30 and snapping a bolt..........I "released" the ratchet across the garage and it hit my 2 week old washing machine dead center on the front edge and left a dent and 1.5" void of enamel which for the next 10 years reminded me to control my temper............30 years later I still have the ratchet!! :woot:

[makoshark]

I lost it this morning for sure. After 40 years, I've learned to not fly-off at the hat like that, but not this morning.

My driver's door needed a slight bit more tweaking to fit better. I loosened the hinge bolts just enough for them to move, but not move on their own. I broke out the dead blow to give the hinge a gentle tap. As soon as I did that, the door dropped down and threw off the entire adjustment. I, essentially, had to start all back over. Needless to say, that dead blow ended up in the other garage via a sheetrock wall.

My garages are due for a fresh coat of paint and I was planning to do that early spring. Guess, I have no choice in it now

[Sieg]

I lost it this morning for sure. After 40 years, I've learned to not fly-off at the hat like that, but not this morning.

My driver's door needed a slight bit more tweaking to fit better. I loosened the hinge bolts just enough for them to move, but not move on their own. I broke out the dead blow to give the hinge a gentle tap. As soon as I did that, the door dropped down and threw off the entire adjustment. I, essentially, had to start all back over. Needless to say, that dead blow ended up in the other garage via a sheetrock wall.

My garages are due for a fresh coat of paint and I was planning to do that early spring. Guess, I have no choice in it now

Nice throw! :hail:

Some emotions cannot be endured with a golf club in your hands.
~ Bobby Jones

[makoshark]

Not a great deal of progress has been made as of late. However, I haven't made any new holes in any walls, so that is a good thing.

I did make a hole in my original header panel though. I had picked up a NOS header panel a few years back at a swapmeet and recently found out that panel is for a 69 Camaro. That forced me to have to go back to the original panel. The area of the panel where the emblems go was oil canned and banged up. No matter what I did with the hammer and dolley, it just wouldn't move. So I cut out the metal and welded in a patch there.

Also, I picked up a LS3 short block. It may or may not ever make it into this car, but I'll put it in something eventually.

[KPC67]

Good work:thumbsup:

[makoshark]

I have revisited my panel alignment dilemma. This has been an ongoing process of a test of my patience, sanity and obvious lack of skill level when it comes to aligning this front cap. I have tried to progress this project to start prepping for paint, but have hit a proverbial brick wall with not being able to get the correct alignment of my fenders.

Bare with me as I detail my problems with this starting with the driver's side. I have the driver's side door aligned as well as I can to the quarter panel. The quarter to door gap is not perfect, however I can see at the bottom of the door it begins to curve out closing the gap with the quarter. The only thing I know that can be done there is grind the edge of the door to even the gap. However, I will probably break through the skin on the edge as it needs about 1/16" removed. Of course, if I break through I'll have to reweld, but would this be customary?

Also, on the driver's side fender, it required 3/8" of shims at the top of the cowl to lift the fender to the proper height to match the fender. I forget the amount of shims I added in the lower fender bolt. I did have to use 5/16" shims in the fender jamb bolt to pull the fender out enough to match the door. The driver's side fender to door is perfectly aligned. I am worried though, with the amount of shims I had to use in the fender jamb bolt. That amount of shims will increase the fender to hood gap as well as the outer cowl to fender gap. With all that aside, the fit is near perfect. This is the best fit I have managed on the driver's side. There is one exception though, the bottom fender corner that mates to the rocker panel sticks out past the rocker. I cannot get that to lay even with the rocker. Do I just accept all this or is there more work that could be done to get 'everything' to fit within sync?

Now onto the passenger side. I am not getting good alignment here at all. I have reworked the alignment on the passenger door so many times I lost count. The door gap along the rocker is tighter at the front of the door than the rear of the door. I didn't get an actual measurement, but I would guesstimate around as little as 1/6" to 1/8" difference. I dropped the front of the door in an attempt to lessen the amount of shims needed to lift the fender to match the top of the door. I have maxed out the amount of shims the cowl fender bolt would allow as well as the lower fender bolt would allow. None of which ever sucked the fender in even with the door. At this time, there is 1/16" more shim on the passenger side cowl bolt compared to the driver's side. If I lift the front of the passenger door to get a consistent rocker to door gap, then I would have to add even more shims to that fender cowl bolt. In doing so, that would cause the hood to sit that much higher than the drivers side which would make the front cap crooked. Also, I have no shims in the fender jamb bolt. The fender is sticking out well past the door with this arrangement. I did notice that the fender firewall bolt area has a tear in the sheetmetal, which with a tape measure shows the passenger fender is taller than the driver's fender when measuring from the top of the cowl to the top of the fender. I am beginning to think this is where the problem with my passenger fender lies. It has caused the fender to already be stretched more without adding shims, thus not allowing me to stretch the fender the appropriate amount to suck the fender in with the door. If this is the case, then how the heck can I get this part of the fender back within spec without damaging it? Also, the fender is doing the same thing on the passenger as with the driver's side at the rocker. The bottom corner sticks out past the rocker.

Both fenders and doors are original GM. The driver's side fender to outer cowl panel gap is measuring 1/4".

[makoshark]

The rest of the pictures

[makoshark]

Hmmm, I wonder how well this gauge set could be grafted into the 67 Camaro dash? This gauge set addresses 99% of the problems I have with the Dakato Digital VHX new gauge set. This set offers large gauges with a larger digital readout. I really want this set!

[Roberts68]

That looks awesome, what vehicle is it meant for? The biggest hiccup is likely to be view angle. That looks like a large radius would have to be sunk into the top of the dash quite a ways... Seems to me that is in the opposite direction of how our dash slopes isn't it?

[makoshark]

It's designed to fit the new Marquez dash. The 69 Camaro that Ridetech is building for GoodGuys is utilizing this gauge set.

The problems I see with integrating this set into a stock 67-8 dash is the width of it would cause you to have to relocate the ignition swith and the light switch. I'm not sure it would protrude into the dash top as this gauge set says its 7 1/4" in height. If you installed this set at an angle, laid back at the top, then that would reduce the height even further. It's the width of the set that seems to pose the problem. I don't think the factory a/c vents would work either. The factory opening is 13", so that is a 3" deficit to the VHX gauge set.

I have already broke out the tape measure and stared at my dash to see how will it could be fitted.

[tubbed69]

Wish you were closer would gladly help with the gaps,sure takes a lot of patience and maybe a few drywall repairs,good luck.

[makoshark]

Wish you were closer would gladly help with the gaps,sure takes a lot of patience and maybe a few drywall repairs,good luck.

Thanks...I've run out of patience though. I haven't touched the front cap lately. As a matter a fact, I removed it all. I did finally get around to prepping and spraying the inner cowl with epoxy primer. I installed the Vintage Air unit. I then prepped the back side of the repop dash top with epoxy primer, then white spray enamel followed by some strategically placed Dynamat Xtreme. After all that, I finally welded the dash top back onto the car. Ironically, the dash top was the first panel I removed from this car. Years later, I finally get around to installing the new one. I removed the dash completely after realizing someone had sprayed an entire gallon of paint on it. I'll get it sandblasted here soon and then reinstall it.

I really would like to get the front cap fitted, as it should, before I put it back up on the rotisserie to finish out the bottom of the car.

Yesterday, I spent most of the day finishing up my rotisserie. It took me a while to find someone to CNC laser cut some plate for the roto I designed.

[makoshark]

I have gotten the slave side of my rotisserie mostly done. I still need to finish up some welds, weld on some gussets and some braces. Also I need to complete the extension arms of it. I never realized this roto would take this long to fabricate and assemble. The first one I built was done in two days. I believe I have about six days total already in this one. The master side is going to take a bit more welding and fabricating still. It will probably take me two or three more days to say I'm done with this project.

[makoshark]

I checked with a local restoration shop about aligning my front cap. He told me he would be a few weeks out in having time to mess with it as he was busy readying some cars for the coming show season. I decided to bear it and get back to tweaking on it myself. I don't know if the stars were aligned properly or what, but I managed to get a fitment that I can live with.:D I have nice gaps, not precision perfect, but well within acceptable tolerances. I still can't seem to get the fenders to tuck in enough to stay on the same plane as the doors, but I have them very close.

I recently purchased a 'newly tooled' Golden Legion deck lid as well. I installed it and the fit was terrible. There's one of two ways to get it to fit correctly. Either take a hole saw or cut off wheel and remove the installed deck lid to hinge mounts and reinstall them in a different position or remove my EMS billet trunk hinges and go back to the factory steel hinges, which I did yesterday. The steel hinges allow more adjustment, but still not enough. However, I can do some welding by adding a small bit of metal to the hinge so that I can move the mount holes over a bit. By doing this, the trunk lid will have a perfect fit!! This is the best fitting deck lid I have had out of 3 repops and 2 factory GM lids. It just needs a little ingenuity to get that perfect fit:)

I can now finally move on to finishing the body prep for paint!:hairpullout:

I have some polished EMS billet trunk hinges that will be going up for sale if anyone wants them.

[Roberts68]

Congrats on the progress. :thumbsup:
That has to be a huge relief

From :bang: to :relax:

[frankv11]

those gaps are definitely fun

[makoshark]

It's been a while since I have posted in my thread. I haven't touched my car other than mocking up my audio system to finalize speaker placement. I didn't bother with taking pictures as I'm sure most in this crowd aren't that interested in car audio. I did do a more extensive audio build than I originally set out to do. I haven't messed around with audio much in quite a few years, so I decided to do a high-end system on this car.

Enough of all that. Last week I finally broke down and decided I was tired of the gravel turn-around at my house. Years of driving on it had caused ruts and grass had taken it over, so it wasn't very attractive. I had 4 dump truck loads of dirt put in and 30 yards of concrete poured. I still have about 250 ft of gravel driveway to the street that I have not addressed yet. Maybe before the summer is over I can get that section taken care of.

Since I finally have some concrete outside of my garage, I decided to pull my car out so I can get a view of it from a distance. It certainly helped as I noticed some things I didn't notice before. Since I have installed the Ridetech rear 4-link in the car, I have noticed my car sits 3/4" higher on the drivers side as opposed to the passenger side. With the car out of the garage, I can also see the driver rear wheel is further forward in the wheelwell than the passenger side. You can see this in the pictures. Would that misalignment possibly cause the drivers side to be higher than the passenger side? I do not have the coilovers in the car right now. I made brackets to maintain ride height. The are all the exact length from side to side, so they are not causing the problem.

Another thing, do I need to tuck in the rear wheels a bit further in the wheel wells? They seem to be sticking out a bit far. I must say, I have been on the fence about my wheel purchase since I bought them, but I really do like the way they look standing off looking at the car. They certainly aren't the Forgelines I want, but they look good to me.

[Rick D]

Looking good!!

How wide are your wheels? What's the BS? If you can move them inboard some then you should be able to get them tucked up some?

As for the difference in height from side to side, have you measured the car from a flat surface? Set it up level and measure it at different pickup points on the frame, this way you can eliminate if the body is square or not. If its good then you can move on to check other areas, suspension, floors?

[makoshark]

Thanks!

The wheels are 10.5" wide with 295/18's on it. The car is minitubbed, so I have plenty of room to tuck them in more. The wheels are an aftermarket C6 Z06 wheel, so they spacing is based of of the Corvette. I have 1.5" wheel spacers on it now and was thinking of putting 1.25" on it?

I have measured the car on a flat surface and that is where I got the 3/4" higher on one side than the other. The front is only an 1/8" higher on the drivers side than the passenger side. I haven't gotten the car level and checked to see what you mentioned yet. Hopefully, I will be able to do that soon as I'd really love to get back going on the car. I sure missed a cool spring this year to work on it. I now have to deal with the hot summer temps with the high humidity of the mid-south.

[tubbed69]

car is looking good stance is nice

[makoshark]

car is looking good stance is nice

Thanks...I had to fudge on the rear and the front is a little lower than actual ride height with the coilovers installed. The rear I moved the lower shock bracket to the bottom two holes. I'm not sure if that will work out or not. I certainly hope so because I don't want it any higher.

[Rick D]

An easy way to get it level in your garage is set your jack stands up and put a level across them then you can use sheet metal or wood to use a shims. Then you can mark where you put them. Then put the car up and check your measurements from there. Also make sure to use plum bobs so you can make sure it doesn't move while you are taking your measurements and if you need to move or adjust stuff.

[makoshark]

Wouldn't putting a level in the open door jamb on top of the rocker suffice? That's how I did it when I installed the quarters and built my rotisserie anyway.

Seems it would be difficult dropping plumb lines from the car without already having reference points with measurements.

[Roberts68]

I think it looks killer with the stance and full wheelwells , if you think it will definitely rub then I would say move the rear in a smidge. That would seem easy to do at any point if using spacers as you described.
I don't have facts or experience regarding the four link but it would sure seem that you could adjust the rear end back on the side needed...but if all links are equal lengths why are they producing such a different position?
Initially I thought of a geometry math problem when you posed the question. I would be tempted to draw out representative scenarios or make a popsicle or similar stick model... maybe on an inch to mm scale? Or just to play with if it is easier to adjust than the 4 link which would seem to be a given. Is each link adjustable in length? If so you should be able to move the wheel in any direction, how much before binding something is the question.:headscratch:

[waynieZ]

I like it. It looks really nice.

[Sonar Chief]

A roller in the new driveway .... looking good sir :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[makoshark]

Thanks guys:thumbsup:

[makoshark]

It's been a while since I made any updates on the project or even had time to work on it. I did manage to get out this afternoon and get something done that I have been fretting about for a long time. I finally cutout the a/c vents in my non-a/c 67 Camaro. I'm going to be running a Vintage Air setup, but wanted to utilize the factory style dash vents. The non-a/c 67's did not come with the holes cut out for the dash vents, so I had to do it. I managed to get them cutout right the first try!

Now onto another dilemma I've created this past week. I've been in search of a set of gauges that I actually liked. I finally Friday ordered a set that I really do like. I hope they will have them done and in my hands within the next two weeks. I'll be using the factory gauge carrier to house the speedo and tach, but I'm not completely sure where to mount the, right now, 4 2 1/16" gauges. That includes the fuel, voltage, oil pressure and water temperature gauges. I didn't purchase the other gauge that I decided to run and that is a transmission temp gauge. In the picture, you can see I made a spot to mount 3 small gauges a while back for my custom console, but that's not going to house all 5 gauges. I could use some help brainstorming on how best to add 2 more gauges. I'm not opposed to mounting some of them in the dash, but want it to look almost factory.

Anyone have any ideas?

[Leadfoot1]

You can put the volt and trannny gauges in the console, its the ones you wont look as often and there seems to be a lot of space. Would help in keeping it clean and not overflooded with gauges....

Or get a race pak.

Lead.

[Roberts68]

Have you seen this thread on TC? (http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=201421)

Just throwing that at the wall to see if it sticks. If you are doing a cage then they may not be in your favor. You could redo your console to house 2 guages or make it for three and use a blank in case the need arises later, like for boost or something.

You are not the only one that has not made it to quality time in the garage lately... lemmee tell ya.:drowninga: :bang:

Any more details on the new gauges? Looks pretty slick.
My current plan is a custom face on the DD VHX series. I talked with them at CarCraft St. Paul last month.

[makoshark]

I have tried to think of every conceivable place to mount the gauges in my arrangement. I found a company, just dashes, that makes a dash panel with gauges mounted in them. However, they were asking $600 for the dash. I looked into the pilar pod setup as well, but just felt it may overpower the interior with gauges mounted up there. Same for doing them in the dash cover.

I think what I'm going to do is something like the Autometer console gauge pod for 68-9 Camaro's. However, I'll have to execute it in steel. I could use 2.5" exhaust tubing with some creative cutting. I think it would be relatively simple to fabricate, but time consuming. I have plenty of room on my console to install 5 gauges in that configuration. I could do 3 in the back and 2 in the front. Autometer one has 2 in the back and 2 in the front.

I think when it was done, it would look killer. What do ya think?:welder:

I'm holding out on showing the gauges just yet.:mock: When I get them in my hands, then I'll post up some pictures. I think they look awesome!

I really do like the DD VHX gauges. What I don't like about them is the color scheme they offer them in. I wasn't aware they would allow you to custom order different schemes. Although, when I had the set I had, they also seemed a bit small. Now, if they could do something like the Marquez design that fits in a stock 67-8 dash, I'd be all over them. All the 3-1 gauge packs just made the gauges too small for my liking.

[Roberts68]

Look up Carl Casanovas console if you are going that route. He has 3 rows of 2 shoehorned in there as I recall.

I am sure others may have as well but Carls car stands out in my mind plus he is always cool about sharing knowledge.:thumbsup:

[makoshark]

I forgot he had that setup. Thanks for pointing that out.

Those would definitely save me a great deal of time if I could use those pods, but I wouldn't be able to use them on my particular console as its flat on top. The factory consoles have a slight curve to them. I chose not to incorporate that touch into mine because of the style of cupholder and shifter bezel I'm using. If I had proper tools to execute that, I would definitely do it. However, I'm working with basic tools, so gotta go at it the best way I can.

Constructing this car has taken me well beyond what I am really equipped to handle and originally set out to do. It is enjoyable when you get to stand back and look at the fruits of your hard work. Sure can be a true test of your patience at times though.

[makoshark]

Here's a CAD drawing I had done for my gauge panel on my custom console. My laser jet guy is cutting it for me today, so hopefully I can have this little project completed by this Sunday.

[makoshark]

My laser jet guy dropped off my gauge pod panel yesterday. I'm excited to get it built. I'm shooting for having it done by this evening, but it will probably take me till tomorrow evening to get it finished. That is if someone doesn't pull me away from all this fun:D

[makoshark]

In progress...

[makoshark]

Phase one of the gauge pod completed

[Sonar Chief]

Phase one of the gauge pod completed

Looks good ... hows the angle of the dangle while you're sitting in your seat?

:gitrdun:

[makoshark]

Thanks Sonar

I'd say I got a good dangle:)

[frankv11]

looks good, are you going to cover them with leather?

[makoshark]

I don't know how that pic got posted like that. Let me try this again...

[makoshark]

looks good, are you going to cover them with leather?

Thanks Frank

I'm thinking of wrapping it in a vinyl wrap. I ordered a sample the other day of black brushed metallic vinyl.

[Roberts68]

How does it look for bezel spacing with gauges mocked up in there?
Looks pretty impressive. I would consider having it hydro dipped. I don't know much about it but there were sport bike guys promoting it at CarCraft and for odd shaped parts it looked pretty slick. Like a decal that covered any and all contours with no bubbles or wrinkles.

[makoshark]

How does it look for bezel spacing with gauges mocked up in there?
Looks pretty impressive. I would consider having it hydro dipped. I don't know much about it but there were sport bike guys promoting it at CarCraft and for odd shaped parts it looked pretty slick. Like a decal that covered any and all contours with no bubbles or wrinkles.

Thanks Robert

The exhaust tubes are 2.5" in diameter and the gauges are 2.27" in diameter, so they will fit perfectly.

I'll have to look into the hydro dip. I wasn't even aware of it. I think that would work perfectly. Thanks for the tip

[makoshark]

Finished up the fab work on the gauge panel today. Turned out pretty good I think.

[tubbed69]

very nice work on the console,looks great

[makoshark]

Thanks Jeff!

It was fun to make till I had to make the 1/4" ring that was welded onto the face of the tubes to allow for gauge mounting.

[waynieZ]

Looks Good.

[makoshark]

Looks Good.

Thanks Wayne:cheers:

[Sonar Chief]

Thanks Sonar

I'd say I got a good dangle:)

Thought yu was messin with me :mock:

Console looks good! And I will take you up on those measurements for the stock AC holes .... those look cooler.:yes:

[makoshark]

My gauges finally showed up today, so I had to put them in place to check them out:yes:

These are Speedhut gauges. Speedo and Tach are 4.5" and the rest are 2 1/16". I still have to order the trans temp gauge. Ran out of moula on this order. I'm stoked on how they turned out and look in the car.

[tubbed69]

That looks real good,nice wok:thumbsup:

[makoshark]

Thanks Jeff!

Gives me a boost in motivation to work harder in getting this thing done

[Sonar Chief]

Looks nice :thumbsup: Is that a Lokar AT shifter I see there? Looks right at home!

[makoshark]

Thanks Chief. Indeed it is

[Smitty68]

Coming along!! Keep up the good work. Those gauges look awesome!!:hail:

[makoshark]

Thanks Smitty:cheers:

[makoshark]

I finally got my car up on my new rotisserie! I haven't been able to spin it over yet, though. It took me 11 hours today to get the rotisserie finished and mounted to the car. I, now, need to find center of gravity and then I can commence working on the car.

This is my final stage of getting all the welding done on the car and finish out the bottom with U-Pol Raptor liner. I'm using their tintable version. I decided I want the bottom to be the same color as the top, which is blue.

I'll post pixes as soon as I can spin the car over. I have a light day at work tomorrow, so I'm planning to get COG and get'er spun over manana.

[FETorino]

My gauges finally showed up today, so I had to put them in place to check them out:yes:

These are Speedhut gauges. Speedo and Tach are 4.5" and the rest are 2 1/16". I still have to order the trans temp gauge. Ran out of moula on this order. I'm stoked on how they turned out and look in the car.

Missed these when you first posted them. Those look right at home. :thumbsup: Speedhut is a great company to work with.

:cheers:

[makoshark]

Thanks Rob!

I've since received my trans temp gauge to complete the package. I intend to be a little different and paint my dash body color, blue. I think these gauge will fit well in that color scheme.

And yes, Speedhut has excellent customer service. They were a pleasure to deal with, except for taking all my monies:)