'67 Camaro Street/Strip rehab

[NOPANTS68]

I traded my Nova for this '67 Camaro last year and have been really enjoying the rebuild. I thought I'd share how much we've done and the changes we have made. It's a budget build, but I'm pretty happy about the progress.

The car had a Procharged small block in it, Turbo 400, 9 inch, cage etc. etc. Bill (the previous owner) and I speculated that it made close to 900 hp and it sure ran like it. The problem was that the car wasn't balanced at all. All of the suspension was stock and all of the bushings were wasted. It had no sway bar, slapper bars on the rear, a spool and 4.10 gears. It would literally turn 90 degrees at 60 mph under full boost. No fun. I sold the Procharger and pulled the motor for a full rebuild with E85 and an N/A path in mind. Here are some of the pics from the last week.

At some point someone had hacked a chunk out of the subframe to make some room for a low mount alternator.
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/silverback427/subframechunk.jpg
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/silverback427/subframerepair.jpg
Added a heater block off plate, welded up all of the mystery holes in the firewall, plumbed the line lock, bent up new brake lines, tubular upper arms, and installed the MSD bulkhead.
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/silverback427/enginebaydone.jpg

Dart Little M 421 inch small block. Eagle 4340 crank, 4340 H beams with L-19s, Ross 13.2:1 pistons, ARP everything, AFR cnc'd heads, DRC solid roller 263/267 @ .050" 110 lsa, .646"/.656", port matched super victor, Horsepower Innovations HP1000 E85 carb.

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/silverback427/shortblock.jpg
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/silverback427/topmotor.jpg
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/silverback427/donemotor.jpg

Got the engine and trans in tonight. Trans is the same th400, ATI converter, and brake that was in the car. All of the Calvert suspension showed up so it's going in next. The wiring was shot so I'm half way through a full rewire using an American Autowire kit. The master cylinder was rotted through so it got replaced as well as the rest of the system. The fuel cell was replaced with a stock tank with a sump I bought here on Lateral G. I'll post more pics as we charge along and of course a vid of the first start!

[waynieZ]

Nice motor chocked full of good parts. I look forward to hearing it run.

[NOPANTS68]

Thanks man. I'm so excited to hear it. It's been a fun project so far. Almost ready for race season which starts in April for us.

[dirtshark]

Great progress there...I hope to hear it from my house :thumbsup:

[NOPANTS68]

Dude you live accross the street. Just walk over when you hear it! lol I have beer! You were right BTW-that wiring harness is bad ass.

[NOPANTS68]

Got it fired Saturday. Really pleased with the way it's coming along. Compression makes it sound so wicked and it revs like a superbike. This is the first engine and the most exotic engine I have ever built. Huge thanks to all my buddies for all the hours of help. I took a vid, but the sound sucks so what's the point. Still need to wrap up a little wiring, reinstall the factory gauges, install the electric headlamp door system, and install all of the Calvert rear setup. Trying to cram for grudgefest on the 14th.

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/silverback427/finishedeng.jpg

[CamaroBill]

Dave I love the direction you've taken with the car. I do miss that car, but glad to see you putting it together the way you want. The motor looks bad ass! What kind of power do guess it will make? What ET's are you shooting for?

[NOPANTS68]

Thanks Bill and everyone else for the comments. I'm shooting for 600 FWHP with this setup and mid 10s in street trim. Radials, mufflers and tailpipes, pump E85, and full weight should be 3600 or so with my butt in the seat. If we hit our goals, I'll strap a kit on it and try for that single digit later in the season. That motor was full of great parts so I think we can get there. First race is exactly a month away so I will post the results. I freeking love E85 though! I'd convert my lawnmower if I could!

The long term goal is to prep the car for drag week in 2013. I think all we will need is a Gearvendor setup and we should be good. Time will tell.

[intocarss]

Everything is looking awesome!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[NOPANTS68]

Thanks guys. Finished up all of the wiring today. American Autowire makes a great kit for sure. Our HD camera is MIA so I took one with our little guy. Sorry for the low res. Just need to install the electric headlamp door kit from Retro-electro, reinstall the seats and console, and install all of the Calvert rear suspension. April 14th is coming up fast. Here's me sounding like a dork.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJX5XM8ZX9c

[Flash68]

Thanks Bill and everyone else for the comments. I'm shooting for 600 FWHP with this setup and mid 10s in street trim. Radials, mufflers and tailpipes, pump E85, and full weight should be 3600 or so with my butt in the seat. If we hit our goals, I'll strap a kit on it and try for that single digit later in the season. That motor was full of great parts so I think we can get there. First race is exactly a month away so I will post the results. I freeking love E85 though! I'd convert my lawnmower if I could!

The long term goal is to prep the car for drag week in 2013. I think all we will need is a Gearvendor setup and we should be good. Time will tell.

Killer motor and nice parts list! Don't cha think those heads are a little small though for that compression and cubes?

That thing should make 650+ hp crank easy. Pump gas 10-11:1 420's easily make over 600 at the crank. :thumbsup:

[NOPANTS68]

They unfortunately are a bit small for my application. It would rip with some 227s on it but they were what I had and a change was out of my budget. Thankfully they are the comp Cnc units with both sides of the runners done and the bowls touched up. Probably leaving 40hp on the table though. Shooting for mid to high tens in full street trim on radials. I think we have enough grunt.

[dirtshark]

Dude you live accross the street. Just walk over when you hear it! lol I have beer! You were right BTW-that wiring harness is bad ass.

Did someone say BEER!!!

[waynieZ]

Sweet ! It sounds great.

[NOPANTS68]

Thanks dudes! I finally got in all of the Calvert rear suspension. Should make it hook in wet grass now. I'll post some pics of the custom shock mounts we made as well as other fun finds in the car.

[NOPANTS68]

Update from last weekend- getting ready to race on the 14th

First thing was to pull out the original leaf springs, slapper bars, and the original shocks. Yes those are 30 year old air shocks lol I think the weighed 20 lbs each!

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/silverback427/oldshocks.jpg

Next was to scrape all of the rubber from the fenderwells that had been deposited by previous pilots. I weighed it on my piston scale for fun. 6 lbs. wow

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/silverback427/rubberscraped.jpg

My brother hard at work. No lift for us- doing it the hard way. Had to modify the subframe connectors as they had been welded in right over the front leaf perches. New new plasma paid for itself instantly. These are the new Calvert split mono leafs going in. Also disassembled the entire diff and resealed it. Long, dirty, tough day. Beer was the reward.

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/silverback427/progreeonthesusp.jpg

Made our own lower shock plates to mount the rears in a more optimum place. Adjustment will be simple to reach now.

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/silverback427/fabshockplates.jpg

Wrapped up the wiring and reinstalled the console. New Covan's center gauge cluster.

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/silverback427/finishedinterior.jpg

Finished the engine bay and installed the new Griffin radiator and fan system.

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/silverback427/finalengwflash.jpg

Back on the ground. Went for a ride Sunday. Scared the poop out of ourselves and came right home. 600 HP makes roads really short when a car hooks so well. On to the races on the 14th!

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/silverback427/rearthreeqtrdone.jpg

[CamaroBill]

Looks awesome Dave, post a video from the race if you can. By the way, none of those rubber deposits were from me. :D

[NOPANTS68]

I certainly will do. Gonna wade into it little by little and let it eat as soon as I'm comfortable. Gotta make a couple changes to the cage this weekend but other than that it's ready.

I don't think much of this rubber was yours lol. It had been on there for a long long time. It was like black shag carpet under there!

[NOPANTS68]

Well, here's the vid from the first test session of the year. I forgot to vent the gas tank correctly which is creating positive pressure in the tank and fighting the pump. At least that's what it feels like and it has no vent. Fuel pressure is stable at 6.5 psi, bowls are right, and the pump and lines are way overkill. She just lays over at 1000 feet and runs out of gas. I think I have found the issue. Boner move on my part. Next session is the 12th of next month. Best pass-10.96 @ 121 mph. Killed it at 1100 feet as it went lean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoX3fQoXun8&context=C4ce781cADvjVQa1PpcFPZkUZd65A-m0MeQSaCY7EtgoSnDai8Foo=

[CamaroBill]

Looks and sounds awesome! Pretty good for the first test runs, you should have no problem tuning her into the mid or bottom 10's. :thumbsup:

[NOPANTS68]

Thanks Bill! The next play day is the 12th so I intend on having all of the issues fixed and prepped for war again. I think it's got mid 10s in it still. After this season I'll have to make the decision to go faster or build another car. I have a long list of cars to build, but this one drives so nice now. This hobby is for the insane. lol

[CamaroBill]

True, this hobby IS for the insane or very rich....both if you are lucky!

[PSV]

Car looks great Dave. I was always a fan of your nova. Are you still driving this car on the street? If so what are your impessions on the calvert suspension vs say a pt type leaf in terms of ride comfort or lack of, lol. How is the steering with the manual box and is it a stock gm unit? I'm seriously thinking of changing mine to this set up and trying to get to a completely street friendly low mid 10sec car. It is much harder here at 6000ft elevation, but my roots are to deep in drag racing and I'm never going to use this pt setup with this car due to lack of venue. I think my biggest problem will be getting a tire and wheel combo overall the brakes that will still allow 1.50 or so 60 ft. Good luck with car on your next outing.

[NOPANTS68]

Hey what's up Mr.P! Thanks fo rthe nice words. The car rides just like a stock Camaro. It's soft but totally street friendly by all means. The shocks from Calvert are vastly adjustable so you have some tuning options there as well. I keep the bars preloaded on the street and have not seen or felt any isue with doing so. The streeting box is a stock non-power unit with just new links and tie rods. It drives just fine for me. It's not a fast ratio but I can't see any need for one. The biggest change I have felt so far was the move to tubular upper control arms with 4 degrees of caster built in to them. These are the summit units and are very nice quality and fit great. They make the car so stable on the big end, it's almost boring to drive through the traps. I think if you went to a large diameter wheel to fit your brakes- like a 17x11 with a 315DR you could get close to your 60' goals. Guys are really doing crazy things with that new Hoosier radial so that me something to look at as well. We're doing another test on the 12th so I'll post the results again. Hope that answers some of your questions and all is well, Dave

[waynieZ]

The car looks great, must be a fun ride!

[NOPANTS68]

It was a fun car. It's been sold as a roller and is headed to Australia in 2 weeks. The engine will stay stateside and is for sale now. The buyer already has a bullet ready. I'll miss it, but on to the next one! Thanks for the compliments!

[dirtshark]

Congrats on the sale Dave...what's next??

[NOPANTS68]

Thanks bud.The Chevelle I've got in the works is a dedicated PT ca- big brakes, wheels, suspension , heat/air etc.. I think I'm going to go early on my next car. Probably another '32 or a roadster of some kind. Not sure yet, but it'll have to be something done or near done as we have a little one on the way now. I won't have much time to play in about 7 months. lol

[intocarss]

Congrats on the sale. My red one went to Aus too (Melbourne)

[Dereiter]

I took a look at your video. Nice car, especially the tires :thumbsup:

[NOPANTS68]

Hey thanks man. Just talked to my Aussie buddy yesterday. It's got a new monster sbc and is ready for war accross the pond. It'll be a nice 10.50 car but streetable. I already miss it.