John's 68 Camaro

[suark]

Well, I've been watching everyone elses projects here for about 5 years now so I figured it's about time to show everyone mine and thank everyone for all the advise, ideas and inspiration. About 7 years ago I started looking for a first gen and after dragging my trailer all over the midwest looking at potential projects only to find junk at astronomical prices, I got frustrated and quit looking for awhile. Then, one night I jumped on ebay and found this one an hour from home with the auction ending within the hour. It was brought here from California in '76, disassembled, forgotten about and was now for sale. It looked good in the pics but the buy it now was astronomical so I just maintained the high bidder until the end but it didn't meet the reserve. I contacted the seller after the auction ended, arranged an inspection date and after seeing it in person, we agreed on a price and it was mine! Over the next few years we started a family so not much got done except for disassembly and stripping at Restoration Specialists in Milwaukee. I knew it had some work done in the right rear but I was a little suprised after the stripping revealed the body work.

[suark]

I planned the full DSE treatment, Mast LS7, T56, 9", etc.. I scored NOS quarters and a tail panel for it but just didn't have time to work on it. About a year ago we were short handed at work and I was working 12 hr days 7 days a week for a few months and started thinking, I'm making all this extra cash, maybe I should find someone to do a little work on it for me. I don't like other people working on my stuff, the few times I've had someone do something for me I ended up wishing I would've done it myself, it would have been done almost as fast, it would've been done right and I could've saved some money. I had no idea who to take it to, then I found AutoKraft. I was impressed with the projects they had on their website and gave Kurt a call. I immediately felt comfortable with Kurt and set up a time to drop off the car. They installed the sheetmetal, tubs, quadralink, connectors and a full cage. I couldn't be happier, their work is incredible.

[Spiffav8]

Looking good. Can't go wrong with Kurt and Autocraft.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[56pickup]

Looking really good John! Kurt does some awesome work!:thumbsup:

[suark]

Thanks guys!

[suark]

My wheels/tires showed up, I got a awesome Black Friday deal from Frank at Prodigy. Now I can start mocking up the rearend.http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q516/jdkraus/IMAG0035.jpg
http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q516/jdkraus/IMAG0056.jpg
The 335's fit pretty good

[Steve68]

Nice car, I like the progress so far!

[suark]

Thanks!

[fleetus macmullitz]

Looks like you've got a solid foundation now.:thumbsup:

[itsals1]

Kurt and Paul at AutoKraft are great guys,and I'm lucky to consider them friends:thumbsup: !! There work, :hail: ALWAYS PERFECT!! I hope to be able to take my camaro there oneday.

Travis

[72Z/28]

Good progress man. What are specs on those wheels?

[suark]

Forgeline WC3's, 18x9 with 6.125 BS, 18x11.5 with 5" lip. Tires are 275's and 335's

[72Z/28]

Forgeline WC3's, 18x9 with 6.25 BS, 18x11.5 with 5" lip. Tires are 275's and 335's

Cool..I thought they were FIKSE FM10s. I ordered 18x11.5 for my 68 camaro but with 7 inch BS because the rear end is not narrowed.

[suark]

I ended up with 53.625 flange to flange rear end width with these wheels.

[sunoco67]

Any chance of posting more photos of your car? I would like to see more of the exterior / interior of the car and rear suspension.. It looks great. Im hoping to find some NOS quarter panels and rear body panel for my 67....

[suark]

I finally got time to get the rear end welded up, put in the car and set it on the groundhttp://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q516/jdkraus/2012-05-04_17-14-29_983.jpg

[suark]

Any chance of posting more photos of your car? I would like to see more of the exterior / interior of the car and rear suspension.. It looks great. Im hoping to find some NOS quarter panels and rear body panel for my 67....

Here ya go, sorry about the crappy cell phone picshttp://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q516/jdkraus/mail6.jpghttp://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q516/jdkraus/2012-05-11_12-40-51_751.jpghttp://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q516/jdkraus/mail4.jpghttp://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q516/jdkraus/mail2.jpghttp://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q516/jdkraus/mail.jpghttp://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q516/jdkraus/mail3.jpg

[Rick D]

Looks very cool, who's cage is that? I like how it goes in the back on the sides. So what color is it going to be?

[suark]

Looks very cool, who's cage is that? I like how it goes in the back on the sides. So what color is it going to be?

Thanks, Kurt @ Autokraft built it, he did do a wonderful job, I wouldn't change a thing about it. I'm still undecided on color, I told Kurt he'll be painting it when I get that far and maybe I'll just drop it off and let him surprise me:lol: . I was originally thinking a period correct color like sea frost green, gold or maybe the original turquoise but I don't want it too boring either. Talking about it gets me thinking about that green again....:unibrow:

[sunoco67]

MAN that thing is KUHL...... Keep posting... We all need inspiration.
Subscribed........:yes:

[214Chevy]

That rear end is beautiful!!:yes: :yes:

[suark]

Several members have asked me what rear end I'm using. It's a Winters aluminum center section, Chester 2 1/2" GN axle tubes and Winters GN hubs. I got everything from lefthanderchassis.com. It was easy to build, once I knew what my flange to flange width needed to be I cut the tubes to the correct length. There's a .005" interference fit so I heated the housing in the oven to 300' and put the tubes in dry ice for an hour and they dropped right in. Then just drill & tap for the 12, 3/8-24 bolts to keep it together. The axle tubes came with the floater ends already welded on so I put the tubes in v-blocks before hand and indicated them assuming there would be some run out. They only had .011" and .013" run out so I marked the tubes so I could put the high side up in the housing figuring I may as well take advantage of it and have just a touch of camber. When tig welding the DSE brackets on, I only welded about an inch at a time and let it cool completely before welding any further. The welding took a few days with this method, but when finished I put it back in v-blocks, indicated the tubes again and had almost the same run out again so it was worth taking my time.

[Autokraft]

Those wheels look great John! Also nice job on the rear end, takes time but thats the difference in getting it done right :thumbsup:

It looks better on the ground instead of the cart :lol:

[DEIGuy38]

I was originally thinking a period correct color like sea frost green, gold or maybe the original turquoise but I don't want it too boring either. Talking about it gets me thinking about that green again....:unibrow:

PPG 43898 Rallye Green Poly!!!

[suark]

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q516/jdkraus/2012-08-09_13-04-01_801.jpg
It's been a busy summer so only a little progress, I got the rear brakes done. I wanted to use Z06 rotors and e-brake assemblies but no matter how I tried I couldn't make them work, the calipers were too close to the inner fenders. The full float set up moves everything inboard too much so I ended up having custom rotors made. I guess I should've built the rear end to fit and had the wheels made to fit last but I did the opposite because I wanted that exact look for the rear wheels, oh well, no e-brake, I'll survive.

[suark]

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q516/jdkraus/2012-09-11_22-08-37_768_zps011b8886.jpghttp://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q516/jdkraus/2012-09-19_16-42-20_772_zps6d66f61a.jpghttp://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q516/jdkraus/2012-09-19_16-41-00_847_zpsfd8c11ae.jpg
I've changed plans, I'm now going with a big block. So, after getting my T56 and mocking it all up in the car, even though I have stock height body bushings, I had to raise the tunnel. Even with the oil pan laying on the crossmember, the highest I could get the trans was a 5 degree down angle before it hit the tunnel right in front of the seam where the firewall meets the floor pan. I have quite a bit of grinding left to do but it's looking pretty good. Doing this kind of work gives me alot of respect for the guys that do this for a living.

[streetbird]

Wow, I love your quadralink installation. Your welds are very nice

[Justin@EntropyRad]

Killer rolling stock!

[DavidBoren]

Any particular reason for the change to the BBC? Don't get me wrong, seeing anything that isn't LS-based is a cool change of pace, but I figured I would ask.

Looks like you found a good shop to help you along. Keep the updates coming.

[suark]

Any particular reason for the change to the BBC? Don't get me wrong, seeing anything that isn't LS-based is a cool change of pace, but I figured I would ask.

Looks like you found a good shop to help you along. Keep the updates coming.

Thanks for the compliments! I guess I was afraid that in 10 years (when I finally get it on the road), a LS motor might look like a TPI now days, so I thought I'd try to keep it a little more timeless. I'm a little partial to big blocks too I guess. I haven't had much time to work on it or post any progress, but I did build a set of headers and the exhaust system too. Pics of the headers are on my computer at work, I'll try to post them tomorrow, but here's the exhaust, everything is tucked up above the frame.54267

[suark]

Here's the tailpipes

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[suark]

When it came to finding some headers, the only source I could find for my heads in the DSE subframe was Lemons. I wasn't too impressed with the price being they're unequal length and I thought they still hung a little low. Holley has a Ebay store where they sell returns for pennies on the dollar, I bought a set of returned Hooker BBC headers for a stock Camaro for about $100 and they actually fit pretty good, they just hung below the subframe about a inch and a half. A header build kit is pretty pricey too so it was way cheaper to buy these and cut them up. I bought about a dozen 180 bends, some v-bands, O2 bungs and went to work. They turned out pretty good, I was able to keep them close to equal length and they're tucked up above the frame. I can even take them in and out from below with ease. I'll send them out for coating later on.

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[waynieZ]

Nice job they look great. After they're coated they'll look better then store bought!

[suark]

Nice job they look great. After they're coated they'll look better then store bought!

Thanks! Sometimes it doesn't seem like building things myself is worth it, but when it turns out nice, it's totally worth it. I built that drivers side header 3 times before I had it the way I wanted it.

[Vince@Meanstreets]

Thanks! Sometimes it doesn't seem like building things myself is worth it, but when it turns out nice, it's totally worth it. I built that drivers side header 3 times before I had it the way I wanted it.

nice work!!!!

[suark]

nice work!!!!

Thank you!