No name 69 Camaro

[john1793]

Hello all, figured I'd start a build thread to help keep me on track and motivated. This is my go at building up a muscle car.

The car:

69 Camaro originally a SS Big Block 4 speed car that lost it's 396 along the way. When I bought it, a LS7 454 big block crate engine from the 70's was in it's place. The engine was not in good shape and would need a rebuild, but the body was pretty straight, and rust free, and the paint looked really nice from 10 feet away.

What I've done so far:

Engine and trans were sold to a buddy, and are going to end up in a Buick Skylark. I took out the front suspension and rear end, exhaust, fuel tank, etc, until there is nothing left under the car. I've done a little clean up on some surface rust, cleaned up oil and grime, recoated the underside, and am getting ready to start building up again.

What I've bought:

Front: Ridetech upper and lowers, tru-turn, drop spindles, triple adjustable coilovers.

Rear: Speedtech torque arm with Ridetech coilovers

Brakes: Wilwood FNSL-6 upfront, D154's out back (replace stock rear drums)

I rebuilt the 12 bolt while I was at it (I had broke an axle)

What's left to buy:

EFI fuel setup
Mast Motorsports LS3
T56 Magnum
PS Engineering TA II's.
New wiring harness (I could probably use the existing one, most things worked, but it doesn't look too chile red hot)

Those are the major bits, I'll throw up some pictures soon to show where things are currently at.

The plan is to get it completed by 4th of July. That's the first day of summer here in the Seattle area. The idea is a Trans Am racer for the street, kinda like Daign Rogue's Golden Coffin (very cool car). I want to do track days and daily drive it during both our days of summer up here :) I have no ego, so any and all suggestions and experiences are appreciated. Thanks!

[camcojb]

Very popular cars with a ton of aftermarket support; should be a fun project.

Welcome to the site.

[tubbed69]

Good luck with your project,we always like pics

[john1793]

Here's what I started with.. crappy cell phone pic... I'll take a good photo of how it currently sits, and what goodies I've managed to scrounge together tomorrow.

[waynieZ]

Nice car, it should be a fun ride.

[john1793]

Here's how the car looks now, and what's going in the front end. The subframe mounting points for the lower control arm were a bit pinched, so that was fun to get in, but the passenger side is done, at least.

Question:

Anybody using the Ride Tech triples? Where are you mounting the reservoirs if you don't have a full cage? Just looking for a few ideas.

Thanks!

[john1793]

I received the speedtech torque arm and ridetech rear coilovers yesterday. I need to slow down the parts buying and work on getting all this stuff in the car!

[214Chevy]

......Question:

Anybody using the Ride Tech triples? Where are you mounting the reservoirs if you don't have a full cage?

I have them, but not installed yet. Most guys are mounting the front ones on the fenders or if they have them, on the down bars. The rears are usually mounted up thru and inside the trunk. I'll mount mines as I just mentioned. Considering putting the down bars on my frame.

[john1793]

Great ideas. I'd rather have them mounted to some downtubes, but I really want to get the car completed and driveable for the nice weather. A full cage is next year at the earliest. Looks like they'll go on the inner fenders.

I got the whole front suspension in and the tru-turn installed. I'm just waiting on some brackets from Speedtech and then the torque arm will get installed. I'm going to get some scrap metal of the same thickness as the brackets and my sheet metal and practice laying down some solid beads, been a while since I've done any structural welding :)

[Che70velle]

I don't believe you, until I see pics! :guns:

[john1793]

It only took another couple of years and I don't want to think about how much money or man hours, but I have a driveable car now!


I opted for a stock LS3 over the Mast, about half the price and plenty for me to learn the car and opt for more power in the future. I did add a sexy Speedtech oil pan, though. Also added a remote filter because that's what racecars have, right?
The car will break loose the cheap roll around 275 section tires through 3rd gear, but it does it in a nice straight line
I opted for manual dual cylinder brakes which actually do a pretty good job with the right masters and pedal ratios. Braking is straight and uneventful
Sweet 600 series steering box with .250 valving, nice and heavy at speed with lots of feedback, and manageable in the parking lot
Chassisworks 6 point cage and downbars under the hood
OMP steering wheel, harness, and WRC-R seats
Custom exhaust with dual center exit, kinda like an E-type or Porsche GT3... this was actually a surprise by the guy that did my exhaust, and I really like it. It's definitely different.
I have skipped gauges for now and while I have a mechanical oil pressure gauge, the rest live in a google nexus tablet I had laying around running the Torque Pro app and a $60 Bluetooth OBDII sensor.

It's a fun lightweight car right now with half the interior still missing. The heating system needs work, and there are random bits to finish up, but I drove it all last week, even when it got cold and snowed here in Seattle!

I actually didn't take any pictures of the final product, I was too busy driving it, but I'll get some up here before long. I can't say thanks enough to everyone who documented so many things on this forum. I'm still learning a ton and look forward to sharing what I've learned and have yet to figure out! Thanks!

[Spiffav8]

Sounds like a lot of smart choice and money well spent. Maximum smile factor for sure. Congrats on getting it finished and back on the road. THAT'S HUGE!!!!

Yeah...you have to post pictures!

[WSSix]

x2 need pictures!

Congrats on getting the car running and driving. Have fun with it!

[john1793]

Pictures before the exhaust was installed and before the car was lowered a bit more and aligned. It still has the 90's chrome bit beneath the windshield, but one of the fellows at the shop used a spray plastic flat black to black out the bumpers and I kinda like it, I may black out all the chrome except the windshield and the rear glass. I wasn't going to do too much cosmetically, but little things end up making a differenceWe'll see, still in progress :)

56980

56981.

[john1793]

I hadn't realized that it has been 5 yrs since the last update...

I went through the Ron Sutton experience, and was well invested before I learned of the debacle that resulted with other folks. I continued down the path, and ended up relocating the upper and lower control arms, added ATS uprights, Wilwood Aero6 brakes, Forgeline wheels with r888r's, and lots of tuning.

Ron took a year to get back to me with all the specs, and eventually parts, and then the build process took a lot of back and forth and staying on top of him, but the end result is actually really, really good. I did a track day at the Ridge over in Shelton, WA, and the car really handles well.

It would have been a lot less painful, and probably less expensive to just get a complete subframe from Speedtech (I have their torque arm and it is fantastic).

Live and learn...

Next is some more weight shedding. The car is ~3250 with me and a full tank of gas in it. I'd like to get it down around 3000, so I'm looking into composite hood, trunk, Lexan rear window, removing inner fenders (perhaps composite fenders), and getting some weight out of the doors.

Photo is of my car, an instructor's GT3RS, and a buddy's awesome ramp truck :)

[john1793]

* the Ron experience was a few years ago, now...

[Che70velle]

Car looks great. Ron did my shocks, I guess 5ish years ago now. The experience was good for me, but that was before he actually got really busy, and it all went to $hi7. Good to hear the car works well and that you are enjoying it.

[WSSix]

x2 I'm glad you're out enjoying the car. It still looks great!

[Roscoe03]

The car is looking awesome! Can't wait to see the upgrades.

[214Chevy]

Car looks very nice. Love the wheels.