New Member Build - DETONATOR - 69 Camaro - Lateral-g Forums

DETON8R · #1 02-28-2011, 09:58 PM

I need to start documenting the build of my 69 Camaro, I've been talking about it for a while.

Sooooooooooo - Let's start at the beginning........

I bought my first Camaro in high school, Hugger Orange with white rally stripes, and had to sell it for a down payment on the first house 10 years after I bought it. Sad day, 396, 4 speed M-20, 12 bolt 3.73 Posi, frame off / front end rebuilt, restored interior, the best available stuff at the time. Wonder where that car went.......

Fast forward 14 years and my son is now getting into cars, and I wanted a project for him to learn about hot rods (yeah, I'm showing my age), and that was my first realization that the hobby I left long ago had developed into what I really wanted it to be back then, Pro-Touring. And there was this magazine that I'd never seen before Camaro Performers, and I got WAY TOO MANY IDEAS!!!

So I started looking for a good candidate build car, and found the car in the next town over, after looking for candidates all over Northern/central California.

When this car came up I had to have it for my foundation, the car was a body shop fixture and the owner couldn't keep it after it FINALLY came out of the body shop with a new coat of paint. I couldn't resist the color, the Hugger Orange was obvious, but I wanted the black rally stripes, because orange and black are the colors that represent my occupation, Ordnance Safety. That cemented the deal. Yep, I play with explosives at work all day, and of couse that is where the inspiration for the name of the car came from, DETONATOR.

So here's a few photos of the car, with the front end torn off. The engine and trans in the car for fitting things in. The donor LS1 needs a rebuild and T-56 is already rebuilt. The donor is a 1999 SLP that I bought totalled, I wanted an LS2 but I couldn't pass up the price for a complete car.

The frame is already in, and the suspension will be Chris Alston's replacement frame and G-link rear, next big project is the roll cage. My son and I have been cutting, welding and finishing up inner sheet metal work, mini-tubs smooth fire wall and a few rust problems, for almost a year now, those photos and progress are for another post.

Junior is quite a welder although he is ready to drip the MIG and get tearing into the LS1. What a gear head, I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

**Sieg** · #2 02-28-2011, 10:15 PM

Great story, looking forward to following this thread.

DETON8R · #3 02-28-2011, 10:20 PM

That is a classic explosive safety picture worth a thousand words, and laughs!!

**Sieg** · #4 02-28-2011, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DETON8R

That is a classic explosive safety picture worth a thousand words, and laughs!!

it's been around for years and I still snicker every time I see it.......from the bag man's perspective. If on the receiving end I'd want to contact tase the bag man into submission.

**waynieZ** · #5 03-02-2011, 04:45 PM

Welcome. Nice project to be doing with your son. It should be a fun ride.

**XcYZ** · #6 03-03-2011, 04:27 AM

Welcome, great intro. Very cool that you're doing it with your son. That just makes it all the more cool.

DETON8R · #7 04-03-2011, 09:08 PM

Work has been totally insane and Fred Junior and I have not been able to do much over the last few weeks. I finally have an opportunity to post a few photos.

Junior and I did some sheet metal work. I bent up a patch panel to repair and replace a rust spot and Junior finished welding that up then finished welding in the braces for the mini-tubs.

I put in a photo of the missing trunk floor pan. That was one of the first things I needed to cut out and I'm really glad I didn't replace it quick. Putting in the mini-tubs was SO EASY with the trunk pan out. It had pin holes and it didn't take much to put a screwdriver through the sheet metal in the bottom of the pan. I really didn't want to replace it, but man it made the mini-tub job really easy.

Also attached is the photo of the 9-inch. The original 10 bolt is coming out. The 9-inch needs to be torn down and inspected then the G-link brackets need to be installed.

DETON8R · #8 05-15-2011, 05:57 PM

Took the rear end to the local transmission shop, and I got an update.

The metal parts of the Ford TracLoc Posi were in good shape, no chips, pits or wear to be seen in the spiders. The clutches were pretty badly worn, looks like a replacement of the clutches and new springs to just freshen it up. Not too expensive there...

Bearings and races inside the housing look good, no end play in the pinion gear, ring gear looks really clean. Pinion seal was leaking, needs to be replaced (that was obvious before it went to the shop from the puddle on the garage floor, no surprise there).

The gears aren't 4.11's, they are 4.20's. Anybody out there know why those would be used? It doesn't sound like a normal rear ratio, except for special application, road race, drag race, etc. Saw a posting that they might have been used in early Bronco's.

Axles are in good shape, but they are stock. 28 spline, axle bearings and races showed wear and need replacement, stock retainer plate (pretty distorted...). The shop recommended replacement with hardend axles, anybody got a line on a good deal out there?
Currie, Moser, Strange, Mark Williams, Just Rear Ends, DTS, Randy's

Rear end housing has small dents and road pits, nothing too radical, and nothing from an internal failure, just road dings. The inside was dirty, nothing looking bad there, no metal shavings!!! Axle Bearing housings looked good, no spun bearings in its history, old style big ford. I was almost hoping that we might find a problem there, would have been a good excuse to narrow up the rear, but I'll take it as a sign that the rear end was taken care of during its life.

Next is to have the spring pearches removed and the g-link brackets welded to the housing. And get the rear Wilwood disk kit to match the 11.75"x0.81" Dynalite front brakes.

**camcojb** · #9 05-15-2011, 10:03 PM

Looks like a Stroppini engine stand in your pics; got one myself, best you can buy in my opinion.

Great project!

DETON8R · #10 05-21-2011, 11:40 PM

Another little project that Junior and I did. Went to Peninsula Color Service in Santa Cruz and picked up a Shake-&-Shoot kit of bed liner. Good store, professional auto and marine paints and supplies to the public, they are very helpful to hot rodders, and really take the time to educate their customers. Saturday hours are a big benefit!!

We are going to cover the underside of DETONATOR with bed liner and I wanted to try applying it to something while I was standing upright and could see what I was doing. And I didn't want to learn how to apply this while I was lying on my back. And I wanted to see if I could apply it without using a spray gun.

I purchased a 3 inch roller kit and disposable roller trays. The bed liner is a 2 part coating, there are four cans of base and one can of hardener. Pretty easy to use, and it didn't harden before it was all applied. Just follow the directions in the kit for mixing. Everything is cheap and disposable, and I just trashed the roller, brush and tray, that stuff would be a nightmare to clean and reuse.

First Junior and I used sand paper and scotch bright pads to scuff in the paint on the inside of the re-pop fender wells. Then I cleaned all the surfaces that would get the liner with acetone and compressed air, at least twice to make sure no oils or grit was left. Then I gave the roller to Junior and he coated the large areas while I used the paint brush to get the edges and corners where the roller wasn't getting good coverage.

Preparation of the fender wells took longer that applying the bed coating. Photos show the resulting coverage. Took about 24 hours of the thin coat to dry hard, and about 2 weeks for the thicker application to dry hard all the way through.

What would I do the next time around? The bed liner didn't cover and adhere to wide gaps very well where I laid it on thick. So I will use some seam sealer in the larger gaps before I apply the bed liner to the underside of the car in similar areas. Thickness is good for the underside of the body, but I think I want a thicker coat for the fender wells, as I'm going to need to do the same for the mini-tubs. And I think I'm going to need another kit to do the car the way I want to.