Welcome to my world of pain - my 68 Camaro build

[The Chief]

G'day, I'm new here and felt it was time to go fishing for supportive comments to keep me going, so here is my ongoing build of the 'Million Dollar Baby' that has now just clocked 5 years since I started and is still not complete.

The car was purchased in LA by an Ozzie person acting as my broker for the purchase.

The owner had it as a registered street car that he used to run at the strip often. It had a fresh 383, Art Carr 350 trannie, 3500 stall and with its ****ty 8.2 open-wheeler diff ran mid 12s all day with no traction. Car cost me $5500 US.

The car arrived in multi shades of primer, no interior, two plastic race seats and LOTS and LOTS of rust. My father-in-law and I were gonna do it as a project at home. He was a fitter and turner and could do anything with metal and cars in general. Chances are if you owned a Torana or have one now, he probably owned it and/or cut/shut it or repaired/painted it in the 70s/80s.

We stripped it down to nothing, cut out the rusty cowl and sent the whole car off to be beadblasted.
He welded in all new sections:
New upper cowl panel on firewall
New dash top panel
Left door skin
Both rear quarter panels
Fixed sectioned inner wheelhousing on left
Cut and welded in new lower rear windshield panel
Whole new trunk floor
New driver side floor pan

Car was blasted at a highly reputable blaster with expensive media. Result - roof warped, original bonnet warped. Be careful who does yours! It cost me 17 hours of bodywork to get that roof straight again!

My father-in-law than prepped it for an original lacquer paint job and had it up to smooth spray putty etc. It was looking good and almost ready for paint.
He had a real bad headache one day, then we got the shock news he had a mailgnant brain tumour. Naturally the world stopped for 12 months while getting treatment. He still worked on my car while on chemo therapy and we cared for him at home. He was so strong he hung around much longer than most, but eventually lost the battle one day...

After that, I was lost without someone to learn from or show me the ropes with the car build. I'd been learning heaps till then! Without enough $$$ for a bodyshop, I rolled it in the shed and left it there...
2+ years later, I had worked so many extra jobs and saved enough coin to try to shop the car around for paint and to have it assembled.
Let's just say that most shops I got quotes from or spoke with were a waste of my time and a pack of scammers. Wow!
I was getting so frustrated, when I rang the new paintshop and somehow I lucked it that they could take it in.
The new shop took it back to bare metal. Any small rust holes hidden under the factory coating were lead wiped. My roof was straightened.
Two new front fender panels, new cowl hood, new boot lid.
The new paintshop discovered both rocker panels had been replaced in the US. They fixed them up too.
Whole car straightened. Firewall smoothed. Rear quarter joins smoothed and rear sail panel smoothed. Rear guards smoothed and lipped. Very trick! Floor welded up and any spots welded and smoothed.
Panel gaps all recut to produce required perfect body panel gaps. Etc etc etc etc.

Paint Shop has had the car 2 years, and spent the last year doing eff all to it. After I finally had had enough and revised their lagging deadline, car will be painted, gapped etc and back to me in 6 weeks for me to finish off. Halle-fu*$king-lullah!

Subframe is about to be blasted and powdercoated.

All new original style suspension etc and Hotchkiss multileaf set-up for the rear.

Hoppers Stoppers drilled and slotted front discs and twin piston calipers go on next, stainless braid brake line.

The motor has been ready for almost a year. The 383 Chev has been destroked back to 350 with quality & forged everything, World cast heads, hyd roller cam, polished 144 Weiand and boost ref 750 Holley. Should dyno around 500hp/500lb.ft at the engine fingers crossed.

I have a full Strange 9in with Detroit TruTrac centre, 3.25 gears, 31-spline SS axles ready to bolt in.

Then exhaust, electrical etc etc.

Bodyshop is doing a few subtle tricks. Doing custom late-model style flush front and wear windscreens with late-model rubber and no chrome mouldings.
Trick hinges and custom tank cap etc.

Car will be painted in the darkest shade of gloss black available. No stripes etc just the front and rear chrome bumpers.

And that's where I'm at right now..........................................

The interior will be 69 Camaro seats with headrests in the front, stock rear bench. All new vinyl trim kit and carpets etc in BLACK. Gonna use a 67 console cause I like it better and matching 67 chrome insert steering wheel. It all looks better and matches better as far as I'm concerned.

The reason I stuck with it is because it is my dream car and my late father-in-law put so much work in it and I want to honour his effort by finishing it through my hard work. Besides, I don't pussy out when the chips are down. Ya gotta stand your ground, hold ya head high and go straight through.

My wife does approve but it has got to the stage where she says "just get it finished". If only it were that easy...

Anyway, I'm almost there after 5 effing years. But trust me, you've seen how far I've come and what I've been through, so does anyone dare doubt me that I'll finish it! : )

Ya better get those engines warmed up fellas, cause one bad black muthafu#er will be stalking your neighbourhoods shortly!

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[The Chief]

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[cluxford]

Firstly welcome aboard

Secondly, woo hoo another 68

Thirdly, you will have a killer car there, many of those mods I am doing also on my car (flush glass, billet gas cap, and a range of other customs). Black will look unreal.

What wheels are you planning on running ?

Is that 500hp at the wheels ? That will be a lot of fun

Cancer sucks, my condolences to you and your family, I have lost family to cancer and it ain't easy.

Can wait to see completed picks !!!!

[The Chief]

Firstly welcome aboard

Secondly, woo hoo another 68

Thirdly, you will have a killer car there, many of those mods I am doing also on my car (flush glass, billet gas cap, and a range of other customs). Black will look unreal.

What wheels are you planning on running ?

Is that 500hp at the wheels ? That will be a lot of fun

Cancer sucks, my condolences to you and your family, I have lost family to cancer and it ain't easy.

Can wait to see completed picks !!!!

Cheers for the welcome and the compliments.

I'll be running old-school OE Chevy/Ford chrome rims (look like closed up Rallye rims) with BFG Radial T/As with the hoon writing showing out in 225/60 front on 15x7s, 275/60 rear on 15x8s.

That motor should conservatively make 500hp at the crank. It's the 500lb.ft I'm most interested in though. The car will be my daily driver (yes: true story. Not exaggerating), so the motor is built with the best internals etc and designed to make that power reliably day in day out no sweat with frequent burnouts in mind.

Getting closer...

[bricho]

Whoa what a story you already have with this car, very sad to hear about your father in law but glad your fighting through the hassles and finishing it off, as it will be something to pay tribute to him and remember him by.

Sounds like your got the goodies to bolt in once the paint is done so will be watching keenly.

Thanks for sharing the story so far.

[tonner]

Very inspirational, keep up the great work.

Greg

[Dicko]

Sounds like an epic, good work.

[AUSCAMARO]

Nice one indeed. You were very lucky to have such a talented FIL...

Sounds like this car is going to be a very high standard of vehicle indeed.

Mitch

[Nev68]

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1247

Welcome Chief.
Another 68 Camaro brother.
Keep forging on and send more progress pics.

Rgds,
Nev

[WILD68]

Welcome sounds like your on the right track..:)
Jamie

[The Chief]

I'm after a nice shiny alloy radiator with twin thermos to run my blown 350. I was going to get a Micks Metalcraft jobbie but wondered what you guys would recommend from your experiences? It needs to do the job everyday reliably.
I've heard a lot of opinions on different suppliers...

[Nev68]

I'm after a nice shiny alloy radiator with twin thermos to run my blown 350. I was going to get a Micks Metalcraft jobbie but wondered what you guys would recommend from your experiences? It needs to do the job everyday reliably.
I've heard a lot of opinions on different suppliers...

Heven't got one myself but mates have good experiences with aussie desert cooler radiators.

http://www.aussiedesertcooler.com.au/index.htm

Rgds,
Nev

[camaro_1967rs]

wondered what you guys would recommend from your experiences?..

I went to Norm at Aussie Desert Cooler Radiators due to extreme heat problems from my 406 sbc, as expected due to siamese bores. Norm sells a 3 core tripple pass radiator with each core around 35mm. You should not have heating problems like me as you have a 350, I do recommend some decent fans if you are going electric. I had a bad experience with ICE fan even though they were meant to be top of the range. My advise is go for 3500-4000 cfm fan in an 'S' shape not the flat thin type, the 'S' shape fan pulls more air. I ended up importing an Italian 18" S type fan which costed me nearly $600, pulled the temp down from 240 deg to 185 on a cool day.

There is another radiator supplier in melbourne which is Dandenong Race Radiators I am told they do a great job (mainly racing radiators) without all the bling work.

Make sure if you run an alloy radiator that you use Holdens LS1 coolant, this is designed especially for alloy products, dont do what I did and listen to a Autobahn Sales person and take their ill informed advice, the radiator lasted 3 days after I put the Nulon in my engine, the product erroded he weld in one place its still here to fix but i replaced it with another and its been perfect.

[67cammy]

Make sure if you run an alloy radiator that you use Holdens LS1 coolant, this is designed especially for alloy products, dont do what I did and listen to a Autobahn Sales person and take their ill informed advice, the radiator lasted 3 days after I put the Nulon in my engine, the product erroded he weld in one place its still here to fix but i replaced it with another and its been perfect.

OH NO! I have the same radiator and was told by a large performance/repair shop to use Nulon instead of what I wanted which is what Norm recommends (the holden coolant). I thought they must know what works and what doesnt but they also had a huge Nulon display in the showroom. Its been in there for about a year now but now I think Ill drain it and put in what I was supposed to in the first place1321

[camaro_1967rs]

Sales people only supply what they have, what I really hate about the after market auto industry is that everyone is an expert but mostly none of them are trained technicians. I have learnt to use what I am told to use and dont divert from it, I have had to many &*ck ups that costs me and not the sales people. The radiator one cost me $850, and they accepted no responsiblity only that we will repremand the sales person.

One of my other costly decisions I have made the very well known speed shop pay, I was there one very busy saturday needed to purchase a couple grand of fuel system ended up embarassing them about a recent experience that I got over $450 off the price.

Re the fans again, you will have to SUCK and see, if you motor runs hot then its going to take a bit of thought to get it right the blower might add some heat. My problem is the extreme due to the engine package and performance reached for this type of engine. Norm now offers a twin alloy package I see.

[The Chief]

Thanks for the suggestions and advice. I had been told a while ago that Aussie Desert Coolers weren't advised but maybe they have picked up the game. I can only go by experiences and being happy with one on a 400 block sounds pretty good.

PWR supposedly also make a good one??? Anyone got one?

[69coupe]

Sh$t , now you have me worried. :mad:
I use Nulon Red in my Aussie Desert cooler ally radiator. Is one of the triple cooler types. Has been in the Radiator for about 6 months with no problems so far :confused:
The Nulon Green is recommended for the old style brass etc type and Red for modern aluminium types- according to the read on the bottle. I got the concentrate and mixed my own
I did do a check for earth leakage current and found no dectable current
Might ring Norm tomm.

[WILD68]

i got the burnout king triple pass aluminium radiator with norm's shroud and fans and it works great my 450+hp 383 runs 180 cruising and generally stays cool.. did 5 or 6 laps at powercruise recently and was putting my boot into it and only got up to 200 every time. :D :D
i was using caterpillar ELC coolant which was good but am gonna change to redline water wetter cos the cat stuff is oil based and officials dont like that.

[Downesy]

I have no suggestion for radiators but with electric fans the Ford AU twin thermo fans are awesome ( I installed one on my 74 Camaro 420hp sbc ) and they can be brought off ebay brand new for around $180 and flow up to 3500cfm .

[camaro_1967rs]

I use Nulon Red in my Aussie Desert cooler ally radiator.

I would recommend you use the Holde LS1 engine coolant.

The wrong product damaged my radiator only days after going from no coolant to coolant, norm explored the damage and confirmed how it happened, since then with the replacement I have had no problems.

[*rayman*]

I've got a desert cooler i haven't put fluid through yet... is the ls1 fluid a concentrate or ready to fill product? Wheres the best place to buy it, direct from holden?

[69coupe]

Just rang Norm and he says the Nulon red is "average". Suggest we use GM VN Commodore fluid avaliable from Holden Dealers.
I am changing :)

[*rayman*]

VN commodore as in VN through to VT????

The GenIII fluid would be different again yeah?

[camaro_1967rs]

Just rang Norm and he says the Nulon red is "average". Suggest we use GM VN Commodore fluid avaliable from Holden Dealers.
I am changing :)

I am glad I raised this guys the potential for a problem seems to now have been averted.

I use around 6 litres of LS1 VT and newer, which is two x 5 litre containers. Then top the rest up with water, no problems since.

Good luck all.

p.s. Norm loves his 67 and 68 camaros.

[WILD68]

p.s. Norm loves his 67 and 68 camaros.

Doesnt every1 love em?

[The Chief]

Cheers for the advice and suggestions. Gonna go with a PWR 67-69 Camaro set-up with full shroud and 16 inch Spal curved blade and reservoir. Seems to be the go and nothing but good feedback from those in the know... and got an unbeatable price through a mate as a favour...

Next question:

Have any of you guys used the Painless Wiring Camaro harness to rewire your car? They do that Camaro-specific one here available from Rare Spares etc. Any feedback or suggestions for a wiring harness?

Cheers. :)

[camaro_1967rs]

any of you guys used the Painless Wiring Camaro harness to rewire your car? :)

When i was confronted with rewiring my car ( had the original mess from all the years still in ) I investigated the painless route for some time. The feedback that I received from nearly everyone I approached for the Camaro was; that you have wiring or electrical experience. My project I ended up pulling out the original removing all the burnt bits and rewiring it, not that hard when you have all the right plugs and fittings already there. I also updated many areas. This route may not be for all, but I am concidering purchasing in the future a full OER kit and then installing a minature relay control box for all the electrics. My system is currently charged with a 100amp alternator.

I have gone direct with 100 amp on some wiring like the Radiator cooling, Digital ignition controls, Electric fuel pump, due to current drain, I didnt want to test the original system, my system demands 80amps at peak.

If you do go painless I would appreciate some feedback of how you find it.

[Dicko]

Don't know if it's any better or worse than the painless kit, but I've just finished off an American Autowire harness that was mostly installed in the 67 I picked up recently. It was pretty easy to finish off, besides the factory colour codes each wire is printed at intervals with it's actual name. i'e, rear brake lights, left hand indicator etc.

It all looks good quality. Small size spade fuse block & uses the original style through firewall plugs and mounts etc.

[*rayman*]

If you're finished with wiring the 67 up dicko, you can head over and finish the wiring on mine anytime. :)

[Dicko]

If you're finished with wiring the 67 up dicko, you can head over and finish the wiring on mine anytime. :)

I saw yours rolled up on the floor under the dash, and was thinking, that's not where it all goes. :D

Yell out if you get stuck, I'm no expert but can bluff my way through most of it with a test light, meter & a diagram.

[Nev68]

Doesnt every1 love em?

What's not to love? A beautiful classic design. Just wish I could drive one instead of just rollling the friggin thing around in the shed!!;)

Nev

[454 NUTTR]

i feel your pain nev

[WILD68]

Same here guys....
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i towed it... see the dent where my dizzy hit the firewall.... cant se it with a motor in there:(

[The Chief]

Finally progress is happening again. I'm not jinxing myself by saying anything yet, but may start having progress pics shortly.

QUESTION: I have been told I can have my front and rear windscreen glass installed without needing the headliner put in first like some cars do. TRUE or FALSE for my 68?

Cheers!

[*rayman*]

Hood lining is definately easier to do without glass in the car. Will end up with a better result as you can get more tension on it. BTW - Hood lining is a pain the arse to install and get a good result.

[67cammy]

Mine was done with the windows in by the trimmer. He said it would be easier to do with them out but the result is perfect. From what Ive heard I dont think I'd like to tackle the job myself, especially with the windows in. But yes it can be done

[RAW454]

I use around 6 litres of LS1 VT and newer, which is two x 5 litre containers. Then top the rest up with water, no problems since.
.

Whoa - Just went to a Holden dealer for the LS1 coolant (P# GM921445527), a 5 litre is $63 :eek: I'm sure is better than than the green-dyed water at Autobarn, but geez... I got a 1L as well ($17) as I'm assuming the above formula of 6= (2x5)+water is a typo? ;)

[camaro_1967rs]

Whoa - Just went to a Holden dealer for the LS1 coolant (P# GM921445527), a 5 litre is $63 :eek: I'm sure is better than than the green-dyed water at Autobarn, but geez... I got a 1L as well ($17) as I'm assuming the above formula of 6= (2x5)+water is a typo? ;)

Yes thats the one, you are getting it cheap I have paid just under $90 per 5ltr and need two for my system.

Having said that I have had mine in now for just under 12 months and no problems.

with somethings its not worth skimping to save some bucks, or your motor.

[The Chief]

Wondering if anyone has 1 5/8in full-length extractors in good condition (no rust pitting etc) to fit SBC 350 gen 1 in LHD 68 Camaro?

I coated my original set but they were too rust pitted and they now look like crumpled alfoil...

[AUSCAMARO]

There is a new set on eBay from a Perth Auto Parts shop that is reputable. For left hand drive but not sure of sizing.

Mitch

[68cmaro]

I was told by Brown's Radiators to use Toyota coolant in my ally radiator, but it is about $60 for 5 litres also, it is red like the Holden coolant so it is probably the same anyway

[The Chief]

Thanks for the eBay tip Mitch. Well spotted! Checking them out now...


And what's with these guys gasbaggin about their coolant choice on my thread... haha :D I think you need to start another thread... :p

I need the room to update my progress pics shortly... fingers & toes crossed. :)

[The Chief]

Thanks again Mitch.

Bought those eBay extractors. They were Holley ones too, so I just need to ceramic coat them now.
Brand-new still in the box.. $350. Bargain... Exactly what I was after! :)

[OldIndian]

.. thats one hell of an inspiring story.. the ups and down and tragic loss.. and your bouncing back.. and your father-in-law will be looking down and smiling..
Well done.:D VERY WELL done...

[AUSCAMARO]

Thanks again Mitch.

Bought those eBay extractors. They were Holley ones too, so I just need to ceramic coat them now.
Brand-new still in the box.. $350. Bargain... Exactly what I was after! :)


Yeah, no worries... They are only about 15minutes away from my place.

Not a bad mob, got some nice gear there...

Mitch