BMF: Bad Mother F*cker!

[BMF1968]

Hi all. I've posted some pictures and info on my car in other threads before, but in the intrest of not hijacking other peoples lines, I thought i'd create my own.
I've always had modified cars of one sort or another. A couple a 55 chev's, a 65 impala, 59 caddilac coupe and some pretty quick calais but since i first laid eyes on Scott Sullivans "Cheez wiz" 1955 chevrolet coupe in an american magazine at the news agent, at about 14 years of age, i've been in love with the pro street look. Cars have come and gone but time and finances always held me back from building a balls out, old school pro streeter that's bite is worse than it's bark...until now!
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I first bought the car in 1999. I found it in an industrial section of Adelaide, tucked down the side of a mechanic's shop. He had four of them there that a buddy in the states had found and shipped for him promiseing 4 clean, honest camaros he could quickly flip for a tidy profit. What he got was 4 pieces of **** that looked like they'd been pulled straight outa ground zero.. after the towers came down on top of em.
In disgust he'd parked them round the side of his workshop and there they stayed until i happened to drive by and saw the rear taillights of a 68 poking out from the side of the shed.
After a quick inspection of his wares i laid my eyes upon the one that was to be mine. What a heap of crap. It was the worst of the bunch, but for what i had in mind it was perfect. At the time it had a rusted old 327 with a turbo 350 sitting in it and after a quick negotiation in which the mechanic held on to the motor and trans, i purchased my rolling(barely) shell for the princely sum of three and a half grand. Not a bad price for a 68 camaro even 10 years ago.
I trailered it home that same day. My wife was estatic:D about this rusted, banged up, multi coloured pile of junk i'd brought home to clutter up her yard with...without telling her i was buying a car... that would cost her her hundreds of thousands of dollars. HA HA. I didn't care cause i finally had the muscle car i'd dreamed of, and looking beyond the clattered mess I could see what could be.
All the photos i have of the car in it's original condition when i got it are not on disc and packed away somewhere so i haven't posted any here but i hope i've painted enough of a picture of what it was like.
The car basicaly sat in my shed untouched while i gathered info and spoke to people trying to work out what the plan was to be. I spoke to an engineer and explained what i wanted. He put it on paper and submitted it to the department of transport. Incredibaly they approved the modifications we'd proposed and i set about finding the people i needed to do the jobs. It was now 2006.
I literaly visited dozens of shops and spoke to hundreds of guys about the plans for my car. The job was either beyond most or i just wasn't happy with the workmanship until i came across this mob at a car show. I delivered the car to Zagarri Engineering and they set to work on the fabrication.
The first thing was to rebuild the body.
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[BMF1968]

Setting up the front end and tin work:

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LHD to right hook:
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[BMF1968]

We installed a four link rear with a nine inch and a custom front end, flat floor with radiused trans tunnel, smooth firewall and a million little custom touches to give that one off feel like the windscreen wipers that swipe from center out:
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and modified and reinforced the inner lip of the gaurd to make it strong enough so i dont have to run inner gaurds... i want to see that front end.
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We put hidden panels inside the tubs that you gain access to from the rear wheel wells so you can get at the rear window regulators for matinence, and modified the regs so the rear windows can go right down. I love the open look of a pillarless car and most tubbed cars rear windows wont go down cause they obviously hit the tubs.
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We installed a custom radiator support panel to house the ron davis rad that directs the air flow in.
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I can't speak highly enough of the boys at Zaggari's fabrication and craftmanship and was stoked with the way the car was as it left their shp.

[BMF1968]

From here it was off to a real old school guy to fix my body and set the gaps. When i say old school, this guy is a master. No plastic or filler... just lead. He works from a little shed in his backyard and again was wrapped with the finish he gave me. I can't speak highly enough of his talents....but i don't have to, check out the photos, this kind of work sells itself.
The car going in:
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Front nose:
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RH Gaurd:
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[BMF1968]

more RH gaurd:
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LH gaurd:

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Bonnet:

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[BMF1968]

Bonnet:
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Finishing the roof, in pretty good condition compared with the rest of the car:
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Starting the doors, these also were original and needed work,but better to use the standard then go with repo if you can help it.
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[BMF1968]

Doors:
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Rear qaurter:

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[USA-69Z]

Man , im loving it .... whats the colour plan for her?


Gav

[BMF1968]

Finishing the rear qaurters:
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Around the rear window was one of the only original parts of the car left and had some serious rust in the sill, we cut it out and made all new pieces,fitted them in and finished it all in lead, still no bog:

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[BMF1968]

Rear window repairs and finishing.
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While all this was going on i was busy saving and collecting parts.
The list is long and distinguished but a basic breakdown of whats sitting in my shed waiting for it's home is a alumium 632ci big block coupled to a a B&M powerglide. The brakes are all willwood and i've got enough autometer gauges here i could start my own speed shop.
It was right about this time my darling wife decide we should build a new house, so for the last 12 months thats been consuming my every waking moment. Were finaly in the new place so as the project was about to fire back up i thought it was time to start this thread and follow the progress.
The basic plans for the car have never changed, I wanted an old school, naturaly asspriated, big block pro streeter that will hammer as hard as it looks like it should, but enginered for legality so i can actually drive it on the road. I'm painting it black with a ghost bumblebee. You wont see too many like this pull up next to you at the lights.
Cheers for listening, Scott.

[BMF1968]

Some recent pics of my baby as she sits now:
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Now you know what the BMF stands for!

[67cammy]

Scott that is amazing. How straight is that body!! Do you have a time frame for completion. I can't wait to read about the ongoing build. Very very BAD

[cluxford]

Scott, simply wicked. I love this car !!! I have no idea how the hell you got this approved.

I could have done bigger tubs and wheels on mine and got it approved but that is about it.

Are you going a blown engine and cage or are they no no's like here in Vic ?

[rodent]

Scott, simply wicked, Are you going a blown engine and cage or are they no no's like here in Vic ?

Agree with Chris here, very nice Scott :D

Chris, cages ain't illegal in Vic dood.

[tonner]

As the others have said, Great build I wish we could get away with all that over here in the West.

Greg

[qik66]

Wow love your work! Reading this could be bad for my bank balance as it makes me want to bring forward the plans I have for mine.

[SirGeo]

:eek::eek::eek: Love it!

[RAW454]

:eek::eek::eek: Love it! Perfectly put. I'm speechless (Not good for a professional wordsmith...) Bring on the rest of the build!!

[Nev68]

.....I found it in an industrial section of Adelaide, tucked down the side of a mechanic's shop. He had four of them there that a buddy in the states had found and shipped for him promiseing 4 clean, honest camaros he could quickly flip for a tidy profit. What he got was 4 pieces of **** that looked like they'd been pulled straight outa ground zero.. after the towers came down on top of em.
In disgust he'd parked them round the side of his workshop and there they stayed until i happened to drive by and saw the rear taillights of a 68 poking out from the side of the shed.

Hey Scott,
That mechanic wouldn't happened to have been on Stanbel road at Salisbury would it?
I looked at 4 Camaro's out there around the late '90's and they were all less than ordinary, one was actually in 2 sections (although it was supposed to be a numbers matching BB car)
I was told a similar story of the the promise of good, clean, rust free cars only to end up with 4 piles of crap.

Anyway, love your build.
When are we likely to see you on the streets of Adelaide with it?

[67cammy]

Hey Scott,
That mechanic wouldn't happened to have been on Stanbel road at Salisbury would it?
I looked at 4 Camaro's out there around the late '90's and they were all less than ordinary, one was actually in 2 sections (although it was supposed to be a numbers matching BB car)
I was told a similar story of the the promise of good, clean, rust free cars only to end up with 4 piles of crap.

Anyway, love your build.
When are we likely to see you on the streets of Adelaide with it?

Now that's a coincidence! I bought mine from a guy on Stanbel Rd at Salisbury. Mark Ivey. One of four he brought in in 2002.

[TUFF68]

Damn this is going to be a TUFF car :eek: Only one colour to paint a car like this Scott, good choice :D . Agree, can only wish to get away with building something like this legally over here, if we could, i would be asking Greg to borrow his plasma cutter :D

[Nev68]

Now that's a coincidence! I bought mine from a guy on Stanbel Rd at Salisbury. Mark Ivey. One of four he brought in in 2002.

Dave,
That's the bloke Mark Ivey "Cruisin Classics"
Adelaide is a small place
I almost bought the small block 68(?) he just painted in Hugger Orange but backed out due to new house construction.

[blackoutsteve]

This BMF with full registration eh?
There's hope for the rest of you South Aussie guys yet.. ;)

[chevelle]

Will also have my approved tubbed 69 camaro registered and legal once finished. Next in line at chassis shop.
Looks nice BMF, you will be on the road before me so will keep a look out.

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[67RS]

Hi Scott,
Car looks awesome, body work in particular looks sensational. I noticed that you've got a standard bonnet prepped. Is that what your going to be running with and will you have to cut it in order to fit that 632. I'm not a fan of the 69 cowl induction bonnet on 67 8's( much prefer a standard or SS) but I must be in the minority because nearly every 7 or 8 you see has a cowl induction I guess they offer a bit more clearance.

Cheers Dave.

[AUSCAMARO]

Meh..... Not bad!

It's just FRIGGIN AWESOME is what it is!!!! :eek: :eek:

Jealousy strikes deep in the heart of the US MUSCLE lover :D :D

Luurvin it!

[BMF1968]

Scott, simply wicked. I love this car !!! I have no idea how the hell you got this approved.

I could have done bigger tubs and wheels on mine and got it approved but that is about it.

Are you going a blown engine and cage or are they no no's like here in Vic ?

No, not going blown. want to keep it all under the bonnet and keep people geussing. Not putting in a cage either, i'm retaining the back seat. I got a couple of little one and i want the car to be "family friendly".
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[BMF1968]

Hey Scott,
That mechanic wouldn't happened to have been on Stanbel road at Salisbury would it?
I looked at 4 Camaro's out there around the late '90's and they were all less than ordinary, one was actually in 2 sections (although it was supposed to be a numbers matching BB car)
I was told a similar story of the the promise of good, clean, rust free cars only to end up with 4 piles of crap.

Anyway, love your build.
When are we likely to see you on the streets of Adelaide with it?

Thats the ones. Mine was originaly turqoise although when it was at his shop it was mostly white.

[BMF1968]

Will also have my approved tubbed 69 camaro registered and legal once finished. Next in line at chassis shop.
Looks nice BMF, you will be on the road before me so will keep a look out.

2667

Which shop you useing? also who you going through for engineering? Looks like a bit of a handful, what the story with this car? A couple more like this and we can start our own US MUSCLE PRO STREET section circa team camaro:D

[BMF1968]

Hi Scott,
Car looks awesome, body work in particular looks sensational. I noticed that you've got a standard bonnet prepped. Is that what your going to be running with and will you have to cut it in order to fit that 632. I'm not a fan of the 69 cowl induction bonnet on 67 8's( much prefer a standard or SS) but I must be in the minority because nearly every 7 or 8 you see has a cowl induction I guess they offer a bit more clearance.

Cheers Dave.

I'm not a big fan of scoops, unless its an oversize hornet racing model, but yeah, I'll be running the standard bonnet. When we built the front end we set up the cross member to sit a lot lower than a standard one. I've had the motor/trans in once during mock up and she clears no problem.
I'm trying to keep the bulk of the body essentialy stock from the outside (yes i know the rear rubber gives away my sleeper) ,so i dont really fancy cutting holes and adding bits. I think the 1st gen camaros have great lines and keeping the body pretty basic will highlight the qaulity in the body and hopefully paint ect. Sometimes less is more.

[chevelle]

Which shop you useing? also who you going through for engineering? Looks like a bit of a handful, what the story with this car? A couple more like this and we can start our own US MUSCLE PRO STREET section circa team camaro:D

Im going through CDS, Carmine and Dino. Have everything for the car even a set of INTRO wheels 20x16 and 18x7 for a change of wheels for weekend cruising. No back seat, 4 link, Sheetmetal Chris Alston FAB 9 housing, Mark Williams axles, brakes and centre. Twin Turbo 572, so alot of work to be done. Doug Potts is the engineer im going through, he has done my V8 LC GTR.
There is allready a few tubbed early camaros registered in South Australia, nice blue 68. A couple more in process of getting done at the moment.
So yes there will be a few.
Who did your body work?

[AUSCAMARO]

Im going through CDS, Carmine and Dino. Have everything for the car even a set of INTRO wheels 20x16 and 18x7 for a change of wheels for weekend cruising. No back seat, 4 link, Sheetmetal Chris Alston FAB 9 housing, Mark Williams axles, brakes and centre. Twin Turbo 572, so alot of work to be done. Doug Potts is the engineer im going through, he has done my V8 LC GTR.
There is allready a few tubbed early camaros registered in South Australia, nice blue 68. A couple more in process of getting done at the moment.
So yes there will be a few.
Who did your body work?


Alrighty then, where is your build thread?? C'Mon....get it up..

[chevelle]

Alrighty then, where is your build thread?? C'Mon....get it up..

Once car goes into Chassis shop i will start a build thread.

[BMF1968]

Im going through CDS, Carmine and Dino. Have everything for the car even a set of INTRO wheels 20x16 and 18x7 for a change of wheels for weekend cruising. No back seat, 4 link, Sheetmetal Chris Alston FAB 9 housing, Mark Williams axles, brakes and centre. Twin Turbo 572, so alot of work to be done. Doug Potts is the engineer im going through, he has done my V8 LC GTR.
There is allready a few tubbed early camaros registered in South Australia, nice blue 68. A couple more in process of getting done at the moment.
So yes there will be a few.
Who did your body work?

Doug is my engineer for this camaro also. The blue 68 your refering too belongs to sav, zagarri's did his chassis work too. His went through before mine, along with a really over the top 57 buick coupe. A lot of what went into my car was based on the stuff frank and the boys had built into these two cars. Sav's has full rego now. A really nice ride. There's also a couple of other pro street cars with full reg getting round now too, a really nice 34 3 window ford, blue paint.
My bodywork was done by an old guy named henry. He used to have his own shop but got sick of crash work and gave it away. He works from a little shed out the back of his house and only does a handful of cars every year, all killer stuff. all lead, no plastic. Like i said before, old school. Theres not many like him that can give you the finish he will. If your intrested in using him PM me and i'll pass on his number.

[chevelle]

Doug is my engineer for this camaro also. The blue 68 your refering too belongs to sav ruggerio, zagarri's did his chassis work too. His went through before mine, along with a really over the top 57 buick coupe. A lot of what went into my car was based on the stuff frank and the boys had built into these two cars. Sav's has full rego now. A really nice ride. There's also a couple of other pro street cars with full reg getting round now too, a really nice 34 3 window ford, blue paint.
My bodywork was done by an old guy named henry. He used to have his own shop but got sick of crash work and gave it away. He works from a little shed out the back of his house and only does a handful of cars every year, all killer stuff. all lead, no plastic. Like i said before, old school. Theres not many like him that can give you the finish he will. If your intrested in using him PM me and i'll pass on his number.

Yes i remember the buick, there is actually also another tubbed 57 buick which is Lee's car. The one your talking about used to be owned by Mario from AOI, right hand steering rack guy.
Also a couple of tubbed holden utes and HQ stato and coupe that is backhalved, so like you said there is def a few tubbed registered cars here in South Australia.

[cluxford]

I'm not a big fan of scoops, unless its an oversize hornet racing model, but yeah, I'll be running the standard bonnet. When we built the front end we set up the cross member to sit a lot lower than a standard one. I've had the motor/trans in once during mock up and she clears no problem.
I'm trying to keep the bulk of the body essentialy stock from the outside (yes i know the rear rubber gives away my sleeper) ,so i dont really fancy cutting holes and adding bits. I think the 1st gen camaros have great lines and keeping the body pretty basic will highlight the qaulity in the body and hopefully paint ect. Sometimes less is more.


Scott, have you seen the pics of mine. I went basically no frame mounts and with an AME front end and the bonnet cleared the motor but it had no air cleaner. I hate cowl hood's as well, not sure why so many love them. I have however gone with dual carbs on a low rise manifold and a Hilborn scoop on mine.

Your subframe must be damn low to get this thing to clear under the bonnet.

[AUSCAMARO]

It's been a few months with no updates Scott.... Howa bout it ? ;)

[RAW454]

It's been a few months with no updates Scott.... Howa bout it ? ;) Was thinking exact same last week :D Nuts car & need a fix

[MrBlonde]

Fantastic project, look forward to the next update!

"Rapt" (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wrapt)

[SYC 427]

Dave,
That's the bloke Mark Ivey "Cruisin Classics"
Adelaide is a small place
I almost bought the small block 68(?) he just painted in Hugger Orange but backed out due to new house construction.

looked at those four cars as well, one had a hole in the roof from a sunroof, he also had a 68 convert in pieces. i bought all the parts he had left over a couple of years ago. he now has a mechanical workshop on magill road and he has had his purple 62 chev on ebay for sale.

[timsmothers]

Amazing car, can hardly wait for the next update!

[AUSCAMARO]

C'Mon Scott...

Whats the progress with this BAD BOY?