1974 Camaro Z28
Discussion
99t said:
Did the engine overheat and cut out due to the loss of coolant? Hopefully no major harm done, these old cast iron motors are quite forgiving.
Is that coolant as rusty as it appears? If so, please flush and add antifreeze as a matter of priority!!
No, the engine runs a little cool anyway (especially at speed in this weather). The hose let go very suddenly so I shut the engine straight down and coasted to a stop. Is that coolant as rusty as it appears? If so, please flush and add antifreeze as a matter of priority!!
Yeah the coolant has definitely seen better days. Don't worry, there's a few jobs that should hopefully be done in quick succession, that being one of them.
I've had the time to go around the car with a proper 'snagging' list now and make a note of all the bits that need refurbing or replacing. Some larger more obvious items and some smaller detail pieces.
Starting with the interior.
The steering wheel is the most obvious bit here. I've tried to repair it with the OE centre trim but the whole thing is warped - probably from the US sun. I can't find a good OE rep (or real) anywhere.
So I've ordered a Momo hub and I'll be fitting the Key!s Racing wheel I had in my RX7, at least for the short term until I find something I like more. Unfortunately Larkspeed made an error with their stock and the part wont arrive until Mid May...
The dash is the next bit - the panel is held in with cable ties and the clocks have stopped working. So I've had it apart and found the circuit board is fried. Easy to get a replacement from the US fortunately enough! New panel will be ordered with it too.
There a few trim pieces and badges that could do with tidying up too. Again, most of them seem straightforward to get hold of from the US.
Mechanically its pretty much there, but could do with some tarting up and basic maintenance. The filters in particular have seen better days.
I've been apprehensive about ordering directly from the US so far, but with good reviews I tried RockAuto. I ordered a new air filter and plugs around 4 days ago and they all turned up today! Well, most of them (a listing error meant I didnt get all the plugs I ordered, but theyve been refunded and I'll definitely order from them again.
The old filter was definitely ready for changing...
Now I need to get stuck in to removing all the old coolant from the nooks and crannies of the engine.
Starting with the interior.
The steering wheel is the most obvious bit here. I've tried to repair it with the OE centre trim but the whole thing is warped - probably from the US sun. I can't find a good OE rep (or real) anywhere.
So I've ordered a Momo hub and I'll be fitting the Key!s Racing wheel I had in my RX7, at least for the short term until I find something I like more. Unfortunately Larkspeed made an error with their stock and the part wont arrive until Mid May...
The dash is the next bit - the panel is held in with cable ties and the clocks have stopped working. So I've had it apart and found the circuit board is fried. Easy to get a replacement from the US fortunately enough! New panel will be ordered with it too.
There a few trim pieces and badges that could do with tidying up too. Again, most of them seem straightforward to get hold of from the US.
Mechanically its pretty much there, but could do with some tarting up and basic maintenance. The filters in particular have seen better days.
I've been apprehensive about ordering directly from the US so far, but with good reviews I tried RockAuto. I ordered a new air filter and plugs around 4 days ago and they all turned up today! Well, most of them (a listing error meant I didnt get all the plugs I ordered, but theyve been refunded and I'll definitely order from them again.
The old filter was definitely ready for changing...
Now I need to get stuck in to removing all the old coolant from the nooks and crannies of the engine.
I've been having issues lately shifting gears, generally first to second was fine as was third to fourth, but second to third was becoming a real issue - especially when warm. Common diagnosis online seemed to point to old or wrong gearbox oil. I figured I had no idea when (if ever) it was last changed, so I bought some 80W90 GL-4 mineral oil. While the shift itself was now much slicker, I was still having the same issues.
Guessing I had a more sinister problem, I took the car to Motorsport and Performance in Birstall. I shoot a lot of ridiculous-powered Mustangs for these guys so I had every faith they could get to the bottom of my problem.
(Excuse the phone shots for these next few)
One of the first interesting discoveries we made was that the gearbox wasn't a Muncie afterall. It's a Borg-Warner Super T10 which meant all the research I had done and come prepared with was utterly useless. The stamps do check out though, this is the original gearbox that came with the car in '74. In good nick, too.
While the oil change had clearly done some good inside the box, there was still some crud to clear off the shift forks.
Josh was straight on it, throwing any parts we could inside the big washer and re-assembling them once they were clean.
While he was busy doing that, I set about changing the plugs. Turned out to be a nightmare of a job thanks to the aftermarket headers, which we believe to be Kooks. Luckily there were enough different tools laying around to get them all out.
I don't have any photos for the next bit as we were losing time, but with the gearbox back together and cleaned we still had the same issue. Off came the Hirst shifter and linkages, disassembled and into the washer it went. Once back together and on the car, with a bit of fettling I was back on the road home. The difference was night and day from the drive in where I practically limped the car across the motorway.
We'd had a check over the whole car while underneath it and were both left impressed by the condition it was in. I also did some parts tracing where I could and found the Edelbrock to be a 750CFM carb with a high-rise intake. While its obvious that at some point a 'keen' amateur has tackled a lot of the smaller jobs (/bodges), the bigger things like underseal etc have been left to professionals. Feeling confident about the car making a good base for my plans, I threw my savings account at the internet and ordered the bulk of the parts I need to restore it.
This is about half of that order, mainly the bits I needed from RockAuto and the UK. It's got to be said the service from RockAuto is incredible. I ordered the fuel tank on Monday evening, it arrived Thursday morning. All the taxes and fees are paid immediately so there are no hidden surprises once the parts get here. The only downside is they don't really stock any aftermarket parts, or many interior bits.
Parts so far include:
235/60/15 General Grabber HP tyres
Koni Classic shocks (front and rear)
Spectra fuel tank (21gal)
Door cards (upper and lower)
OEM Z28 ducktail spoiler
Heat-wrap for the headers to help keep the gearbox cool
That's on top of some of the older parts I have like the steering wheel from Key!s Racing. I'm still waiting on the hub from Momo.
That's about half of the order with around another £1k of bits to arrive still from Summit Racing, who have gone quiet since I placed the order last week. With them arrives the bulk of the mechanical parts I need, circuit boards, wiring, hardware, dash panel, header bolts and gaskets, interior parts and fixings. I also treated myself to some Hotchkis 2" lowering springs for the front to give me the rake that I think muscle cars should have.
Feeling happy with the car and with a suitably empty savings account, I thought I'd enjoy the last bit of golden hour with the car and head out for a short Sunday drive.
The car did what I half expected it to do in those circumstances. It broke down in spectacular fashion. Coming up to a set of traffic lights in town and with pedestrians everywhere, I shifted from coasting in neutral back into second gear and with an incredible bang I lost all drive. While still rolling downhill, I tried desperately to restart the engine with no joy and an alarming smell of oil. I daren't look in the mirror to see what I expected would be part of my bottom end waving back at me in the road.
With the car pulled onto some wasteland, I had a look around and couldn't see anything obvious. No leaks, engine was trying to turn over but not catching. With some hope, I called the RAC. In a twist of fate, the chap who arrived (within 15mins!) was an old school friend of mine.
We set to work taking bits apart and trying to diagnose the issue. We had fuel, we could see the valves moving, so everything pointed to the spark. Twitchy bum time as I remember I've just changed the plugs and thrown the old ones away. We eventually traced it to the HEI distributor and with some friendly advice from Steve (you may remember his 67 Camaro from previous posts) we found the culprit - a sensor inside the dizzy itself. You can see it here, it's the black plastic part.
So he drove home, whipped his off and we changed it out. The engine fired up straight away and managed to limp the car home. So another brand new one is also on it's way, at which point we can refit it and tune everything up.
Guessing I had a more sinister problem, I took the car to Motorsport and Performance in Birstall. I shoot a lot of ridiculous-powered Mustangs for these guys so I had every faith they could get to the bottom of my problem.
(Excuse the phone shots for these next few)
One of the first interesting discoveries we made was that the gearbox wasn't a Muncie afterall. It's a Borg-Warner Super T10 which meant all the research I had done and come prepared with was utterly useless. The stamps do check out though, this is the original gearbox that came with the car in '74. In good nick, too.
While the oil change had clearly done some good inside the box, there was still some crud to clear off the shift forks.
Josh was straight on it, throwing any parts we could inside the big washer and re-assembling them once they were clean.
While he was busy doing that, I set about changing the plugs. Turned out to be a nightmare of a job thanks to the aftermarket headers, which we believe to be Kooks. Luckily there were enough different tools laying around to get them all out.
I don't have any photos for the next bit as we were losing time, but with the gearbox back together and cleaned we still had the same issue. Off came the Hirst shifter and linkages, disassembled and into the washer it went. Once back together and on the car, with a bit of fettling I was back on the road home. The difference was night and day from the drive in where I practically limped the car across the motorway.
We'd had a check over the whole car while underneath it and were both left impressed by the condition it was in. I also did some parts tracing where I could and found the Edelbrock to be a 750CFM carb with a high-rise intake. While its obvious that at some point a 'keen' amateur has tackled a lot of the smaller jobs (/bodges), the bigger things like underseal etc have been left to professionals. Feeling confident about the car making a good base for my plans, I threw my savings account at the internet and ordered the bulk of the parts I need to restore it.
This is about half of that order, mainly the bits I needed from RockAuto and the UK. It's got to be said the service from RockAuto is incredible. I ordered the fuel tank on Monday evening, it arrived Thursday morning. All the taxes and fees are paid immediately so there are no hidden surprises once the parts get here. The only downside is they don't really stock any aftermarket parts, or many interior bits.
Parts so far include:
235/60/15 General Grabber HP tyres
Koni Classic shocks (front and rear)
Spectra fuel tank (21gal)
Door cards (upper and lower)
OEM Z28 ducktail spoiler
Heat-wrap for the headers to help keep the gearbox cool
That's on top of some of the older parts I have like the steering wheel from Key!s Racing. I'm still waiting on the hub from Momo.
That's about half of the order with around another £1k of bits to arrive still from Summit Racing, who have gone quiet since I placed the order last week. With them arrives the bulk of the mechanical parts I need, circuit boards, wiring, hardware, dash panel, header bolts and gaskets, interior parts and fixings. I also treated myself to some Hotchkis 2" lowering springs for the front to give me the rake that I think muscle cars should have.
Feeling happy with the car and with a suitably empty savings account, I thought I'd enjoy the last bit of golden hour with the car and head out for a short Sunday drive.
The car did what I half expected it to do in those circumstances. It broke down in spectacular fashion. Coming up to a set of traffic lights in town and with pedestrians everywhere, I shifted from coasting in neutral back into second gear and with an incredible bang I lost all drive. While still rolling downhill, I tried desperately to restart the engine with no joy and an alarming smell of oil. I daren't look in the mirror to see what I expected would be part of my bottom end waving back at me in the road.
With the car pulled onto some wasteland, I had a look around and couldn't see anything obvious. No leaks, engine was trying to turn over but not catching. With some hope, I called the RAC. In a twist of fate, the chap who arrived (within 15mins!) was an old school friend of mine.
We set to work taking bits apart and trying to diagnose the issue. We had fuel, we could see the valves moving, so everything pointed to the spark. Twitchy bum time as I remember I've just changed the plugs and thrown the old ones away. We eventually traced it to the HEI distributor and with some friendly advice from Steve (you may remember his 67 Camaro from previous posts) we found the culprit - a sensor inside the dizzy itself. You can see it here, it's the black plastic part.
So he drove home, whipped his off and we changed it out. The engine fired up straight away and managed to limp the car home. So another brand new one is also on it's way, at which point we can refit it and tune everything up.
Thanks chaps. As a minor update, I managed to get in touch with Summit last night who were holding the order for another month due to some minor hardware being out of stock. A common-sense conversation later (they had the parts in stock individually...) and the order is now moving again. They've even thrown in a carb rebuild kit for free!
Edit - No they're not as it happens. They've just tried chasing me up for £560 worth of shipping for the £35 rebuild kit. After trying to justify it several times, they finally admitted they added a new carb by accident (which they didn't apologise for) and then blamed me for the delay with the order, even though they were the ones who didn't reply for five days and then couldn't figure out how to take screws out of two separate packets they had in stock to place them in one.
So far, I wouldn't recommend Summit at all!
Edit - No they're not as it happens. They've just tried chasing me up for £560 worth of shipping for the £35 rebuild kit. After trying to justify it several times, they finally admitted they added a new carb by accident (which they didn't apologise for) and then blamed me for the delay with the order, even though they were the ones who didn't reply for five days and then couldn't figure out how to take screws out of two separate packets they had in stock to place them in one.
So far, I wouldn't recommend Summit at all!
Edited by Rogue86 on Wednesday 17th June 18:50
Bobberoo99 said:
That's just rubbish!!!! Not a good advert for them at all!!! End result is I've been refunded for the carb I never ordered and the shipment is now on its way.
The new HEI distributor arrived yesterday so next job is to get that fitted and the timing sorted. I've also been getting quotes to have the spoiler fitted, a chin spoiler made up and a respray including the chrome bits.
Glad you like the car, I'm hoping this will be a really nice thing when it's done!
The new HEI dizzy arrived, largely the same (and nicely made) but with a lead cover at the top.
Refitting was straightforward enough, in with the new.
This is probably the part I should add I am not a mechanic. Armed with a few episodes of Roadkill garage under my belt, my friend Steve came round with his timing gun and we gave it a go. I was a bit busy here so only one photo to show roughly what I was looking at.
Theres a small timing trim tab on the block and at some point someone has (very, very roughly!) tried to mark top-dead centre on the harmonic balancer pulley. By turning the distributor by hand, you can see the markings move with the pulley relative to the trim tab. We first set initial timing in order to settle the idle, then went for total timing. Mainly it's done by ear and then a quick test drive, though we had some rough guides to aim for.
I've always had a misfire under load and it turns out its always been as a result of the total timing not being quite right. The car now drives brilliantly!
While we were messing around with the coil, we fitted a temporary rev gauge in the bonnet cowl. I'll replace it with something a bit prettier and analogue in the future.
So, back to Summit Racing...
After being promised on the phone last week that the order would be shipped there and then, I was told to expect it Wednesday (yesterday). Having had no shipping information, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and waiting until the order clearly wasn't coming. Several more failed attempts to get in touch online, I opted to phone them again. I was a little worried when the girl on the phone immediately said "uh-oh I better pass you straight onto customer services" upon opening my order.
Long story short, the order hasn't moved and they don't know why. Once again, I'm promised that the order will be shipped immediately, but as I'm writing this now the order still hasnt moved. Another chat with customer services and they assure me it will leave today, so watch this space.
All I can really say is that I would not use them again. With so many competitors in the US with much better service, there's no reason to put up with this. As it stands, I don't trust their refunds process to be any better than their ordering process so I'm letting them put it right.
In the short term to give me some motivation now I can't fit my parts, I've tried a quick mock-up of how the car should sit with the parts fitted.
Original:
After:
It's given me some hope at least!
Refitting was straightforward enough, in with the new.
This is probably the part I should add I am not a mechanic. Armed with a few episodes of Roadkill garage under my belt, my friend Steve came round with his timing gun and we gave it a go. I was a bit busy here so only one photo to show roughly what I was looking at.
Theres a small timing trim tab on the block and at some point someone has (very, very roughly!) tried to mark top-dead centre on the harmonic balancer pulley. By turning the distributor by hand, you can see the markings move with the pulley relative to the trim tab. We first set initial timing in order to settle the idle, then went for total timing. Mainly it's done by ear and then a quick test drive, though we had some rough guides to aim for.
I've always had a misfire under load and it turns out its always been as a result of the total timing not being quite right. The car now drives brilliantly!
While we were messing around with the coil, we fitted a temporary rev gauge in the bonnet cowl. I'll replace it with something a bit prettier and analogue in the future.
So, back to Summit Racing...
After being promised on the phone last week that the order would be shipped there and then, I was told to expect it Wednesday (yesterday). Having had no shipping information, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and waiting until the order clearly wasn't coming. Several more failed attempts to get in touch online, I opted to phone them again. I was a little worried when the girl on the phone immediately said "uh-oh I better pass you straight onto customer services" upon opening my order.
Long story short, the order hasn't moved and they don't know why. Once again, I'm promised that the order will be shipped immediately, but as I'm writing this now the order still hasnt moved. Another chat with customer services and they assure me it will leave today, so watch this space.
All I can really say is that I would not use them again. With so many competitors in the US with much better service, there's no reason to put up with this. As it stands, I don't trust their refunds process to be any better than their ordering process so I'm letting them put it right.
In the short term to give me some motivation now I can't fit my parts, I've tried a quick mock-up of how the car should sit with the parts fitted.
Original:
After:
It's given me some hope at least!
Yeah the shipping experience with Rockauto is absolutely incredible. I'm not quite sure how they do it, other than secretly trading in my neighbours garage - it's the only way I can think of that allows them to get parts here so fast!
Glad you guys like the mock up too, if it looks half as good I'll be happy.
I've had shipping confirmation from Summit at last! Although it does say 15 business days, so another 3 week wait. I would've thought they might try to pull the stops out given their mistakes but obviously not. I will definitely be avoiding them in future.
Glad you guys like the mock up too, if it looks half as good I'll be happy.
I've had shipping confirmation from Summit at last! Although it does say 15 business days, so another 3 week wait. I would've thought they might try to pull the stops out given their mistakes but obviously not. I will definitely be avoiding them in future.
To start with, a little bit of artwork I made for the garage wall 
Then after multiple headaches and £120 in phone calls to Ohio later...
The order from Summit finally arrived! Alright, so it took 5 weeks and both Summit and GDN lost the package from their systems (meaning it was missing and nobody knew why until it turned up at my door)...not to mention it was fairly badly packaged so the carb rebuild kit has been crushed, but at this point I'm willing to write Summit Racing off and just be happy that the bits are here.
Everything seems relatively as advertised, but the dash carrier panel really stands out as being a nice piece. The image I bought this based on didn't show it was textured or had the chrome rings, so I'd planned to get this wrapped but as it is I think it will fit nicely.
You'll see some of the more notable parts there - Hotckis 2" lowering springs, circuit-board for the back of the dash plus some assorted trim pieces and hardware. The gearshift retainer ring is too small but the tunnel it's designed to fit onto won't go on with the Hurst shifter/lockout, so I'll likely cut the trim piece into sections and custom make a gaiter to cover the hole.
First things first, I thought I'd tackle the issue that my car has never had a full interior while I've owned it. Now unfortunately it turns out that Summits advice on what I needed wasn't quite right and they'd sent me silver screws instead of black, so this was more of a mock-up fit.
It even shuts properly despite missing most of the clips behind the panel.
Maybe I'm and old romantic or maybe its the toxic fumes from the petrol this thing burns but there's something about seeing the interior finally coming together that does funny things to where I wee from. Regardless, it's not quite right so it'll have to come out again. I've measured the screws up and bought some black ones locally which arrived this morning and I've tried my hand at ordering with Ecklers (Ricks Camaros) for the door clips I actually need. At the same time I ordered some other bits from Jegs, balancing my chances of finding a new reputable supplier for when RockAuto dont stock something.
In the meantime, I thought I'd tackle some more basic jobs. The paint was coming off the radiator fan shroud and the top arms haven't looked the same since the coolant explosion. Out came the Hammerite - very much a work in progress this engine bay so bear with me.
The state of the park lights has bothered me since changing the bulbs as they're probably original and very cloudy. Having little luck with US suppliers lately I thought I'd try my hand at restoring them myself.
Using Holts headlight restoration kit, I set to work and within 30mins the results were in.
(before on the left, after on the right)
Quite predictably the Holts stuff was excellent...and now means I can see the park light housing assembly which, for want of a better word, is shagged. Looks like I'll be ordering new ones then! While the chrome trims were off, I thought I'd coat them black too. I actually didnt mind the chrome here, but because the housing is (supposed to be) chrome too you could never actually see this intricate little piece of detail.
Now being an old car, the headlights are about as useful as sticking your phone torch out of the window and using memory to navigate, even with Osram nightbreaker bulbs in.
Turns out Jegs won the new dealer contest and my new headlight retainer rings and switch nut arrived this morning. Great service from them and I'll be using them again for sure!
More importantly, my new Trucklite LED headlamps turned up at the same time - I wasnt expecting these for another few weeks! A quick test fit and they modernise the front end by just the right amount, making the car look a lot sharper.
They plug straight into the H4 mounting for the bulb and voila, brighter than the Sun!
Onto some bigger jobs now...
Then after multiple headaches and £120 in phone calls to Ohio later...
The order from Summit finally arrived! Alright, so it took 5 weeks and both Summit and GDN lost the package from their systems (meaning it was missing and nobody knew why until it turned up at my door)...not to mention it was fairly badly packaged so the carb rebuild kit has been crushed, but at this point I'm willing to write Summit Racing off and just be happy that the bits are here.
Everything seems relatively as advertised, but the dash carrier panel really stands out as being a nice piece. The image I bought this based on didn't show it was textured or had the chrome rings, so I'd planned to get this wrapped but as it is I think it will fit nicely.
You'll see some of the more notable parts there - Hotckis 2" lowering springs, circuit-board for the back of the dash plus some assorted trim pieces and hardware. The gearshift retainer ring is too small but the tunnel it's designed to fit onto won't go on with the Hurst shifter/lockout, so I'll likely cut the trim piece into sections and custom make a gaiter to cover the hole.
First things first, I thought I'd tackle the issue that my car has never had a full interior while I've owned it. Now unfortunately it turns out that Summits advice on what I needed wasn't quite right and they'd sent me silver screws instead of black, so this was more of a mock-up fit.
It even shuts properly despite missing most of the clips behind the panel.
Maybe I'm and old romantic or maybe its the toxic fumes from the petrol this thing burns but there's something about seeing the interior finally coming together that does funny things to where I wee from. Regardless, it's not quite right so it'll have to come out again. I've measured the screws up and bought some black ones locally which arrived this morning and I've tried my hand at ordering with Ecklers (Ricks Camaros) for the door clips I actually need. At the same time I ordered some other bits from Jegs, balancing my chances of finding a new reputable supplier for when RockAuto dont stock something.
In the meantime, I thought I'd tackle some more basic jobs. The paint was coming off the radiator fan shroud and the top arms haven't looked the same since the coolant explosion. Out came the Hammerite - very much a work in progress this engine bay so bear with me.
The state of the park lights has bothered me since changing the bulbs as they're probably original and very cloudy. Having little luck with US suppliers lately I thought I'd try my hand at restoring them myself.
Using Holts headlight restoration kit, I set to work and within 30mins the results were in.
(before on the left, after on the right)
Quite predictably the Holts stuff was excellent...and now means I can see the park light housing assembly which, for want of a better word, is shagged. Looks like I'll be ordering new ones then! While the chrome trims were off, I thought I'd coat them black too. I actually didnt mind the chrome here, but because the housing is (supposed to be) chrome too you could never actually see this intricate little piece of detail.
Now being an old car, the headlights are about as useful as sticking your phone torch out of the window and using memory to navigate, even with Osram nightbreaker bulbs in.
Turns out Jegs won the new dealer contest and my new headlight retainer rings and switch nut arrived this morning. Great service from them and I'll be using them again for sure!
More importantly, my new Trucklite LED headlamps turned up at the same time - I wasnt expecting these for another few weeks! A quick test fit and they modernise the front end by just the right amount, making the car look a lot sharper.
They plug straight into the H4 mounting for the bulb and voila, brighter than the Sun!
Onto some bigger jobs now...
Edited by Rogue86 on Tuesday 21st July 15:46
I've had some concerns about the fuel tank for a while...
With my fuel gauge not currently working I've always had to guess roughly how much fuel I have in there. Before I headed out to Rome last year for a long weekend, I decided to brim the tank by putting 70 or so litres of fuel in. When I came home, the house (which has the garage underneath) absolutely stank of fuel. Sure enough, the car was sat in an ocean of unleaded.
After some fairly basic checks, I could see a small fuel leak from about halfway up the tank - it looked to be coming from around the filler neck. I bought a Spectra fuel tank from RockAuto, a modest £90 upgrade (which then cost me twice that in shipping...) and in the meantime only kept a small amount of fuel in the car with a jerry can (and fire extinguisher!) in the boot just in case. I thought I'd tackle it last night and sure enough, that tank looks to be the original unit and definitely ready to come out!
In fact, with the tank out it was possible to work out that it was more suitable for draining pasta with several shady patches and ill-fitting parts.
Interestingly enough the new tank has the breather pipe welded in, which is as well as the original unit failed here among other places. The pipe itself is shorter though so I need to forage for some pipe to vent it out properly. The new tank though seems like a really well-made item.
Need to paint it now so its not quite as conspicuous, along with ordering a new fuel sending unit as that also looks like an OEM part. It seems like every time I start a new job on this it costs me another £100 The irritating thing is the part is always cheap from the US but the British Government want a hefty piece!
I intended to start the suspension tonight but suspect the drop-links will also probably need replacing, so I've ordered some more. £2 each for some fancy ones, cheaper than a pint
With my fuel gauge not currently working I've always had to guess roughly how much fuel I have in there. Before I headed out to Rome last year for a long weekend, I decided to brim the tank by putting 70 or so litres of fuel in. When I came home, the house (which has the garage underneath) absolutely stank of fuel. Sure enough, the car was sat in an ocean of unleaded.
After some fairly basic checks, I could see a small fuel leak from about halfway up the tank - it looked to be coming from around the filler neck. I bought a Spectra fuel tank from RockAuto, a modest £90 upgrade (which then cost me twice that in shipping...) and in the meantime only kept a small amount of fuel in the car with a jerry can (and fire extinguisher!) in the boot just in case. I thought I'd tackle it last night and sure enough, that tank looks to be the original unit and definitely ready to come out!
In fact, with the tank out it was possible to work out that it was more suitable for draining pasta with several shady patches and ill-fitting parts.
Interestingly enough the new tank has the breather pipe welded in, which is as well as the original unit failed here among other places. The pipe itself is shorter though so I need to forage for some pipe to vent it out properly. The new tank though seems like a really well-made item.
Need to paint it now so its not quite as conspicuous, along with ordering a new fuel sending unit as that also looks like an OEM part. It seems like every time I start a new job on this it costs me another £100
The irritating thing is the part is always cheap from the US but the British Government want a hefty piece!I intended to start the suspension tonight but suspect the drop-links will also probably need replacing, so I've ordered some more. £2 each for some fancy ones, cheaper than a pint
Bobberoo99 said:
Excellent updates, love reading about this car!!
Thank you, really starting to feel like the car is coming together now. She's definitely running sweet at the moment! mkjess12 said:
It's a shame that you have had the problems with Summit. I've used them in the past and always had good service from them.
Jegs on the other hand proved to be an absolute nightmare and I swore that I would never use them again
Yeah we've obviously had completely different experiences. Jegs posted the order out within an hour of me having paid for it, estimated 8 day delivery and it turned up in 5. Tracking info was kept up to date and the parts were well packaged. Ultimately they couldn't have done much more for me. Jegs on the other hand proved to be an absolute nightmare and I swore that I would never use them again
The experience I had with Summit was so terrible I still haven't really got my head around how they managed it. Ecklers seem to be similar at the moment, still heard nothing from their tracking or their customer services.
Decided to make a day of it and start by plumbing the lights in properly, removing almost 50 years of bodging with self-tappers...
The light-set as it mounts to the car, with the bucket, lamp and retaining ring (as well as the sealed beam halogen 7" lamps).
The buckets themselves needed a bit of tidying up, so sanded them and then good old trust hammerite.
This is where they sit on the car, it's part of the bumper frame and someone incredibly rough-handed has tried to drill through the other side and snapped part of the mounting off. Another example of a seemingly straight-forward job requiring a drill and a bit of ingenuity!
That said, it went on easy enough. They are incredibly bright (this is on high-beam though).
Still some final adjustments to make (and the bezels to go on around them) but they look great.
Also sorted out those black screws for the door cards too, another little touch that just makes the car a bit nicer.
The light-set as it mounts to the car, with the bucket, lamp and retaining ring (as well as the sealed beam halogen 7" lamps).
The buckets themselves needed a bit of tidying up, so sanded them and then good old trust hammerite.
This is where they sit on the car, it's part of the bumper frame and someone incredibly rough-handed has tried to drill through the other side and snapped part of the mounting off. Another example of a seemingly straight-forward job requiring a drill and a bit of ingenuity!
That said, it went on easy enough. They are incredibly bright (this is on high-beam though).
Still some final adjustments to make (and the bezels to go on around them) but they look great.
Also sorted out those black screws for the door cards too, another little touch that just makes the car a bit nicer.
Following the lights, I plucked up the courage to tackle one of the bigger jobs I need to do - the wiring. I have a really, really basic understanding of electrics so armed with a multimeter and Google I set about it. How hard can it be?
Well just to be safe I tagged-in my friend Josh to come round and drink some beer while we found out
Steering column lowered and the lower dash removed (I think I'll paint this while its off).
With the connector still plugged in, I thought I'd assess the damage. It's clear that the printed circuit board needs to come out, but the cable ties were a worrying sign as it seems someone has sacrificed the circuit board to put them on.
Sure enough, someone with robot strength has snapped the gauge cluster away from the housing...
The state of the circuit board, checking for burns our obvious breaks that might cause me worry further down the line.
With everything out, we took some time to reseal everything, clean all the contacts and use the headlight restoring kit from earlier to buff up the gauge faces. They look like new again!
With the new circuit-board out, we did some testing of both it and the bulbs.
Confusingly none of the bulbs worked in the dash, but did on another car (theyre basic 501 bulbs). We were getting some power to some of the gauges but not all. Time to start investigating. Not many photos of this bit, lots of searching US forums, reading the Haynes manual and lots and lots of wire-tracing. This was taken at 0320hrs this morning before we finally decided to call it a night.
However what we did discover will hopefully prove vital. So on the off-chance you might be re-wiring your 2nd gen Camaro, this might be helpful to you too!
The main connector and the readings we got from the multimeter:
1 - Brown - 0V - Tach lead
2 - Green/white - 0V - Temp gauge to sender
3 - Pink - 12V - 12V switched from 8
4 - Light brown - 0V - Fuel gauge to sender
5 - Grey - 0V - Dash/clock lights
6 - Black - 0V - Earth
7 - Light brown - 0V - Emergency brake light
8 - Pink - 12V - 12V switched from 3
9 - Light blue - 0V - Left indicator
10 - Light green - 0V - High beam (headlight)
11 - Dark blue - 0V - Right indicator
12 - Blue/white - 0V - Oil light to sender
Given the readings and what we could get working, we think we're chasing a bad earth and a bad wire for the dash lights. The fuel gauge works and the tach worked intermittently, so we feel like we're getting somewhere.
I'll probably pick this up in a couple of days once I've done some tidying in the garage and made the final adjustments to the lights.
Well just to be safe I tagged-in my friend Josh to come round and drink some beer while we found out
Steering column lowered and the lower dash removed (I think I'll paint this while its off).
With the connector still plugged in, I thought I'd assess the damage. It's clear that the printed circuit board needs to come out, but the cable ties were a worrying sign as it seems someone has sacrificed the circuit board to put them on.
Sure enough, someone with robot strength has snapped the gauge cluster away from the housing...
The state of the circuit board, checking for burns our obvious breaks that might cause me worry further down the line.
With everything out, we took some time to reseal everything, clean all the contacts and use the headlight restoring kit from earlier to buff up the gauge faces. They look like new again!
With the new circuit-board out, we did some testing of both it and the bulbs.
Confusingly none of the bulbs worked in the dash, but did on another car (theyre basic 501 bulbs). We were getting some power to some of the gauges but not all. Time to start investigating. Not many photos of this bit, lots of searching US forums, reading the Haynes manual and lots and lots of wire-tracing. This was taken at 0320hrs this morning before we finally decided to call it a night.
However what we did discover will hopefully prove vital. So on the off-chance you might be re-wiring your 2nd gen Camaro, this might be helpful to you too!
The main connector and the readings we got from the multimeter:
1 - Brown - 0V - Tach lead
2 - Green/white - 0V - Temp gauge to sender
3 - Pink - 12V - 12V switched from 8
4 - Light brown - 0V - Fuel gauge to sender
5 - Grey - 0V - Dash/clock lights
6 - Black - 0V - Earth
7 - Light brown - 0V - Emergency brake light
8 - Pink - 12V - 12V switched from 3
9 - Light blue - 0V - Left indicator
10 - Light green - 0V - High beam (headlight)
11 - Dark blue - 0V - Right indicator
12 - Blue/white - 0V - Oil light to sender
Given the readings and what we could get working, we think we're chasing a bad earth and a bad wire for the dash lights. The fuel gauge works and the tach worked intermittently, so we feel like we're getting somewhere.
I'll probably pick this up in a couple of days once I've done some tidying in the garage and made the final adjustments to the lights.
Spanglepants said:
I bought it with a 4.1 or 4.2, can't remember which, straight six then bought a 350 off a friend. it had high lift cam and Offenhauser inlet. I put Hedmann headers on it with straight through pipes/ Unfortunately the only carb i had at the time was a Carter 4 barrel which worked but wasn't ideal. it already had 10" wide rear tyres on it which i managed to wreck doing an almighty burn out from the lights in Milton keynes, never seen so much tyre smoke lol. Sold it to a fella who had an XR3 who seemed scared of it on the test drive and a week later he contacted me to say it had gone up in flames. It was fun while it lasted. My big regret was not buying a late 70s Camaro from a friend that had a built 400 small block in it, that thing shifted.
74 was the only year with that front that still had the small rear window, as we said we might have had the only two in the country ! : )
That's a great story to read, shame about the ending! I've got to admit I'm a little terrified of mine going up in flames, seems to be every few weeks one catches fire in the US, so I've always got an extinguisher on the back seat!74 was the only year with that front that still had the small rear window, as we said we might have had the only two in the country ! : )
Finally had a really positive breakthrough with the car. After losing sleep trying to figure out where my wiring issues might lie, at about 3am I remembered I'd read a thread online about the headlight dimmer switch actually forming part of the circuit. I knew mine was original and had seen better days, then I remembered about a year ago I took a brand new switch out of the box of spares to give to my dad to try and get a retaining nut for. Worth a try I thought.
Sure enough, it fixed both the issues I was having with the negative and dash-bulb wires and the gauges sprung to life!
As you can see though, the light is uneven - thats because I'm currently missing 6 of the 10 bulb holders. I ordered 12 so I had some spares from a UK dealer. Unfortunately, they turned out to be the wrong size as you can see here (original on the right).
After some searching online, I found I need 5/8" T10 holders (obviously...) so I've placed another order in with RockAuto who are lifesavers as usual. I'll put the car back together as I want to actually get out and drive it this weekend, but the dash will have to come out again next week when they arrive. I've also ordered LED warm lights for the holders.
With the bulbs I had, I did some investigating to see what the bulbs illuminate and thought I'd share it here so that hopefully it may help others. So from the circuit board as you look at it attached to the clocks:
1 - Clock & Temp gauge
2 - Tacho (upper)
3 - Speedo (upper)
4 - Fuel & Volt gauges
5 - Speedo (lower)
6 - Turn signal (left)
7 - ???
8 - Parking brake
9 - Tacho lower
10 - Turn signal (right)
With the exception of 3 and 7, all the lights seem to work. I'll try and do a bit of digging this morning and find why that is, but at the moment Im at a loss as to potential causes. The bulb and holders obviously work, the circuit board is brand new. As a result of 7 not working, I'm not sure what it's for - perhaps either a warning light or a backlight for the odometer.
With that side of the project on hold, I once again got my good friend Josh round to sort the suspension.
Unfortunately we temporarily abandoned the fronts as we needed a few small bits. I took the break in play to order some new droplinks from RockAuto once again.
The rears however were fair game, so out came the old air suspension. Definitely seen better days but quite cool to see - I'm not sure its original as the air-lines attached to it definitely seemed to be retro-fitted.
It was dark by the time we were done so at the moment I don't have an 'after' pic of the rears. They have made an incredible difference to the stiffness of the back end though! We are hopefully taking another run at the fronts this afternoon, so watch this space...
To pick up where we left off then...
Armed with daylight and the right tools, we set about the fronts. Here is the new Hotchkis 2" lowering spring beside the old OE spring:
Along with the OE shock against the new Koni Classic:
The shocks were an absolute doddle, straight in.
The springs were a little tricker - especially on the drivers side where the CV boot didnt want to seperate so we dropped the back end of the lower arm instead.
With daylight starting to dwindle and in 30+ degree heat, we were hoping for a break of good luck. So with that the sky emptied itself for a good hour and we got soaked. Some stunning skies following the thunderstorm though!
Unfortunately that now meant working into the night which we were trying to avoid, having already pulled a couple of 0400 shifts on the car in the last fortnight. We knew the suspension was going to take some banging and sensitive persuasions with the pry-bar to get the spring perched properly. But we managed it.
So finally after scraping what felt like our entire bodies on all the sharp bits of metal we could find, as well as dealing with every drunken neighbour coming home from a night out and telling us how badass the car is, we got the car back on its wheels. 3am potato-phone pic.
I got up early next morning to put the dash back in, wire the clocks up and put the rest of the interior in. I got a message from my friend Steve who fancied a drive so we headed out to Wakefield for a local meet (I've nicked these photos off social media)
The car has been completely transformed, although gradually the drive got worse and I developed a worrying knocking. Turns out that putting a car back together in the early hours isn't always a great idea and we'd forgotten to tighten the wheel nuts back up on the rear! Thankfully an obviously easy fix and caught before any damage was done.
The car got a lot of attention at the meet. As ever I use the brutal honesty of children as a barometer and two kids said they preferred mine to Steves 1st gen, so thats good enough for me!
The rake looking good as the springs start to settle too.
So they all lived happily ever after right? Job well done?
Nope!
The drivers-side leaf-springs appears to have collapsed so back to RockAuto it is...
I've also made the low-end misfire worse, I'm assuming by piggy-backing the live from the dizzy so I'll definitely need to reroute that wire. She sings like a bird above 2500rpm though!
Armed with daylight and the right tools, we set about the fronts. Here is the new Hotchkis 2" lowering spring beside the old OE spring:
Along with the OE shock against the new Koni Classic:
The shocks were an absolute doddle, straight in.
The springs were a little tricker - especially on the drivers side where the CV boot didnt want to seperate so we dropped the back end of the lower arm instead.
With daylight starting to dwindle and in 30+ degree heat, we were hoping for a break of good luck. So with that the sky emptied itself for a good hour and we got soaked. Some stunning skies following the thunderstorm though!
Unfortunately that now meant working into the night which we were trying to avoid, having already pulled a couple of 0400 shifts on the car in the last fortnight. We knew the suspension was going to take some banging and sensitive persuasions with the pry-bar to get the spring perched properly. But we managed it.
So finally after scraping what felt like our entire bodies on all the sharp bits of metal we could find, as well as dealing with every drunken neighbour coming home from a night out and telling us how badass the car is, we got the car back on its wheels. 3am potato-phone pic.
I got up early next morning to put the dash back in, wire the clocks up and put the rest of the interior in. I got a message from my friend Steve who fancied a drive so we headed out to Wakefield for a local meet (I've nicked these photos off social media)
The car has been completely transformed, although gradually the drive got worse and I developed a worrying knocking. Turns out that putting a car back together in the early hours isn't always a great idea and we'd forgotten to tighten the wheel nuts back up on the rear! Thankfully an obviously easy fix and caught before any damage was done.
The car got a lot of attention at the meet. As ever I use the brutal honesty of children as a barometer and two kids said they preferred mine to Steves 1st gen, so thats good enough for me!
The rake looking good as the springs start to settle too.
So they all lived happily ever after right? Job well done?
Nope!
The drivers-side leaf-springs appears to have collapsed so back to RockAuto it is...
I've also made the low-end misfire worse, I'm assuming by piggy-backing the live from the dizzy so I'll definitely need to reroute that wire. She sings like a bird above 2500rpm though!
Edited by Rogue86 on Sunday 9th August 20:29
Managed to get out for my first night-drive last night, just a quick shake-down to see how the headlights fared - they are absolutely brilliant. I actually received two-pairs of these by accident when I ordered them, so as a thanks to Steve who has helped me out a lot with this car I've donated them to his 67. Really would recommend these for anyone who has 7" lamps (Jeep, Defender etc).
Also wanted to make a mention of these guys who were incredibly helpful both when Royal Mail lost their delivery and again when they turned out to be the wrong size - they even found where I could get them from online.
With all the warm LEDs in, the dash lights up nicely. Hopefully as the earlier dark nights draw in I'll be able to go out and get some 'proper' photos without really upsetting all the neighbours!
Here's a clear shot of the new clock surround - the steering wheel and lack of stereo are both letting the interior down at the moment so will need to sort those.
Also managed to fit in having the spoiler mounted and painted. It's not the best job to be honest and it needs to go back for some remedial work as the fibreglass appears to have warped, but it passes the 6ft test.
Absolutely in love with how the rear looks now.
Also wanted to make a mention of these guys who were incredibly helpful both when Royal Mail lost their delivery and again when they turned out to be the wrong size - they even found where I could get them from online.
With all the warm LEDs in, the dash lights up nicely. Hopefully as the earlier dark nights draw in I'll be able to go out and get some 'proper' photos without really upsetting all the neighbours!
Here's a clear shot of the new clock surround - the steering wheel and lack of stereo are both letting the interior down at the moment so will need to sort those.
Also managed to fit in having the spoiler mounted and painted. It's not the best job to be honest and it needs to go back for some remedial work as the fibreglass appears to have warped, but it passes the 6ft test.
Absolutely in love with how the rear looks now.
Mr lestat said:
Looks great. Is there meant to be a piece in the middle of the steering wheel covering the nut.
Thanks. Yeah there's a small trim-piece but the tabs are warped so it doesn't sit flush. I could glue it in place but it would make my life difficult when I come to replace the wheel. Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff