'67 Camaro RS/SS - saved from the scrapman
Discussion
Getragdogleg said:
Is you Camaro a bare shell at the moment ?
Very close, yes. The front subframe and front and rear suspension are attached finger tight enough to allow it to roll, and that's it.But all that'll be coming back off soon enough to put it back on the rotisserie. I'll probably dry fit the LS first, just to work out where there will be clearance issues to work through and maybe trial fit the wiring / modules, see what I need to extend going from RHD to LHD, etc.
99t said:
Getragdogleg said:
Is you Camaro a bare shell at the moment ?
Very close, yes. The front subframe and front and rear suspension are attached finger tight enough to allow it to roll, and that's it.But all that'll be coming back off soon enough to put it back on the rotisserie. I'll probably dry fit the LS first, just to work out where there will be clearance issues to work through and maybe trial fit the wiring / modules, see what I need to extend going from RHD to LHD, etc.
I am welding floorplans and boot floors in and want to get it right !
LeighW said:
Really enjoying the updates, except some of your rust discoveries have me wondering what's lurking under my Firebird's shiny paint. 
Cheers and lol!Hopefully nothing but solid, shiny metal...
Of course these cars pre-date dipping of bodyshells by GM, so the only thing I can state with any certainty is that most of the shiny painted panels you can see have been bare metal on the other side for 55 years or so...
Getragdogleg said:
Mine is currently totally disassembled and I could do with a few measurements off yours if you would be happy to pop a tape measure round it if I tell you where.
I am welding floorplans and boot floors in and want to get it right !
No problem at all. My shell has had front floors so I doubt they are 100% factory, but the rear floors and boot are unmolested as far as I can tell.I am welding floorplans and boot floors in and want to get it right !
99t said:
Of course these cars pre-date dipping of bodyshells by GM, so the only thing I can state with any certainty is that most of the shiny painted panels you can see have been bare metal on the other side for 55 years or so...
Thanks, that's comforting! 
Fortunately, mine was imported in 2019 and prior to this lived in the famously dry state of Pennsylvania. Oh.
99t said:
Getragdogleg said:
Mine is currently totally disassembled and I could do with a few measurements off yours if you would be happy to pop a tape measure round it if I tell you where.
I am welding floorplans and boot floors in and want to get it right !
No problem at all. My shell has had front floors so I doubt they are 100% factory, but the rear floors and boot are unmolested as far as I can tell.I am welding floorplans and boot floors in and want to get it right !
LS1 has now been split from the gearbox and mounted up for cleaning & painting, new sump suitable for the Camaro to be fitted etc.
It will need a fair amount of spit and polish. Given the amount of corrosion, I will probably paint it traditional Chevy orange with the sump in natural alloy and either natural or black valve covers - leaning towards the black as the intake, brackets, crank damper etc. will be black.
Meanwhile, a steady trickle of parts have been making their way here, a couple more arrived today courtesy of Rockauto
The new bolt for the crankshaft damper is a necessary item since the original is a TTY item so should only be used once.
I wasn't planning on replacing the starter since the original works fine. However when I considered that:
It will need a fair amount of spit and polish. Given the amount of corrosion, I will probably paint it traditional Chevy orange with the sump in natural alloy and either natural or black valve covers - leaning towards the black as the intake, brackets, crank damper etc. will be black.
Meanwhile, a steady trickle of parts have been making their way here, a couple more arrived today courtesy of Rockauto
The new bolt for the crankshaft damper is a necessary item since the original is a TTY item so should only be used once.
I wasn't planning on replacing the starter since the original works fine. However when I considered that:
- Although functional, mine looks like it has come off the Titanic
- There is no evidence of it having been replaced in nearly 240k miles
- Genuine (AC Delco) new one was silly cheap - just over £65 all in with shipping, vat & duty!
Progress has been happening on mine finally too, I managed to find the notebook of measurements I though I didn't have and they were just right so in the end I didn't need to ask you ! Thanks for agreeing to it though. I might still need pic of some assembled thing at some point as my whole car in now in boxes.
Mine is on the jig, the chassis is out and being painted and then that is going back together. I'm painting the car on the jig so I can get it all just right, then take apart again and put back as a whole car in the right order.
The rot is gone, new panels are welded in and the shell is braced so I can rotate it and blast the underside and coat it with the hot zinc thermal spray. Should be a fun few days !
Mine is on the jig, the chassis is out and being painted and then that is going back together. I'm painting the car on the jig so I can get it all just right, then take apart again and put back as a whole car in the right order.
The rot is gone, new panels are welded in and the shell is braced so I can rotate it and blast the underside and coat it with the hot zinc thermal spray. Should be a fun few days !
Getragdogleg said:
Progress has been happening on mine finally too, I managed to find the notebook of measurements I though I didn't have and they were just right so in the end I didn't need to ask you ! Thanks for agreeing to it though. I might still need pic of some assembled thing at some point as my whole car in now in boxes.
Mine is on the jig, the chassis is out and being painted and then that is going back together. I'm painting the car on the jig so I can get it all just right, then take apart again and put back as a whole car in the right order.
The rot is gone, new panels are welded in and the shell is braced so I can rotate it and blast the underside and coat it with the hot zinc thermal spray. Should be a fun few days !
Looking good! Is that all new external sheet metal too?Mine is on the jig, the chassis is out and being painted and then that is going back together. I'm painting the car on the jig so I can get it all just right, then take apart again and put back as a whole car in the right order.
The rot is gone, new panels are welded in and the shell is braced so I can rotate it and blast the underside and coat it with the hot zinc thermal spray. Should be a fun few days !
Curious about the hot zinc spray process - is that something you can do yourself or will you get a contractor in?
99t said:
Looking good! Is that all new external sheet metal too?
Curious about the hot zinc spray process - is that something you can do yourself or will you get a contractor in?
Rear 1/4s and doors and the main floor pan. all the rest is OE stuff. It was odd, this car was rusty but solid in the right places.Curious about the hot zinc spray process - is that something you can do yourself or will you get a contractor in?
I bought a full thermal metal spray kit, we also do container conversions and weld up lorry chassis so I will use it as part of the business too. I must admit I wouldn't have bought it if I wasn't doing the Camaro though !
I have a few other cars that will be benefiting from it and I may well offer it as a service once I am more used to it. Its a great bit of kit!
I've spent rather more hours than I wish to count cleaning up the engine block - a nice combination of oil impregnated alloy corrosion to clean, treat and prime.
Typical "before" section
After a combination of degreasing, mechanical and chemical cleaning
And after a coat of high temperature enamel primer
I won't colour coat until I have finished trial fitting (some way off yet) as it is bound to pick up chips and scratches along the way, but this treatment will a) prevent further corrosion and b) stop me getting covered in grease every time a go near it!
Just the heads to do once the block is finished, which aren't too bad compared to the block, they are less oily and strangely less corroded too - except for at the ends where steel brackets were bolted to them, and they have reacted exactly as steel and alloy like to do in each others' company. I'll just need to be careful not to get any crud down the inlet or exhaust ports whilst doing them.
The sump is being replaced with a new one, and the timing and valve covers will be removed for blasting with glass bead, which should speed the cleaning and painting process up.
Hopefully it will look fairly presentable soon...
Typical "before" section
After a combination of degreasing, mechanical and chemical cleaning
And after a coat of high temperature enamel primer
I won't colour coat until I have finished trial fitting (some way off yet) as it is bound to pick up chips and scratches along the way, but this treatment will a) prevent further corrosion and b) stop me getting covered in grease every time a go near it!
Just the heads to do once the block is finished, which aren't too bad compared to the block, they are less oily and strangely less corroded too - except for at the ends where steel brackets were bolted to them, and they have reacted exactly as steel and alloy like to do in each others' company. I'll just need to be careful not to get any crud down the inlet or exhaust ports whilst doing them.
The sump is being replaced with a new one, and the timing and valve covers will be removed for blasting with glass bead, which should speed the cleaning and painting process up.
Hopefully it will look fairly presentable soon...
I'll be leaving it pretty much standard for now, primary goal is to get it up and running and reliable in its new home.
I'll sort a couple of oil leaks and will be switching to headers from the standard cast manifolds but otherwise adopting an "if it ain't broken..." approach.
I'll also be running a slightly higher diff ratio than the Monaro's ludicrously long legged one, so that should make it feel a bit more peppy too.
I'll sort a couple of oil leaks and will be switching to headers from the standard cast manifolds but otherwise adopting an "if it ain't broken..." approach.
I'll also be running a slightly higher diff ratio than the Monaro's ludicrously long legged one, so that should make it feel a bit more peppy too.
99t said:
I'll be leaving it pretty much standard for now, primary goal is to get it up and running and reliable in its new home.
I'll sort a couple of oil leaks and will be switching to headers from the standard cast manifolds but otherwise adopting an "if it ain't broken..." approach.
I'll also be running a slightly higher diff ratio than the Monaro's ludicrously long legged one, so that should make it feel a bit more peppy too.
I'll sort a couple of oil leaks and will be switching to headers from the standard cast manifolds but otherwise adopting an "if it ain't broken..." approach.
I'll also be running a slightly higher diff ratio than the Monaro's ludicrously long legged one, so that should make it feel a bit more peppy too.
I would highly recommend doing a cam before you put in in the car, You can get the GM hot cam on the bay for £160 ,put some valve springs, and with headers you are 100 bhp up. You'd have to map it for the headers anyhow or itll be lean.
It would be daft not to do a cam.
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