Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 35 total)
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  • #6580
    V8 Staff
    Keymaster

    Sometimes it’s advantageous to take over a project than to start from scratch. In this case, the customer wanted a cool ‘69 Camaro, and we happened to find him one that was already undergoing a restoration. The owner of this clean Arizona car changed his mind and decided to sell his project, so we had the car shipped to the V8 Speed & Resto Shop in Red Bud, IL, where it will now become the Pro-Touring Camaro the new owner has always wanted.

    Kevin Oeste

    #6865
    V8 Staff
    Keymaster

    Once the car arrived in our shop, we took inventory of all the parts that came with the car and gave it an initial once-over.

    It is a very clean car that had just received a silver paint job. Our customer wants a different color, but at least this one does not require extensive bodywork.

    It is powered by a 383 fed by Accell DFI fuel injection and spins a 4-speed transmission. It runs, but the tune is way off so it loads-up with fuel quickly. However, it makes great oil pressure and the engine seems healthy.

    Kevin Oeste

    #6866
    V8 Staff
    Keymaster

    The car appears to be wearing mostly all of it’s original sheet metal on the outside.

    Although it is partially disassembled, the car came with most of it’s old parts and many new items to put it back together.

    Solid floors.

    Kevin Oeste

    #6867
    V8 Staff
    Keymaster

    Essentially stock panel fit.

    It’s riding on a stock design suspension system with some new parts installed.

    Stainless MagnaFlow x-pipe exhaust is new.

    Muncie 4-speed:

    Kevin Oeste

    #7153
    V8 Staff
    Keymaster

    The transmission tunnel needs repair, and a Vintage Air air conditioning system will be installed, all requiring access to the firewall.

    A pair of Ringbrothers air-frame hinges will keep the hood up with style.

    The crew removed the 383 and Borg Warner T10 4-speed with the aim of repairing the transmission tunnel and to inspect the condition of the front of the car’s body shell.

    The yellow 3M tape marks areas that will be closed up.

    Kevin Oeste

    #7154
    V8 Staff
    Keymaster

    The subframe was recently restored, and was dusty, but not rusty.

    A little wipe down revealed black paint that seems to be in decent shape.

    A nice surprise was lower cowl panels that were not rusty!

    The dash was very clean and solid.

    Kevin Oeste

    #7274
    Joseph Marconi
    Participant

    So nice when pulling apart a car like this and finding little to no surprises. Keeps the costs down for the owner as well. 🙂

    #7564
    V8 Staff
    Keymaster

    We did find a little rust around the rear window area, which is common with these cars. We suspect this one had a vinyl top at one point, and those were notorious for holding moisture and rusting around the trim mounting studs.

    One of the first tasks was to replace the transmission tunnel with new steel because the original was pretty rough.

    Adam fabricated a new tunnel.

    A new reproduction console was purchased from Classic Industries, and was used to help fit the new transmission tunnel.

    Once the tunnel was welded in, it was ground flush on the top and bottom of the car.

    Kevin Oeste

    #7565
    V8 Staff
    Keymaster

    This car would eventually receive a Vintage Air a/c unit, so the firewall was closed off with a smooth panel.

    Kevin Oeste

    #7566
    V8 Staff
    Keymaster

    We found that the tail panel had been bumped at one point and was hiding some body filler. The trunk floor had a small buckle, and the deck lid also sustained some damage.

    Stripping the paint revealed the secrets. Unfortunately, these kind of repairs are all too common hiding under body filler and shiny paint on old cars. The good thing is that this was not a very complex repair to perform.

    A new deck lid from Classic Industries was chosen because it was more cost-effective to replace this one then to reskin and repair the old one.

    Kevin Oeste

    #7567
    V8 Staff
    Keymaster

    The paint was stripped off the trunk lid filler panel, which revealed many rust pinholes and evidence of the vinyl top. The decision was made to replace this panel as well.

    There was some rust around the rear window channel which would need repair.

    The paint was removed all around the window to expose any rust damage. Again, this is typical on a vinyl top car.

    Here, Dylan makes repair sections for the window opening.

    Kevin Oeste

    #8120
    V8 Staff
    Keymaster

    The new window channel was tack welded in place, along with the new trunk filler panel from Classic Industries.

    The seams were TIG welded with the HTP Invertig welder for a cleaner job.

    Kevin Oeste

    #8307
    V8 Staff
    Keymaster

    This car had sustained some crash damage in the tail panel at some point, and it appeared to have extended into the lower portions of the quarter panels. The damage wasn’t obvious at first glance, but you could see the remnants in the trunk floor and the thick filler on the tail pan.

    There was obvious evidence of previous repairs to the quarter panels, so we cut those pieces out and elected to repair the bottoms of the quarter panels rather than replace the entire panel. We tried to keep as much original GM sheet metal on this car as possible.
    This is the lower quarter that was cut off.

    And the backside showing the poor repair job…

    MIG wire poking through a hole…

    Kevin Oeste

    #8308
    V8 Staff
    Keymaster

    The other side.

    Not as bad, but rusty and wrinkled.

    We obtained some quarter patch panels from Classic Industries to make the repairs.

    Kevin Oeste

    #8309
    V8 Staff
    Keymaster

    The damaged tail pan was carefully drilled out and removed.

    A new tail pan was ordered from Classic Industries and screwed in place.

    Kevin Oeste

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 35 total)
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