anybody need a Camaro???

Started doing a bit of work on the 'maro again---after I blew all the dust off of it!!!!!:LOL::LOL: Figured I'd ignored it long enough...

Got the dash stripped down to the necessities....just a piece of plastic to hold the gauges...and cut out some aluminum for the center gauge panel and replaced 2 of the factory plastic switch panels with aluminum ones...Also did away with the factory wiring, gauges, A/C components under the dash, sound deadner, and all the other non-essentials the factory put in the interior.....

Had a bit of minor rust to cut out and replace on the floors. Reinforcing the points where the roll bar and door bars will mount, relocating and reinforcing the seat mounts, and of course scraping off all that yucky factory seam sealer.....

Weighed all the junk I took out of the car and won't be reinstalling, adding it to the total of weight removed, I've lightenened the car a bit over 350 pounds......and still more to go...

I'm lowering the car a couple inches and replacing that puny differential chebbie put in it with a 9" Ford, along with coilovers, disc brakes, and a triangulated 4 bar so I have to do a bit of modifying on the rear interior sheet metal to make the new pieces fit!!! The big opening in the rear floor is for a new crossmember to mount the upper bars to. Going to trim all the sheetmetal back as required and install aluminum panels to cover the hole....'maro's never had a usable back seat anyway!!!!!!

Plans are to finish up the interior "cleansing" then put some supension under the car.... Hopefully I can get more time in on it know that it's only my stuff in the garage....

Did some work on the 'maro today. I got the 9" set up where it will go so I can finalize plans on my brackets, still going with the triangulated 4 bar just doing some more planning and thinking on the bar lengths and angles... Have to do a bunch of sheet metal fabricating on the rear of the passenger compartment....I'm lowering the car some from stock and it seems the 9" takes up a whole bunch more room then that flimsy thing chebbie put in there!!!!

Also started preparing for installing the frame ties. I've installed a couple sets of the store bought ones and didn't like them at all. Too heavy, hang down too low and generally just not tieing the chassis up as I think it should be.

I'm doing the one's on this car in the same manner I did all my Mavericks and a couple Mustangs, adding plates to the floor where the existing braces end, then putting in an 1/2" X 3" rectangular tube cut and trimmed to fit. This way, I can weld the front and rear attach points as well as the floor itself. Seems to get more twist out of the chassis when done this way....Hate to figure the bill for a customer's car, it is a bit more labor intensive to say the least!!!!! Oh well, whoever buys it will have a good hookin' car!!!! Gonna need it with one of Pat's 496 ci torque monsters in there!!!!!

Anyway, here's a few more pics for you..... Anybody wanna buy it yet??? Sure is embarrassing having a chebbie in my garage!!!!!!!

yup that is the way to do the frame rails on your car first time i seen that done was by frank B of bay city on a blown sbc maverick about 28 years ago . are you going to rework the floor pan for the EX ? i have two blocks to build a 496/512 have a nice set of alum canfield 320 rec heads and some other stuff just laying around could wip something up EZ if you like solid roller cams ?

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Originally Posted by pat mccarthy

yup that is the way to do the frame rails on your car first time i seen that done was by frank B of bay city on a blown sbc maverick about 28 years ago . are you going to rework the floor pan for the EX ? i have two blocks to build a 496/512 have a nice set of alum canfield 320 rec heads and some other stuff just laying around could wip something up EZ if you like solid roller cams ?

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I'm not sure, Pat... The floors on this thing are so weird...Of course just had the one muffler and the stupid crossover pipe.... Might rework the fenderwells and footwells and build a set of fenderwell headers and outside exhaust....????? Not sure... Going to get the driver's side done, then I'll have to decide what to do with the exhaust..

Got to get the pick-em-up done and sold (still waiting on the upholstery) before I buy anything....

Solid roller would be fine, Pat....I don't mind adjusting valves... Heck, just gonna sell it anyway!!!! Trying to get the rest of the $$$$$ together so I can build that 813 incher for the Ranchero!!!!

Not too fussy about the engine for the 'maro, as long as it's a big inch pounder that makes your chest hurt when it idles!!!!!!:LOL::LOL::LOL:

Started cutting notches on the passenger side of the car.....Well, there goes anychance of putting an exhaust system on it that even resembles the stock setup.... The frame tie for the rights side goes right through the middle of where the muffler used to fit... Looks like the fenderwell headers are getting to be a better idea all the time!!!! The fenderwells are of course part of the structure, too, so it's going to take a bit of planning to find a place to work them out of the engine compartment without having the collector hit the front tire, or eat up the little bit of footwell area that's left!!!!! Oh well, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it!!!!:LOL::LOL::LOL:

Been doing a little work and lots of planning and measuring on the rear bars lately, at least when it's warm enough to even bother turning the heat up....

I'm fabbing a triangulated 4 bar for the car, with a limited amount of adjustment on the forward mount points similar to a drag car unequal length 4 bar.... Considered going to a regular drag type 4 bar, just didn't want to give up the good street manners of the triangulated setup. Nothing worth taking pictures of yet, just a lot of temporary mounts used to measure bar angles and lengths.... Looks like the upper bars will be 16" center to center length and the bottom bars 20.5". Both the upper and lower bar forward mount points will have multiple holes to change the bar angle, plus each bar has adjustable ends to change their overall length.

The mounting for the top bar is about dead center of where the back seat used to be... No big deal, never seen a 'maro with a usable back seat anyhow!!!!! The interesting part of the rear suspension bracketry is getting it all tied to the car's substructure and also having everything "work" with the frame ties and roll bar to gain the most from weight transfer... Other thing I'm trying to do is make the car rigid, and at the same time reduce the weight significantly, I want to hit the street with a wet weight below 2600 pounds so every bracket has to be strong and light, and where it's possible try to get each bracket or gusset to perform multiple functions.... When you're done with the easy weight reduction, finding a place to save 100 pounds, then you have to start looking for 100 places to save a pound!!!!

Also got the front suspension cradle removed, remove the struts, then only 3 bolts on each side and the whole K member is on the floor. Planning on replacing it with a tubular moly k member that will be lighter and stronger then the stamped steel peice, and also make lots more room for headers, steering, etc.

Anyway, having lots of fun on the build. My young friend Greg is still hanging around and helping when he can, all the time soaking up everything he can learn like a big sponge!!!!!

I'll post up some pics when the suspension is a bit more finalized and doesn't look like a fabricator's nightmare, as is the case now!!!!! For sure, no one will look at this car and say it's a 1-800-Hot Rod build!!!!!!!:LOL::LOL::LOL: