The PatriotDream.org 68 Camaro project

[4birdman]

Messed around a little more with the car tonight. I thought I'd work on getting the body together so we can start figuring out and contact issues we're going to have. I just loosely put them on for now, once we get the engine and trans mounting all figured out I'll get everything straight and bolted up so we can see how everything goes together.

[4birdman]

More work for today! A guy contacted me last week via email and wanted to help us out. He donated a 12-bolt with an Eaton posi, 3.55 gears, and it was pretty much brand new. PERFECT rear axle for the car! Not sure which forum he found us on, but he definitely had some nice toys in his stable at his place. So thanks a ton, Tim!

My brother-in-law (different one!) came over to help today. We cut off the spring perches since our frame rails are aftermarket and narower. Then we bolted up some new adjustable ones that would make it easier to adjust the axle once we get it on the car. After that, we yanked the axle shafts and bolted up the new LS1 rear brakes with some backing plates I got from a friend of mine, pads and rotors from Rotors Online (pads not installed yet), and some Triangle Musclecar powdercoated calipers.

Came out killer, don't ya think?

[JohnZ]

The holes in the rotors appear to be for 1/2" studs...

[4birdman]

Shouldn't be a problem, there are a lot of guys running them just like this with no issues.

I worked a little tonight getting the old inner fenderwells out and getting the rest of the rusted trunk floor cut off. I hope to finish that up this weekend and get my templates finished up for the trunk so I can fabricate the trunk and rear seat area.

But in the meantime I powdercoated the intake and put the fuel rails on it. I'm going to run it over to Joel at HRT Performance to have him do the AN lines and all.

[Gramps69Z]

Almost a year, (June-07), when will Shawn be home?   Noticed the kitchen stove, let me guess shop heater?
 
If you are auctioning the "spare" parts off let us know what eBay name you are under.


Go ARMY!

[4birdman]

I'm going to be putting up a bunch of stuff here shortly, I'll let ya know! Shawn actually came home a couple of weeks ago, his unit got fast-tracked. I'm trying to get it done by July when he comes back to NC for block leave.

More updates! I got the new engine mounts and got the mockup engine and trans sitting in the car with the intake and all:


And then I finally got the old inner fenders chopped out and ground down and the new ones tacked in:



And then hit the front fenders with the grinder and found this mess. The fenders looked good from the back, but huge globs of bondo hid the horrors from the front. Ouch. Looks like more work I didn't count on, yet again.

[4birdman]

I had some fun tonight! After much careful planning and measuring, I welded up some braces for the fuel cell to mount to and got it sitting in the car. I mounted it so it will sit under the floorboard and I can use a 45deg filler neck and fill kit to mount at the stock location. I'm thinking of going with the Jaz kit with the 2-1/2" external cap, but I'm not sure if it will fit in the stock location. I guess I can always cut and trim to make it fit, not like anything on the car is stock anyway.

Here it is, though.

[4birdman]

No pictures, but just wanted to give you all a quick update. We're working on the templates for the rear trunk and seat area. We've got them almost finished up. Shawn's brothers are getting some sheetmetal so we can fab them up and get the trunk in the car.

Also did some more work getting the front fenders cleaned up. The passenger side is good and we're going to use it.

The driver's side, however........is TOAST. I got to the point where I was about to weld in some new metal for the hole I found, but decided to do some further grinding to see if there was anything else. What I found was about 1/4" of bondo and a severe smack in the front part of the fender that was VERY well hidden with bondo. They even smoothed the BACK of the fender to make it look ok.

So if anyone has one standard driver's fender we can use, or two RS fenders, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

We're also going to be using Scorpion coating on the underside and firewall of the car. I have a new business starting up once the Camaro is finished, Triangle Specialty Coatings, and I'm going to be the Raleigh area OEM for Scorpion, so I am going to colormatch the undercoating and then spray the firewall black. Should turn out really cool and show off what Scorpion is all about! Hopefully I'll get all my training done and my dealer package in so I can start on the car as soon as the trunk is finished up!

[4birdman]

Another no picture update.

I'm cleaning up all my work so far and getting some of the body worked on. The firewall smoothing is done and I'm working on getting the floorboards and trunk floor straight.

Ever since Shawn got home the donations have dried up and I am almost out of money on the car. I've used up all of the money I had saved for my own cars and just going day to day on small powdercoating work and whatever I can scrounge up by selling any parts I have lying around the shop. I still have a ton of parts and work needed, so if anyone here has a shop or knows a shop that might want to help or ANYTHING please let me know.

So with hope there is someone out there who has something lying around that they might be able to help with, here is the parts needed list again.

Monetary donations always welcomed!
Trunk lid
Standard driver's fender (or both RS front fenders)
Bumpers
RS headlight parts
Hidden wiper motor
Entire windshield wiper setup
Rear interior panels
All the little trim pieces from the dash
LS1 shorty headers
LS1 T56 bellhousing
LS1 T56 4th gear/input shaft
LS1 T56 6th gear
LS1 front plate
Performance LS1 camshaft
Steering wheel
New windshield and rear glass
Someone to fabricate the trunk floors and fix the floorboards!
And maybe someone who can do some body work?

And probably a ton of other stuff I'm forgetting. I'll update the post as I remember stuff. Feel free to PM me, post up, or send me an email to webmaster@patriotdream.org

[4birdman]

Sorry for the long delay in updates. Here is an update on the progress:

We ran out of money on the project and the donations dried up. I am in the process of searching for a shop close to me that might be interested in finishing up the car. I am selling my 74 AMX to finish up the Camaro. I also started up a new business to make money for the car. All of my pay that I make in my business will be going to finish the Camaro. EVERY CENT of my pay will go to finishing the car. I WILL finish the car.

If anyone knows of a shop that might be interested, please let me know. I will not be checking the boards much because I am SWAMPED with my business, so please email me at bryan@tscoating.com or webmaster@patriotdream.org if you want!

Also, I know I'm not a sponsor on some of these boards, but please forgive me for this plug. I am trying like hell to scrounge together the cash to finish the Camaro, so every bit counts. If anyone needs any industrial coatings, I am now the Triangle area Scorpion OEM and installer and also sell a DIY kit called Al's Liner for truck bed liners/undercoating/etc. If anyone wants a DIY kit, or would like me to install a Scorpion spray-in bed liner in their truck, please visit our site at http://www.tscoating.com and let me know.

[4birdman]

Since it has been forever and I don't want you guys to think it was dead.

We had a little change of plans. The project was dragging on and on, and really was going nowhere. We still had a lot of money to spend on the LS1/T56 swap and then the guy who had donated the T56 sold it out from under us. Rather than spend $1k on a trans that needed a rebuild, and then have to buy all the expensive swap parts, we've decided to sell off the LS1 and T56 parts and go with an old-school 327 and Super T-10 4-spd.

A local serviceman heard we needed an engine, so he gave us a complete running 350 and 700R4. HRT Performance is going to turn it into one mean little 327. We sold off some of the LS1 parts and bought a rebuilt Super T-10 4-spd that is headed our way now. A guy came by the house to pick up some parts and heard we decided to go to a 4-spd, so he gave us a 4-spd crossmember and driveshaft.

All we need now for the swap is a 4-spd bellhousing and the shifter and linkage. All we really need for the engine is an oil pan, good intake and a good carburetor.

We are headed in the right direction and can see real progress for the first time in a while. And do not worry, any sponsor donated parts we have will be sold and a comparable replacement for the new drivetrain will be bought from the sponsor. We will make sure all of our sponsors are taken care of and will do everything we can to make this project come to fruition!

[4birdman]

Headed to the shop tomorrow for the build!

[4birdman]

 
 Crappy cell pic, it came to work and I took a pic before I took it over to HRT.
 
 286HR Magnum cam, springs, locks and retainers thanks to Comp!

And yes, my office is a mess.

[4birdman]

Got the new axle in the car finally! 12-bolt with 3.55 gears and an Auburn posi, new axle shafts, etc. I converted it to LS1 brakes, too.

[4birdman]

Transmission is here! Super T-10 4-spd, SPEC traded out the T56 clutch and flywheel they donated for a ST-10 clutch and flywheel, and Hogshead Trans Am parts donated a bell housing. I'm working on Hurst to see if they'll hook us up with a shifter and linkage, should find out tomorrow.



We had a good week with the project. ARP donated all the engine bolts, Flowmaster donated a complete exhaust system, Harland Sharp donated a set of 1.6 roller rockers, EPN donated a set of stainless 2.02/1.60 valves, and I'm working on a few header companies to see what we can score there.

IT IS COMING TOGETHER!