kaiscott98 said:
i wasnt sure on the best forum to put this in, but it is a project and i may do a build thread on it once i start cracking on with it.
Oh, don't you worry about that sir, I think you're in the right place.
If that Kaiser company is still around- all I find from light googling is the medical insurance, Kaiser Permanante- they'd probably love to see an old tank like that.
In reply to kaiscott98 :
Port City Race Cars (https://www.portcityracecars.com/Dry-Brakes-Fender-Fillers-and-Fuel-Shut-Offs/ ) still list Kaiser dry break fuel fillers.
Thanks for the info guys, as i now understand how drybrakes work, i realise i can use it on my car if im planning on streeting it, it wont work at gas station pumps... the seem to be worth quite a bit, so i might be able to sell it and get a bit of cash to put back into the build.
Does anyone know of a company that sells old airheart stuff or atleast vintage airheart calipers and master cylinder rebuild kits, the cars fitted with these crazy airheart brakes and i wanna keep them on the car, but the calipers seem all siezed up and the master cylinder resevior lid is all rusted and damaged.
Thanks Girthquake, decided ill document the build best i can on here as you guys dont mind, didnt know if this was only really an american forum.
In reply to kaiscott98 :
The internet knows no boarders, I snuck in and I'm Canadian! They didn't even ask for ID.
One heck of a cool car you have there good luck on the resto.
kaiscott98 said:
Thanks Girthquake, decided ill document the build best i can on here as you guys dont mind, didnt know if this was only really an american forum.
I don't mind! Was hoping you would!
I'd email these guys about brake parts. If they don't carry them maybe they know someone who stockpiled them. http://www.airheart-brakes.com/partsheets_airheart.html
Thanks guys, ill deffo update this when ive done work on it then. Yeah ill give airheart an email, see what they say about them.
Someone on a british forum managed to find a couple of photos of it racing in the uk at brands hatch in 83 which waas pretty cool, no more info than that though...
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNT7huDqynwQbE_DKTH2oIHX7DRaQC-3BeoQEFxjLCyq8HMvXmVhyUeKjpmTh4m5w?key=VGllMnJYRTkzeTFHSnBaeG5DMTl0UzBlRzQ1VjRR
kaiscott98 said:
i think all the shafer built camaros had the same front end regardless of the age, i have the trim tag on the car that states its a 1970, i have no core support in the car so cant tell what age the front end of the car relates to. Thanks for the lead to those guys, will contact them and see what they know.
You should sign up over on http://nastyz28.com/forums/ and post about your car. If anyone can point ya in the right direction to find more info about your car it's probably members there.
Are there any markings, or numbers stamped into the roll cage? At least in SCCA, the cage number ties back to a logbook. Don't know if that's the case with other sanctioning bodies, or if anyone even archives any of that stuff, but if they do, it could be another avenue to try to get some history.
yeah i probs will ask over there at some point, not sure how much they will appreciate the car though, ive found that specific car make forums like original stuff and as soon as its different and modified, they get a bit awkward *cough* a certain vw forum comes to mind *cough*.
Yeah, the ad said there was a number that might be a vin stamped on the cage, but whenever ive looked, ive found nothing, ive not had a thorough look, the cars got a fair amount of stuff in it, and ive only just yesterday removed the metal panels riveted to the a and b pillars that i guess redirect air away from inside the cabin, they went around the cage a bit so the number could be around there. The cage needs repainting so when i sand it back i will have a proper look.
kaiscott98 said:
yeah i probs will ask over there at some point, not sure how much they will appreciate the car though, ive found that specific car make forums like original stuff and as soon as its different and modified, they get a bit awkward
Lot of racers there, you'll probably be surprised how much attention your car will get.
Ive not posted on here for a while, mainly because ive not done a lot to the car, but with whats going on at the minute, its prime time to get out and get a lot done to her, silver linings right?
Ive started mocking up the front end to see where everything needs to go and get a rough idea of how she will look, and im loving it, looks super agressive and wide:
My main issue at the minute is figuring out how to mount it all, theres dzus fastener holes all up the wings and im thinking the best bet is trying to fabricate a basic front roll cage and core support then have brackets running off that to where the dzus holes are, that way the front end can be removed quickly but will be held in place pretty well. Main issue with this idea is ive never picked up a welder in my life and never really shaped or bent metal either, i will have to buy quite a bit of equipment. theres this huge welder in the garage thats my grandads but he could never get it working, one day soon im gonna pull it out and see if i can do something with it, but its a bit daunting jumping into all the fab work with not a clue what to do...
I've also got to figure out how to mount headlights, the space where the headlights should be on the car dont seem to be the right shape for normal camaro headlight buckets and im not sure what year the front end is modeled after, i might try to get hold of some headlight buckets and cut holes for them and smooth them into the wings/ grill, but thats gonna also be a difficult job...
Took the fuel system apart today, and decided the "tank" that was in it is trashed and will probably go with a fuel cell. The actual tank is made of some fabric stuff, and is filled with foam, im guessing to stop the fuel sloshing while cornering etc, but the foam has completely disintegrated and when you poke it, it just falls apart, so ripped that all out, and looks like im gonna have to start fresh with that.
I also decided its time to remove the weird rear spoiler/ air damn thing, i dont think i will be needing it as i wont be pushing the kind of power the car used to make for a long while and it just doesnt flow with the car, i think the rear end looks a lot better without it, and the ducktail thats there lines up quite nicely without it.
I really want to get cracking on the body work, but cant do it until ive sold one of my other cars and moved this to its permanent spot near the garage.. hopefully i can start in the next couple of weeks...
That would appear to be a fuel cell you have there. Some can be re-foamed, so you could try contacting the manufacturer.
edit Premier Fuel syetems has website and they have replacement foam. There operation is at Willow Industrial Park, Derby - maybe Donington Park?
I have like just a minute ago emailed them about it. though im tempted to just go for a smaller probably 8 gallon drag race style fuel cell to mount there, would give me more space in the boot for other stuff, and the fabric part seems quite worn and a bit damaged. thanks for the suggestion though, the firm might give me a quote on re-foaming it or an alternative product.
Next big thing to do, is sort out new wheels, the car just doesnt roll on the ones it has, tyres wont hold air for more than 5 minutes on the front....
Im looking to get new wheel studs as the ones on it are rusty, and way too long. i pulled the front wheel off to remove some studs to measure them, but they dont look like camaro wheel studs, arent 2nd gens supposed to be like 20 spline? these are way more than that, and the hub is deffinitely not stock chevy, the disk bolts to the hub weirdly with bolts that have wire running through them. i dont have a clue what these hubs are or what the wheel studs are, its standard chevy patern. The brake system is airheart, but looking up vintage hubs they did, i cant find anything. Anyone know what these might be, or what studs i might need?
The aluminum piece you call the hub is a removable hat. Remove the caliper and the 2 Allen head screws near the wheel studs and it will slide off. then you can identify the hub. That is safety wire on the screws holding the disc to the hat, and it is necessary. This car is built largely from circle track stock car parts, and there is a good possibility that the hub and spindle is a Chrysler design. Look at Coleman Machine catalog to help identify. They will have the brake disc (rotor in Yank) as an off the shelf item.
Thanks for the info. ive looked on colemans website a bit, had a guy tell me they looked like nascar hats, as they ran these brakes back then. the chrysler thing might be right, as ive measured a stud i knocked out and its 1/2" threads. But the knurl diam. seemed to be 0.615" and the knurl length was 0.62" and i cant find a stud like it. Pulled the rear wheels off today, and bessides the brakes being completely siezed, the studs seem even longer in the back...
Also, last night i ordered the new rims for the car, its the most needed thing, tyres wont hold air for more than 5 minutes, and the car needs pushing... Its a secret what the rims are, once ive painted them ill show you guys, but i think they will look real nice, a clue, they require 45 degree lug nuts.
Im hoping i can clean up the front wheel studs as theyre a bit rusty and dirty, theyre sat over night in some oil to try to free off some of the gunk, the rear studs dont seem too bad so might not have to knock them out, though i think i need to cut them down, i cant get a socket on the nuts, had to use a spanner and it was a right pain...
Another kind of big thing i forgot to mention. Ive ordered a repro 1970 tail panel for the car, i hate how the back of it looks at the minute, with just the panel riveted on and the brake lights super low down, theres nowhere to mount tail lights or a numberplate, it just doesnt look right. So im gonna try to fit up the tail panel and see how it looks, not sure if i should cut the panel in two pieces and widen it to fit the width of the back, or just fit it up normally and try to smooth it in...
Random thoughts
Save any of the vintage race parts you decide not to use. They may be very desirable to someone else. The fuel cell and fill setup as an example.
Was there an anti-sway bar mounted in the aluminum block clamps on top of the frame?
Since you have a stock sub frame you may be interested to look at the frame reinforcement and repair parts I make for the 2nd gen F body cars. https://lab-14.myshopify.com/
I like the idea of creating a wide version of the stock style rear panel. As an idea you could use the reproduction metal one to make a mold you could create a wider fiberglass one with. Maybe make it with a wide enough license plate recess so it sort of looks like it could have been stock for a euro plate? Then use the stock tail lights and license light. Combining a metal replacement with fiberglass you'll have problems due to the different rates of expansion.
The front looks like your fiberglass parts were copied from a mid 70's front like the one on my '74 below. Might be able to use the stock turn signal & headlight set up from one from that era.
[URL=https://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/74%20CAMARO/MVC-015F.jpg.html][/URL]
Yeah im probs gonna save stuff, im going to try to figure out how much the fuel stuff is worth and will probs sell it, i cant use the dry break system, just wont work on the road. will check out the website, where do the palm trees mount to? never seen someone use a palm tree for frame reinforcments . i recognise some of the pictures of the red car with the cowl to front subframe braces, did you do a build thread on nastyz28 or something? i think widening the rear might be pretty cool and unique. under the fibreglass is the sheet metal stuff thats about on the car, so if i can connect it to that rather than the fibreglass, it should work fine, ive never messed with fibreglass molds.
The front end is based off a car built by carl shafer in the 70s:
i think for the front headlights,i might have to just buy a headlight bucket and cut out the shape of it into the front wing/ grill where the hole should be.
Oh, and no, i never got a sway bar for the front unfortunately, im gonna have to get one and figure out how it all goes, theres the mounts for one on the lower arms too, so it shouldnt be too hard.
Got my rims from the states today, less than a week on delivery, not bad really. Painted them up and hopefully tomorow once the clearcoats set i can test fit them on the car properly and see how they look. Got a pair of m/t sportsman pros for the back in 28/12.5 and once the inner tubes arrive i can sort them out. I will never in my life paint the inner wheel again... took me like 2 hours just to mask them up, i used to be able to mask a whole car in like 20 minutes... they were so finnicy, didnt help that i ran out of panel wipe and the tape wasnt sticking properly...
The photos really dont do the colour justice, in the shade, its kind of coppery, but then in sunlight its really bright, theres a silver flake in the clearcoat too that doesnt really come up on the photos but thats not gonna go on the body. Its gm/ vauxhall apache orange, code 61L/484. I wanted to stick with a gm colour for the car, so this is what the orange will be, most of the cars gonna be black, but then parts will be orange.
Also got my tail panel, and so if its good weather, im probably gonna start test fitting that and figuring out what i want to do with it.
OjaiM5
Reader
4/6/20 11:12 a.m.
Ah man! you have post a mock up with the wheels, too cool. What are widths? 12 - 15?????
haha, no worries, i will bud, theyre 10 rears, 8 in the front, 2"bs on the rear and 3" on the front. the back has a 1 inch spacer and i did put the rim on before i painted them and it sat about even with the arch, so may have to take the spacer off and the tyre should be perfect. fronts also look like maybe they stick out a bit too wide from the pivot point, but i wont know until ive got tyres for the front.
Mounted the rims to car today to see how they look, think they look great, but im still concerned the front rims are sat too far from the pivot to steer properly, i probs wont know until i have some tyres and it on the ground...
I then took a grinder to the back of the car and ground off all the rivets holding the very back piece on, ready to try to fit the proper tail panel, its gonna be a job, god knows how its gonna work out, but if i can pull it off, it should look a lot better. Also gave me a better view of how the sides were done and how much of the rear quaters are left.
Also trying, and struggling to source a manual gearbox for the car, being in the uk, muncies are super rare. ive been looking at ford type e's and type 9's from capris and escorts etc, as theres a few racing formulas in the uk that use them and beef them up, and they are super cheap, but i cant find any solid evidence of a bellhousing that exists for them to fit an sbc. also read CD009 gearboxes work from a 350z car, but they are kinda expensive, and all the bellhousings are from the states and shippings a nightmare.