1981 Camaro - C-Prepared Build

Double update!  I finished off the outside panel templates after work today.  These will get riveted/bonded in.

your CAD panel  exercise is excellent......the poster board is from hobby lobby.....office depot?????

In reply to 759NRNG :

We live in the future. Amazon Prime. 

Gimp said:

In reply to 759NRNG :

We live in the future. Amazon Prime. 

The wife lives in the future .........I'm an instant gratification kinda knucklehead...OK thanks for future ref.

In reply to 759NRNG :

They called it “railroad board.” The 25 pack was reasonable. 

The size of the sheets is what caught my attention....well done, love your dzus emblems....Sharpie???

In reply to 759NRNG :

Even better. Those are the actual fasteners. 

You have a whole box full......Noooo!!?!??!!!!????

I know there is probably ample clearance to the glass but I would be trying to figure out a hook in/push in fit for the 4 dzus on the rear edge just due to difficulty to access all the way in there.  Unless you aren't running rear glass or will have external access holes.  Otherwise the templates look great.  Finish panels were actually one of the hardest parts of the MG for me.  

In reply to nocones :

I’m running a lexan rear window and my best guess is I have just enough room. Worst case, lexan is easy to drill holes into. 

Just a small update.  Last bit of temple-making to get the trans tunnel put together.  Is there anything blue tape can't do?

And then in paper

Hurry up i want to drive it

Tape became poster board and poster board became 18 gauge steel.

This was the first cut and bend.  Some trimming and tweaking is needed, but I'm really happy with how the first fit went.  This will be bolted in so that it is removable for service.

A friend of mine asked me how I bent it.  My response: "clamps, roll cage tubing, ratchet straps, a welding tank, my gut, and Kate standing on the workbench holding things down."

Gimp said:"clamps, roll cage tubing, ratchet straps, a welding tank, my gut, and Kate standing on the workbench holding things down."

Sounds Kinky....

Thinkkker said:

Gimp said:"clamps, roll cage tubing, ratchet straps, a welding tank, my gut, and Kate standing on the workbench holding things down."

Sounds Kinky....

Luckily no kinks... only bends. 

Bolted down or DZus?

759NRNG said:

Bolted down or DZus?

The tunnel is getting bolted down because I hope to not have it off that often.

torx25's?

Now that temperatures are more reasonable (to the point where my garage heater can put a dent in things), I can knock out a few of the little things that need to be done before paint.  This time it was sealing up the firewall.  Most folks use aluminum and pop-rivet over the holes, but I had sheet steel on hand so I did things the hard way.

I'm never going to "smooth" the firewall on this car, but I do have a new respect for those who do.  This is a ton of work, and I'm just going for good enough for a race car.  The plan is, once everything is said and done, the firewall will get a coating of Lizard Skin, so it will help hide some of the irregularities.

The car was in a pretty nasty wreck before I got it, so the passenger side sheet metal under the fender isn't pretty.

Next up was sealing up the cowl, both the vents and the windshield wiper holes.  The goal here is to prevent a bunch of little holes acting as flame throwers should there ever be a fire.

Getting close to stripping the chassis the rest of the way and prepping for paint.

needs more 

Just another small one, but somebody got a bath. I spent the morning power-washing probably 15 years of dust from grinding and storage.  It was way more dirty than I thought.

And I love looking at the "poke" of the rear wheels.

This is the first step in prepping for paint.  Once I rolled it back into the garage I got it up on stands and removed all the front suspension and steering.  Rear axle and suspension come out next, then a few final welds, then a lot of sanding and paint prep.

Any shots of the finished rear interior panels? Did you happen to bead roll any of them? 

In reply to 759NRNG :

They haven't been done yet, but we will be bead rolling them.  Hopefully they will be ready in the next few weeks.  Larry is currently working on welding up the exhaust, so those are next when he's done.

At some point, sand and earplugs (and I guess Dairy Queen spoons) will stop falling out of this car.

I finished getting the car stripped down to a bare chassis over the weekend to start paint prep.  I was pretty happy with how everything came apart, and I've been bagging and tagging to hopefully make my life easier down the road.

While I had things apart, I took a moment and did the "final" trim on the rear wheel openings, finished up some welding I couldn't get to in the rear section, and wrapped up a few odds and ends.

I have just a hair more welding to do on the front floor and transmission tunnel, and then it's time for paint.

I'm hoping to have the car fire by my birthday (June 3rd) and have it to an event on June 30th for a shakedown (minus bodywork).  Lofty goals, but it's a good target.

Just when I thought I was in the full disassembly stage, I realized I needed to get a dash into this thing, so I ordered up a kit from S&W Racecars.  Pretty happy with things so far.  I hope to finalize it this week.

It comes with an insert for the gauges that I've already marked out.  I hope to show that soon.