69 Camaro Vert complete Pro Touring build

I've been around a long time and although I work on a lot of cars I've never built a PT 69 Camaro. I own a real 67 RS SS vert myself I haven't been able to bring myself to take too far from stock so it's going to be fun building this 1st gen Camaro as a Pro Touring car. Thought I'd copy and paste the build thread here now that we have a builds section.

This build is different than a lot of us on this forum are accustomed to because it has a bigger budget than many of us (me included) can afford. While the owner can afford to do this in a short time period he is a grassroots kinda guy who's spent hundreds of hours grinding, welding, painting etc since he's doing all the bodywork himself.

Hiring me to do the rest (travelling hot rod builder) allows him to do what he wants to while having me concentrate on other parts of the build which cuts the overall project time waaay down. Most Pro Touring builds take years and years to get done because of the enormous number of hours it takes to restore the car and replace all the systems.

So here's the starting posts and I'll continue updating as we move along. .........................................................................................................................

The car is a rescue from a shop that wasn't making progress as quickly as the owner wanted and so it was pulled and I'm doing most of the assembly at the owners home. For those of you who've had troubles in shops you can imagine it's comforting to look in your garage and see steady progress. Building at an owners home presents it's own challenges. A lot of the work I do at my home shop or the machine shop I work out of sometimes. Then I take the parts back to the owners home for install.

So at this point the car is torn down and some of the work that was done by the shop will remain while some has been altered. Rather than give a list of what the car is getting I'm just going to post what I'm working on at the time. so without much more jabber, here's some pics!

1st up, the car as returned to the owner by the shop. Some other parts are not pictured and some are MIA.

Very carefully took the car off the dolly wheel stand after noticing a broken weld. Pulled the leg off with ease by hand, luckily the car didn't crash to the floor at some point.

The previous shop had the subframe blasted and painted. A change in plans now calls for the shock towers to be removed for a DSE level 3 front coil over setup. So off they come!

Ground down and the shock hole opened up for a trim plate around the coil overs.

Some cutting and fab work to install the new upper mounts was done along with TIG and MIG welding to install the mounts and add reinforcement inside the frame.

Any crappy factory welds were ground out and rewelded along with welding other areas to strengthen the frame.

Next The lower control arm mounting holes were reinforced and the whole frame was stripped and smoothed for new paint.

At last, time for paint!

As happens so often, scope creep occurred! The original plan was to put the car together to be used a while before new paint. That plan got tossed out the window and now it's become a complete makeover. The interior was removed, power top removed and the unibody stripped. while there was very little rust in the car it had been bumped here and there and some collision shop type bang it out and smooth it over type repairs had been done during it's life. So the owner decided to hang some new quarters and weld in some floor pan sections himself while I rebuilt the rear end with a more appropriate gear ratio.

So here's how it sits today. Quarters are on and floor sections replaced. Some finish welding/grinding and a bit of smoothing with the lead filler being used and the outside will be ready to prime. Some finish up grinding and cleaning in the trunk and underside will also be done before epoxy primer. Interior got the POR 15 treatment.

The car had a 12 bolt rear end in it that was probably swapped in. The 3.07 ratio that was in the rear wouldn't be good for the new engine/trans combo and a disc brake upgrade was in the plan so the rear was taken apart. I had noticed more than normal axle end play on one side when removing the rear from the car. At some point someone had it apart to replace the clutch packs for the posi unit. When they reassembled it one of the concave spider gear washers was not on the carrier cross pin so there was too much play and then the cross shaft as well as the spider gears were damaged when the car was driven.

Anyway the whole rear was rebuilt using a Ratech kit for the bearings and shims, Yukon spider parts, Richmond 3.73 gears, ARP ring gear bolts and wheel studs, with a Right Stuff 11"disc brake upgrade as the finishing touch.

Rear is now installed riding on a DSE leaf spring setup with Koni's. We stripped the underside and the owner's been working like a madman on new metal and getting the car into some primer and paint.

ZZ 383 crate engine arrived! Along with a lot of the other parts I need to install it and get it running. The Suspension, Steering, and brakes are done. Body guy is still making a mess but I'll deal with it and crack the whip to keep him going.

So whats the first thing to do with a brand new engine? Strip it and paint it a different color! ahahaha My "Ace" in house painter (his house) shot it body color this afternoon.

Here's what we have installed so far. Rear quarters. Tail panel Rebuilt 12 bolt sitting on a DSE leaf spring setup with Koni reds. New fuel tank and stainless 1 piece fuel line to engine compartment. DSE steering box and all steering components. Complete DSE level 3 coil over front suspension. Original steering column painted and installed. Gas, brake, clutch, pedals. (car was auto before) Right Stuff master cylinder, prop valve, & power booster Wilwood 4 piston front/right Stuff rear disc brakes. Stainless brake line tubing. Right stuff park brake lines. DSE solid body mounts.

Since I remembered to get my camera out of my tool box I leave on the job and bring it home, here's some pics from this week. As you may have noticed in the pic above there's a Tremec and Pypes exhaust just waiting to be installed! So after the engine paint has dried hard it's drive line install time! There's a big pile of parts needed to get everything operational and we're expecting a serpentine belt kit next week.

I usually don't go for 'verts, but I'm digging it!

I love your build threads!

Damn dude, just, damn. Seriously impressive work!

I'd ask what you're rate is, but I'm pretty sure I can't afford it.

Beautiful work and attention to detail. That DSE stuff is nice.

You can't find a well built convertable cheap anymore. One of my favorites.

Wow, this is gorgeous! Nice work!

No DSE mini-tubs and 325's on the rear? Good for you. some pro touring stuff is just gratuitous. if it's not going to be used in a way that requires that much tire, why bother with the effort and expense.

nice build. i like!

Why would anyone go to this amount of trouble (including, especially a brand new engine) and NOT put in an all aluminum LSx motor? I was interested until I saw the traditional sbc lump sitting on the stand. And he's not losing the steering box in favor of a rack?

Oh - and lovely work by the way......I'm wondering where the OWNER's head is, not the builder's.

MichaelYount wrote: Why would anyone go to this amount of trouble (including, especially a brand new engine) and NOT put in an all aluminum LSx motor? I was interested until I saw the traditional sbc lump sitting on the stand. And he's not losing the steering box in favor of a rack?

Because he wants a somewhat traditional look under the hood and the 383 stroker will provide plenty of power for what he wants without the time and expense involved with an LS swap. Although this build might have a higher budget over a short time period than some other builds the budget is not unlimited. I suggested he consider the Ride tech Tru Turn steering upgrade and he decided on DSE steering parts and their 600 box. He's not trying to build the latest greatest most modernized 69 Camaro, just a cool car to blast around in or drive to work that he can still take his family out in.

LS swaps lead into a whole bunch of other things. Fuel system upgrades, stand alone engine management, engine mounts, oil pan, exhaust, and on and on. Is it worth the effort and expense? Depends on what the owner wants.

I make suggestions to owners for parts, colors, materials, etc. However, decisions are made by them (after all it is their car and money) and everyone has different tastes. So unless there is an issue of parts incompatibility or safety I do it their way. As an example you'll see a bunch of parts painted blue going on this car that some of us ( OK,me ) would rather see painted black. It's his car so if he wants blue then blue it is!

Hooked the 5 speed Tremec to the engine and installed together. Measured first because I knew it would be close even without a core support in place.

I would just like to share, my thread titles blended in my head, "why not make a pull start for a 69 Camaro". Other than that, rad build.

We've been getting the engine accessories installed, hooking up gas/clutch linkages, exhaust etc. Now we're setting up the Vintage Air system. Here's a couple pics from this past weekend.

The MSD box & coil are located under the dash to keep the engine compartment clean and the Vintage air lines have all been routed through the side of the cowl and inside the fender also to keep clutter to a minimum. We were able to modify most of the the VA lines and only needed to purchase a 6' #6 hardline and some firewall grommets etc. to make everything work. The car's also been rewired with a AAW kit.

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I like the blue as well.

The car saw the light of day again finally when we took it out to fire it up for the first time. So now we're working on "the list" of all the little things like tucking wires, filling the AC system, getting ride height adjusted, greasing suspension etc. before it's off to paint.

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Car is about ready to get painted. It's been a little over a year to go from a unibody shell to a drivable car with 50-100 miles on it (even without a windshield!).

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This has been an amazing build. can't wait to see the finished product. I have always wanted and old Camaro or Firebird of that era.

DO WANT.

(Even if it is a Chevy...)