Loosecannon's 1967 Camaro RS build

loosecannon said:

OHSCrifle said:

loosecannon said:

I started a new job as a maintenance guy for a commercial bakery (We make crisps for Trader Joe's, Costco, Wegmans) and haven't done any work on the Camaro.

Wait. What? Is kart track ownership in your rear view mirror?

 

Following with interest regardless. 

When the damn COVID hit in 2020, Speedworld was shut down because it was considered non-essential. I got a job restoring old cars and have been doing that for a while but 3 weeks ago I was approached by a large bakery and they made an offer I can't refuse. I actually work in same building as Speedworld but my wife runs the whole show now. Speedworld is open again but because we are required to get proof of vaccinations, business is way off so there's not enough income to pay my bills, so I have to work elsewhere. 
 

i worked on the Camaro for 6 hours today. I got the passenger side frame rail modified to fit the mini tub, the doors fitted and have started to fit the wider rear quarter panels

Question- if those are plug welds pointing up, how did you do that so cleanly?  When I try, it makes a mess.

In reply to alfadriver :

Let me guess, the tip of the wire turns into a big glob and falls back on the nozzle? You have to turn the wire speed up slightly when welding overhead. Also, when doing plug welds, always start dead in the middle to get good penetration on what you're welding to then work in circles to the piece that has the hole in it.

In reply to loosecannon :

Never considered speeding up the wire- that's a great tip.  Knew about the second suggestion, but still have a long way to go.  But I'll try that on my miata when the time comes to weld in the new panel.

alfadriver said:

loosecannon said:

OHSCrifle said:

loosecannon said:

I started a new job as a maintenance guy for a commercial bakery (We make crisps for Trader Joe's, Costco, Wegmans) and haven't done any work on the Camaro.

Wait. What? Is kart track ownership in your rear view mirror?

 

Following with interest regardless. 

When the damn COVID hit in 2020, Speedworld was shut down because it was considered non-essential. I got a job restoring old cars and have been doing that for a while but 3 weeks ago I was approached by a large bakery and they made an offer I can't refuse. I actually work in same building as Speedworld but my wife runs the whole show now. Speedworld is open again but because we are required to get proof of vaccinations, business is way off so there's not enough income to pay my bills, so I have to work elsewhere. 
 

i worked on the Camaro for 6 hours today. I got the passenger side frame rail modified to fit the mini tub, the doors fitted and have started to fit the wider rear quarter panels

Question- if those are plug welds pointing up, how did you do that so cleanly?  When I try, it makes a mess.

A thing that works well for me when doing spot welds in all positions is that I use a relatively small hole in the top panel and go in really hot with the amps.  Like mentioned by Loose: you want to be pointing a clean wire directly at the center so that the lower ( upper panel when welding underneath) gets the required penetration right off the bat. 

What this seems to do for me is to flood the "pool" without having to move the torch much if at all, minimizes heat into the panel and once the molten wire meets the sides of the "well" on the top panel, it will melt some of the wall and capillary action will suck some under the edge.

And clean. Clean metal is not off-gassing and trying to blow away your molten metal as the contaminants vaporize in the puddle.

All I'm seeing is the usual LC attention to fabrication detail that most always surrounds all his 'builds'......LC, you're making weld porn.....I'm doing tractor seat time at the 'burn pile'.....the tubs are a thing to behold not to mention how all this sheet steel looks like it shoulda' been there in the first place.....who knew.........you did .....late....watch yur knuckles....wink

Briget decided that if she can't work on Camaro now, she will insulate the garage to help me work on the Camaro. Is there a "Best Wife" award I can nominate her for?

TIL about heat management when plug welding

Just posting here so I can find this later. Excellent work - this is one of my "dream cars" (one of many, according to my wife at least) and had I more space and budget, I'd be right here with you. Really looking forward to seeing the finished product.

I plan on going with this LS427/570 for the Camaro, what do you think? Worth the money (price is Canadian dollars)?

In reply to loosecannon :

Looks like fun, will the wet sump handle everything you want to do with the car?

In reply to adam525i :

I think it will unless I switch to R comp tires. 

I was wondering how accommodating the relocated fab shop was at this time of the year .....and 'lo and  behold' your dear wife Briget has stepped her game up so the Markstenator can continue with this awesome build.....pssst? what's the temp out there?  This is coming along in true LC fashion!!!

759NRNG said:

I was wondering how accommodating the relocated fab shop was at this time of the year .....and 'lo and  behold' your dear wife Briget has stepped her game up so the Markstenator can continue with this awesome build.....pssst? what's the temp out there?  This is coming along in true LC fashion!!!

Our weather has been all over the place this year. It's gone from 32 F to -11 F and back again several times. The walls are done and tomorrow we work on the ceiling, which is complicated because the garage is half scizzor rafters and half attic rafters. I hope to cover the walls and ceiling with plywood once the prices come down

I am massively disappointed today. I ordered new OER brand fenders from Speedway Motors and the drivers side arrived with a wang right on the body line. Speedway Motors was only willing to give me a credit for 50% of the value of the fender so I took it but I felt that it was actually the fault of OER for not packaging it well. I ordered a replacement from Jegs and bought the Jegs brand of fender. It arrived today and it turned out to actually be made by OER as well and it's damaged even worse than the last one.

That's really E36 M3ty customer service by Speedway, hopefully Jegs does better for you. Does the non-damaged fender at least live up to expectations?

I, too, have had some disappointments with Speedway and also with DHL's shipping.  Zero problems with Summit.

In reply to adam525i :

The other fender seems good quality but I suspect some tweaks will be necessary to get the panel gaps perfect

That damage and lack of support by Speedway sucks.  Summit is the gold standard for aftermarket parts based on my experience.  NPD is a close second.  Speedway has been good too.  Jeg's can get bent. 

The garage is finally insulated enough that I could resume work on the Camaro. I widened the driver rear quarter panel just over an inch by taking two new quarter panels and blending them into one wider one. There will be a video about it in a few days but here are some pics. I used a laser to make sure the body line was straight 

This rocks as with everything else you embrace....but I gotz to know how big is this grosh?   Oh and iffen y'all don't hear from me tomorrow.....Happy New Year!!!!!

759NRNG said:

This rocks as with everything else you embrace....but I gotz to know how big is this grosh?   Oh and iffen y'all don't hear from me tomorrow.....Happy New Year!!!!!

My garage is 24'x32' and the biggest I am allowed on my property. I learned a lot from the Suburban (mostly patience) and am applying that to the Camaro. I'm thrilled with how the quarter panel worked out. A new video on the YouTube channel is dropping soon. Fair warning: the YouTube channel has been renamed so I can post content that is not about the Pink Panther as well. New video here: New Year, New name, new project

I have 14.75" of tire clearance before even rolling the fender lip. She's going to be phat! 

Those two diagonal cuts to extend the quarter out are interesting. Looking forward to the science behind it.  I think I can figure it out, but would not have thought of it myself.

What is your rear rim offset on this ?  Hey a '70 Nova is kinda like this eh? (there's one down the road from me .....jus sayin' )

In reply to 759NRNG :

I have no idea because I don't have a differential or wheels yet. The 70 Nova shares a lot with the 67 Camaro