Hello all, I wanted to share my restore with everyone and maybe get some advice. This car has exchanged a lot of hands along the way, but was never finished.

Album - http://s763.photobucket.com/albums/xx271/jsmage/69 Camaro owner one

In Jan 07 it was sold to the owner before me. He did a lot of body work putting in new metal, as most of it was rusted.

Album - 69 Camaro owner two pictures by jsmage - Photobucket

When I bought it back in Jun 09 most of the metal had been replaced. It needed a new hood, and fenders. The sub-frame was in bad shape and the engine and trans that was in it needed a rebuild. It still needed a lot of various parts.

Album - 69 Restore update - May 2010 pictures by jsmage - Photobucket

The car was towed to an out of state friend of the family that did body work so that it could get blocked, sanded, and eventually painted. In the mean time I had the engine (Hi-Po 454) and the trans rebuilt (M-20). In May 2010 I delivered the engine and trans.

Album -69 Restore update - May 2010 pictures by jsmage - Photobucket

Around Aug 2010 I ordered a new Moser 12 bolt with posi rear end as the 10 bolt that was in it looked to be welded in many spots and overall in bad shape.

I also ordered a set of Hotchkis lowering springs. Lots of parts were ordered, door handles, lights, core support, wiring harness, sub-frame connectors.

Album - 69 Restore update - Aug 2010 pictures by jsmage - Photobucket

May 2011 The inside floor, trunk, and undercarriage were all sprayed with a Rhino type Liner and body was sprayed with an even primer. After the sub-frame was powder coated a set of front and rear disc brakes are installed along with front big block springs and shocks. Sub-frame connectors were also installed.

Album - 69 Restore update - May 2011 pictures by jsmage - Photobucket

Between May 2011 and now Half of the car is painted, and the engine and trans is installed. Along with the fuel tank and lines. As you can see not much progress really overall for someone having well over 3 years invested into it. Last weekend I drove from SC to FL and picked the car up.


Now the car is sitting in my detached 24X24 garage.

Album - 69 Restore update - Apr 2012 pictures by jsmage - Photobucket

There is still a lot of work that needs to be done. Like getting the other half painted and the clear coat put on. The engine has been rebuilt with a cam, and bored over, it has never been started. I'm not sure where to go from here. I'm not sure if I should work on the engine or focus on the body stuff. Maybe a little of both?

I planned to order some headers, and maybe a water pump and fuel pump. I still need to order pulleys and brackets. Not sure if I should do serpentine or standard belts. The heads are oval port from a Vet that had a 454. I'm not sure if I can just order a set of big block headers for say a 427. I plan on doing A/C and having power steering. I already have a new brake booster so the headers would need to clear that.

Any advice where I should go next or what I should focus on? I'm all ears..

Oh and here is what I'm hoping to have it look like one day. Not exactly that but close.

 

very nice, welcome to the forum. im sure 69 and o (if she ever gets on line) will visit the thread and have some good info for ya.

 

Wow, nice project going there! Keep it up, curious about the finished look!

 

Wow, you really took that far didn't you? Quite a transformation. It's looking great so far, almost looks like a whole car now!

 

Wow nice job. MORE PICTURES!!!

K

 

Wow! Very nice!

If it were mine, I'd finish the engine first. It'll be a lot easier getting it back together with all that room to work. The tires make excellent seats to work from. You may have to lift it again to get your headers on.

Then I'd get the front clip back on and go from there with all the million or so odds and ends.

Nice car!

 

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I took some more pictures last night I'll upload them later.


'Dazed n confused' you are absolutly right, almost nothing of the orginal car is being used. When it's done I expect that over 95% of it will be all new parts. The only orginal metal is the roof and rear package tray, and of course the subframe. Nothing else is really worth salvaging.



I talked to a guy that has done a lot of restore work and he answered a lot of my what next questions I had.

I started searching for a serpentine belt kit. The March #20510 looked promising but at a cost of well over $1k it doesn't include a water pump, alternator, or A/C compressor so I'm not sure it's worth it.

I stumbled across this auction for a GM kit - GM Parts Serpentine Belt System Big Block Chevrolet NIB | eBay

This kit seems to have all the pulley's, belt's and includes the compressor, alternator, and pump. Of course it doesn't look all flashy but I'm not worried about that. Can anyone comment if they think that will work with my setup?

I'm ordering some parts from Summit today, a Fuel pump #SUM-250022-1, and a 'Be Cool' radiator #BCI-10168. If there are no issues with the serpentine kit I may order that this week.

 

Jealous...

 

Got the casting numbers for the block and head today. I can't read the first half of the numbers but the last four are 5445 so I'm thinking it is a 14015445 block, heads are 353049's. This should be a 9.8" deck height block, so looks like the serpentine kit should work.


Here is my daily driver, I wish I could pull the engine/trans and seats from the CTS-V and stick it in the Camaro.


The Summit Racing #SUM-G9102 long headers say the'll fit a 454 with power stearing, power breakes, A/C, and standar trans. So I'm thinking I'll go with those.

 

Got my orders in for a bunch of engine parts.

Some Hedman hedders I'm hoping the'll clear the steering box.


Painless wiring kit -


Brake booster for the 4 wheel disc -


Got most of the parts for the intake and fuel. Fuel supply line, and an air cleaner -


Along with the fuel pump -


The throttle cable is in but I'm still waiting on the throttle cable support bracket -


I tried fitting the distributer but looks like the engine needs to be removed before I can insert it, it won't clear the firewall -


I also ran into a snag when trying to install the clutch linkage -


When trying to fit the linkage to the clutch fork I noticed it was hitting the lower firewall, actually leaving a big scratch in the finish -


I'm also missing the engine/bellhousing plate. So looks like I'll be removing engine and trans to find out whats wrong with the clutch fork and to install the distributer.