My 68 RS resto project
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Newbie
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 19
From: Colorado Mountains
My 68 RS resto project
Well I finally have decided to bite the bullet and get started on this project. I've been thinking about it for years...just found some old "Ricks Camaros" parts catalogs from 1999...but alas nothing has happened between now and then...except a divorce! LOL
The car is a 1968 RS with 327 / 210HP, powerglide. Almost totally stock (details below).
So...the story on this car is that my Dad bought this car new in 1968. My Mom used this car to take us kids to school for a few years, and then my Dad drove it to work for about eight years. I started driving it in 1978 and at that time it had about 27k miles. I drove it for about 20k miles in about two years. In 1980 it was repainted and had the engine rebuilt (basically stock) and a pair of headers and dual exhaust were added.
Other than that this is a totally stock, totally numbers-matching car. I drove it a few more years putting another 25k miles on it and then parked it. It's been sitting in the garage for over 20 years.
I can't begin to say how incredibly fortunate I feel to have this car. There were many times I was tempted to sell it - (could have used the $ more than once!) but my Dad always talked me into hanging on to her. Thanks Dad!
So...I would say that I'm a "shade-tree mechanic" at best, although I think I have a decent understanding of the car and the mechanics. So I'm making the decisions about the resto, but am not doing too much of the hands-on work. I simply don't have the time and tools and talent. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be totally hands-on, but I want the car finished sometime this decade, and after all, I've been planning to do this myself for the last 10 years...and here I am with nothing done! If I wait til I have the time or gumption...well, it may never get done.
Dad is getting up there in his years and I want to get this car running and looking good to honor him while he is still here.
My goals for the project are simply to have a safe, reliable, great looking car that makes more HP that when it was new. I don't plan to drive it too much but would like to take it out once in a while on a hot Saturday night!
To accomplish those goals I plan to do the following:
1. complete high-quality paint job with comprehensive body repair to remove all rust and repair any body damage
2. rebuild the engine and make some basic mods to kick up the HP a bit
3. rebuild the tranny to add better clutches and shift kit to handle the higher HP
4. add disc brake conversion up front
5. update / replace front suspension
6. replace brake lines
7. replace fuel lines as necessary and maybe replace the gas tank
8. add some chrome dress up items under the hood
9. replace the interior as needed - new carpet, door panels, upholstery, etc.
10. replace / repair other mechanical and / or aesthetics as deemed necessary or desireable as we go along.
11. repair / replace rear-end and /or rear suspension as necessary. This may be a "phase II" kind of thing...
12. new tires and wheels
So...thats my story and I'm sticking to it! I'll include pics and stuff as I go. Will probably have a few questions too - hopefully I don't ask too many stupid questions! LOL
Thanks for looking at my little project.
The car is a 1968 RS with 327 / 210HP, powerglide. Almost totally stock (details below).
So...the story on this car is that my Dad bought this car new in 1968. My Mom used this car to take us kids to school for a few years, and then my Dad drove it to work for about eight years. I started driving it in 1978 and at that time it had about 27k miles. I drove it for about 20k miles in about two years. In 1980 it was repainted and had the engine rebuilt (basically stock) and a pair of headers and dual exhaust were added.
Other than that this is a totally stock, totally numbers-matching car. I drove it a few more years putting another 25k miles on it and then parked it. It's been sitting in the garage for over 20 years.
I can't begin to say how incredibly fortunate I feel to have this car. There were many times I was tempted to sell it - (could have used the $ more than once!) but my Dad always talked me into hanging on to her. Thanks Dad!
So...I would say that I'm a "shade-tree mechanic" at best, although I think I have a decent understanding of the car and the mechanics. So I'm making the decisions about the resto, but am not doing too much of the hands-on work. I simply don't have the time and tools and talent. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be totally hands-on, but I want the car finished sometime this decade, and after all, I've been planning to do this myself for the last 10 years...and here I am with nothing done! If I wait til I have the time or gumption...well, it may never get done.
Dad is getting up there in his years and I want to get this car running and looking good to honor him while he is still here.
My goals for the project are simply to have a safe, reliable, great looking car that makes more HP that when it was new. I don't plan to drive it too much but would like to take it out once in a while on a hot Saturday night!
To accomplish those goals I plan to do the following:
1. complete high-quality paint job with comprehensive body repair to remove all rust and repair any body damage
2. rebuild the engine and make some basic mods to kick up the HP a bit
3. rebuild the tranny to add better clutches and shift kit to handle the higher HP
4. add disc brake conversion up front
5. update / replace front suspension
6. replace brake lines
7. replace fuel lines as necessary and maybe replace the gas tank
8. add some chrome dress up items under the hood
9. replace the interior as needed - new carpet, door panels, upholstery, etc.
10. replace / repair other mechanical and / or aesthetics as deemed necessary or desireable as we go along.
11. repair / replace rear-end and /or rear suspension as necessary. This may be a "phase II" kind of thing...
12. new tires and wheels
So...thats my story and I'm sticking to it! I'll include pics and stuff as I go. Will probably have a few questions too - hopefully I don't ask too many stupid questions! LOL
Thanks for looking at my little project.
Thread Starter
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Newbie
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 19
From: Colorado Mountains
Getting started ...
and...shaazamm!
Some rust...but not too bad. This is the left front quarter...typical spot for this kind of rust.
The quarters look pretty good for the most part...
More tomorrow after the engine and tranny are out...
December 2011 ROTM
Santas Little Helper
Santas Little Helper
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,242
From: Casselberry, FL
ROTM Winner's Club
Very nice. *sigh* Im jealous of the originality of your 68. I am like you though, I didnt have the time or talent to do the bodywork. I think I can manage everything else. Goodluck with your project. I know you will enjoy it. And thanks for all the pics.
Thread Starter
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Newbie
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 19
From: Colorado Mountains
Thanks O...I've really enjoyed reviewing your project pages. You have done a lot of work! I've looked at it with amazement - given what your car looks like now and what it looked like to begin with! I was thinking that it is really cool that you've done so much of it yourself. All your pictures are great too, thanks for posting them! Keep up the good work!
Jim
Jim
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Newbie
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 19
From: Colorado Mountains
Been busy with the sanding and media-blasting. Have to do this outside when the weather cooperates. Its been cold and snowing recently...slows progress a bit.
Subframe cleaned up nicely
This areas was rusted but not too bad. Will fabricate a patch for this...and several other places like it.
Media (sand) blasting does a great job of cleaning rusty, dirty old frame and suspension parts
An example of the rusted area cut out...
Cutting out another rusted spot...
One of the lower panel parts cleaned up and ready for priming
I have more pics posted in an album here
https://camaroforums.com/forum/members/68_rs_guy-16548-albums-3-body-work-203/
Hopefully we'll get a few more nice days and can finish the stuff we need to do outside soon!
More later...
Subframe cleaned up nicely
This areas was rusted but not too bad. Will fabricate a patch for this...and several other places like it.
Media (sand) blasting does a great job of cleaning rusty, dirty old frame and suspension parts
An example of the rusted area cut out...
Cutting out another rusted spot...
One of the lower panel parts cleaned up and ready for priming
I have more pics posted in an album here
https://camaroforums.com/forum/members/68_rs_guy-16548-albums-3-body-work-203/
Hopefully we'll get a few more nice days and can finish the stuff we need to do outside soon!
More later...
In the Staging Lanes
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 91
From: Phoenix, Az
I got a question about your sand blaster and sand blasters in general, I've been looking to get my car blasted and it seems like it would be cheaper to buy my own blaster than to take it to get blasted (they want 600 for the whole car minus doors and hood).
I'm wondering what size that is that you have there (looks like 40 pounds?)? what pressure your running it at? and how big is the air tank you are running it off of?
I'm looking at getting a bigger air compressor, to run air tools, sand blaster, Paint gun off of. Is it worth it to spend $200-$500 on a new tank or should i just stick with my little 11 gallon tank?
After reading a little about the blaster the air tank I would need to run it is a 3.5 HP 60 gallon tank and would cost about $470 + $100 for the 40 pound sand blaster and buying the stuff and doing it myself would cost about the same as having it done, but at leaste I would own the equipment and could maybe run a side business. hmmm...
I'm wondering what size that is that you have there (looks like 40 pounds?)? what pressure your running it at? and how big is the air tank you are running it off of?
I'm looking at getting a bigger air compressor, to run air tools, sand blaster, Paint gun off of. Is it worth it to spend $200-$500 on a new tank or should i just stick with my little 11 gallon tank?
After reading a little about the blaster the air tank I would need to run it is a 3.5 HP 60 gallon tank and would cost about $470 + $100 for the 40 pound sand blaster and buying the stuff and doing it myself would cost about the same as having it done, but at leaste I would own the equipment and could maybe run a side business. hmmm...
Last edited by 31Bravo; Apr 1, 2009 at 11:57 AM.
Thread Starter
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Newbie
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 19
From: Colorado Mountains
Hi 31Bravo,
that tank is actually a 20 gallon size. Works pretty good for the kind of stuff we are doing on this car. It will work at 60 - 70 psi, but the going is slow. It's much more satisfying to use 115-120 PSI. The shop where this is at has two big Ingersoll Rand compressors so the air power is usually not an issue. The compressor tanks are like 120 gals each or something like that. They are pretty big...there is a separate room built onto this shop just for those compressors. The air hoses are run all over the shop...they just pull a hose outside to do the blasting work. I am very pleased with how the quality and results of media blasting on this project, and can think of lots of other things I would do if I had one of these little blasters around all the time - i.e. clean up old metal patio furniture, do odd jobs for others, etc. Again, the higher air pressure makes a big diff though. One other metric - we used about 400 pounds of media on the subframe and front feders and fender extensions. So that is a big part of overall cost.
Hope this helps!
Thanks,
Jim
that tank is actually a 20 gallon size. Works pretty good for the kind of stuff we are doing on this car. It will work at 60 - 70 psi, but the going is slow. It's much more satisfying to use 115-120 PSI. The shop where this is at has two big Ingersoll Rand compressors so the air power is usually not an issue. The compressor tanks are like 120 gals each or something like that. They are pretty big...there is a separate room built onto this shop just for those compressors. The air hoses are run all over the shop...they just pull a hose outside to do the blasting work. I am very pleased with how the quality and results of media blasting on this project, and can think of lots of other things I would do if I had one of these little blasters around all the time - i.e. clean up old metal patio furniture, do odd jobs for others, etc. Again, the higher air pressure makes a big diff though. One other metric - we used about 400 pounds of media on the subframe and front feders and fender extensions. So that is a big part of overall cost.
Hope this helps!
Thanks,
Jim