Alright haven't posted in awhile, mostly due to I haven't done much to the camaro in awhile.
I've been cleaning out the inside and a bit of other stuff, I should have a welder in 2 or 3 weeks.
Reason I don't already have one is I've been banned from the garage due to it being full of all the furniture my parents had stuffed in the second story and loft area, I've got to organize a garage sell to try and get ride of it all.

But once I get the garage back I'll get back to it, got some questions though.
Mini tubs, good idea or a waste of time? I really haven't decided on what size tires and wheels I want on the car yet.

This is a picture of my passenger side spring perch.
How do I go about fixing something like this?

Drivers side frame rail, replace both rails or cut and weld in a new piece?


This is the drivers side fender I know that a patch panel will work for the front but do they wrap around for the outer lip by the door?

 

Gonna be a fun one! From what I understand they don't make spring pockets as a repro item. It will require cutting out the bad part and welding in new metal in either pieces or bent to shape. Could also maybe find a donor car of the same or later and cut that part out to use.
It'll take some good measurements too, so the new pocket and nuts sit in the exact spot to keep the rearend centered in the car.
There are some guys over on the NastyZ28 site that have replaced the pockets on their cars, but I've never had one rusty enough to need it, so can't really give you details on how to do it.

 

Yeah it's gonna take alotta work, probably whole new frame rails but idk yet.

Game plan is to get the garage sell done with next week then get the camaro in the garage, drop the front sub frame, rear end and springs.

Then I'll build a wooden roller idk the dimensions I'll need yet 6x6 by 3 or 4 feet high maybe, to get the body high enough in the air to make things semi easy to work on. We have a metal one we built for scout II bodies works pretty good only problem is it's in oklahoma.

 

That pass. side perch looks pretty bad. Actually looks like it's bent and loose from the body?
The lower fender patch panels have the edge rolled over on them. Should cover both edges and bottom lip too.

 

Yeah, I don't think the spring perch was a rust issue. In the picture the bolt on the bottom or rather the outside bolt the metal that it was bolted to is torn off so idk if the PO had to much torque for his own good or was an idiot.
It'll be easy to reshape it once it's loose from the spring, the frame rail shouldn't be an issue to weld it back together or patch it. Or depending on the drivers side I might just replace them both.

I can't wait to get back to some substantial work on the maro just gotta wait till the time is right I guess, tomorrow is fishing up in the mountains and somehow I've been roped into furniture mover for my sister.

 

On the back side of the fender there's the second panel, think it's there for extra strength. Should I patch that too or just leave it?

 

I don't think that is all that bad. The rail doesn't look bad. The bracket may be repoped. Really it doesn't look bad. The part that holds the J-clip in the frame looks screwed but easily fixed with your new welder.

 

Yeah, for the frame rail I'm gonna try at all cost to not replace unless needed. Right now I'm thinking a good grind, and some patch metal should do it, maybe.

 

As for the spring perch would it be a bad idea to just weld it in place?
Val did you modify your perch or need to move it when you installed your ladder bar set up? I'd like to go with a set up like that, not right away of course but eventually and frame connectors will be on this one for sure.

 

Don't weld it. Its almost impossible to get the bolt in and out of the spring eye.