Yes sir Chuck, already sprayed them with clear and they're awaiting installation shortly here. I can get the gas pedal assembly reinstalled and finish the cable too. Just trying to figure out if/how I can get the kickdown cable shell cut without cutting the actual cable so as to not remove it from the trans again. That should be interesting. Softball games are done for the weekend and it's beautiful outside so I'm truly hoping to get some sanding done on the core support and finish one of the inner fenders. So many little things still to get finished up, probably would make more sense to start seeing some things through to completion before moving on to the next though! Then again, I am the king of getting projects 85% finished. Exhibit A would be the painter's tape still on the trim in the back hallway of my house, from over a year ago....

 

I hope you can get the clear to stick right. No tooth becomes an issue. Make sure you clean the rouge off with brake cleaner or something. I did an alternator back when I learned how to polish. Its still in the garage but I found that the clear would fisheye and if sprayed too think it would yellow. Not bad but a yellow tint just bugged me so it has sat since then. It was on the motor when I first fired it a couple years ago. That was just because it fit and spun the water pump. Looks good. Your house insurance cover sudden blindness? If I come up there I hope my glasses turn before you open the garage door. Valley of Chrome!

 

I made sure to be careful when spraying the clear and went easy on it at first. It seems to have adhered pretty well and the coverage was good also. No fisheye or discoloration. I could see a little bit of sheen loss but nothing bad. For the amount of effort that went into the hose ends, they'll do just fine on there. Running into the same problem as before with the hose barb fittings and this AN-6 hose not fitting over them though. I'll have to order about 2' more (I had 3' from a carb feed kit) of 3/8" hose to get it to fit over the return fitting on the P.S. pump, brake booster, pcv and carb fittings.


There really never was a direct intention of using so many chrome/polished parts on this build. I'm certainly not a "I'd rather be homeless than chrome-less" believer. Again, it's the OCD taking over. Hard to draw the line with "shine" when I knew the rest would be. Didn't want to end up with a bunch of painted or natural parts that, to me, would look more gaudy than the chrome when they started to rust. Can't get myself to get on the matte black bandwagon either, that stuff still gets dirty. I'm not worried about having to clean things as that's completely worth it to me. I know the opinions about chrome are many, but this Camaro isn't being built to impress others, just me and my kids. I know you didn't mean anything derogatory so please don't misunderstand me there. Until carbon fiber comes down in price a tad, chrome it is!

 

Here's a pic of that heater hose fitting that visited you Damon. That's as far as it'll go in right there. Catches the first 3 threads, that's it. I'm sure if I used sealant it would work but man, I can't stand how ridiculous that looks! Might just end up using the plain fitting that I got from the local auto parts store. At least that one threads down in there. What a huge time waster this fitting has turned out to be.


Anyone ever have issues with a new B&M shifter not wanting to go through ALL the gears? I'm not even hooked up to the trans yet and I can't get this shifter to go from neutral to reverse, to park?! I'm confident it's got something to do with the tab (whatever it's called?) on the side with the red plastic cap on it. If I manually shove that tab/lever I can get the shifter to go into park, but then I lose second and first positions. No troubleshooting instrux cover that lever thing on the side so I was just curious if anyone else has dealt with this before?

 

Haven't had that particular B&M shifter, but I have had occasional B&M shifters that hung a bit going from 1-2-3-N to R-P. Never had issues with forward drive selections, or issues once they got past neutral, but the reverse lockouts can sometimes need fiddling.
That particular shifter is similar to my Pro Ratchet. You can shift 1-2-3 up and down without an issue, but the little lever on the side locks out N-R and P. In order to go to N-R-P you have to go to neutral, then push the small lever forward once. At that point it unlocks R-P and your shifter will go into those two. Reverse takes one click, but it takes two more to fully engage Park.
This guy sounds goofy, but it's a simple video that shows the process:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH28EU-CQCc

 

I messed around quite a bit with the shifter today and managed to get most of it adjusted properly. Wish the car was running and driving so I could tell if the linkage is adjusted properly, feels like I might be a tad off down in 1st gear. Didn't get back under there to check the cable tension when in first gear over the cable pin, I'll finish it up tomorrow. Appreciate the insight Vall, the Proratchet is similar to mine but mine does not use the actual red lever to get into reverse.


Got a ton of little tasks completed today on the Camaro, and even got some sanding done! Power steering is completely plumbed, heater hoses are on, all vaccum lines are installed, throttle linkage and kickdown linkage is installed and adjusted (for the most part) body mount bolts are torqued (still need to drill the holes and add the 4 bolts to the sfc's) fuel line to pump is completed, LED's are installed in tail lights awaiting the housings (waiting on power to make sure lights work first) and the speedo cable is up to the dash, just not plugged into speedo yet. I'm really gettin' there, couple dedicated days to wiring the ignition, electric fan, trans temp gauge and a load of switches as well as doing the pump to carb plumbing and it'll be ready to fire! Still have to go over every bolt on the suspension and finish greasing all the fittings in the front end but for the most part I'll be ready for the core support, inner fenders and finishing the trans cooler mounting. I made another checklist and that's what's left, aside from the new seats, steering wheel and the driveshaft. Slow but steady...

 

Bling bling money aint a thing.

I'm so jealous,careful before your nominated for ROM. lol
Looks good man. You're gonna drive before me huh? I have the rest of my primer coming Monday so we'll see about that. The sub is still really worrying me. BAD! I have squared it twice without an issue. Now that I have welded the seams I got issues. The sheetmetal is even higher on one side as well as the opposite side being a full inch longer. But put a level on the frame rails and its level. I hope for the best but fear the worst.

 

So once you get the primer your Camaro will be driveable? That would be great though, you could drive up here and help me out!! LOL! Did you swap the engine back out of the truck into it? I know it would make it a ton more difficult to move around, but if the engine/trans were in wouldn't that give you a better idea if it'll still be out of square once it's on the ground and settled? My goal was to have mine running and (hopefully) driveable before the end of July. If I could keep my butt home for a week straight, I could make some real progress on this core support and fenders. Not gonna happen though unfortunately, heading down to Detroit tomorrow evening. I now have to get ANOTHER new set of wheel hubs for the Cadi and while I'm at it, figured I might as well throw some new axle shafts, struts and outer tie rods on there. One of those things BETTER fix that vibration that starts around 60 mph! It's sad that my parts list is bigger for the Cadi than the Camaro at this point. July is gonna be one busy month for sure. Not going to complain though, it's amazing how much counter space I can see in my house again. The Camaro parts are almost flyin' outta the house which is a good sign of progress being made.


Quick question, I installed the new starter today also (yes it's chrome) and I had bought some new ARP bolts that were supposed to be for hi-torque mini starters. I'm concerned about the length of them though, only a few threads hold the starter in, and that's after I removed the washers that were on the bolts. They tightened down, got about (maybe) 3 or 4 threads. I've searched, can't seem to find longer mini starter bolts in the 4.45" length, only the 3/8" bolts for standard starters. The ones I have are 3.7" (ARP 430-3504) I don't like the way it is, I really feel the bolts should be longer.

 

The rule of thumb with any bolt is 1.5x the diameter for thread engagement. So a 3/8 dia bolt is .375"x 1.5 is .562" But in reality we'll call it 1/2". I know you're not mathematically challenged, this is for someone who may search it out. Starter bolts are knurled for a reason I really dont know. SO I use regular grade 8 with a washer and lock washer. Never had one fall out. If your dead set on starter bolts. Your mini starter is most likely a GM style starter. Try bolts for an 5.7L '99 Tahoe. Thats my go to for mini starters. I like them because they are truly high torque and mini and I get get a lifetime warranty.

I have had the engine/trans back in the car since the first thaw. LOL I thought I was square then until the output was right on the trans tunnel. I loosened all the motor mounts to twist everything straight. That helped but really not sure what is going on. I can visibly see the engine is not straight. So after i fix that, shoot some primer. and find some brakes, yup I can go around the block. I still need front glass and to install most everything proper. The interior is just in there. Oh yeah, if I run my carb I need a block mounted fuel pump. I have a high PSI EFI pump in the tank. Like a dummy I cut up my pick up because I only needed the gas gauge. Not thinking I could run my engine fairly easy with it.

 

The simple rule I've always followed is 6 threads for whatever size bolt. Coarse threaded bolts need more engagement, and thus the same number of threads will give a more depth than a fine threaded bolt. Even if you have to go to big box auto parts store bolts, I'd still get longer bolts, or risk stripping out the block or bolts.