1969 Camaro Restomod Project Thread

[Blue Blitz]

Will,

Glad you're back on the project. I trust you found a reputable place for the metal work? There is NOONE out here who can do that right so that kind of stuff scares me.

I'll be on the power tour this year as well as a few buddies from up here. You gonna bring the '10 or the boss?

Tony

Yea I found a good place. Place has been in business under same management for over 20 years. They specialize in 67-69 camaros. I've seen numerous cars they've built and met with them a couple times now. They only take in work when they have availability to start on it. No back burner projects unless it's decided as such between the owner and the shop. They said est turnaround for all sheetmetal replacement on my car was 3 weeks. Nice thing is they're not a typical body shop that makes it's cash flow on insurance jobs etc, they do restorations only. He said they'll do insurance jobs on classic cars/etc but not just ordinary vehicles. Hourly rates are good as well at $60/hr.

Who all from up there is going on Power Tour? Doing the Long Haul? Kat may not make it as she is scheduled to be out of the country for work. If she's out I may not go unless I'm co-pilot for a friend. There are a few people here going, so just have to see who has an open seat and wants to split expenses (69 camaro, 69 C10, 72 Monte Carlo, etc).

William

 

[mustang addict]

That's awesome on finding the shop to do the work.

Looks like it'll be me, AJ, Brian, Brad Swift, and Nathan. 4 cars or so. I can't get Joe away from guns long enough to tag along. LOL And yes, the plan is to make the long haul. Go up there a day early or so and go to the Henry Ford Museum. IMO one of the greatest if not the greatest car museum ever! Especially if you get to go in the back and see the non-displayed cars.

I'm not sure how in the world I'm gonna get away from work that long. But that's what they make air cards for right! LOL

 

[Blue Blitz]

Ok so a little "LONG OVERDUE" update to this thread. As mentioned earlier I had to put the project on hold due to job changes, and a few other things going on in my personal life. This however has been taken care of and all parts had been acquired for the body work/sheet metal replacement. Saved up the cash necessary for the work and picked a shop after months of research.

I'm happy to provide for you, the newest round of "update pictures." I took these today when we dropped the car off at the body shop :banana:

Where the car will spend the next 3-4 weeks:

Unfortunately this week the TBSS had a slight accident putting it out of commission for the towing of the car to the shop. This was rectified by the loaner 2006 Dodge sport dually and a friends enclosed trailer. This made the transportation of the camaro to the shop a breeze!

I got a shelf of my own at the shop. All parts needed for the build I provided. Should be pretty simple and quick turnaround as there SHOULD be no reason to purchase more panels!

MORE PARTS! Not all of it would fit on the shelf, so we stacked it where there was room.

Here is how I left her. In good company and in good hands. In a few short weeks a LOT of metal will be replaced and the cars rust issues will be a thing of the past!

I have my work cut out for me still on this project. I'll get it back from this stage and bring it back to the house. I'll install the 9" rear end and 4-link setup so I can get the old rear end out of the car and free up more space in the garage. I got everything from DSE that I need now, and the body mounts will be installed, and the springs/arms are waiting at the house with the rear end.

After that, we'll get to patching the floors and doing the subframes. I'll work on the DSE firewall fill plate that should help smooth up the engine compartment quite a bit as well.

It is likely that while I'm doing the floor we'll begin fabricating the cage for the car (nothing too serious. Probably a 6 point for the time being.

ENJOY! I know I am :coolman:

William

 

[Hmbre97]

I know this car has personal meaning to you but for someone looking for a project, I would imagine once your done getting the car ready for paint, you'd probably be real close to what one of those Dynacorn bodies cost (around $12k if I'm not mistaken).

 

[Blue Blitz]

Do a little research on the dynacorn bodies. It's nice you can get a clean shell for 12k. But talking to shops that do MANY of them (Mo' Muscle and Camaro Concepts were the two places in Houston with experience), they're not perfect. Some say they had to go as far as cutting a quarter off and RE-WELDING IT to get it "right." At this point it would have been cheaper to sell the car prior to tearing it apart and putting what I have already put into it into a clean roller/restored car.

As you said, wouldn't have the same "meaning." I considered it.

William

 

[N2DAMYSTIC]

Very cool! I am close to the stage you are at with my 67. Everything is stripped down and motor / trans is next. Then onto media blast and epoxy prime. GL with the project! Look forward to following the thread.

 

[Blue Blitz]

WOW those guys don't waste any time. Here are some updated pics...Keep in mind, this car was dropped off Saturday.

Looking forward to the future progress pictures already!

William

 

[Blue Blitz]

Went by yesterday after work and dropped off the hinges. They're getting rebuilt so when the doors go on, they can stay on from this point forward.

Both sides already had the frame notched. The minitub was in on the passenger side ready for weld. They think they'll get the rear of the car finished by Friday. I'll drop off the trunk pan today.

I'm going to have them complete the repairs on the floor and on the transmission tunnel. All said and done, looks like nearly 100 hours of work in hanging metal and HOPEFULLY it will be completed next week!

 

[DTSVT03]

Awesome project!

 

[mach1girl6]

I love the first generation Camaro's... my first was a hugger orange '67

 

[Hmbre97]

Wow, they aren't messing around getting to work on it!

 

[whistlin93SVT]

Small world... My Dad is the Snap-on Tool dealer for Camaro Concepts.

 

[dads01dream]

sub'n..... Great project you've got on your hands here. :beer:

 

[Blue Blitz]

Well decided to give them a couple days to work on it and what a transformation the car has made! Went up there Saturday before heading to a friends house that's down in the area.

On to the pics!
Had Roy rebuild the tired stock hinges so the doors will function better than ever before. Never realized how worn they were until we had them off!

It looks like a car again! Very excited to see these panels going back on. They're still fitting them and they fit "ok." AMD makes a nice panel and fitment is pretty good on them, but as always, some work will need to be done to get them "right."

I will keep updating this thread. Probably give them a couple days unless I get excited on Monday and head over there after work. Probably swing by middle of the week at the latest to see how progress is doing. Still need to take them the floor panels so they can patch in the sections needed to get rid of the minor rust issues there.

William

 

[mysicman]

Looks great:rockon:

Nothing like seeing a project coming together!

 

[Blue Blitz]

Thanks man. I'm definitely excited to see it come together. I'll bring it home and likely that it will sit until I either save up the cash to get it painted, or sell the 2010 SS and put all the cash into the 69...That has crossed my mind quite a bit lately. The equity I have in the SS could get the car painted and PROBABLY come close to finishing off the suspension.

Long way to go on the car but at least rust wont be the issue.

 

[mysicman]

Are you planning on a stock rstoration, restomod, or pro-touring?

My buddy has a very clean 68' finished in light metallic blue (I forget the GM name). I'm a Ford guy but man it is a pretty car...I can't argue the 69's either. Your's is going to be sweet no matter which route you go. I can tell you are not cutting corners :beer: Kinda wish I had held onto my 67' 390 fastback.....

Mike

 

[Blue Blitz]

Well you can see in some of the pics the mini-tub and notched frame LOL. Should be able to fit a 345 tire in the back of it. Rear suspension is a DSE 4-link setup on a 9" rearend. Front will be an aftermarket front subframe. Hoping to run big brakes and a new engine/transmission.

Calling it a "resto-mod" as the pro-touring cars tend to be slightly more "modern" than mine will be. I want the modern handling/etc but the classic look. Body plans right now are solid hugger orange. May put some stripes on it...

 

[Blue Blitz]

Time for another update:

Roy gave me an email letting me know the car will be ready to pick up this week. I went by to take some more photos of the progress to update this thread and give you guys something to see Plus I have proof that it's been on a rotisserie now so that should increase the value (LOL - Frame off "resto").

New dash is in. Caught them welding in my rear brackets!

They also got the transmission tunnel patch put in.

They also did a little work and got the door gapped pretty darn well. Hard to tell in the picture but it's almost identical top to bottom. When it started the bottom was VERY close to the quarterpanel. Didn't get a picture of the driverside but it started out better and outcome is just as nice.

They had to do a lot of work on the new trunk to get it to fit the rear fill panel well. It was good side to side on the quarterpanel gap but needed work on the top edge as it had a significant gap on one side and touching on the other. They managed to get it all looking pretty good

You can see here, the minitubs are in (as already mentioned) and they have the quadralink brackets installed as well as the shock crossmember.

Another shot of the shock crossmember and the trunk patch panel.

Driver door patch has been made and completed.

Passenger door patch panel has been completed as well.

The two small floor patch panels that were needed have been installed and completed.

Lastly a few misc shots of the car on the rotisserie

These old crusty parts await their limited time back in the car. These will be replaced before the car is driven. The DSE 9" awaits in the garage and I will be buying a new front subframe (yet to be decided). These will stick around until the car is through paint.

William

 

[MTBSully]

keep up the progress man. looks good