Camaro my Brother gave me

[cybrfire]

With all the holiday weekends as of late, started spending some time on the Camaro again.

Very little clean up left on the inside to be done. Got the rear fenders trimmed and the wheels sort of chocked up in place so I could get a measurement on the rear axle WMS-WMS. 36" is all the wider it'll be.

Just about ready to throw some rocker reinforcing plates in and then it'll be time for tubing. Looking forward to the Chromo chassis.

Laid my hands on a Ford 9" housing for free. It wasn't in the greatest of shape so I decided to go ahead and retube it completely rather than just cutting down the existing tubes.

Also got the caddy motor out of storage and set up a run stand made from an old dinosaur welder cart. Needs a little work yet but it'll allow me to start in on some 180* headers. At least as much as can be done outside the chassis. Got a few other small changes to be made to the motor and we'll handle those sooner or later.

Here's a few pics,

 

[cybrfire]

That wheel/tire placement would be at full bump where clearances would be the worst.

 

[rdn2blazer]

First time seeing this thread. Bad ass build. Looking forward to future updates. Can't wait to build another hot rod. I want another 68' SS Chevelle or SS El Camino. I'll take a 69' but would run the 68' grill and tail lights. This going to be naturally aspirated or??? NOS?, Turbos? A blower?

 

[sreidmx]

I'm so glad I clicked to the last page of this thread! Totally bad ass build!

 

[cybrfire]

Finished the tube removal and did the math for the new axle tubes. Did the math 3 times. Ya know, only get one shot at it and axle shafts are kinda spendy.

and working a little here and there from the other end, started on the new headers for the 513 caddy. Starting with a 3/8" thick flange and a 2 1/8" primary which is a tick bigger than necessary. It allowed enough size to be able to use an actual serrated flange 3/8" bolt and I can get a 9/16" box end on the header bolt. Should make things pretty nice for maintenance.

Little bit of smoothing required on the inside yet. A 3/8" drum sander on the dremel should clean it up nicely.

I'll get this done 7 more times and then bolt them to the engine block to start running some tubes. Next lengths of tube will be 2 1/4". That will slide nicely over the top of these. Cluster of tubing that crosses from one side of the engine to the other should be interesting to package.

 

[76zimmer]

I'll get this done 7 more times and then bolt them to the engine block to start running some tubes. Next lengths of tube will be 2 1/4". That will slide nicely over the top of these. Cluster of tubing that crosses from one side of the engine to the other should be interesting to package.

that will be an interesting piece of artwork!

 

[Deuling]

That axle is gonna be sweet! Are you using some sort of alignment bar to keep them on the same axis while burning the tubes in?

 

[folkenheath]

Build is looking cool Kert, making your own headers, nice. If you use the small head bolts you could probably get a socket and extension on them thats easier than a box wrench.

Why would you bother with 180 degree headers in a drag car? I think you will get a lot of extra work with no reward in ET. Or maybe you just really dig the sound?

You might be the only guy I know that not only makes his own headers, but makes his own 3/8" flanges too.

 

[cybrfire]

That axle is gonna be sweet! Are you using some sort of alignment bar to keep them on the same axis while burning the tubes in?

I have an alignment jig. Basically a plate that bolts where the third member goes and has a couple bosses that a piece of shaft would go through. Then out on the ends, pucks that fit very tightly to the bearing surfaces with the same bore as the bosses have in the center. Shaft goes all the way through to keep things lined up. That's half the battle. The other half is keeping things from warping or more to the point, making things only warp as much as you want them to. No matter what you do, when you truss the back side it will warp. Trick is to put some preload in the opposite direction during the welding.

Build is looking cool Kert, making your own headers, nice. If you use the small head bolts you could probably get a socket and extension on them thats easier than a box wrench.

Why would you bother with 180 degree headers in a drag car? I think you will get a lot of extra work with no reward in ET. Or maybe you just really dig the sound?

You might be the only guy I know that not only makes his own headers, but makes his own 3/8" flanges too.

180 degree headers, more exhaust out means more air in. 180 degree headers when done correctly will help pull exhaust out of the cylinders.

Looking forward to doing more on the headers but not sure how far I can realistically go outside of the car.

Engine is up and running on the engine stand. Zimmer came out for his annual visit this past weekend and we had a great time putting the last of the details together to get it started. Sounds absolutely rabbid with the open header pipes. Extended them out to form some what of a zoomie. Very loud. Very fast throttle response. Love it.

 

[rdn2blazer]

Post audio if ya will

 

[76zimmer]

It is a pretty stout piece!
Video just don't capture it....

 

[cybrfire]

Well, I've gotten the first tube in place. Now its time to lay the main frame rails however, I've been dragging my feet on removing the firewall.

Lots of layers going every which way and wasn't sure how far I was going to go. As usual the depth of the cut was ultimately determined by the sheet metal itself and how all the layers terminated.

At any rate, here's a couple shots of how things went together....or came apart.

A rough exploratory cut,

And where I quit.

Now the long laborious task of welding all the ends back together. Lots of folks don't bother to do that but those loose edges bother me.

 

[cybrfire]

I did find a fair amount of rust at the bottom where the firewall would meet the floor so some sheet metal work will be required before I can continue with the chassis.

The forward cross member and firewall will attach to the body where this rust is and no need to set frame rails in the way before the repair work has been accomplished.

repair the rust
main frame rails
front cross member sections. Left, right and center.
rocker bars
floor diagonals
seat bracing

Then I start going up.

 

[max 02]

Not much left there!

 

[76zimmer]

Not sure if these pics of Tom's car will help much, but here is what I got when I went to see him last....
Notice the double center frame section....what most 7.0 cars are running now.

 

[82355]

Why not plate it? Are they particular in Iowa? They are pretty lenient on this side of the Missouri River.

Martin

 

[cybrfire]

Not sure if these pics of Tom's car will help much, but here is what I got when I went to see him last....
Notice the double center frame section....what most 7.0 cars are running now.

That's a bad ass car.

I pretty much figured that's what you were talking about. Closer and closer to a funny car cage.

Why not plate it? Are they particular in Iowa? They are pretty lenient on this side of the Missouri River.

Martin

Plate what? the rusted areas? I plan to cut away the rust and sheetmetal over it if that's what you are refering to.

 

[82355]

License plates.

Martin

 

[cybrfire]

License plates.

Martin

Won't be anywhere close to street legal. Loud as hell, wouldn't make it 5 minutes before the police showed up. Aside from that, streets ruts, potholes, and ill tempered for low speed motion.

 

[AgDieseler]

Yep, I'm in.

David