Camaro paint job...after almost 10 years

[Asylum]

Just my .02. the front looks a little low.

But overall a fantastic build!!


Ahem!! When does the LS-3 come into play? Just askin'.

[woody90gtz]

Do you really think I'd gay it up? Neither the front or back are at ride height right now. The front is on the bump stops - rear is too high (not full weight yet). The ride height mockup was back on one of the first couple pages. They will both be tucked and the ride height will be pretty low...but none of that negative camber bullshit.

[woody90gtz]

Yes, I'm a dumbass. Just wanted to throw that out there first...

So, I caught the car on fire! And didn't even know it. I was almost finished welding the holes in the inner fender a couple nights ago right when the wife got home from work. So I finished the last couple, took off my helmet & gloves, turned off the welder & gas, shut off the radio and went inside to have dinner.

Came out a couple hours later to a garage full of smoke. One of the last welds must have slowly started the towel on fire. It burned the whole thing. Luckily there wasnt anything flammable but the towel in the immediate area. And it looks as though the only real casualties are the control arm bushings, ball joint boot and a caliper slider boot. Could have been a lot worse.

So, a few parts, some refinish work, and a welding blanket later I'll be all set. And BTW, oven cleaner works awesome for fire damage cleanup!

[bonecrrusher]

CarBBQ FTL!

[ifixalot]

You are darn lucky the fire wasn't worse. I'm glad it didn't damage your project seriously.
I have a smoke detector in my attached garage for this kind of situation.
I use folded sheets of aluminum foil to protect stuff when welding.
The multi layer stops the spatter and the aluminum is non flammable and conducts the heat away fast.
BTW over cleaner is a no no on aluminum, it says so on the can. I think it'll etch away anodizing
and maybe pit the aluminum.

[woody90gtz]

Yup, got lucky there.

Got all the parts I needed on order from Summit. They'll be here in a couple days. I decided to get tall ball joints too, to help with the camber gain.

I've used oven cleaner before to remove anodizing...works great if you give it time. I was a lot faster with it this time. Thinking about getting most of the arm parts powdercoated.

[bonecrrusher]

Rattlecan is so much cheaper.... lol.

[heavywoody]

And doesn't last as long, isn't nearly as strong of a bond, more prone to rust, and it can be cost effective when you clean your own parts (sandblast) and shop around on who does what price wise. Some bulk places do it super cheap.

[3X00-Modified]

Stop confusing people with logic...

[woody90gtz]

We have an oven at work and I have a POS powdercoat gun from Eastwood that's good enough for small jobs.

I picked up what I needed to get back in business. Went with tall ball joints to further improve the camber curve. Got button head allen bolts that will be a little nicer for the inner fenders too. Figured out my Aerocatch mounting solution by moving the fender brace a touch and I'm calling in help to get the gaps dialed in.

[Alpinestar10]

Ever finish the build eric? Havent seen a update in a year

[3X00-Modified]

You will have to edit the title to say "Camaro paint job... after almost 20 years" by the time you start to lay color...

August 2016 is 12yrs of ownership... lol

[bonecrrusher]

Its stuck in paint jail. He did get a new fiberglass nose for the car - but beyond that I think hes still waiting to put it in primer - and base / clear.

[woody90gtz]

Yeah, been busy. I'll update this one of these days from my nasty z thread. Got all the metal work done and doing fiberglass now. Then it's paint!

[woody90gtz]

Got the pins done. Actually used the burned up pivots from the SPC arm! haha



Thought briefly about just running with the craptastic panel fitment from the Goodmark door skins...and then thought better of it. Welding the gap in the rear gave me a little warpage, and I found a different technique online. With this technique you use 1/8" solid round stock. A lot less welding. Got it looking pretty good now. Gonna mud the driver's side before I weld the pass to see if there is anything I can improve on. But I think it's gonna be decent.