maxharvard

In a sense of vanity that a car is never truly done, I have decided to blow apart my 1968 Camaro and completely upgrade just about everything on the car. Here's the plans for the car that I will keep everyone updated on.

Chassis

- Speedtech front clip - powder coated
- Speedtech upper and lower control arms
- Rack and Pinion
- AFX spindles
- Solid body bushings
- Mini-tub

Rear

- Speedtech torque arm
- Coil overs

Transmission and gears

- T56 (possibly a TREMEC magnum, we'll see how it goes)
- Not sure on clutch yet
- ATS clutch master cylinder/bracket
- 9" narrowed rear-end, most likely with 3.89 gears

Engine

- LSx (LS something, haven't worked out yet)
- Shooting for 550-600hp
- Speedtech LS swap stainless headers
- Holley LS Swap headers for hp and tq comparisons
- Autokraft oil pan
- Holley LS Swap pan
- Speedtech and Holley LS swap engine mounts

Fuel

- Rick's tank's - Stainless tank for mini-tubbed cars
- Rick's Tank's fuel pump mod with in-tank fuel pump
- Holley fuel pump, filter and regulator

Brakes

- Baer Pro-Plus - 6 piston calipers and 14" rotors.
- Wheels unknown at this time. Definitely trying for 18" (not keeping the TTII's)

I'm sure there's things I'm missing, I'll do my best to keep this as up to date as possible.




Figured out part of the interior today:

Interior

- Corbeau Legacy Seats (already have those)
- Stack 8130 gauges
- 4 pt gauge w/ 4 or 5 pt belts

gcallahan

iTrader: (4)

Your car is going to be nice. I am building my 69 right now. DSE Quadralink rear with their mini tubs and sub frame connectors. Speedtech upper and lower arms and their Chicane kit for the coilovers. LQ9 with L92 heads, LS3 intake and a T. 12 bolt rear with 411's and a Detroit.

Do you have any picts of your seats? I am looking for interior options.

maxharvard

I'll get a pic here soon of the seats for you. Sounds like a fun project for sure!


My parts have started arriving!!

Got this is the mail this morning, Autokraft's LS swap oil pan.

Just from the sheer bulk of this thing I can tell it's a quality piece.



More stuff in the mail!

Can you guess what's coming next???



Should look a lot better with a set of 18" Forgeline GX3's!!


These are on their way now.

dHud

iTrader: (4)

Sorry to hijack op's thread. but what cam are you running? Had it on the dyno? Did you have to fly-cut the pistons? I have the same setup going in to my 69.

Socket

iTrader: (6)

please tell me you aren't gonna change the color. I love what it is now. Good luck with your build.

maxharvard

Nope, the body is in great shape. Why spend the money when it's already done?







Welp, now that the motor is sold I suppose it's time to actually get down to business and make this thing happen.

The Quicktime LS bellhousing came along with the LT to LS T56 swap kit also came. I'll get pics in a bit.

Trying to maximize the room in my garage and still keep the Mrs. happy so she can park in the garage



Yours truly, removing the hood. It had been raining pretty badly that day.



Let's call this the "Before" picture



Trying to remove the entire front sheetmetal in one giant swoop.



As you can tell by this photo, I was quite pissed. I doubt this bolt has ever been removed since it left the factory. My brand new 750ft-lb impact gun sheared this bolt clean off right in my hands.

Angry doesn't not quite accurately describe how I felt.

The bolt itself was loose, it spun every time I tried to loosen it, making things very difficult. Also, you can tell by the body mount that this hasn't been touched in a long time.



So, i'm keeping with "man" tradition, I used it as a great excuse to buy a new tool

Just for the record, that red "Diablo" blade is totally killer! Made short work of the bolt and was still very sharp, it's thick too which meant it didn't bend and contort all stupid kinds of directions when I cut off the bolt.




Annnnndd... Done. The body is loose now. Who wants to come over and help me move it??

I have to give credit to the wife, she came out and held the crescent wrench while I gave it hell. Both of our hands hurt like hell after that.



That's all for now!

68maroSam

iTrader: (1)

I love the color too. Sounds like a great project in the making. You are starting with a very nice car.

Tampa_97_SS

iTrader: (6)

Dude those GX3's on the car are going to look sick!! Congrats on the new tool..lol..i did the same thing after Christmas when all the tools whent on sale. "Oh, I need this, and that, that, and this." An hour later..."damn I forgot that, so I guess I HAVE to go back to the store." lol

maxharvard

Thanks guys, should be rocking soon... everything is almost 2-3 weeks away from arriving

I'm working on the engine as we speak, talking to a few different companies right now.

Couple guys came over last night and took the front clip off with me, that was a massive amount of help!

It takes at least 3 guys, 4 is best as we found out, but 3 is an absolute must.



Don't worry, i put some cardboard under the body so it won't scratch



Well, more stuff removed.

Still waiting on the rims to get here so I can measure for a rear-end. Got a really slick 9" coming from Bear's Performance as soon as I know the dimensions.




Motor is out! Ignore the giant pools of kitty litter... I was impatient and didn't drain the T56. *ugh, never doing that again*



Only 700 miles on these bad boys... looks like I should have given her more hell!!

These LT specific parts are for sale, btw.



Motor on it's way to a new home.


More fun parts just arrived!

The manual on this thing alone is damn near 100 pages! LOL



The brake booster and MC came today.

9" booster to fit the LS series motor and a 1" MC to make sure there's enough line pressure for the 6P calipers!



Oops!!!

Sorry, correction, this is a 8" dual booster. Kim from Matt's Classic Bowties set me straight! LOL

Just a quick update.

Did my first siphon today, 7ft of hose and an air compressor = no bad taste! Robert from MNGMP.com showed me how to do it right.

Quickly realized that I had more gas than my stupid misreading gauge told me. I almost ran out of places to stuff 93 octane! Apparently my law mower loves it! HAH!

The build just took a massive leap forward.

I took my LT T56 and converted it into an LS T56 with the help of Myron at TPIS and Rockland Gear.

The procedure wasn't all that hard honestly, it went better than I thought it would have.


Gotta clean it to look purdy!


Main shaft and front cover.


All done!


Another day, another shipment from the UPS, USPS or FedEx man!

335/30r18's KDW's
These were kinda annoying to find, luckily I found that a guy was selling them and was willing to ship. So it worked out very well.



Ram Clutch and Aluminum Flywheel showed up as well.


Quick fun update:

The wife got me this for Father's Day

http://www.plxkiwi.com/kiwibluetooth/

Allows me to run my Android phone and run diagnostics with a bunch of other parameters. A friggin' scan tool on my phone! What a world! LOL

She told me, "now I that I figured the Camaro will have a fancy new engine, you'll need this"

HAH!! Awesome!

SS69LS1

iTrader: (108)

Nice collection of parts you have going on that 68. Looking forward to see it come together.

maxharvard

That collection is only going to grow!!

Ok, first things first.

That bluetooth device that my wife bought me is FRIGGIN DANGEROUS!!

I couldn't keep my eyes off all the little doo-hickies and gauges and all the parameters while I was driving! LOL

Secondly, gas tank came out last night. I was amazed at how much gas was still left in the tank even after siphoning it all out! Maybe 4-5 gallons left. I filled up the wifes car and almost filled my catch can again... sheesh.




I remember that my wife bought me the tank and sending unit for Xmas one year... she got peeved when I told her it was for sale LOL!

HOSS Boss

Wife buying car parts as gifts = man's best wife EVER

maxharvard

She's pretty cool like that... Kinda odd to get a gas tank as a bday present, but I was stoked LOL




UPDATE:
Rims are here!! WHOO HOO!!

Man, these things are gorgeous!

2 of them seem to be lighter than one of my TTII's i used to have... what a difference! YEESSH!!!

Anywhoozle, they are at the tire shop getting new rubber.

Here's a crappy cell phone pic of them next to the fender just for color comparison, I think these are going to be totally killer!

kelli-leigh-o

Wow, gorgeous Camaro!
I can't wait to watch more progress on it.

And I wouldn't have picked those rims out originally, but seeing them next to the car- looks good.

jmq24

i really want to see what those wheels look like in better light, bet it looks pretty sick

maxharvard

Here's a better pic of the rims with tires.

We gots some new shoes!

Tires got installed last night as well as a boat load of UPS stuff showed up.

Rewiring the car and 3 sets of motor mounts showed up. Not sure which I'll use yet, but want to make sure I have the correct set so I don't end up empty handed at a time when I'm motivated to work!







Brakes came yesterday.

Holy crap, these things are massive. It's starting to get exciting now!!

14" rotors with 6 piston calipers all around.

Obligatory pop-can for reference.

jmq24

how much did those brakes run you?

maxharvard

It was front and rear brakes.

After it was all said and done, just a little over $4k I think was the price.

Sorry, just saw the invoice again and it's closer to just under $5k for these brakes front and rear.

Well the AT-AT Walker from Empire Strikes Back just arrived.

Hopefully this will help when the LS3 I have lined up with spool up to 7,500rpm

Bunch of other stuff arrived too, hooker headers, fuel pumps and a ton of -8 AN Fittings for the fuel lines.



Update from Roger at SpeedTech.

Yet another teaser!!

6898camaross

All I got to say is DAMN!

maxharvard

Small update.

Aluminum 2" cowl showed up from AMD yesterday. Looks very nice and is very light! So far I'm impressed.

Also, made the decision to run with one of these bad boys! Finally! That decision was really getting on my nerves.

Talked with Horace and David from Mast and both were very helpful. They were able to work with me and my intake. They agreed to let me ship them my Holley intake and they would dyno it for me and crate the whole thing back up! What a deal! Horace seems to think that the LS3 intake will make more power than the Holley one, I'm not so sure but thankfully Horace agreed to test it for me, which is super cool.

Shooting for 600+ hp. If I (Mast) gets close with 590 or so... I'll be a happy camper!!



http://www.mastmotorsports.com/2010/...op%20In&id=110

Here's the subframe all packed up. It's getting REAL now!!