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Here is the start of the rebuild on my 73 camaro. I have some pictures from when I started the journey long ago and will up load them sometime. Somehow the old pictures stop showing so I took them down to make the thread easier to read.
Last edited by WTR's camaro; Jan 8, 2020 at 12:01 AM.
The plans for this one is to finish the ls1/4l60e swap and get it driving. After I get it reliable I'm going to start the body work. It has a dent in the passager side quarter that is in desperate need of attention.
I have a rs nose swap in mind but.im not sure if I really want to go that route. I'm kinda a purist when it comes to body mods, so I don't know if I want to put a rs nose on a non rs car.
I had a guy do a photo shop on it for me a while ago to see if I like the colors I had picked out.
The colors I'm going to go with are the charcoal grey and satin black bumpers, grill, and wheels.
Here is what it will kinda look like once it is done.
Well it has been a long time. Plans change and sometimes money kills what you think you need to have done. Well this time i had more money to spend and do it the right why, rather then try and use a motor that need to be rebuild and a auto trans that is didn't want to use just to get the car running. Well i finally got the car to where i live now after it sat in North Carolina at my parents house for a few years. Dirty and dusty as we started our trip to Missouri.
It was to go and be stored in a barn for many years so i could double if not triple the value of the car thanks to the all valuable barn dust.( just stored during the time in which i was getting ducks in a row to move it into the building to be worked one) Its Stay in the barn was short lived. It was soon moved to the building and the work began. A little bath to wash the value back off. Getting set up to remove the engine that i once put in when i was young and dumb and though i could do the swap cheap. Hood removed, getting ti ready to pull the motor and trans sitting in the engine bay Motor back out and ready to be dissembled. Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking trying to get this motor running before i had it rebuilt. harness pulled and labeled. im currently working it into a stand alone harness and repining it for a t56 trans. Motor is tore down for visual inspection. Still had cross hatching in bore. besides just looking dirty and nasty this motor is in great shape. it came form a 98 camaro with around 142k. Had to pull this old gigantic refrigerator box out. not only will this car one day have vintage air. move this box out of the way will also make this swap so much easier. While removing the fender and other parts i was checking for rust and other damage, this was the worst i found. This is a great car for me to get my hands on. yes it has its bad spots but overall it is a very solid car. A/C removed, turns out this car once had a friend living in the firewall at some point. removed oil pan, windage tray. oil pump for inspection. once again besides being very dirty everything looks great. (side note) all the motor work has been done by this point. I just dont have a picture of the finished product. it had .005 on the bore, they said the walls looked great, just did it to make sure the bore was straight. had a line hone, polished crank, reconditioned rods, and a new set of pistons and rings, ARP bolts in everything. Rolled the car out and de-greased the frame and pressure washed it. while the pressure washer was out i had to give old Scarlet a much needed bath. Pulling apart the front suspension.Putting all new rubber in the front, new shocks, control arm bushings, balljoins, sway bar endlinks, solid subframe body mounts. Getting ready to get the torch! After all the bushings have been removed and wire wheel taken to clean them off. Getting KBS rust blasted to help get them cleaned for coating Front suspension completely off for inspection. I did find a bad upper control arm that was rusted out the near the ball joint. Kind of makes me glad i decided to take it this far because that could had cost me my life. Death colorized(2019) Sub frame dropped and cleaned with wire wheel in preparation for KBS clean and Rust Blast. Hung the Frame up So i could Spray it down. All grease and dirty and rust dust removed. Almost ready for coating! Firewall is also getting prepped and cleaned for coating!
Frame came put great! It is such a dramatic change from the old rusty frame that i removed. This is so exciting because this is the first step towards putting the car back together. Control arm come next!
It has been awhile since I was able to do much to the car. Hunting season put everything on hold until a deer was in the freezer. Then I went down with yet again another back injury. Finally felt good enough to get back to work.
Firewall preped for coating. This coating doesnt require a full sanding to level out and be nice and smooth. Painted and sealed. Next stepp is to remount my subframe and move on to reinstalling the control arms and getting this baby rolling again.
Had great weather to paint my new shocks and old springs while i was home in NC. Got the bushings and ball joints pressed while i was here. Time to put it all back together when i get back from visiting my family over Christmas.
Sumframe mounted with new solid body mounts. Should help stiffen the car up. It was a great upgrade as the original rubber was shredded. While trying to put the springs back in the car hot a little snag trying to get the spring to compress and seat properly. So what should a man do. Well you get your backhoe and very carefully place weight on the side your working on. Worked like a charm! Shocks and motor mounts still to put on. Yeah yeah i know its a bitch with the spings in but i have to get the car rolling again.
The car is finally back on the ground again. After being in the air for a few months this is a welcome sight. Working on my trunnion upgrade. This is the first motor work at all. Now begins the fun part. Got the motor mounted on the engine stand. Just waiting on a few items to come in, then i can go ahead and mount oil pump and button the bottom end back up. Heads, cam, push rods should be in soon. By the end of the week i could have a whole motor
In the long run this is the same motor I have in my 2002. Just with a bit more spent on the heads to have them ported and polished. I think It will be a fun car to cruise around with.
Motor spec
BTR ls1 stage VI NA cam
BTR spring kit
BTR pushrods
243 heads port and polished
ls6 intake
85mm MAF
Morel 5313 lifters
Actual intake piping to be decided
Bottom end is mainly stock besides new pickup tube and oil pump.
ARP bolts all the way around including rod bolts
Well it has been a while but alot of progress has been made Got the motor altogether shortly before i started to mock up motor mounts and tans trans crossmember First mock up for fitment and adjustment Tunnel cut new t56 sticking through the floor Motor and trans in the car.
I know it has been awhile. Alot has been done and with a new harness and fuel she can run. Got my motor complete and installed in the car. Now that I have a baby on the way the pressure is on to get this thing running before she gets here. Fuel tank is in with the fuel line currently being ran. All AN fittings for a nice clean look. Freshened up T56 has been installed in the car aswell. I really can wait to row through those gears. Tick clutch master is also in. New brakes all the way around the car. Had to just rebuild the drum brakes for now. With my budget I couldn't afford to replace them yet. My dream is so close to being realized.
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1973 camaro ls1/t56 build 
