Progress since 1994: Purchased 1967 Camaro with no engine or tranny. Body seemed OK, (upon first inspection).
Completely dissassembled, hoisted sideways in the garage, and sandblasted all surfaces, except the waxable. Ended up replacing both floor panels, and the trunk bottom panel. Learned to Mig weld in the process. Lots and lots of hours.
Back upright around 2001. Sandblasted and painted the front frame. Disassembled, cleaned and painted the front frame and suspension. I took the lower control arms to a mechanic to press out the ball joints. Special tools were required. I bought a front suspension rebuild kit from Classic Camaro. Also got new springs for a big block. the rear suspension and axle were cleaned, wire wheeled, rust treated, painted and installed.
Purchased a Camaro Assembly manual from Classic. I contantly refer to it. The installation of the frame to the chassis requires some special alignment. Per the manual, I had to get from a machine shop some steel rods about 3 inches long and about .600 in diameter that aligned holes in the frame with holes in the chassis. I got new bolts, washers and bushings from Classic.
Moved in 2002, about 15 miles away. Now I have a 40 by 60 foot Morton building with a concrete floor and lots of shelves.
2006-2007 Removed all paint from quarterpanels, back valence panel, rocker panels, door jambs and roof top. I found too many surprises on the quarterpanels, so I ordered two new ones from Classic Camaro. Over the winter, I removed and replaced the old quarterpanels. A special drill bit tool for removing spot welds came in real handly. I temporarily reinstalled the doors and deck lid to insure proper alignment. Lots of hours spent on that.
Found out while sandblasting that the Vin is stamped into the chassis in two alternate locations to deter theft. If the tag inside the door jamb gets swapped, this can be detected by inspecting the other two locations. Both are covered up when the car gets fully assembled. I think that pretty much all vehicles since the 60's have this feature.
Remembering my training from the Fred32v and Mostmint's school of body work, from 1985, I completed the body filler work where the sail panels meet the roof, primed and painted the chassis, as seen in the picture. I still need to do the deck lid, doors, and front clip.
During the spring and summer of 2007, I installed a new heater assembly box, (the half in the engine compartment), and new heater core. This mated with the old inner heater box that I spent a weekend cleaning up. The dash panel had already been cleaned and painted as part of the chassis restoration. I also installed a rebuild master cylinder and new brakelines. Also this summer, I cleaned and repainted the big block chevy that was formerly in good running condition when I last removed it from the 1978 Olds that I stuffed it into way back when. This engine is now installed in the Camaro. It is actually a 402 big block out of a 1970 Chevelle. I learned how to decode the engine tags. It was originally in front of a Turbo 400 tranny and produced 350 horse power. More on the engine fun later.
