Topics

1

Mild Modifications / Antenna options

« on: April 03, 2007, 10:25:49 PM »

has anyone out there swapped the original antenna on a camaro for a hidden antenna and welding /patching the old hole on the fender?

I'm thinking about doing this and was wondering who supplies the antenna that will be hidden from view?

thanks

nick p.

2

Restoration / sanding initial epoxy primer Question??

« on: March 04, 2007, 05:04:17 PM »

This might be a really stupid question but I have my camaro stripped to bare metal. Im in the procrss of "fixing" what needs to be fixed body wise.  My question is in reference the first primer that will go on the bare metal and inevetably the body work.

Im pretty sure Im going to go with an epoxy primer over bare metal and I was wondering if this initial primer can be block sanded ? This way I can continue to "fix" the low and high spots or should I immediatly use a high filler primer and then start block sanding?

My inital thoughts was to shoot the epoxy primer over bare metal and sand..then fix as necessay . Then shoot a high filler primer and sand again, fix spots and again as necessary.

then, finally shoot a primer/sealer and wet sand?? 

I guess my exact questions are: 1. Can I sand the first stage epoxy primer or should I wait to sand the high filler primers?

2. If at the sealer stage I find spots that need additional putty filler, can this beover the sealer primer just prior to taking it to the paint shop for the base coat?

I have read a ton of different articles but It gets confusing with so many different views?

thanks for the help..

nick p.

3

Restoration / restoring the glove box lid and right side lower dash.

« on: January 30, 2007, 09:26:10 PM »

All,

My camaro has really bad fake woodgrain cover over the lower passenger side dash that holds the glovebox door ..ect.ect. I want to do something about this but I have not seen any replacement parts for the glove box door or anyhting?

Any clue as to how I can restore this to standard interior black? I guess I need to strip the old fake woodgrain cover off of it and sand down but since I cant find replacemnt parts for this piece, Im affraid if I royally screw it up, Im stuck with crap ??

any hints. I did restore the instrument panel and it looks great, but along side of the fake woodgrain does not do the work any justice!

thanks,

 NickP.

4

Restoration / Air conditioner restoration

« on: January 30, 2007, 09:18:23 PM »

All,

My '69 camaro has original air but is in need of a rebuild. I was hoping on getting this thing (air) running by this summer (Texas). I was debating on a total new kit or piece by piece replacment?

I see several reproduction kits and several aftermarket upgrades out there which only confuse matters.

I wanted to keep the cost around $1000.

From what I can tell, the condenser is in good shape, the compressor is long gone, the evaporator core and poa valve is shot but the case is in very good condition. I have a small block and the heater works great if that means anything?

I was really hoping to get each part by part and rebuild it but I dowt want to spend the money only to realize the air quailty sucks or Im missing more key components that would jack up the overall cost of the project?

any help and or links to some good info will be much apprecialted. Texas summers come real fast !

nick P.

5

Restoration / Filling small holes with lead or new combo metal rods

« on: January 21, 2007, 02:18:48 AM »

All,

I need to fill in several small holes around my drip channels , corners of the trunk drip channel ect. ect.

I really dont think I need any welding done to replace the sheet metel. I was going to attemp to do some simple metal work using the new metal rods available that are "supposed" to be easier to use than lead. Available by Eastwood.

has anyone ever done this type of metal work to fill in holes and any advise would be greatly appreciated.



Nick p.

6

Restoration / Looking for Dallas/ DFW area shop for restoration help??

« on: December 28, 2006, 10:45:13 PM »

All,

I have a 69 camaro I bought last year and now I'm at the point of needing it stripped, possible body work (who knows what lurks under that paint) and painted.

I was planning on stripping the paint and taking as much off the car myself as possible and then handing it over to a good body man for any work needed and eventually painting at the same place or by the same person??

I can’t go crazy with spending but I have a good ideas of what I can and cant do and the level of paint I can afford.

Any help for the DFW area in references or anyone out there wanting to take on the job I 'm ready to start this project.

Thanks

Nick P.  Lewisville , Texas.

7

Mild Modifications / brake line leak..pulling my hair out!!

« on: September 21, 2006, 03:06:36 AM »

okay..I did a disc brake conversion (front only) to include replacing all brake lines on my 69 camaro. I finally get through this after several weekends and the darn line that goes from the front to the back (two piece) and goes into that valve type thing mid way,will not seat and leaks every time I attempt to bleed the brakes. Ive tried everything to get the bolt and flare to seat and seal into this darn thing but its still leaks no matter what I do.

I cant even find the part on line (which I dont know the name of ).I cant find it in any part book or the complete disc set I have for origional camaro parts either?

does anyone out there have any idea on how I can get this new front brake line to seal into this junction piece that links the front to the back line?? so I can bleed these brakes and get on the road again..I'm going through withdrawl  its been so long since I've been in my car..

help.

nickp

8

Mild Modifications / Brake booster removal for 69 camaro

« on: August 26, 2006, 08:18:54 PM »

This is going to sound really stupid but I'm going to upgrade my drum to disc in the front only. the brakes will be delivered in 10 days so I figured I would pull out old articles and get he ball rolling. I disconnected the master cylinder and booster but the booster wont come all the way out.

do I need to get under the dash and disconnect any part of thre brake pedal to the booster. I cant find any article that addresses this..everything is simply telling me to unbold the booser and take it off of the firewall. it s not that easy ?

anyhow, I didnt want to yank or force the booser off.

I'm having a close friend do the actual conversion and show me how when the parts come in next week,

any help to get me started would be great. maybe point me to a good tech article. i have read them all..i think??

nick p.

9

Mild Modifications / rubber or polygraphite bushings???

« on: August 21, 2006, 06:17:56 PM »

Im about to replace the bushings on my 69 camaro's front end.

I know the graphite is an upgrade and has drawbacks in terms of squeek, but will the stiffness help with the overall handling once I replace the other suspension components in the future??

also, does the squeeking eventully go away as the bushings "break in" over time?

any help will be great.

np

10

Mild Modifications / front brake conversion to disc

« on: August 02, 2006, 12:17:04 AM »

I'am to upgrade my drum to disc and was wondering what the real benefits of gettting a 2" drop spindle would do for me?

Everyone I talked to about it says not to and go with standard new spindals.


thanks

Nick P
any help on this ?

11

Maintenance / acceleration backfire

« on: July 11, 2006, 09:53:51 PM »

I have minor problem with my 69 Camaro.

When I accelerate fast, I get a slight miss or backfire. It started to occur recently as far as I can tell. It’s very noticeable with heavy acceleration standing still even after a long warm up period.

I recently started to add Octane booster to my fuel and was wondering if this could be the reason?

If not any ideas and any thought on these octane boosters in general?

FYI...the engine not original and and the car now has a 406 ci.

Thanks for the help again!!

12

Mild Modifications / Headers too low...

« on: June 19, 2006, 09:56:35 PM »

If anyone has the same issue and can offer some advice please let me know:

Basically, my headers seem to hang really low. Specifically the driver side. I want to upgrade my brakes and possibly lower the look about 1-2" but It seems impossible due to the low hanging headers. I have bottomed out on a bumpy road a few times and that scrap sound is tough to handle if you know what I mean!!

My initial thought is to get some advice on headers that sit higher at the collector gasket point and put a good pair of disc brakes and a lower spindle?

Any help on the header problem would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Nick

13

Maintenance / Engine pinging getting louder !!

« on: May 28, 2006, 02:48:47 PM »

I can’t quite put my foot on it. I have a 69 Camaro with a 406. I'm getting a heavy tick/ping when I start to accelerate at low RPM's and its getting louder. Here is what’s happening:

1. Slight ticking at low idle but gets louder with Rpm increase at stand still. Sounds like a deisel engine.
2. Worst when engine is not fully warmed up it seems?
3. When I start to move, it becomes louder until a certain sweet spot is reached on the gas.
4. If I put the pedal to the floor or accelerate quickly and pull the RPM back and cruise, it goes away.
5. The clack appears at the low end and high end of the RPM band, but when I  cruise and hit that sweet spot the engine sounds normal.

At first I thought it was collector gasket or exhaust issue but I'm not sure anymore?
Also, after a bit more investigation myself, I'm wondering if it can be piss poor premium Gas??

I always add a bottle of octane boost but might have easily not done it the last time I filled it up??

Anyone have similar issues before? Any advice would be appreciated.

I Pray its not a huge valve job issue??

Nick P.

14

Maintenance / Speedo assembly and my dripping transmission. help

« on: April 18, 2006, 06:03:35 PM »

I posted this earlier and tied it to my restoration of my dash. I'm hoping to get a few tips on the " maintenance" forum.

 I disengaged the speedometer cable from the speedometer and now my assembly drips transmission oil from the side of the tranny where it attaches to? even after I reconnected the cable back into the speedometer?

Anyone have any tips as to what I need to do to stop the bleeding would be very helpful. I have yet to even touch the transmission so I'm a real newbie at this.

Nick p.


 

15

Restoration / Speedometer HELP !!

« on: April 17, 2006, 04:13:22 PM »

Question for anyone that has had the same problem:

I recently took off the entire dash and cleaned and refinished it and put it back into place over the weekend. Unfortunatly, I noticed that the speedometer was pointing straight down as opposed to the zero mark.

I have three questions.

1. did I break something internal in the actual speedometer or will this fix itself when I get the car moving again? 

2. Actually it has always been "off" by about 12 MPH. If I drive the car and the speedometer shows 67, then I'm actually going 55. How do I adjust this is the above question is not a major problem?

3. I noticed when I detached the cable from the speedometer, my transmission leaked. did this loosen the connection to the side of the transmission and do I need to do anyhting special to ensuree it does not lean any more?


I just reattached everything last night and hopfully reattaching the cable stopped the leak??

thanks a ton for any help. I hope I dont need to replace the speedometer !!


Nick p.