The Camaro Club (UK)

I think the cowl panel design is ok if you add some drains at the front and fit a finer mesh to the vent panel at the top to stop leaves etc getting in there. If it doesnt get blocked with crap it shouldnt rust out.

I had some presents arrive today... a set of Monroe Sensa-Trac shocks, some subframe connectors (anyone know what make they are looking at them?) and a pair of new calipers.







Got next week off work, so hopefully I'll get plenty done if the weather permits.

I am struggling to decide what colour to paint the car when its finished as well. I am determined to do the paint myself, which will be the first full car body I have done, done plenty of smaller bits before though.

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My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.

I admire your tenacity on this car...after seeing the severity of the damage, I would have probably scrapped the entire body . By the time you are finished, there won't be much "original" rust, will there? I can't tell the manufacturer of those subframe connectors, but it looks like you may have to channel the floorpan to fit them.

I think the SFC's are Competition Engineering ones. They should fit without chopping the floor pan. If they wont I'll chop them up and make my own.

Nearly every panel on the car will have either been repaired or replaced by the time I have finished. I couldn't afford to scrap the shell, this stuff costs me virtually nothing to do other than time and patience...

The start of the week to come... want to finish the cowl repairs completely if the weather allows... Only got a couple of hours in this afternoon after work before it got too dark.

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My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.

Loads more good work...

My screen pillers/surround looked the same, didn't realise how bad it was until the glass came out, all done now though. The cowl work looks quite extensive, and I think isn't the best design for drainage, especially if the car isn't parked totally flat, as is the boot surround, as this fill with water too.. (another known rust spot)

The connectors do look like Competition Engineering ones:
http://www.jegs.com/i/Competition+Engin ... 4/10002/-1

They're bolt or weld in (much more preferrable) and should fit without cutting, but they do hang down a little under the car.

The best and strongest, without effecting ground clearance, is full custom through the rear floor design, but it's way more work, and intrusive into the rear floor a little..like this:

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“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

Thanks Stu

I looked at the full weld in sub frame connectors, could have made some myself to be honest. But they seemed a bit OTT for what I am planning. Hopefully the CE ones will be OK. Doubt they will hang much lower than the exhaust

Finished off the repair to the forward section of the cowl today, then removed what was left of the old dash panel. Thankfully the drivers side pillar is in pretty good shape. Needs some minor work, but its solid enough. It also gives me something to use as a reference for the passenger side on when I get around to repairing that.

Had to make a new piece up for the area near the vent as well, nothing too complicated though









Tomorrow we have rain forecast, will see what happens. If it is raining then theres no welding, but I'll strip out the rear axle and gearbox in between showers if necessary

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My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.

Well the rain didn't come... so I repaired the bottom of the passenger side pillar as well as finishing off the kick panel. I think I am now at the point where the majority of the rust repairs at the front end of the car are complete The next thing to do is prep the cowl for paint and seam sealer before fitting the new vent/dash panel. I have a couple more really minor patches to weld in, but I made them today so just need to glue them in tomorrow.

It started off quite a mess, nothing really left at all. I cut out all of the rust, which meant removing some of the outer pillar where the screen sits so I could get at the inner structure. I didnt get a pic of it all cut away...too busy working out how the hell to fix it I painted inside with epoxy while I could get to it all easily as well



Lots of hammering, cutting and welding later. Along with lots of trial fitting of the new cowl panel to make sure I had the shape somewhere right...





Then just finished off the kick panel inside



I am off work all week, but the forecast is looking mixed until next weekend.

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My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.

First I would like to say that its farking freezing outside today....

Finished off the last few patches, then took a twist knot whire wheel to the inside of the cowl. Any paint that survived that was scuffed with 60 grit then it got a liberal coating of epoxy. That stuff is like painting with treacle especially when its cold Next job is seam sealer and a sprayed coat to get in those places where the brush wouldnt reach. Though to be honest seam sealer might not be necessary given the thixotropic nature of that Jotun







I also spent some time laying upside down brandishing the most vicious tool known to man, and lived to tell the tale. All so I could paint the underside of the cowl and the firewall. Again this will be getting a spray on coat as well as soon as I can...



Things always look better after a coat of paint

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My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.

Do you have "Queen - Don't stop me now" playing on loop or something

Good job Nice to see how much progress you're making, and you're not even in a garage! I was gonna ask how you keep yourself from freezing in this weather but clearly it's from the pace you're working at lol

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p.s that cowel area is generally a bad design... from what i could tell the water runs down the cowel, down the hinge pillar and into the rockers? When i cut the rockers out i dug a tonne of leaves out from it. I was thinking there must be a better irrigation system or modification to be done once opened up like this?

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How to post pics: When writing a message, scroll down and use the "attach file" option. Where possible, a photo sharing service can be used such as Flickr, Imgur etc. The image location (usually ending in .jpg) can be copy and pasted between the ][ brackets that appear when you click the 'Img' button (you can find this button at the top of the message box).

How to post youtube vids: Click on the 'youtubeHD' button at the top of the message box and in the middle of the ][ brackets that just appeared, copy and paste everything from the youtube web address that appears after the = sign i.e if this is the url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cNqaPSHv0 just copy "K2cNqaPSHv0").

Lol, thanks

I wish my garage wasn't full of other stuff so I could fit the car in there....

It was bloody cold out there today. Any more layers and I wouldnt actually be able to do any work

My mod to the cowl drain is to leave some holes in the bottom of the rocker and cowl shoulder. It'll drain straight out of the bottom then. As long as the holes are covered by the front fender so the front wheels don't throw mud and crap into the rockers If I remember I'll put some pics up when its done. The fact its all wet is why I am going to such extremes with the paint... Marine grade epoxy mastic is a bit overkill

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My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.