The Camaro Club (UK)

Minor progress today. Finished rewiring the front lights. Tested most of it and it all seems to work ok. There was so much bodged wiring and dodgy cables I decided to chop it all off at the inner fender and replace the whole lot.

Fitted the front markers and grilles. Waiting for some new headlights before I can get those fitted. It fits reasonably well considering its an aftermarket nose. I do need to find a better lower grille at some point, and one that matches the upper. These will do for now though.

Fitted the reinforcement plates for the hood pins, needs a little adjustment to get it right but it's not far off now I've fitted new hood bumpers. Also mounted the drivers side mirror, need the right bracket for the p/s, I ordered the wrong one!

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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.

More or less got the exterior of the car put together today. Still a few little things to do here and there, but need a dry day to get it outside to do those. Also need to get hold of some dynamat or similar for the inside of the doors before I put the glass in. Hopefully get that sorted during the week.

I decided to fit a gas strut to the trunk lid. I battled for half an hour with the torsion rods before the car went to paint, and chickened out of fitting them after the lighter one did some minor damage. The strut lifts the boot lid with ease once it's unlatched.

I also fitted the new trunk seal. Not all that happy with that to be honest, trunk lid now sits about 1/8" too high and you really have to slam the trunk to get it to shut, even after adjusting the latch. Will see how it goes over time, hopefully it will squash up a bit eventually. Also have no idea if it's going to seal or not. Seal doesn't sit in the recess properly in several places which I dont think helps much.

Fitted all of the spats, I'd pre-drilled all the fixing holes before paint, so was a simple job really. Also fitted the rear spoiler and the lights that I refurbed about a 18 months ago. Managed to get the spoiler lined up even with the trunk lid sitting a bit high, so pleased with that.

Last job was door locks and handles, simple enough. Repro handles are crap quality though, wonder how long they will last!

Need to get an emblem for the fuel door at some point. Least of my worries

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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.

Looking darned good .. Really coming on now...

My boot never stayed open too, so years ago I fitted a Fiat Uno rear gas strut to one side (which has since come off... )

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

Thanks Stu, making progress. Need a dry day so I can get it outside to spray some dinitrol in the sills and doors before I can start putting the interior and door glass in.

Once the door glass is in I'll check its leak proof before I start putting the carpet in....

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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´ve just reread from page one, it´s around page five reality sets in and you are confronted with the task ahead.
http://www.classiccamaroclubuk.com/phpB ... 6&start=40

It´s worth the recap just to appreciate what you have achieved in a short time.

It's monumental work isn't it...

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

Thanks guys. Not made much progress this week as things haven't really been going to plan...

Either way, finished spraying cavity wax in the rockers and the rear quarters during the week, now thats done it's about as protected as it's going to be. Hopefully it'll hold the rust off for a while longer.

Stuck some sound deadening in the lower sections of the door and in the floor, should quieten it up a bit inside. Stripped out the shifter and various other bits inside so I could get the carpet fitted. Bit of a battle, and it's not perfect. But once the seats are in it should be ok. Still have to finish off some wiring under the dash, check the lights and wipers work before fitting the dash and the rest of the interior. Still have some niggling problems with the ECU to resolve as well. Going to fit the side windows tomorrow and then leak test before I go too much further inside.

Got a week's holiday coming up so hope to make some decent progress then.

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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.

Another short day after taking someone to pick up a car this morning...

Got the ecu etc reconnected after fitting the carpet. Fitted both door windows and adjusted as best I can for the time being. Think they still need a little adjustment to be spot on. Fitted sound deadening to the rear parcel shelf and trunk divider panel. Could do with a little more, but I've run out Reckon what's there will make a big difference though.

Next job was to do some leak testing with the hose. Gave it a good blasting down and found a couple. I have one at the rear window, which I can fix with a little extra sealer once its dried out again. We had a couple of problems when fitting the glass so that would explain it, no big deal. The one that worries me is a slight trickle from the bottom RH corner of the heater box. I seam sealed the blower housing to the firewall when I assembled it, but still have a slight leak. Not sure if its down to the sheer volume of water, or something else. Either way that one is a problem...

And both doors leak where the upper and lower seals meet. Not sure what to do about that one either as there's no adjustment there. The windows don't leak though

Had a little tweak around with the ECU as well, seems to start up better now and drives ok for the time being.

Tidied up some under dash wiring too. Found the cause of an intermittent turn signal, turned out to be a bad connection at the column plug. And the horn wasn't working, but fitting a fuse helped!

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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.

Panel fit looks really good, and well impressed by how tight it all looks.

I've never noticed any big leaks around the door/frame seal, and mine were all new when it painted around 8 years ago. I never managed to get a great fit on the rear of the windows, and that still leaks during car washing, but not in the rain... heater box is a funny one, could it be a tiny hole on the cowl ?

Loving the black window trim too (matching black door handles .. ? )

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

Thanks Stu. Panel fit isn't bad, not perfect, but good enough for me.

It's the area at the bottom, rear of the side window that leaks. There's a small gap where the water can get in. Only time will tell if it leaks in the rain or not. Hosing it down is a little more extreme than a bit of rain to be honest

I've squirted some more sealer around the rear window and squeezed some strip caulk around the heater box. Not sure if I've done enough to stop the leaks. Will test it later in the week and if not will have to do some more work.

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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.