The Camaro Club (UK)

Final assembly has started! Refitted the doors, made all the easier by the fact I had scribed and dot punched some reference marks on the doors and body. One went straight on with no adjustment required, the other only minor. Passenger side latches nice and smooth, and I've ordered a new latch for the driver side. Had a little panic as I latched it closed and it jammed. Got it open again in the end though.

I do need to modify the inside of the drivers door slightly as it's an early one with the bolt on interior handle and I dont have the handle for it, I do have a late style one though. Should be an easy modification that I can sort tomorrow.



Took a couple of hours to prep the inner fenders for fitting. I managed to get hold of a pair of NOS GM ones, for less than the cost of a single repro. Nice to have genuine new panels for a change.

They were a bit grubby and scratched up, so I sanded them down and gave them a few coats of satin black 2k. Look a bit better for it too.







Not sure whether to fit them before or after paint.

Last job was spraying the lower areas of the inside of the fenders with protective wax, hopefully to stop them rotting out again any time soon!

Tomorrow I'll be fitting the rest of the panels and then making a start on blocking the car down ready for final painting!

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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.

Your paint job is way better than the dickhead who ruined mine.....

Where did you order your door latch from, I need a couple for my Camaro.
I saw some several years ago but they were $125 for one.

Ordered the new latch from Summit, along with a few other little parts I needed. They are cheap enough, about $50 I think.

Spent the morning blocking down the rear quarters, roof and doors. Then put the front fenders back on and got them lined up and put the inner fenders back in. Need to get the hood and front bumper back on tomorrow. Car's off to paint in a couple of weeks, got a lot to do in the mean time.

I did just realise I forgot to do something before I put the fenders on, hopefully I won't need to take them back off again to fix it!

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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.

Refitted the front bumper cover, wouldn't line up to start with but soon got it back into shape. Have to put the bolts in a certain order or it just will not go on.

Fitted the sub-frame braces, had to make some spacers up, but didn't take long at all. Tidied all of the wiring and hoses up under the hood. Refitted the wiring loom at the rear and wired in the fuel pump and fuel sender properly.

Fitted the hood, still needs some fine adjustment, will spend another hour on it tomorrow evening to finish it off.

Last things to do before paint are block down the fenders and hood, then refit the rear bumper and primer the cover. Paint man should be able to take it in a couple of weeks.

I need to find a local company to refit my glass as well. Need to get it weather proof as soon as possible after paint as it's living outside.

Had it running tonight as well, sounds a lot nicer with the tail pipes fitted, not as in-your-face loud, but has a nice burble to it.

Got a long list of mechanical things that need sorting and finishing off in the next couple of weeks too.

Anyone able to remind me of the routing of the rear wiring loom at the front where it comes out of the fuse box?

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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.

You are seriously flying through this!

In regards to front wiring harness, not sure if the below is any help, i can post pics tonight if you need?

The light harness comes out of the fuse box and runs over the inner wheel arch almost as if it's touching the fender. It then breaks out into the drivers side indicator, then attached on the inside of the fender, once the wheel arch has curved down and flat. Then it attached on the underside of the radiator support, breaks of into the drivers side headlight, runs under the rad support and across to the pass side headlight and then indicator.

The engine harness comes out of the fusebox, turns towards the pass side and runs along the firewall, over the gearbox bellhousing (splits off here to alternator) and across the bottom of the engine to the starter motor and across to the battery, connecting along the chasis rail to keep it in place. The alternator wire which has split off behind the engine, on mine goes from ontop the engine (across the pass side intake) along to the alternator.

Hope that helps?

Cheers,

Ray

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Excellent work getting this all done so fast. . Really looking forward to seeing the colour on !..

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

Thanks guys, having a few days off last week really helped progress, put me another week ahead of where I would otherwise have been. Still got a bit to do. Blocked down the hood and fenders tonight. Got a few little spot repairs to do with the epoxy over the next couple of days. Also got to finish prepping the rear bumper and get it fitted up ready.

Cars booked to go in next friday/saturday. Dunno how long it will take him to do, but not too long I hope.

_________________
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.

Working on finalising a few bits for paint next weekend. Just have the rear bumper cover to finish off then it's ready, while the primer was drying off I thought I would work on a few mechanical parts, and also prepped and sprayed the window moldings satin black.

When I installed the axle I discovered that one of the halfshafts was badly damaged where the bearing runs. I picked up a used shaft last year but had been putting off changing out the bearings and seals. Made myself a slide hammer this morning with a 4lb bit of steel bar I had laying around. Pulled one no problem, the other was a little bit more of a problem and resorted to modifying a puller and a bit of 3/4" square bar to get it out. Put it all back together, some new stainless bolts in the diff cover, and some Fuchs 90LS oil. Finally installed the sway bar and tightened it all up.



Tomorrow I need to paint a few sections of the rear bumper and tick off some more mechanical and electrical jobs.

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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 busy day. A few spot repairs on the primer, and a final sand down with 400 grit all over. Also got the battery mounted in the trunk, adjusted the hood a little and fitted the tatty drivers seat so it's easier to move around for paint.

Had a tidy up under the hood as well, made an earth strap for the core support. Just have the cables for the front lights to finish off at some point. Replacing a lot of it with new, so need to get some cable in for that. Subframe braces help to have somewhere to run fuel and electrics for the EFI

Last job was fit the rear bumper cover. Riveted it back on, seems to fit ok.

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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 very very together now....

Out of curiosity, did you run the cable for the battery through the rear firewall and along the inside and through the front firewall to the starter, or through the boot floor and underneath along the subframe.. I wasn't sure, but my accomplice said inside was better so went that way..

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