- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
This is pretty off-topic for RME, but most of us are car/4x4 enthusiasts and I know there are more than a few of us with old-school muscle cars in our pasts. If this isn't your cup of tea, feel free to move on... I really don't care for the negative comments, so keep them to yourself. I wanted to document and share this build with those that are interested, so here we are.
For those that don't know me and my past very well, lets step back 20 yrs ago...
When I was in high school I knew nothing about cars, my Dad wasn't much of a car guy and never really worked on them. My senior year, out of curiosity, I stopped by a speed shop in Provo called Super Shops. That place was impressive, Boyd's and Cragar Wheels lined the windows, piles of BFGoodrich tires stacked up all over inside and all kinds of engine parts were hanging off the wall.... it was Heaven for a high school kid! I talked to the guys, saw that they were hiring for a tire/wheel installer and ended up with a afternoon/evening job there, I even got out of school early 3 days a week to go to work! All the work we did was high quality, aftermarket stuff... we sold muscle car and hot rod parts, sold and installed wheels & tires. Eventually I became the full-time shop manager post-high school. I learned how to mount all kinds of specialty tires, huge drag car and pro-street tires, internal beadlocks for circle track cars, massive 44" tires for 4x4's... all kinds of high-dollar, custom stuff. Shortly after graduating I found a '71 Super Sport Camaro that was for sale right behind Mountain View High school in Orem... the rear quarters were rusted out, the paint was hideous (it had been painted with a chalky blue that rubbed off if you touched it) and the interior was bad. The guy was asking $750 IIRC and after a fun solo test drive where I accidentally got the car sideways, we settled on $500. $500 for a running, driving 1971 SS Camaro... After getting it home and doing some research I learned the engine was a small block 400 from a truck. It had a TH350 and 10 Bolt rear with 3.08 gears and a posi that was actually quite tight.
By this point all my paychecks from Super Shops, save $20 for gas, went towards engine parts... with some help in the way of used parts from my co-workers and new parts, we put together a 4-bolt main 355 with Dart Sportsman heads and intake, a Holley 750 vac. secondary carb, Mallory hall effect distributor & ignition box, Hooker headers, flat-top pistons, an Erson hyd. roller cam w/ 1.6 ratio roller rockers. I had the machine work done at Strasburg Machine in Lindon and assembled the engine myself, often referring to a book on building a SBC. The engine should have been a solid 400 HP engine and it ran like it. There was a lot of bench racing during the week, then cruising on the weekends and looking for street races. I lost a few, but won many. I had friends that would make fun of how my car looked, but I'd give them sh!t back and say looks didn't matter when all they could see were my tail lights. I ended up driving that beater for about 3 years and burned thru 3 transmissions.... the last one took out my new, high-dollar ($600!!) torque convertor. I also ended up getting my license suspended for a year and SR22 insurance for 3 years due to my dumb street racing. Between the legal trouble (I hired a lawyer for one ticket, ask me about it next time we meet inperson ) and the transmissions, I ended up parting out the car. The engine got a smaller cam and the 355 went into my CJ5 and the rolling chassis of the '71 Camaro got sold off to another guy in Orem for $500. So.... that's my history. I had a LOT of good times and great memories in that car, learned a lot and made many friends. It really made me who I am today.
Back to today... I've told my wife for years that eventually I wanted to find early 70's Camaro and build it how I wanted... well, that day is finally here.
Over the weekend I made a deal to buy a massive project, a '73 Camaro that has a Z28 front clip w/ the split bumper. It's NOT a factory Z28 and I don't care that it's not. I'm not trying to build a numbers matching, historical car... this is about a project that I can take my time on, trying to build it right and eventually have a blast driving it all over... this won't be a shiny, show car. It will need new quarter panels, a new roof panel (it was a vinyl top car and the top was replaced with a used piece, but the work is hacked) and the front fenders are missing. The pics show a LOT of missing parts, but fortunately the previous owner is the one that stripped it down and kept everything... all the trim, driving and tail lights, headlights, trim rings, etc. It does have a Z28 front clip and a steel cowl induction hood too. The interior is beat, it's going too need a lot of work. It's not going to be done quickly and I'm not going to sink $30-40k into the build. I want to do as much as the work as I can myself and ENJOY the project.
The car also comes with a running 400 SBC with an aluminum intake & Holley carb, headers and a complete Flowmaster exhaust... but no transmission. The rear axle has 3.73 gears and a posi. Not bad for what it is... it's more of a project than I really wanted, but I don't mind challenging myself with this one.
My plan? I guess you'd call it a 'pro-touring car'. I want a car that could be a daily driver and road trip machine, but capable enough head to the road race track on the weekends for some amateur fun. For the time being I'll run the 400 SBC that comes with the car, probably a 700R4 (considering a built 200-4R too) transmission and just re-freshen the rear axle. Once all the body work is done I want to paint it flat black, build my own 6 point cage and subframe connectors to stiffen up the chassis, upgraded 'firm' springs and shocks that lower the car 1-1.5", add beefy anti-sway bars, big Wilwood brakes and calipers, 18" or 19" wheels from a late model Camaro or Corvette that will be powder coated black and big, wide Z-rated tires. There will also be no chrome on the car. I also want to add the front-lower spoiler and the bigger spoiler out back. Eventually I'd like to swap in a GM LQ9 6.0l truck engine with some mods capable of pushing 450-500 HP... and possibly a T56 6 speed manual transmission from a late model Camaro.... but that is several years down the road, if ever. All those parts will be a LOT of $$$.
Here's pics of how the car was found, at the previous owners house. -
And my inspiration... this is obviously a professional built car, but I LOVE it. If mine turns out half as good, I'll be very happy.
And what I'd eventually like to have the car ride like...
[video=youtube;Z9Vz-42Kc2s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Vz-42Kc2s[/video]
Great article with full specs on Mary's car... - http://www.superchevy.com/features/...n-and-handling-challenge-1973-camaro-rs-test/
For those that don't know me and my past very well, lets step back 20 yrs ago...
When I was in high school I knew nothing about cars, my Dad wasn't much of a car guy and never really worked on them. My senior year, out of curiosity, I stopped by a speed shop in Provo called Super Shops. That place was impressive, Boyd's and Cragar Wheels lined the windows, piles of BFGoodrich tires stacked up all over inside and all kinds of engine parts were hanging off the wall.... it was Heaven for a high school kid! I talked to the guys, saw that they were hiring for a tire/wheel installer and ended up with a afternoon/evening job there, I even got out of school early 3 days a week to go to work! All the work we did was high quality, aftermarket stuff... we sold muscle car and hot rod parts, sold and installed wheels & tires. Eventually I became the full-time shop manager post-high school. I learned how to mount all kinds of specialty tires, huge drag car and pro-street tires, internal beadlocks for circle track cars, massive 44" tires for 4x4's... all kinds of high-dollar, custom stuff. Shortly after graduating I found a '71 Super Sport Camaro that was for sale right behind Mountain View High school in Orem... the rear quarters were rusted out, the paint was hideous (it had been painted with a chalky blue that rubbed off if you touched it) and the interior was bad. The guy was asking $750 IIRC and after a fun solo test drive where I accidentally got the car sideways, we settled on $500. $500 for a running, driving 1971 SS Camaro... After getting it home and doing some research I learned the engine was a small block 400 from a truck. It had a TH350 and 10 Bolt rear with 3.08 gears and a posi that was actually quite tight. By this point all my paychecks from Super Shops, save $20 for gas, went towards engine parts... with some help in the way of used parts from my co-workers and new parts, we put together a 4-bolt main 355 with Dart Sportsman heads and intake, a Holley 750 vac. secondary carb, Mallory hall effect distributor & ignition box, Hooker headers, flat-top pistons, an Erson hyd. roller cam w/ 1.6 ratio roller rockers. I had the machine work done at Strasburg Machine in Lindon and assembled the engine myself, often referring to a book on building a SBC. The engine should have been a solid 400 HP engine and it ran like it. There was a lot of bench racing during the week, then cruising on the weekends and looking for street races. I lost a few, but won many. I had friends that would make fun of how my car looked, but I'd give them sh!t back and say looks didn't matter when all they could see were my tail lights.
I ended up driving that beater for about 3 years and burned thru 3 transmissions.... the last one took out my new, high-dollar ($600!!) torque convertor. I also ended up getting my license suspended for a year and SR22 insurance for 3 years due to my dumb street racing. Between the legal trouble (I hired a lawyer for one ticket, ask me about it next time we meet inperson ) and the transmissions, I ended up parting out the car. The engine got a smaller cam and the 355 went into my CJ5 and the rolling chassis of the '71 Camaro got sold off to another guy in Orem for $500. So.... that's my history. I had a LOT of good times and great memories in that car, learned a lot and made many friends. It really made me who I am today.Back to today... I've told my wife for years that eventually I wanted to find early 70's Camaro and build it how I wanted... well, that day is finally here.
Over the weekend I made a deal to buy a massive project, a '73 Camaro that has a Z28 front clip w/ the split bumper. It's NOT a factory Z28 and I don't care that it's not. I'm not trying to build a numbers matching, historical car... this is about a project that I can take my time on, trying to build it right and eventually have a blast driving it all over... this won't be a shiny, show car. It will need new quarter panels, a new roof panel (it was a vinyl top car and the top was replaced with a used piece, but the work is hacked) and the front fenders are missing. The pics show a LOT of missing parts, but fortunately the previous owner is the one that stripped it down and kept everything... all the trim, driving and tail lights, headlights, trim rings, etc. It does have a Z28 front clip and a steel cowl induction hood too. The interior is beat, it's going too need a lot of work. It's not going to be done quickly and I'm not going to sink $30-40k into the build. I want to do as much as the work as I can myself and ENJOY the project.
The car also comes with a running 400 SBC with an aluminum intake & Holley carb, headers and a complete Flowmaster exhaust... but no transmission. The rear axle has 3.73 gears and a posi. Not bad for what it is... it's more of a project than I really wanted, but I don't mind challenging myself with this one.
My plan? I guess you'd call it a 'pro-touring car'. I want a car that could be a daily driver and road trip machine, but capable enough head to the road race track on the weekends for some amateur fun. For the time being I'll run the 400 SBC that comes with the car, probably a 700R4 (considering a built 200-4R too) transmission and just re-freshen the rear axle. Once all the body work is done I want to paint it flat black, build my own 6 point cage and subframe connectors to stiffen up the chassis, upgraded 'firm' springs and shocks that lower the car 1-1.5", add beefy anti-sway bars, big Wilwood brakes and calipers, 18" or 19" wheels from a late model Camaro or Corvette that will be powder coated black and big, wide Z-rated tires. There will also be no chrome on the car. I also want to add the front-lower spoiler and the bigger spoiler out back. Eventually I'd like to swap in a GM LQ9 6.0l truck engine with some mods capable of pushing 450-500 HP... and possibly a T56 6 speed manual transmission from a late model Camaro.... but that is several years down the road, if ever. All those parts will be a LOT of $$$.
Here's pics of how the car was found, at the previous owners house. -
And my inspiration... this is obviously a professional built car, but I LOVE it. If mine turns out half as good, I'll be very happy.
And what I'd eventually like to have the car ride like...
[video=youtube;Z9Vz-42Kc2s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Vz-42Kc2s[/video]
Great article with full specs on Mary's car... - http://www.superchevy.com/features/...n-and-handling-challenge-1973-camaro-rs-test/
