🔧 BUILD LAME Turbo V6 Camaro

[Pewter-Camaro]

Awesome! Keep at it! It will be worth it when you get it done. You know its not too hard to convert the hard top cars to t-tops. I've seen it done a bunch in the past and I'm sure there are video's on it. Just something to think of since it looks mostly apart right now.

 

[v6buicks]

Awesome! Keep at it! It will be worth it when you get it done. You know its not too hard to convert the hard top cars to t-tops. I've seen it done a bunch in the past and I'm sure there are video's on it. Just something to think of since it looks mostly apart right now.

Man.... Don't tempt me! It's the only option I wish I had on this car! Maybe someday, but my body skills still need some work until then. I'm comfortable with floors and stuff because it's covered and doesn't have to look good. I have a tendency to go too fast and warp stuff.

 

[Pewter-Camaro]

Well from the looks of the rust repair you have i your hands you may get the practice you need!

Either way its awesome you are keeping at it.

 

[Mattstrike]

It always looks a lot easier to fix once you cut out the rot; somehow. You might look to see if you can get floor pans and stuff for it. Having any amount of pre-formed or donor panels always helps.

 

[v6buicks]

Well from the looks of the rust repair you have i your hands you may get the practice you need!

Either way its awesome you are keeping at it.

This is true. Body work is something I've always wanted to be good at. In fact I took a year of it in high school. However, it's also the kind of thing I never actually wanted to do. I see it as more of a necessary evil than than a hobby. I do have great respect for a talented body guy, but I'd much rather be building up an engine or something. I might even rather just watch TV than form patch panels. lol

 

[v6buicks]

It always looks a lot easier to fix once you cut out the rot; somehow. You might look to see if you can get floor pans and stuff for it. Having any amount of pre-formed or donor panels always helps.

True! Then it starts going back to overwhelming again after a few hours of shaping metal with my lack of equipment. lol Unfortunately, floor pans for these cars seem to be rarely stamped. I've been on a Rock Auto notification list for the front pans for almost a year. No dice. I did get the last rear pans in Rock Auto's stock when I did those though.

From the pictures, the front pans seem to be of very low quality anyway. They just don't look right and hardly cover the rustiest areas of my car. I lucked out. most of the stuff I cut out was flat anyway.

 

[v6buicks]

I'm pretty happy with how this patch piece turned out. It's hanging lower in the picture than it would when it's welded in, so the gaps on the left side should close up.

I'm about to head into another detour! The girlfriends car is acting up again. I'm thinking that it's going to get it's own thread someday. It's certainly been a big enough pain to deserve one!

No, it doesn't need to be manually shifted. No, it's not even a stick shift! Volvo's are funny. This light means that overdrive is turned off.

For those who don't know 240s, there is a solenoid valve on the transmission that can be closed with a little button on the shifter. This basically disables OD in case you want to tow something with your already painfully slow car. As they often do, this one failed. The solenoid then defaults to the closed position and illuminates the shift light. ?‍

Luckily this solenoid is easy to replace. Even better for us, we don't plan on punishing ourselves more by towing with the Volvo. I bought a little plate that just allows you to remove the solenoid. The only downfall is that I can't manually select 3rd. Rats... I think this car is overdue for a 3800 swap, but I'll have a hard time removing the trusty tank that is the stock engine.

 

[v6buicks]

I finally got to take a break from my Swedish headache. I'm back to therapeutic garage activities.

I ran out of gas just before taking this pic. Holy crap though.... Since doing the other side, I have learned a lot. The angle grinder is a game changer, using the correct type of roloc pad instead of a wire wheel is a game changer, and using my step bit for drilling out spot welds is a game changer. Having the right tools for the job is always great. Now I kinda want to go to the other side of the car and correct my mistakes! I might as well. It's better than going back in there and doing it later. If I don't do it now that will be inevitable.

This simple air tool rack is also a game changer.

A lot of people don't understand my love for hanging tools on the wall rather than putting them in drawers. I just find this a lot more convenient. Besides, the walls aren't being used for much else! I'm also much more likely to put things away when I can easily see the open spot on the wall. When you have two 170k+ mile daily drivers a GN and a restoration/racecar project, and only a two-car garage you better have your stuff organized really well. Otherwise, every little job will make you want to rip your hair out! The garage itself is like a whole other hobby in itself. That's a whole other topic though.

Since I ran out of shielding gas and I wasn't tired yet, I decided to start putting the braking system back together.

Lol. Check out this rust hole that saved me from needing to reach my arm around the whole fender! Shitbox for the win!

Right about here is where I wish that I had the engine out of the car. That would make the rest of this job sooo much easier. Oh well. I'll figure it out as always. I'm so glad I got all this done last night. I admit that I've been in an awful mood lately, but this small amount of progress turned me around.

 

[m_dogg]

Damn dude, talk about dedication

 

[10sec]

Yeah, when this thread has updates, I am excite.

 

[v6buicks]

Damn dude, talk about dedication

Thanks! Even I find it odd that out of all the cars I've owned THIS happened to be the one I get seriously hooked on. I've enjoyed all my other cars before it, but there has always come a point where they become more effort than its worth to me. Then I sell it and ultimately regret it later. After realizing that, I approached this one with an entirely different attitude. I figure that if I just stick to one, and modify/restore it in small steps I'll eventually have a badass ride! Plus, I had recently aborted an Volvo LS swap project, so I felt the need to redeem myself.

That little moment I had recently where I found the rotted frame was giving me LS Volvo flashbacks. I'm not letting this one get away from me.

 

[v6buicks]

Yeah, when this thread has updates, I am excite.

Haha that means a lot. Thank you!

 

[RICH17]

I'm loving it as well. Makes me want another fun car again

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Fuck yeah dude, makes me want to work on the Lemans again. Wife thinks it's going to the crusher still.

 

[v6buicks]

Dooooo it!

It's kind of a relief for me to see hot rodding making a come back. It's not the same as it once was, and it never will be. However, it's really just because we're in a new era where EFI is the norm and plastic cars from the 90s are the new rusty metal. Don't get me wrong. I love seeing a really nicely built car with perfect paint and and 1000hp under the hood just like anybody else, but what about the rest of us? I don't make that kind of money. Even doing everything yourself isn't cheap. Then if you succeed, you're left with a car that's too nice to race enjoy regularly. I just aggravate this issue by being a Buick guy. ?? There should be no shame in finding a beater, doing what you need to do to get the car on the road, and upgrading it as your budget allows. Not everybody is going to win the show or the race. You just gotta do your own thing on your own budget because you're the one who has to enjoy it. Depleting your savings on a car that doesn't hold any value is no fun either. At that point winning any competition doesn't matter anymore. That's just my opinion though.

One of my favorite quotes is from Dave Freiburger. "Don't get it right. Just get it running!" Even if it's huge pile of shit, it's better then letting an old car rot away to nothing while you wait for the full resto funds.

 

[GTPpower]

Exactly. If you're keep trying to upgrade it on paper, you'll never actually do it to the car. I've had turbo parts laying around for over 10 years that have never been used.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Exactly. If you're keep trying to upgrade it on paper, you'll never actually do it to the car. I've had turbo parts laying around for over 10 years that have never been used.

Actually the same here on turbo parts. I still have Mook's 66.

That said I've got the Astro to finish up first. It's 85% there I just need a time where I can do some tuning without getting scared shitless. 205s on one of the worse vehicles in snow ever with a 383 isn't my idea of a good time right now! That also says nothing of the exhaust which needs some work. Other than that I've laid 2 patches this year with it so it's coming along.

 

[Pewter-Camaro]

Dooooo it!

It's kind of a relief for me to see hot rodding making a come back. It's not the same as it once was, and it never will be. However, it's really just because we're in a new era where EFI is the norm and plastic cars from the 90s are the new rusty metal. Don't get me wrong. I love seeing a really nicely built car with perfect paint and and 1000hp under the hood just like anybody else, but what about the rest of us? I don't make that kind of money. Even doing everything yourself isn't cheap. Then if you succeed you're left with a car that's too nice to enjoy regularly or race. I just aggravate this issue by being a Buick guy. ? ? There should be no shame in finding a beater, doing what you need to do to get the car on the road, and upgrading it as your budget allows. Not everybody is going to win the show or the race. You just gotta do your own thing on your own budget because you're the one who has to enjoy it. Depleting your savings on a car that doesn't hold any value is no fun either. At that point winning any competition doesn't matter anymore. That's just my opinion though.

One of my favorite quotes is from Dave Freiburger. "Don't get it right. Just get it running!" Even if it's huge pile of shit, it's better then letting an old car rot away to nothing while you wait for the full resto funds.

fuck yes to this. I would have kept my rust bucket Camaro but I had no place to keep it and no place to work on it long term. Once I get a house with an open garage space I’ll buy some kind of old car and slowly fix it.

 

[v6buicks]

fuck yes to this. I would have kept my rust bucket Camaro but I had no place to keep it and no place to work on it long term. Once I get a house with an open garage space I’ll buy some kind of old car and slowly fix it.

I hear that. It's hard not having space to work and store everything. Luckily, I have a big basement with lots of shelves and a clean work area too. That's not nearly as common down south as it is in the Chicago area, so I feel lucky to have it. I definitely want to leave this place to find plot of land where I can park a trailer and build a big shop with lifts, but I must say that being limited on space has really helped me focus and stay organized! I envy the people who don't have those problems to begin with though.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Dooooo it!

It's kind of a relief for me to see hot rodding making a come back. It's not the same as it once was, and it never will be. However, it's really just because we're in a new era where EFI is the norm and plastic cars from the 90s are the new rusty metal. Don't get me wrong. I love seeing a really nicely built car with perfect paint and and 1000hp under the hood just like anybody else, but what about the rest of us? I don't make that kind of money. Even doing everything yourself isn't cheap. Then if you succeed you're left with a car that's too nice to enjoy regularly or race. I just aggravate this issue by being a Buick guy. ? ? There should be no shame in finding a beater, doing what you need to do to get the car on the road, and upgrading it as your budget allows. Not everybody is going to win the show or the race. You just gotta do your own thing on your own budget because you're the one who has to enjoy it. Depleting your savings on a car that doesn't hold any value is no fun either. At that point winning any competition doesn't matter anymore. That's just my opinion though.

One of my favorite quotes is from Dave Freiburger. "Don't get it right. Just get it running!" Even if it's huge pile of shit, it's better then letting an old car rot away to nothing while you wait for the full resto funds.

I have a guy I know who's younger and that's pretty much the advice I gave him. He's got a 74 Impala he wants to do all this stuff to, told him to slap some floor pans (or a road sign for that matter) in there so he's not Flintstoning around and just drive around. Throw a few bucks at it here or there and drive the hell outa it. Thanks to cap42 I'm into a pretty damn good budget build right now. My intentions for this summer are to blow the 7.5 out of it and see where that takes me. Got a 9" sitting in the garage that was bolted into my old van.

I very much think that what's happening now with the "roadkill revolution" if you will is that we're getting back to a lot of the roots of hot rodding. I think that the huge cash builds of the days of yore were a reaction to the idea that the aftermarket was available in a way it never had been. People bought tons and tons of parts because they never had options before. With the magic of tuning modern engines coming to us now we can take OEM stuff that's actually really darn good engine (look at the 7.3 Godzilla thread, any 5.0 Ford, the Hemis or an LS) and throw a few (but not a ton) of parts at it and get really great results that are very streetable. It also has to do with the knowledge exchange that's out there now. We're not all stumbling through this stuff on our own as much as we used to.

In terms of the Lemans, I have a 350P short block here that I want to slap my current heads on and build out some turbo headers for then run blow through. I have most of the carb downstairs to do it and need a Caprice tank to shove in the rear. I've got ignition squared away (I'm using a Megasquirt I and a 1 year Pontiac dizzy for timing control) so it truthfully wouldn't be a ton of effort to at least get it where I can grenade it again. I think that little T66 Mook had on his 3.0L would do good on my nearly twice the displacement.

 

[v6buicks]

Hell yeah! I couldn't have said it better. The old stuff will always hold a place in my heart, but we have a lot of very good factory engines being built that are only a tune and basic mods away from becoming monsters. Your Lemans sounds like a really cool idea. I say I love Buick, but anything BOP is rad to me. I have a pretty nice low mile 350 SBB sitting in my garage that I'm not sure what to do with yet other than EFI and big turbo. lol That's probably not going to be started until after I get a new place to work though.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

274hp at the tire may not seem like a ton but hey it's only 6 PSI on an engine that never had the intake pulled on it.

ED:You ever get a couple dizzys for these I may be able to take an electronic 3.8 dist and make it into a V8 dist. Would probably be really helpful to getting electronic timing for boost retard.

 

[Mattstrike]

While we're on the topic - I've been pushing back my '87 BLT and '67 LeSabre stuff because of that budget thing lol. I've got other mostly running projects that I want to tie up loose ends before I start those. But I've done a lot of low budget stuff and wanted to build my skill set up to be able to make those something nice. Because I want both - nice projects I can take to car shows, and shitbox ones I can beat the piss out of every day.

 

[v6buicks]

274hp at the tire may not seem like a ton but hey it's only 6 PSI on an engine that never had the intake pulled on it.

ED:You ever get a couple dizzys for these I may be able to take an electronic 3.8 dist and make it into a V8 dist. Would probably be really helpful to getting electronic timing for boost retard.

That car was a huge inspiration to me when I got this engine years ago. I remember reading the Hot Rod article, and being amazed. The stock intakes and cams really suck on these 350s and it's not like its rocket science to change. Do that and freshen things for a really cool and still fairly low budget build!

You think you could do that? That would be awesome, because my bigger dream is to dress my 350 like a GN kinda like I did with the 3800 except taking it a few steps further. I want the GN cam sensor, port fuel injection, GN accessories (they bolt up), GN stock location intercooler (if it will fit but it will definitely be tight without pusher fans), and to paint the block black. Putting that setup into a Regal with a bulged hood and three spoke steering wheel would really make some people scratch their heads. lol I have a sick mind.

 

[v6buicks]

While we're on the topic - I've been pushing back my '87 BLT and '67 LeSabre stuff because of that budget thing lol. I've got other mostly running projects that I want to tie up loose ends before I start those. But I've done a lot of low budget stuff and wanted to build my skill set up to be able to make those something nice. Because I want both - nice projects I can take to car shows, and shitbox ones I can beat the piss out of every day.

There's no shame in that! We all have to start somewhere right? Tangent: I have some annoying friends who've never built anything custom. Bolt-on parts and off the shelf kits are about the extent of their builds. That's fine. There's nothing wrong with going for tried and true recipes if that's what you want. However, I'll just never see that as anything more than mediocre which really gets their panties in a wad. I could have gone out to buy the the gnarliest heads and cam for this car instead of building my home grown turbo kit, but we all know how far that would have taken me... Empty pockets and very little to show for it. The same people try to tell me to "just do it right" or "quit dickin around and cutting corners" but I'm not. They see me hacking my car up and automatically think it's because parts I bought aren't fitting right. It's really annoying, because that's not the case at all. In fact I've hardly even bought any vehicle or engine specific parts. I've had to make them all myself. Have they turned out perfectly? Absolutely not, but at least I can say that I did it myself and I'll be able to do better next time. Either way it doesn't matter. Hobbies like these aren't supposed to please anybody but yourself. If somebody else thinks I'm doing something cool then that's a nice bonus. If not I never cared if it didn't in the first place.

Anyway, the point is that you can't learn how to do things well without screwing up. I'm not 100% proud of certain parts of the Camaro because they are the very first things I did to it before I knew any better. Do I regret it? No. It was all part of the learning experience. Eventually, I'll even go back and fix it without considering it as "fixing it twice." I already have fixed a lot of them already.

It sounds like your Buicks are in the same sort of purgatory as my GN. I love my GN to death, and it's not going anywhere. However, it was too nice for my skill set when I got it. It could use some love, but I really don't want it to be sloppy. In fact, I want it to be damn near perfect. Once I have a nice shop and a few more tools where I can pull the body off of it for a nice cleaning and reconditioning of the brakes and suspension I'll do it. In the mean time, my Camaro is the guinea pig, and my two car garage is my laboratory! Then when I'm ready to pull the GN apart the Camaro ought to be a pretty wild machine that I still won't feel bad to go for a rip in the rain with.