It’s a little hard to believe that I’ve been working on a project for 21 years… BUT, that’s the reality! I bought this car back in 1996 and actually drove it to college for a little bit. I lost oil-pressure one night while doing some *ahem* spirited driving (which may or may not have involved a Mustang) and trashed the motor that came in the car, and so I decided that it was time to park it and do a full build, rather than try to work on it while I was driving it. The motor got yanked and sold off, and then the car sat for 10 years! Fast forward to 2006 and I was finally in a position to start on the car. The lasted for another year or so until it was parked yet again… fast forward again to today, and I’m FINALLY getting close!
I had been doing blog posts on the progress, but the posts have gotten so infrequent, and I’ve missed so much, that I just don’t feel like going backwards. I’ve included what I did write at the very bottom if you care to read, or you can check out the full build thread over at pro-touring.com for even more pictures and details. For this page, I’ve decided just to do a picture gallery of the build. The first picture to the right is where I started, and the red car has been my inspiration; Mark Stielow’s ‘Red Witch’ Camaro. Below you can see my current progress. Stay tuned!
Project Car Build Archive
As I mentioned above, I’m abandoning doing blog updates on the progress of the car. I’m just not consistent with it enough for it to make sense. However, here are the past posts for reference!
Down at the Hop
I mentioned last week that one of the things I've worked on during the COVID days is flash photography, something I've not previously spent a lot of time on. And like last week, this week's Picture of the Week is quite a bit different from what I typically post, but...
Classic Camaro in Downtown Knoxville
For the past several weeks I've been sharing some of the work I've done during the 'COVID days' - I guess at some point I have to stop calling it that because it's really just *life* at this point, right? - anyway, I'm continuing that this week and next, but changing...
The Missing Link Milky Way
I've mentioned many times that I always struggle to find things to photograph during the winter. Well, this winter I managed to find a few projects that kept me busy, and this week's image is one of them. The Foothills Parkway is a place I go on a very regular basis. ...
Camaro Under the Stars
Alright, well we've spent the last couple of weeks in the dark and we'll spend several more there. This week, however, I am starting a series of images that I've been playing around with over the winter. I've commented many times that I really dislike the winter...
February 2015 Car Update
I haven't had too much to report as of late on the car as things are moving at a bit of a snails pace. I do have the car back in my garage and we're at this point waiting on the engine to be done. Once that is finished I'll be...
End of the Summer Update
Okay, so I guess it's officially Fall, but I thought I'd recap what all has been going on. Just to make sure everything is going to fit like we want it to, Scotty got everything mocked up, and I have to say, I'm really happy with the fitment of the Holley...
June 2014 Update
It's been a while since I've posted anything... but that's not to say a lot hasn't been going on. Here's where we are so far... The subframe came back out from under the car and it got loaded up on the rotisserie so the subframe connectors and wheel tubs could be put...
Off she goes!
The day has finally come! My friend Scotty, who has been helping me with the car since the beginning, sent over "Rollback Jack" (you seriously can't make this stuff up) to pick her up earlier this week. Now that enough parts have shown up to get started, we're...
Oil pan and radiator showed up
Finally got the rest of the parts in. The new Holley oil pan for LS swaps. This thing took FOREVER it seemed like... but I finally got it. And the RND Fabrication radiator. This thing is a work of art! The guy that is helping me with the car is supposed to come pick...
The steady stream of parts!
So the steady stream of parts has started... which is always excited. I decided to use the Holley LS conversion kit to keep everything nice and clean. After a little back and forth (my headers were damaged in shipping, all is squared away now though) I'm well on my...
LS6 intake is in!
Whew man... this economy has had me a little nervous about spending money on the car; but I finally found some stuff I've been looking for at a decent price... so I jumped on it. I managed to score an LS6 intake, TB, Fuel Rails, Injectors, and various covers and misc...
Short block is together
Well... so it took a little longer than I thought, but here's the pix. I'm geeked.
Uh oh…
So I talked my nephew into coming over this evening and letting me yank the front wheel off his SS Camaro so I could do some playing around... Herein lies the problem... Without spacers at the current backspacing the wheel hits the UCA pretty quickly when you start to...
Taking stock
Well... for whatever reason I've misplaced my tire iron, so I couldn't pull the wheel off , but I did take some more pictures of it. This picture is from inside the car: And this one is from inside the trunk looking at the same tire: The plan is to box all that in on...
She's back home
Alright, well the car has made it home again for a little while so that my bank account can recover but I'm super excited about the progress that has been made so far. Something about seeing this thing actually sitting on those back tires gets me all fired up. Here's...
DSE Quadra-link going in
...AND the Quadra-link is making it's way into the car finally! I'm really excited about this one... The guy that's building the car is saying that we should have this done by the end of the week. More pix soon I hope! Dan
Floor pan finished
The trunk pan is finally in..
New floor pan in
I've got some good progress going here lately. I'm hoping that it's going to be a rolling chasis before too long (and before I run out of money)...
Going to need a new floor pan
Finally have an update! After being stuck in sandblaster jail (apparenlty all the guys help quit the day my car was dropped off...) for almost 3 months we've finally got some forward momentum going again. After sand blasting we quickly realized that the floor and...
Subframe finally done
Alrighty, as promised: And of course I had to do this: --Dan Thompson