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Body resto on rusty 1969 Camaro

Started by _dirtbag_ , Jun 22 2010 05:28 PM

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#1 _dirtbag_

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Posted 22 June 2010 - 05:28 PM

I've taken on the job of fixing the body on this 1969 camaro.

The owner has already stripped the car and had it soda blasted, and some areas sand blasted. This makes my job a lot easier.

What they found though after blasting was lots of very shoddy repairs. From my point of view this is great, as I love 69 camaros, so am glad to be saving one.

I'll end up replacing both rear quarters, tail light panel, boot floor, all interior floors, both outer sills, maybe inner sills, maybe rear tubs, a door skin, bootlid and it's getting a flat firewall.

Should be a lot of fun.

Here are some pics.

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The firewall will be getting the smooth and flat treatment. Don't you love the way they made clearance for the dizzy?

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It's already had new outer rear quarter skins fitted, but I'm going to remove/replace them as everything inside is pretty sad as well.

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Here is my daughter checking out the 69. That's my wife's 68 firebird I've been building in the background.

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First thing I did was cover everything in phosphoric acid based rust converter. Tannic acid is better, but very pricey and hard to get.

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Tomorrow I'm going to be moving the car to a bigger shed, and hope to be picking up a heap of new metal for it too.

Stay tuned : )

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#2 _patch_

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Posted 22 June 2010 - 05:37 PM

ya got a bit of work to do there spouse it will be a walk in the park for you lol

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#3 _89'King_

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Posted 22 June 2010 - 05:49 PM

WOOOHOOO!!!

Another Dirtbag story about to unfold!

looking forward to see how it all turns out.. 69' Camaro is one of my favies!

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#4 _Woodsy_

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Posted 22 June 2010 - 05:49 PM

Looking Good.. well it will when its finished. An old Neighbour of ours in Sydney has an ex 1968 Camaro drag car sitting in the corner of his garage collecting dust.. He started pulling it apart but never finished it.

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#5 _dirtbag_

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Posted 22 June 2010 - 05:52 PM

Looking Good.. well it will when its finished. An old Neighbour of ours in Sydney has an ex 1968 Camaro drag car sitting in the corner of his garage collecting dust.. He started pulling it apart but never finished it.

Really............so how cheap can I get it for? :rockon:

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#6 Potta

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Posted 22 June 2010 - 06:04 PM

Hey I hope that's not "THE wheels" in the background....it would be a shame to accidentally show them after all your cover up work.

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#7 _dirtbag_

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Posted 22 June 2010 - 07:11 PM

hahaha Potta. I'd be dumb enough to do that too : )

The hatch is getting 15x8 and 15x10, where those are 18s and 20s for the 68 firebird. Good spotting though : )

They actually look pretty good when they're clean.

Posted Image

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#8 madmax

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Posted 22 June 2010 - 07:35 PM

if the bodywork on the hatchback is anything to go by i reckon i will be spending a lot of hours reading about it 69 camaros always look great

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#9 dattoman

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Posted 22 June 2010 - 09:01 PM

I know you'll do a great job

But wouldn't this be touch and go on using one of those new Dynacorn body shells
For the amount of time and money that needs to be invested in panels etc ?

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#10 _dirtbag_

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Posted 22 June 2010 - 09:08 PM

I know you'll do a great job

But wouldn't this be touch and go on using one of those new Dynacorn body shells
For the amount of time and money that needs to be invested in panels etc ?

Yeah, the dynacorp (spelling???) shells are quite good, but they're $20k. This wont cost half that, so I think it's worth fixing.

The panels are surprisingly cheap for these things compared to aussie cars. Rear quarters are $180 each for example.

Plus, if he bought a new shell, I wouldn't get to fix this one, and I'm really looking forward to it : )

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#11 dattoman

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Posted 22 June 2010 - 09:14 PM

Ah.. I see
I know the panels are cheap
Just was wondering

And if he bought a new shell... maybe he'd give you that one... lol

Will watch with interest

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#12 _cruiza_

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Posted 22 June 2010 - 09:48 PM

I just hope you paint the bumpers correctly Posted Image

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#13 _dirtbag_

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Posted 22 June 2010 - 09:59 PM

I just hope you paint the bumpers correctly

Classic cars have chrome bumpers. The sooner you learn that the sooner you'll realise your mistakes : ) hahaha

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#14 _Kush_

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 08:58 AM

Hmm, 69 camaros just happen to be my third favourite muscle car. I likey very much. I would say there is a lot of work to do in the body but i think it looks worse than it is. Especially when repro panels are so cheap. And what on earth is wrong with the mod to fit the dizzy in??? That's how it's done! You should know this, Mr. Oh look at me I'm so awesome at car building.

Are you gonna tell us what colour it's going to be? I like blue with white stripes, you should go with that

p.s. Silver stripes would be good too

Edited by Kush, 23 June 2010 - 09:12 AM.

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#15 _dirtbag_

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 09:14 AM

Awesome at car building? I wish, but my name isn't Black Dice : )

There are a lot of panels available, but there is still a lot of rust in areas that aren't just getting cut off, so there will still be some fabrication needed, which I like : )

As for colour, I have no idea. I'm just going to get this to paint stage and hand it back. The owner is going to paint it. I think black is good : )

So Kush, I've been thinking, and I think you should give me your hatch. OK?

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#16 _Kush_

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 09:28 AM

Hahahaha! I'll never find another one! Not up here anyway...... I tell you what, I'll post it down to you and you can look after it for 8 months or so, then you can send it all back lovely and shiny so I can win some trophies. That sounds good! I'm looking forward to the V8 supercars next month because last year they had heaps of hatches, LJs & LCs and falcon coupes (why are they aka hardtops?) on display. I don't know where they came from but you certainly don't see them on the road. I'll take heaps of photos anyway and post them

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#17 GML-31

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 10:17 AM

that's the first time I have seen the car, to date all I have seen is the bonnet and motor, look like a nice project.

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#18 _dirtbag_

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 12:03 PM

Hahahaha! I'll never find another one! Not up here anyway...... I tell you what, I'll post it down to you and you can look after it for 8 months or so, then you can send it all back lovely and shiny so I can win some trophies. That sounds good! I'm looking forward to the V8 supercars next month because last year they had heaps of hatches, LJs & LCs and falcon coupes (why are they aka hardtops?) on display. I don't know where they came from but you certainly don't see them on the road. I'll take heaps of photos anyway and post them

Yes, please post pics if there are heaps of cool cars there :spoton:

As for the hardtop thing, it's an american term mostly used on pillarless cars. Even 4 door cars can be known as hardtops.

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#19 _Kush_

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 01:25 PM

Thanks, that question has alway niggled at me and nobody could tell me the answer. So, being Australian, do we call it a coupe or a hardtop? I hate americanisms in all it's forms though. Kids these days say "cookies" and I feel like strangling the little bastards while screaming BISCUITS!!! Another one is "from the get-go" WTF is that? It makes no sense!

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#20 Potta

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 05:12 PM

The one that annoys me is "I could care less"

Its supposed to be "I COULDN'T care less", as in I care so little that if I couldn't possibly care any more than I currently do...

The way they say it is that they are actually concerned. Think about what your saying FFS....

Posted Image

Car looks like a GREAT start!!

Are you gonna put the steering wheel on the correct side or is it staying a$$ about?

Can't wait to see it all snazzyed up.....

Oh, and just to clear things up, I didn't mean any disrespect to the Firebird wheels, they look mint, I just thought it would be a shame to reveal the torrie ones accidentally like that after all the buildup!!

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#21 _Kush_

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 05:54 PM

Hey, you probably know this but I know why the yanks drive on the wrong side of the road. It's in defiance of Britain. However, the Brits used the left side of the road because jousting sticks were held in the right hand, swords, bows and what not. (I think the Romans started it) Lefties were frowned upon. So there is logic in the poms thinking.
However the yanks didn't lose all their brittish roots. Their soldiers still salute old-school. The salute was originally to lift the helmet to show their faces under the helmets.
Long story short (I can go on and on and on and on) yanks generally suck massive arse

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#22 _dirtbag_

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 06:17 PM

I agree with you guys. Americanisms are pretty annoying. The ones that shit me the most lately as they're used all the time in car ads are the terms SUV - which aussies call a fourbie wagon, and pick-up, which is a bloody UTE DUMB ASSES!!!!!!

I think I have to say though my most hated american word at the moment is "chillax". When I hear someone say that I feel like cutting off their face and shoving it up their ass.

That feels better : )

Hey, about the left hand drive thing, didn't the yanks invent the car (Henry Ford)? Meaning the poms were being defiant by being RHD? Anyway, this car is staying LHD, so that's one thing I don't have to change : )

Kush, you're right - "from the get-go"??? WTF?

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#23 _Kush_

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 06:35 PM

No Henry didn't invent cars. He invented the production line for cars. The car ( horseless carriage) was invented by two German lads who started Mercedes Benz. I can't remember their names but Mercedes was one of the inventors daughter. Benz was the last name of the other guy. Oh and one more Americanism that burns my arse.... Ass. We don't spell it like we are talking about a donkey. Aussies poms scots and paddys say ARSE! I'm talkin to you dirtbag!

Edited by Kush, 23 June 2010 - 06:44 PM.

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#24 _dirtbag_

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 06:48 PM

Well the actual work wont start until tomorrow on this car but today I went to narangba and picked up the new floor pans, tail light panel, boot lid, outer sills and door skin. The rear quarters and boot floor are on their way apparantly.

I did however move it into a bigger shed. There were two reasons. One being so I had more room to work on the camaro, and the second so I had more room to assemble the hatch when it comes back home.

Tomorrow I'll re rust convert the car, as it was spitting today when I moved it, but there's going to be so much metal replaced on this car I'm not worried about any moisture at this stage, especially seeing as I dowsed the car in acid only yesterday. Then I'll get the whole lot into etch primer and refit all the panels so I can see what lines up and what doesn't. I wont cut off a single thing until I know what the general alignment is like, otherwise it can end up in a total mess with nothing fitting properly after it's all welded back together.

Here's a few pics in the new shed.

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Here's the panels I picked up today.

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Next week should see some of the fun stuff happening, but getting it in etch and doing the initial fit up is really important. I'll just keep posting pics anyway : )

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#25 _dirtbag_

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Posted 23 June 2010 - 06:55 PM

No Henry didn't invent cars. He invented the production line for cars. The car ( horseless carriage) was invented by two German lads who started Mercedes Benz. I can't remember their names but Mercedes was one of the inventors daughter. Benz was the last name of the other guy. Oh and one more Americanism that burns my arse.... Ass. We don't spell it like we are talking about a donkey. Aussies poms scots and paddys say ARSE! I'm talkin to you dirtbag!

hahahaha. Sorry Kush. I should have just kept my mouth shut "from the get-go" and just driven off in my LHD SUV : ) hahaha

I used to say/write arse, but then I loved Red Foreman from That 70's show and how he used to call everyone DUMB ASS, so that's how I say it now, as a tribute to Red : )

You should have known that about me anyway, DUMB ASS : )

Thanks for the info regarding Ford and MB. I really am a stupid man......