1971 Project

[1971BB427]

Originally Posted by 3SLO5

looks great but i would paint the rim centers body color or black or gunmetal the grey sticks out with a weird contrast with the new dark paint.

Yea, I'm thinking the same thing. Don't want to color match to the body, as that's almost something my wife would do, but I think black would look nice with the dark paint.

[speedfreak1000]

i love those flared out rear wheel openings.

[1971BB427]

Thanks Speedfreak! Hedman made them for front and rear of the 2nd gens, but I never liked the look of them on the front wheelwells. The N50 MT's require something, and I hated to tub it.

[1971BB427]

Got some time and good weather this weekend, so went to work on the weatherstripping around the doors and windows. A real pain to get that stuffed into the body channel for the windows, and those little pins are junk too.
Had to drill the holes out a little so the new pins would go in. They're also softer than originals, so they wanted to bend. I finally decided the directions that said to glue the ends of the weatherstrip were a good idea, so I pulled the ends up enough to glue them with 3M adhesive.
Of course the doors close pretty tightly now, so I'll leave the doors closed for a few days to compress it, then readjust the doors again.
Got the tailights, grille and bumper back on also. Headed to the paint shop in a day or so to get final cutting and buffing.

[olstyle]

I kinda like the rear spoiler.

[1971BB427]

Originally Posted by olstyle

I kinda like the rear spoiler.

Thanks, I built it myself.

[F-Bodypilot]

Wow... looks AWESOME. I like the rear flares too. Everybody doesn't have them. Very nice colour combo, stripes are great, subtle yet racey.

[1971BB427]

Finally back from the final cut and buff Saturday. It looked great to me before, but even nicer after wet sanding and buffing!
Here's the Camaro after the three of us got it a little farther together.

My 12 yr old grandson learning how to install headlights and trim:


My son and I trying to do final adjustments to the doors:


Front view before we got the spoiler on:


Side view in between rain showers!:


Front after spoiler:


Still need to get window trim on, and door glass installed, but it's a lot closer after our weekend assault!

[1971BB427]

Spent the day cleaning and polishing under the hood and inside the interior. Lots of dust and crud from the body shop, so it's time consuming.
I did find time to get the air brush out and spray my trim for around the windows.


Also cleaned the trunk, and gave it one more quick coat of splatter paint.


Engine compartment still needs alittle work. Chrome is cleaned up, but I need to pull the valve covers and polish them out better.


This is the custom glove box door made with a valve cover emblem on it.

[brooksman9]

Looks good. Need a good 3/4 shot from the front to take it all in.

[1971BB427]

Thanks! I'll try to get one tomorrow when I'm out working on it again!
I have one quartering the other way!

[z28rod]

very very cool bbc camaro, 427 very cool.

[1971BB427]

Here's that quartering shot:



And here's the latest repair. Minor, but one more thing it needed.
In another of my attempts to save a buck, and just see if I could do it, I decided the jockey box needed a overhaul. It's been broken since I bought the '71 in 1973, and although my wife claims she never sat on it, I'm pretty sure she might have been the guilty one. The lid has been very fragile, and felt like it was in a lot of pieces.
I removed the hinge screws and then the inside cover. After that I carefully peeled the outside rubber cover off. When the cover came off I found the plastic lid was in numerous pieces, and a few were missing. Fortunately none of them were critical to the function. Looked like the only thing holding it all together was the rubber cover, and the inside panel.
I had some old sheetmetal, so I bent it to the contour of the broken lid with some duckbill vise grips. Once I had it fitted I put epoxy all over the sheetmetal and laid it over the broken plastic top. I then drilled 1/8" holes all around the various cracks and fitted the loose pieces in their places.
Next I took out the pop rivets and pop rivetted all the holes so the plastic and metal were one piece. After that I coated the edges of the cover and top with contact cement and when it was almost dried I installed the rubber cover over the top and clamped it with the duckbills.
After it set for awhile I reinstalled the inside panel and then reinstalled in on the console. Looks just like new again, and it's stronger than new! I thnk someone could actually sit on it now and it might bend, but it wont break.

Cover apart and shetmetal bent to fit:


Sheetmetal attached and rivetted to the plastic top:


Rubber cover reinstalled over repaired panel:


Clamped while it dries:


All done and back on the Camaro:

[franks70camaro]

sweet ride very good job

[1971BB427]

Thanks Frank!