Project-Z's Lifelong Dream Finally Coming Together

[Project-Z]

I don't post a lot on the forums, but I keep up with reading on all your build posts. I am not a professional car guy, and this is my first full on restoration with all of the work being done by myself. I am currently finally getting to building a '72 RS Z28 and have been inspired by all of the builds here. I took some ideas from all of the body carts I have seen here, and built my own for the early second gen. I used the fisher body manual, and I added 10" to each vertical dimension. It sure made it a lot easier to crawl around during the sand blasting. I used 2" x 3" 3/16 wall tubing for alot of the frame, and the uprights are 1-1/4" schedule 40 pipe which is almost 2" outside diameter. I used 5/8" all thread as my leveling bolts, and after I move the jig, I can re-level it in about 5-10 minutes using my digital level to 0.0 degrees. The digital level certainly helped get all of the uprights plumb.

I even added tabs on the rear most crossmember to locate the hole through the frame rails where the shackle bushings mount. I also added another cross member for the rockers to sit on while I removed the complete trunk floor and frame rails. This added crossmember also has holes drilled and tapped to locate the torque boxes in their correct locations. I also made bolting points for the rear most subframe mounts by using a 3" long piece of the 2 x 3 rectangular tube turned on its side. I also added two 2 x 3 vertical uprights to catch the fender mounting points on the firewall for when I removed the subframe mounting points from the firewall.

I missed not having tie down points welded to the jig when I took the car on a trip to my office/shop where I sandblasted it a few weeks ago.





Here is the new rear assembly almost ready to go in.



I thought I was almost done tearing it down, but the A pillars need some attention due to rusting from the vinyl top and also the inner dash structure . On the second gens there is a structure between the outer rocker and inner rocker near the lower door hinge mounting point that is rusted away. I have fabbed up the new pieces, and just need a visit from the sand blaster to clean up what is left and then weld in the new steel. The roof skin is next on the list to be removed.



The only thing left original will be the inner quarter structures, the firewall from the toe boards up, the inner cowl assembly and the inner roof structure.

I bought this car in Kentucky in 2001 becuase it looked like almost all of the body work was completed. I thought is was in better shape than the other 72 Z28 project I had at the time. Boy was I mistaken. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to have a 70-73 RS Camaro, and now I am slowly making that dream a reality.

More build pics to follow. I have even done the reverse of most people. Instead of smoothing the firewall, I undid what the previous owner did, and "unsmoothed" the firewall back to its factory condition.

Keep up the good work.

[Teamchevy]

Welcome to the board Project-Z! Looks like you have your work cut out!

Dave

[Kjdavis93]

I love watching all of these builds, Nice job on the cart and keep those pictures coming.

[Ricks72Z28]

Brad,
Nice job on the jig setup, with work like that I could only beleive the outcome of the project will be as nice.

[brooksman9]

I'm going to have to disagree with the "I'm not a professional" comment. Looks like some very aggressive work so far. Good job.

[rustover]

Looks like you got alot of work ahead of you. Should be SOLID once all that panel replacement is done. Looking forward to seeing more pics?

[Project-Z]

The previous owner used USC All Metal to fill in all of the rust holes in the winshield and rear window. After removing the filler, I started to replace the channels in 8-10" increments, but there were a few dents in the roof also. For what the replacement skins costs I couldn't go wrong.







I will post more pics of the skin swap when the time comes to conquer it.

[Project-Z]

The previous owner wanted that smooth firewall look, and I decided that I want to have a stock restoration. I replaced this on my home made rotisserie before I found out how bad the frame rails and trunk were. This was probably a year and a half to two years ago.

I cut the donor firewall out of my last '72 before I scrapped it.



Fortunately, the previous owner did not mess up the hidden vin, and I replaced the section around it.



My firewall cut out to match the donor piece.



I usued the original holes to locate the donor part.



Using the Mig to butt weld the donor part in



All welded in and ground down. Man what a pain it is to clean up all the welds. I have since changed over to using Esab Easy Grind wire in 0.023". It sure does make the grinding easier due to it being a softer wire. It more closely matches the properties of the sheetmetal.



Since then I have bought a Lincoln PrecisionTig and tought myself how to Tig sheetmetal. It sure does take longer for proper fit up, but there is almost no grinding.

Hopefully I will have picture of the reconstructed inner rocker and inner structure tonight. They are almost ready to weld in.

[rustover]

I can already tell that I really like this build. Your not taking any short cuts and the project will definitely be nice and worth the effort. You may not be a professional, but your work looks to be. What is the finish project plans? Is this going to be a numbers matching restoration, or a resto-mod? Keep the pics coming. Russ

[krabben1]

WOW.Its looking great.

[Project-Z]

This car will be close to a restoration but with a few minor modifications. The numbers matching motor, trans and rear are long gone. I have a 350 300hp that I bought out of a 70 SS. The motor ran real strong, and I also bought the Muncie Close Ratio from the car. I have collected the Z28 valve covers, Holley carb and dual snorkel air cleaner assembly. I still need the intake and exhuast manifolds for a 72 Z28. The carb and the intake from the 70 SS may be offered up as trade for the correct parts.

I have been collecting Camaro parts over the last 20 years. And here is the progression of project cars to get me where I am at today.

I have always wanted a 70-73 Rally Sport Camaro. My parents wouldn't let me get one in high school, so after I graduated I was on a mission. The only problem was that there was NO money for a car when you are trying to pay your way through college.
This was the first Camaro that I bought with my friend Steve Anscomb for one hundred dollars in 1991. What a sight. It had a Chevy 283 engine with external ( made their own exit through the side of the block) connecting rods on the passenger seat when I bought it. Well, shortly after we bought it, Steve needed money so I bought him out. Fifty bucks was a lot of cash to me then. What did I get myself into? The floor was gone, and so were the rear frame rails. It was rusted up to the windows. The only reason it didn't rust any farther is that the Glass won't rust. Well This car got parted out. Of course I kept all of the good parts for myself, and junked the rest. GM quarterpanels were only $245 dollars at the dealer then.



I was in the search of a better body with a minimal cost, as I was on the college budget plan. That's when I came across the second Camaro in 1993. It was in a barn on some commercial property that was for sale. I asked the realtor if I could purchase the car, and I was told I could have it.



I was still asking myself what did I get myself into? This body needed floors, quarters, inner and outer wheelhouses, trunk floor and drop-offs. I did not have the title fir it, but it was a real 72 Z28 Rally Sport. I had repaired the rear frame rails and sandblasted the undercarriage and decided to put it away until I graduated from college and had my own place to work on it, as my mom and step-dad were not happy with me dragging these cars home. The above picture was taken on the day I put it away in 1994.

My skills and tool collection were expanding at an exponential rate, and now that I have a nice house and a brand new 4.5 car garage all my own, I brought the above car home in the fall of 2001. The rust continued on even after I sandblasted it and primed it with Zinc phosphate. I wasn't really looking for another car, but I ran across an ad for a 1972 Rally Sport Z-28 in Grayson Kentucky on Camaros.net. After some research, and talking to the owner we struck a deal for the shell from the firewall back, the doors, and not much else. So on Labor day weekend 2001 my soon to be wife and myself left Saginaw Michigan and went to my sisters house in Speedway Indiana. We had already planned our annual trip to my sisters before I found this car. On Labor Day 2001 we drove all the way across Kentucky to Grayson. After finally inspecting the car in person we loaded her up on my snowmobile trailer, paid the bill, and headed home. This is what it looked like when I got it home. After some deciphering, I discovered it was made in the same week as my other 72 Z-28 (11D).



I also bought a 73 parts car in Detroit a few years ago. It came without a subframe, but it had a good posi rear and a new low one piece spoiler. I took the subframe from the 72 that I scrapped and installed it on the 73. I took the parts that I wanted and put a few parts with it and sold it about a year after I bought it.



I consider my current car to be part of my destiny. I really wasn't looking for it when I found it, and I found a page on here that had some information about build sheets and a guy named Jody Prather that had some from 1970 and 1972. Well, he had the build sheet for this car. What a coincedence!!

I have had this car since 2001, and since then I have completely remodeled every room in our house, finished the interior of my newly built garage, built my dad a 24' x 30' garage for his cars, and continued on my way to acquiring the proper tools for restoring a car. Such as mig and tig welders, plasma cutter, two stage Ingersol Rand air compressor, blasting cabinet, 3 in one press brake-shear-slip roller, Pressure pot sand blaster, and many other smaller tools necessary for a project of this magnitude.

[rustover]

Awesome story, thanks for sharing. A buddy of mine in the neighborhood that I grew up in, had a 73 LT. My parents would not let me have a second gen back then for good reasons. It does take awhile before you can get to a place in your life where you can do an all out resto. My 72 was missing the engine when I got it as well. I really wanted a numbers matching car badly, but decided that my Z was missing way too much stuff to be able to get it correct. I still haven't given up on the dream of owning a correct car one day.

[Project-Z]

I would like to thank everyone for their comments. Even though you don't know it, I have been using your builds as reference and planning for a long time.

I got the rusted section removed from the drivers side rocker-cowl area, and have fabbed up and fixed the rust damage and need to blast the rusted areas and install my "new" parts. The outer rockers will be changed after the floor is welded in.
Sorry about the blurry pic.


This pic shows how damaged the areas were before fabbing and butt welding in the new pieces.



The passenger side has an approching appointment with the spot weld mill and air saw. Here is my spot weld drill/mill that I bought. It is a knock off the the Dent-Fix unit that sells for over $400. This Astro-Pneumatic only cost about $200, but it has made the whole teardown process a lot less painful. It has a built in C Clamp and when you pull the trigger it automatically extends the flat mill bit and puts the proper pressure on the bit to remove the spot weld. The C Clamp is removable for areas that you can't reach with it on.



The other tool that works in conjuction really well with the spot well mill it the Steck Seam Buster. I have both the straight and right angle models.



I also cut off the outer cowl panel on the driver side so when the sand blasting happens, this will be cleaned up as well.



Both corners of the dash near the a pillars are in need of some assistance. These will be blasted at the same time.





Family vacation is approaching, so the progress will probably slow down for a few weeks.

[Project-Z]

Since I was within 15 miles of the Michigan NPD a few weeks ago, I decided to pick up a few new items.

New upper dash cowl area.



New Rocker Panels



I also Picked up a cowl hood, but I am storing it at work for now.

[Project-Z]

The new rear assembly that I bought (shown in post #1) was not assembled to the standard that I am using in this build. Dynacorn has been made aware of my concerns, and they have taken good care of me. If you want to know more, please PM me.

Last Saturday, I completely disassembled the frame rails, rear transition pan and shock mounting brackets from the trunk floor. I have mocked up the assembly within 1/16" of an inch of the specs in the Fisher body manual.

Here are a few pics of the assembly clamped up in the car.





Just need a whole day to concentrate on this and I will weld everything back together.