1980Z redneck-touring vortec/6spd

[woody80z28]

Made myself a bondo spreader on the CNC at work. Hopefully it helps me get the 3 pieces of the spoiler matching perfect. Should be a lot easier than what I have been doing...

Hood openings need work too. I'm trying to finish up the spoiler before moving on to the next issue, but I may be able to save some time by ordering a new nose. I'm still not excited about using the one I have. There are some waves in it, and has tiny little cracks when you sand it all the way down to the urethane. Wondering if a different nose will fit at the hood differently. The nose I'm looking at is the Stinger fiberglass one (same place that made my hood).
https://www.americansportscar.com/products/chevy-camaro-bumper-1978-1981-front-flex

 

[woody80z28]

So I bought the Stinger nose. My dad was headed to Mopar Carlisle to sell parts and Stinger was going to be there as a vendor...so I called them up and had them send a sweet Chevy nose on the truck with all their Mopar junk! haha Saved me about $200 in boxing/shipping charges.

Quality looks pretty good. I do see a couple minor flaws, but that's the beauty of fiberglass...it's easy to fix!

One little problem I ran in to though. Looks like I need to grind the fiberglass headlight bucket/grille structure down to fit the nose over it. It doesn't just stretch over like the urethane.

 

[woody80z28]

Started installing the nose. I studded the fenders to make it easier to bolt on. Doing the bolts from the front was always a pain because there was no direct shot to get on them, you had to screw around with a knuckle or bend the urethane. Neither are a good solution... So now it goes on and I can start the nuts by hand. Then they are easily tightened with a knuckle on a long extension.

Fitment at the fender extension kinda sucked, and I saw a post about steel supports that were never on my car. So I fabbed some up out of 1/8". Seems to work pretty well.

Hood gap sucks though. So that's something I need to tackle. Hinges need rebuilding before that though. So I'm drilling and using 1/2" bolts and nuts. Going to tack the nut to the bolt when I get the pivot at the tightness I want.

Test fit the headlight & signal buckets, and grilles. None of them fit great, so they will take a little work too.

But I kinda like that it almost looks like a car!

So now I'm working on getting the spoiler perfect...finishing the last fitment project before tackling the newest one...

 

[J. Chris Davis]

Making some really great progress. I have been considering the fiberglass nose and rear bumper when I get mine repainted. I'll be keeping a close eye on how yours turns out.

 

[80sz]

Wow,I never noticed how much bumper you shaved off,how heavy was the chunk removed?

 

[woody80z28]

No idea actually. I got that bumper as a freebie from Mike (Mr.FBDY) when I bought the hood. It's pretty flimsy, so I don't plan on using it, but it's easier to handle for mockup.

 

[3SLO5]

keep on going, looks like tons of poo getting done.

 

[woody80z28]

Happy with the spoiler now. Check.

Ordered some hardware from boltdepot.com to rebuild my hinges. They have a TON of stuff. And I'm actually going to order some 3/8 brass washers and drill them to 1/2 because these 1/2 ones are huuuuge.

So, I like the way the hinges work now. I drilled all the 3/8 holes in the hinges to 1/2 and used a 1/2" shoulder bolt with a 3/8 stud. Plan is to blast and powdercoat the hinges, assemble, and tack the nut to the bolt when done. Maybe threadlocker would be better though. I haven't decided yet.

 

[CasperCasper]

Not sure how I've never seen this build before, great work ! That spoiler is very satisfying to look at.

 

[8pack]

Do you have a list of the parts and #s you used to rebuild your hinges? I had mine rebuilt and I am happy, but I really like the way yours are assembled. I have a spare set of hinges I would like to try your set up on.

Thanks!