[6781camaro]

Can't get back to sleep after feeding one one of the twins.... PLUS I am too excited that I will get to work on my Camaro later this morning! I do need to go swap out my argon/co2 tank though before I get started....

[6781camaro]

Late start and so there's minimal but necessary progress achieved.

I finished drilling out the plug welding holes in the one-pc floor to connect to the frame rails. Then, I knocked off the EDP around the holes and smoothed and prepped them with weld thru primer.

Next, I decided, while the trunk floor is out in the wide open, I should weld on the shock tower plates. Much easier to get to now. I drilled out two plug welding holes in each on the inboard sides, and then will tack them in on the outboard side since you won't see that side when they're installed in the trunk. I was just about to weld them in when mama called me in for dinner... and to help out inside...(screaming twins!) *for all the greener body-people, I will be wiping away all the excess weld-thru primer after it's all done before spraying any epoxy. I like to coat the area around any bare metal before sandwiching it together forever. Better corrosion protection. Just a light coat though... Also, the one-pc floor is raised up in the pics to gain easier access for when I drilled out all those plug welding holes. Instead of removing this monster floor myself again, I just did that to save time, energy, and possible slices in my hands...

Here's the pics so far...













I will get those plates welded in tomorrow. Then weld in the main floor and trunk floor to the frame rails. Wish me luck with my hopeful plans.

[69z28freak]

Hey Todd when you lower the floor down, where do those posts go. I am just about to build the dolly and I am curious where the posts on the dolley fit up to the body. Also I have seen a few more dollies and they have a few extra parts on them. Any tips for the dolly build. Car is looking outstanding buddy. Keep up the god work. I have not been able to work on my car for a while as I am having some garage issues that I am hoping to resolve. I rented a garage to do the work since I don't have one, and the guy I am renting from freaked out once I started striping paint and griding etc. He said his hydro bill went way up and thinks I am running a body shop. I rented the garage to save money and do the work myself, but I am starting to think that with the cost of the garage rental and all of the stuff I need to purchase I might be better off just handing it over to a shop right now? Anyway I have to figure that one out. I would hate to end up spending more money on the car by trying to save money. That would suck! As always all advice is appreciated.

[6781camaro]

Originally Posted by 69z28freak

Hey Todd when you lower the floor down, where do those posts go. I am just about to build the dolly and I am curious where the posts on the dolley fit up to the body. Also I have seen a few more dollies and they have a few extra parts on them. Any tips for the dolly build. Car is looking outstanding buddy. Keep up the god work. .

Mike

Thanks for the compliments....and I hope your garage issues clear up asap!

I welded those vertical posts so that the rockers sit level to the cart. They are a pair of 1.5" x 1.5" square tubing tack welded so that the tops of them sit under the outer rockers as supports while the floors and frame rails are removed. I had originally posted pics of them in our "body cart" thread, but I had them up too high for my car by 1/4"... long story....

I had closed up the outer rockers too much by 1/4" and so they are slightly angled upwards where they weld to the inners (pinch welds). So if I set the floor height level to the cart as I originally intended, the floor pan would sit too low. SO, I had to lower the rear of the shell by that 1/4" to compensate. Now it's perfect and everything lines up sweetly! I tested the leaf spring pockets today and they are a bullseye! VERY HAPPY!

If you want, you can email me directly so I can send you pics directly in full size. I have lots for the body cart.

[6781camaro]

Originally Posted by 69z28freak

Hey Todd when you lower the floor down, where do those posts go. I am just about to build the dolly and I am curious where the posts on the dolley fit up to the body. Also I have seen a few more dollies and they have a few extra parts on them. Any tips for the dolly build. Car is looking outstanding buddy. Keep up the god work. .

Mike

Here is the thread for the bodycart where I posted info about those verticals to support the rockers while the floor, rails and trunk are removed.

http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=163374

[6781camaro]

So I made it out in the garage today and did LOTS OF DRILLING and LOTS OF TRIAL POSITIONING! I made some nice progress but discovered two setbacks. (trunk floor, main floor, and frame rails)

Here's the setbacks:

1. I welded the middle cross support (on the body cart) under the frame rails ONE INCH too far back, so it was hitting the trunk drain holes!
2. I welded the rear cross support (on the body cart) under the shackle bushing hole ONE INCH too far back as well! DOH!!!! --That was preventing the gas tank supports under the trunk pan from lowering into position so the trunk floor wasn't down all the way! DOUBLE DOH!!!

Not a biggy-- and so I cut off the middle cross support, and tomorrow (since I ran out of argon/co2) TRIPLE DOH!!! I will relocate the rear cross support so everything is nice again! Man! Lesson learned...

Anyway, after doing all of that, I removed the main floor and drilled out allllll of those plug weld holes that I needed to weld it to the inner rockers. I smoothed them, prepped them with weld-thru and now the floor is sitting back in position with the clecos holding the front edge again.

Then I took the frame rails and drilled out some plug welding holes to finish those off. They are now in position and back on the body cart as well.

Finally, I took the trunk floor and positioned it back onto the frame rails since it was all ready to weld in place too.

I tightened it all up from front to back using a pair of ratchet straps so I can pull the trunk floor up towards the main floor so the overlap was right. That worked perrrrrfectly! Nice ideas guys! Thanks!

Here's the pics>>>>>>>>>

CENTER CROSS SUPPORT on the body cart: (needs to move forward ONE INCH to clear the trunk floor drain holes!!! --easy fix.







REAR CROSS SUPPORT on the body cart: (needs to move forward ONE INCH to clear the gas tank braces!!! --also an easy fix.





USING the ratchet straps to pull the trunk floor forward...












I don't have the seam between the main floor and trunk floor clamped or cleco'd yet, so it does bow up in the middle a little bit. That will lay flat when I clamp it in place. (and it gets wider to fill the 1/8" gaps I have on each side between the inner wheel wells and floor sides.

[anickel-67cpe]

Todd,
Good to see you making progress I don't know how you find camaro time w/the new twins. When do you sleep. I havn't been able to find any time lately to work on the 67. Hopefully I'll be able to get the underside blasted and get it on the cart b4 the snow flies. Keep the pics coming

[6781camaro]

Originally Posted by anickel-67cpe

Todd,
Good to see you making progress I don't know how you find camaro time w/the new twins. When do you sleep. I havn't been able to find any time lately to work on the 67. Hopefully I'll be able to get the underside blasted and get it on the cart b4 the snow flies. Keep the pics coming

I only 1-2 hours of sleep and I'm good to go.... No, seriously, it's not easy, but I must give credit where credit is due: My incredible wife! She is quite understanding and knows that I need one day per week (or a at least a few hours) to unwind, and get this resto done. Otherwise I am not a pleasant person to be around to be blunt/honest. It's all I can think about when I am not out there sometimes. This is a childhood dream to own one of these Camaros. I saved my black and white composition notebook from when I was in 5th grade because it has a journal entry titled "How I picture myself 20 years from now". One of the things I listed was to own a 1969 RS/SS Convertible. So, I have a coupe--not too far off right? I am bound and determined to finish what I started with the same quality worksmanship allllll the way through. That's about it. Enjoy the rest of the thread. (can't wait until I am in the interior and performance forums!) I will miss this forum though....*AND all the awesome people who helped along the way!

[Shandara]

It looks good Todd, glad your still making progress with all of lifes little pressures in the mix . The supports you needed to move, were they at the measurements we showed in the body cart thread? Just wondering if that will need some massaging now as well.

[6781camaro]

Originally Posted by Shandara

It looks good Todd, glad your still making progress with all of lifes little pressures in the mix . The supports you needed to move, were they at the measurements we showed in the body cart thread? Just wondering if that will need some massaging now as well.

Thanks! This is the rewarding stage of the build for me. It's finally shaping together into a 69 Camaro again!

The middle cross support verticals needed to be welded @ 31" center to center (instead of 32 1/2" as they were) toward the rear frame rail pin verticals. And the rear cross support verticals needed to be moved 1 1/2" further towards the front too... I did it yesterday and it works great now.

Yes, we need to massage those plans now...

[vetteman_72]

Todd:"can't wait until I am in the interior and performance forums!) I will miss this forum though....*AND all the awesome people who helped along the way! "

But think of it this way, Todd- by then, you'll have your NEXT project vehicle involved in the body shop forum stage

[6781camaro]

Originally Posted by vetteman_72

But think of it this way, Todd- by then, you'll have your NEXT project vehicle involved in the body shop forum stage

Oh boy! I would LOVE that! But let's not mention that to someone else in my house....

[Mav68erick]

Originally Posted by 6781camaro

Mike

Thanks for the compliments....and I hope your garage issues clear up asap!

I welded those vertical posts so that the rockers sit level to the cart. They are a pair of 1.5" x 1.5" square tubing tack welded so that the tops of them sit under the outer rockers as supports while the floors and frame rails are removed. I had originally posted pics of them in our "body cart" thread, but I had them up too high for my car by 1/4"... long story....

I had closed up the outer rockers too much by 1/4" and so they are slightly angled upwards where they weld to the inners (pinch welds). So if I set the floor height level to the cart as I originally intended, the floor pan would sit too low. SO, I had to lower the rear of the shell by that 1/4" to compensate. Now it's perfect and everything lines up sweetly! I tested the leaf spring pockets today and they are a bullseye! VERY HAPPY!

If you want, you can email me directly so I can send you pics directly in full size. I have lots for the body cart.

my Orignal rockers arent welded flush they taper down towards the back to were they are 1/4 to 5/16 difference between the 2 pinchwelds. Did you weld your new ones flush?

[6781camaro]

Originally Posted by Mav68erick

my Orignal rockers arent welded flush they taper down towards the back to were they are 1/4 to 5/16 difference between the 2 pinchwelds. Did you weld your new ones flush?

The inner and outer rockers are flush to each other, but the rocker assembly (as a pair) does tilt slightly upwards as you go from the front to rear of the car. This is how the factory installed them, so I that's what I did for the new ones. The floor height matches my original floor height to a Tee now. It is about 1/4" different from front to rear as you mentioned. The rear of the floor is higher than the front in other words compared to the rockers.

[6781camaro]

Hey guys... Yesterday, I started to plug weld the trunk pan to the frame rails to make it one unit since I had it all lined up on a bullseye. I got 8 plugs done (4 on each frame rail) to tie the trunk to them evenly and give me a nice start on it. Since I am using a bodycart and I have the frame rails locked into factory position, I started from the rear of the car. Before going any further, I want to do one more (just to be sure) test fit of my rear 1/4's. I wouldn't want to find out that something moved AFTER I plug weld in the entire frame rails....

After I get the plug welding done on the rails, I can position the main floor from front to rear and tighten up those torque boxes to the main floor. As of now, I only have a 1/8" gap between them which is tighter than last time I mocked it up if you remember. (I was getting a 1/4" gap back then....) So, good news--good start... to be finished during the week and certainly during the weekend.

It's coming out nicely so far. Pics to be posted asap!

After this I will be test fitting the cross rail, drop offs, and welding those in, then welding in my tulip boxes on the cowl since I won't need that access any longer. I do still need to coat those in epoxy though....along with the trunk gutters and outer tail panel since they are easy to get to while not installed. It's all finally falling into place!