This is the resting place of the Camaro when I arrived on the scene. The locals described to me that they were going to make a racecar out of the Camaro; it only got dissmantled. I spent the next two weekends searching the trailor park looking for all of the parts. When everything had been found and assembled, the car was on a flatbed to my house. I was in love!
The car was a base model Camaro originally outfitted with a V8 according to the trim tag. Paint code is 59 (Frost Green) with standard darker green interior. Needless to say the interior and engine/ trans are long gone.
First step, to inventory what the car needs. The front drum brakes have to go and the front subframe had suffered damage from some type of accident. The interior needs everything! Of course, engine and transmission would be good!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The next step
Once the entire inventory of needed parts added up to huge dollars / the decision was made to find a suitable donor car was in order. 1960's car are becoming hard to locate in good condition so the scope was broadened. EBAY produced a 1986 IROC-Z that would yield the needed parts; 305 tuneport motor / 4 speed automatic transmission / front disc brakes / quick ratio steering box / rear disc brakes / positraction rearend / many power options.The 1986 IROC produced such a ground pounding ride that it was decided that instead of removing parts to retro onto the 1969 / the IROC and the 69 would become one. The best of the IROC was the entire floorpan/ firewall / front "cage" ahead of the firewall.
UP IN THE AIR
The next step was to prepare the 1969 for it's new underfootings / the entire floor was removed / thus removing the usuall cancer that appears in the rear and the toe boards. The firewall had also suffered abuse over the years and was removed as well.
Next, the IROC was prepared for it's final drive underneath the 1969 / all extraneous material was removed.
OVER AND UNDER
The two vehicles were merged with precision / most of the similarities of Camaro family were the same / lending to a sweet blend.
ON THE GROUND
Once the two cars were blended which meant quite a bit of fabrication and welding areas together / the car was really beginning to take shape. All of the common areas to Camaros were "fixed" in the porcess. Anyone who has ever owned a camaro with horsepower knows that the area directly behind the quarter windows begins to rip. Special panels were created and welded in to give much needed strength. Also the areas of the vehicles that were blended now contain double wall construction. Not just a single piece of steel but double layers / for instance the door jamb areas were blended but the gap was filled inside and outside.
At this point, you will notice that the Camaro still had the tune port motor / after many problems with the fuel injection a new motor was ordered from Scotty's Speed Shop in Newport Richey, Florida.
NEW HOOD AND READY FOR PAINT
The Camaro recieved a new Goodmark steel cowl hood / quarter panels and rocker panels. It now has a modified front grill and motor. The car will then travel by flatbed to Superior Finishes in Trotwood, OHIO for hours of primering and sanding to get the car smooth as silk. After months of preparation, the car was ready for paint and 1969 Hugger orange is the ticket.
COLOR ME ORANGE
Car is returned home with new shiny paint that has been buffed to perfection. One item that cannot be truly appreciated without seeing the car in person; the talented guys at Superior Finishes laid the GM white stripes before clearing the car. That puts the stripes deep in the paint and produces a mirror like surface with no raised areas like many cars with stripes! Nice job guys.
INTERIOR AND STUFF
The enterior of the car was going to be a special place because most of the time with this car should be behind the wheel. The car had no dash and needed something cool. After researching options a 1985 Formula dash was selected because it offers full instrumentation and orange lighting. This same formula offered up the center console and shifter to mate with the 86 floor (perfectly).
The seats were another area that needed attention. Paddock now offers a seat kit to cover 82-92 Camaros/ Firebirds with full vinyl (which was not an option back in the day). The seats are now new and beautiful. Seatbelts are modified 86 / now working lap belts because the seats have GM's crazy inertia locking feature. If you will notice, the back seat is still the original folding 86 seat. The package tray was created to house the speakers.
The carpeting was special ordered / molded carpet to fit a 1986 Camaro / the cool part is the company constructed the molded carpet from 80/20 loop which would be the material used on the 1969 model.
THE UNDER THE HOOD
Th engine compartment is another story left for car shows. Not too many people pick up on the strut towers and huge sway bar / not to mention the location of the steering box ... 69 camaros had the steering box located far back on the frame / the 1986 IROC has the steering forward of the frame making for better steering, not forgetting the IROC has quick ration steering / 2.5 turns lock to lock.
The "crate motor" valve covers also throw off onlookers. The engine is an early 010 block punched .30 over / now a 355 filled with a rough idle cam and flat top pistons. Gear drive makes for a beautiful whine when travelling down the road. Other items to add to the go-fast are high output HEI distributor / Holley 650 carb and ceramic coat headers.
WHEELS AND TIRES
The next order of business was to finish the outside of the car. All new weatherstripping was installed including all 8 window fuzzies. All new emblems and window chrome was added to the mix. Several minor details to mention; the front bumper of the car is shaved of hardware and painted like the original Z/28 endura bumpers of the 60's. Also note that front lower valance has been modified to clear the core support of the 1986 Camaro. Last item I like to listen for at car shows is the gas door now located in the left rear quarter / stock location for the 1986.
The car was originally designed to run the 16X8 IROC wheels but after hugger paint / the car looked like an 80'2 restoration. New wheels and tires were in order. I have always loved Torque Thrusts so on they went. 16X8 front and 17X8 rear. The amazing thing is / the rear still has plenty of room for bigger meats.
UNDER THE SCENES
One of the most fun activites is having the oil changed at locations with seasoned mechanics. Their first response when the car pulls in is "I haven't seen one of these for years." Once the car is over the oil changing area / the response is quite a bit different .... what the heck? Where did you get this car? The car has obvious differences starting with no leaf springs / no low hanging dual exhaust and a torque arm now handling the load between trans and differential.
Respectively, the car will never win a SEMA show or Riddler award because the bottom of the car is....well, not painted body color and detailed to the hilt. I planned on building a driver and the bottom of the car is meant to see the road.
THE TRUNK SHOW
The trunk area is another item that people don't really notice. the two eras have been blended (different pans) but coexist. The surface has been painted the original trunk spatter paint but is carpeted on the top portion. The main difference is the location of the fuel tank / the 1969 fuel tank was located under the trunk pan / the 1986 tank is located ahead of the rear differnetial / this camaro has the 1986 version/ tank in front of diff. One neat feature is the tank itself; the IROC with fuel injection offers a high volume fuel pump (in tank) / this mechanism transferred to the 1969; a fuel regulator now resides under the hood to dial the pressure down. If the next owner ever decides to run nitrous / the regulator contains several extra fuel ports to make that happen.
One minor detail / look close at the photos / the 69 camaro had taped wiring running into the trunk compartment / the 86 had the newer plastic loomed wiring. This car has plastic loomed wiring and the detail shot shows my favorite part of the car. That simple GM connector with ground wire attached to inner fender lip. I just think that section of the car is neat (call me wierd).
THE NUTS AND BOLTS
Over the years the car has recieved many new parts and each one has been a lot of fun putting in. This car is full of more surprizes than I can remember but here are just a few that really set this car apart.
The blower motor has a special removable lid inside the passenger fenderwell for easy changing / There is a removable panel under the center console for easy reach to those tricky transmission lines and kick down cable. The light switch has been relocated to under the dash for easy access. I cannot stand fishing your arm into the dash to find that little button to release the pull switch.
The "Y" pipe for the exhaust was custom made and connects to a big 3" exhaust to the back of the car into a custom/ modified flowmaster muffler system.
The car has a few unique features also not present on 1969 camaros. The high beam selector and wiper controls are now on the 1986 IROC steering column which is also tilt. Power locks now actuate in the doors.The hood is opened from inside the car like the newer 82-92 Camaros.
THE REST OF THE STORY
If you notice, there are two funny looking things on the bottom edge of the car when viewed from the side; one behind the front wheel and one directly in front of the rear wheel. These are the stock jacking locations for the IROC / remember the 1969 camaro had that crazy bumper jack that looped the front or rear bumper and shoved the bumper up before lifting the car?? Then, when the car was in the air / you hoped that it didn't teater over because of loose jackfoot placement.
ONE GUY CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
That is Scotty (Scotty's Speed Shop,Scotty is the bigger one)and I after the engine is final tuned and ready for action. Thank you to Tom and the guys at Superior Finshes, Scotty at Scotty's Speed Shop, Pop's Top Shop in Summerville, SC / Matt's Classic Bowties for parts, Danny at Muscle Express for rush delivery, Tomzwheels out in Texas for the wheels and tires, Dave for drinking beer while we installed the motor, Dan with all of the good ideas, Paddock for parts, my parents for having me, my ex-wife for forcing me to make a choice "it's me or the car, I'm going to miss her" / Thanks to my parents for having me / thank's to A for the support and the almighty God above for giving me OCD (obsessive Camaro disorder).
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