Greetings!
Here you go readers, for the same low price you're now getting twice your money's worth from Doug's Drugs. I've got the second bay of the shop filled with a tired, red '68 Camaro and I'm taking it apart to repaint it and replace the worn interior. Over the past few days I've got the interior stripped and have made an inspection of the original sheetmetal. The owner of the Camaro has named it "Grace" and she tells me it's a numbers-matching car. When the car was dropped off, it was accompanied by several boxes of interior parts and a new convertible top, all stock reproduction parts. As we were discussing the details of what was wanted, I made a few suggestions: I suggested a retrofit fuel injection setup and an automatic overdrive transmission. Currently, the car has a heavily cammed small block and a Powerglide (2-speed) transmission. In the 70s we became adept at bad-mouthing the Powerglide. It was smooth, but gutless. Everyone knows that you can get a brand new ATI Powerglide that will handle 3500 horsepower for only $10,000, but this original unit Grace is using is smooth but gutless. Still, the owner decided to keep the Powerglide and the carbureted intake. One concession: I was able to talk her out of the original points distributor and into a more efficient HEI unit. That should perk things up. The fact that it's a numbers-matching car doesn't change my ideas about upgrading the car. If the owner wants to drive and enjoy it, then upgrades are the way to go. If it's just to show, then it's a different story. Any time I upgrade an original classic, I offer to return all the parts to the owner to be kept with the car, just in case someone in the car's future wants to take it back to original.
After stripping out the old interior, I saw that the bare floor is in fair condition. There's some surface rust plus on the floor up front under the pedals, and in the same spot on the passenger's side, but I couldn't poke a screwdriver through the metal. It'll clean up with a wire brush and I'll follow it with a coat of black, POR rust treatment paint. Generally, rust is not a problem with this classic. The Powerglide is the problem.
The engine has a mild cam that gives it an attractive lope at idle, and over the years it's acquired an aftermarket aluminum intake manifold and AFB carb. On top of the carburetor is a large diameter air cleaner with a milled aluminum cover that matches the two milled aluminum valve covers. The engine compartment has been cleaned and painted with low gloss black in a previous makeover and looks acceptable, however when I used a mild pressure washer on the engine, chunks of orange paint flew in all directions. I'll have to touch up the engine paint before delivery. Generally, I'll be staying out of the engine compartment on this job.
Looking at the paint, it's clear that the previous painter didn't put an adequate amount of clear coat on the medium red base coat. I'm going to guess that he aggressively color-sanded the thin coat of clear before buffing with an abrasive polish. I've done this myself many years ago and learned a valuable lesson. So, at this point the interior is stripped and by week's end I could have the exterior trim removed and the body sanded and primed for block sanding.
I've got Gary's '51 in the final stages of construction and it'll soon be ready for paint also. I mounted the two freshly painted inner fender panels and installed the battery tray & bracket. I like it! The time I spent doing body work on these panels has paid off.
I'm waiting for a friend to loan me his TIG welder so I can install a fan switch in the bottom of the new aluminium radiator. The switch will control the twin electric fans that will mount in front of the A/C condenser. When the temp in the the radiator rises to a certain point, the switch activates the circuit to the two "pusher" fans up front. I've painted the A/C condenser and drier silver to simulate the aluminum on the radiator and provide contrast to the black inner fenders. The chrome fans will bolt in front of them and be noticeable through the grille.
I also installed the courtesy lights on either fender panel and wired them up to the switch hidden in the air cleaner. Now that the fender panels are painted gloss black, the small lights will give things just enough light to make things visible while parked at night. You can see the courtesy lights better if you enlarge the photo. It's pretty subtle.
The wiring is next. I'm waiting for a fitting I ordered from Summit Racing that will complete the fuel system. I ordered it weeks ago and it's still a week or two away. It will allow me to adapt the metric threads of the fuel pump to the -AN fittings used in the rest of the high pressure section of the fuel line. When that arrives, I'll finally be able to start the car.
Thanks for viewing, please check back often!
Doug
Here you go readers, for the same low price you're now getting twice your money's worth from Doug's Drugs. I've got the second bay of the shop filled with a tired, red '68 Camaro and I'm taking it apart to repaint it and replace the worn interior. Over the past few days I've got the interior stripped and have made an inspection of the original sheetmetal. The owner of the Camaro has named it "Grace" and she tells me it's a numbers-matching car. When the car was dropped off, it was accompanied by several boxes of interior parts and a new convertible top, all stock reproduction parts. As we were discussing the details of what was wanted, I made a few suggestions: I suggested a retrofit fuel injection setup and an automatic overdrive transmission. Currently, the car has a heavily cammed small block and a Powerglide (2-speed) transmission. In the 70s we became adept at bad-mouthing the Powerglide. It was smooth, but gutless. Everyone knows that you can get a brand new ATI Powerglide that will handle 3500 horsepower for only $10,000, but this original unit Grace is using is smooth but gutless. Still, the owner decided to keep the Powerglide and the carbureted intake. One concession: I was able to talk her out of the original points distributor and into a more efficient HEI unit. That should perk things up. The fact that it's a numbers-matching car doesn't change my ideas about upgrading the car. If the owner wants to drive and enjoy it, then upgrades are the way to go. If it's just to show, then it's a different story. Any time I upgrade an original classic, I offer to return all the parts to the owner to be kept with the car, just in case someone in the car's future wants to take it back to original.The engine has a mild cam that gives it an attractive lope at idle, and over the years it's acquired an aftermarket aluminum intake manifold and AFB carb. On top of the carburetor is a large diameter air cleaner with a milled aluminum cover that matches the two milled aluminum valve covers. The engine compartment has been cleaned and painted with low gloss black in a previous makeover and looks acceptable, however when I used a mild pressure washer on the engine, chunks of orange paint flew in all directions. I'll have to touch up the engine paint before delivery. Generally, I'll be staying out of the engine compartment on this job.
Looking at the paint, it's clear that the previous painter didn't put an adequate amount of clear coat on the medium red base coat. I'm going to guess that he aggressively color-sanded the thin coat of clear before buffing with an abrasive polish. I've done this myself many years ago and learned a valuable lesson. So, at this point the interior is stripped and by week's end I could have the exterior trim removed and the body sanded and primed for block sanding.
I've got Gary's '51 in the final stages of construction and it'll soon be ready for paint also. I mounted the two freshly painted inner fender panels and installed the battery tray & bracket. I like it! The time I spent doing body work on these panels has paid off. I'm waiting for a friend to loan me his TIG welder so I can install a fan switch in the bottom of the new aluminium radiator. The switch will control the twin electric fans that will mount in front of the A/C condenser. When the temp in the the radiator rises to a certain point, the switch activates the circuit to the two "pusher" fans up front. I've painted the A/C condenser and drier silver to simulate the aluminum on the radiator and provide contrast to the black inner fenders. The chrome fans will bolt in front of them and be noticeable through the grille.
The wiring is next. I'm waiting for a fitting I ordered from Summit Racing that will complete the fuel system. I ordered it weeks ago and it's still a week or two away. It will allow me to adapt the metric threads of the fuel pump to the -AN fittings used in the rest of the high pressure section of the fuel line. When that arrives, I'll finally be able to start the car.
Thanks for viewing, please check back often!
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