70 1/2 Camaro pro touring

[Steve H]

Hi guys, 

Time for the next build. I’m really liking the pro touring style of cars right now. I still like pro street too of course, and… well anything low.

So here’s the inspiration. Dutchboys 71 Camaro built for the 2015 SEMA show. I haven’t done a deep dive on the car, just some images online. I fell in love the second I saw this beast. The colour is absolutely killer. I will not be doing an exact replica, but I intend to capture the overall look of the car. For any of you that saw my 300c build, that was a build to prep for this one.

 

As I understand it, this car set the bar (and raised it) for all pro touring cars in 2015. Some of the mods include air intakes where the turn signals were to cool the brakes. Turn signals are in the front bumpers, not sure yet if I will do that, (still lots of planning and decisions to make) but it’s on my “maybe” list. I am going to replicate the door handles, and the trim will be black, I also intend to do my best to replicate the body colour. 

I’ve started work on the body and will post some pics of  progress tomorrow. 

Cheers, Steve

 

[Bills72sj]

I love the wheel flares on that Camaro. It reminds me of one I saw in a Car Craft or Hot Rod magazine around 1976. It was dark green and had very tastefully done wheel flares that were slightly better than the ones on this red car. If you build it, I will follow along.

[Cool Hand]

Look forward to seeing how you go about this build Steve.

[Mattilacken]

Looking forward to seeing your build!

[Steve H]

Time to get started…

I want to tackle the main bodywork first. Once flares are done I can go about setting ride height and track width. 
I wasn’t sure how to go about the fender mods until I saw Phil Dauphinee (Phil Daupho) tackle them in a WIP using the same body for a Trans Am race car. I can’t say enough good things about Phil. He is a fantastic builder, does lots for our hobby locally, he is largely responsible for me getting back to the hobby, and he’s just an all ‘round nice guy who is always happy to share his knowledge.

Thanks Phil !!

My fenders will have a slightly different shape, but the process will be the same.

I marked out roughly where the top of new fender opening will be. Pardon the rough Bondo work, that will get cleaned up later…

Next I taped around the fender lip as a guide to cut and remove. Scriber was used to remove lip.

Then a sanding drum in the Dremel to remove material 

Sheet styrene cut into strips to create flares

Then re-attach fender lips

Here you can see that the fenders are raised by about 2 1/2 scale inches at the outer edge, at the body I removed about 5 scale inches. I have since added filler pieces fill that gap. LOTS of clean up and Bondo to go, but it’s a start!

Same process up front..

Got a long way to go yet, but feels good to have this one under way. It’s been in my head for about 2 years now. 
 

Thanks for having a look, as always all comments welcome. 
Cheers, Steve

[espo]

I like the fender flares and thank you for showing how that is done. A thought if you are doing the brake cooling ducts. The full bumpered Camaros have their turn signals mounted in the same area as the holes on the Dutchboys Camaros front fenders. Maybe cover with some sort of screen.     

[mustang1989]

This looks like it's going to be one heckuva build. Have you sourced the wheels and tires yet? 

[AmericanMuscleFan]

Well, it's not hard to be inspired by such a beautiful car my friend!  You have great taste in cars and it shows in all your subjects and this one will be another head turner.  You're off to a great start, I'm already won over by the project! 😍

[Misha]

Hi Steve, you’ve got my attention! Looking at the proto-type photos, is that a suede/semi-gloss finish? Knowing how you work, I’m sure many will be along for the ride on this one.

Cheers Misha

[Zippi]

That's going to be a good looking Camero man.  Love that color.  

[TransAmMike]

Wow, what a cool llooking Camaro, you "fabricators" just kill me.  Already impressive work Steve👌  , I'm a watchin'!!

[MeatMan]

Looks like a nice project!

[Steve H]

23 hours ago, espo said:

I like the fender flares and thank you for showing how that is done. A thought if you are doing the brake cooling ducts. The full bumpered Camaros have their turn signals mounted in the same area as the holes on the Dutchboys Camaros front fenders. Maybe cover with some sort of screen.     

Hi David, I still have work to do on the flares but it’s a start, and all credit to Phil as far as the process. So much amazing talent on this forum to learn from. As for the ducts, I don’t think I will do the cooling ducts, but that may change. However, I might still open them up for air intakes to help the engine breath. If I do that, screens may be a good option as I have a suitable mesh I could use. As always, thanks for looking and contributing!
 

 

22 hours ago, mustang1989 said:

This looks like it's going to be one heckuva build. Have you sourced the wheels and tires yet? 

Hi Joe! Yes, I have ALMOST perfect wheels for it, I will show photos at a later date. I’m playing with some wheel sleeves to have deep and deeper offsets. They would look good as is, but better with deeper O/S’s

18 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said:

Well, it's not hard to be inspired by such a beautiful car my friend!  You have great taste in cars and it shows in all your subjects and this one will be another head turner.  You're off to a great start, I'm already won over by the project! 😍

Francis! I know right, this car is stunning in my eyes. I will do my best to capture the look of real car. Thanks for checking !!

18 hours ago, Misha said:

Hi Steve, you’ve got my attention! Looking at the proto-type photos, is that a suede/semi-gloss finish? Knowing how you work, I’m sure many will be along for the ride on this one.

Cheers Misha

Hello Misha. It is indeed a semi gloss paint. Apparently it was a “happy mistake” on the real car. The car can look quite different in different types of light. I played with a test colour quite a while back that turned out pretty close. I will do some more spoons to narrow down the recipe. The colour was used on my hearse curtains. Thanks for the words of encouragement, I’ll try not to disappoint!

 

 

 

18 hours ago, Zippi said:

That's going to be a good looking Camero man.  Love that color.  

Hi Bob, yes, capturing the colour will be one of the keys to this project. Thanks for having a look.
 

 

16 hours ago, TransAmMike said:

Wow, what a cool llooking Camaro, you "fabricators" just kill me.  Already impressive work Steve👌  , I'm a watchin'!!

Hi Mike! Well, fabrication is NOT my strong point, I appreciate the vote of confidence though. I continue to learn from all of the talented builders like yourself on this board. Thanks for following along.

15 hours ago, MeatMan said:

Looks like a nice project!

Thanks Dennis, this one will challenge my skills a bit.

 

Thank you all for taking the time to have a look and comment, it’s much appreciated.

Cheers, Steve

[Phildaupho]

This is going to be awesome. Glad I was able to get you motivated to build this.

[Keef]

Loving it so far, can’t wait to see it finished!

[Steve H]

On 12/3/2021 at 12:28 PM, Phildaupho said:

This is going to be awesome. Glad I was able to get you motivated to build this.

Hi Phil. Yes, seeing your approach to the fenders made me think I can pull it off. Probably won’t be quite as nice as yours, but it should come our decent. 

On 12/3/2021 at 1:56 PM, Keef said:

Loving it so far, can’t wait to see it finished!

Keith! Slow down!!…. Finished is a ways away…I’m slow. Seriously though, thanks for the encouragement, I am inspired to keep going on this one.

 

Cheers, Steve

[Steve H]

Hi fellas, a bit more progress.

I have all 4 fender flares done, well…. not “finished” just roughed in. Lots of cleanup to do yet. When I started the cutting and shaping, I had plan “A”, with plan “B” on the back burner. Soooooo, plan A was hoping that once attached they would be “perfect”, then reality. The flares were much too flat for my liking. Problem was,  I couldn’t really go higher up into the body as it would mess up chassis fitment, and I wanted the lips of the fenders at the height I attached them. So I cut some styrene sheet and added them on the tops of the flares. This will give the flares a little more slope, and look more like the real car. 

Same for the fronts…

First shmeer of bondo…

Yikes, that’s a mess. Don’t worry, I’ll clean it up!

It’s premature for primer I know, but really needed to see what I had after round one. In the next photo you can see I also started on the “door handles”

Here’s a screen shot showing the door handle, and some info on the car.

I still have a lot of sand/fill/prime to do but I’m pleased with the overall shape now. I will do more clean up on the door handles too of course. 
Thanks for having a look, more soon!

[Mattilacken]

Great progress! Looking forward to this and I know you wilL make it great!

[gotnitro?]

Definitely watching this develop,  loved your take on the 300C 

 

[Cool Hand]

Nice bit of sculpting on those fender flare's, keeping the original lip is a pretty trick idea.

[Can-Con]

Nice work on those fenders Steve. I find getting them even is pretty difficult.

You guys keep building these wicked Camaros I might have to dig this one back out. Started 20 years ago and the paint went south on me so it's stripped and ready for new bodywork.  The white paint sure hides the flared fenders though.

[Bills72sj]

I too wish to continue to encourage you. Once I see how it can be done I may be brave enough to attempt it myself. I have 3 unbuilts in my stash.

Here is a link to the only 2nd gen Camaro I have done.

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/147573-1970-rally-sport-454-camaro/?tab=comments#comment-2167878

 

[Steve H]

On 12/4/2021 at 3:58 PM, Mattilacken said:

Great progress! Looking forward to this and I know you wilL make it great!

I appreciate the vote of confidence!
 

 

14 hours ago, gotnitro? said:

Definitely watching this develop,  loved your take on the 300C 

 

Hi Jeff, thanks for checking in. Thanks for the kind words on the 300 too.

14 hours ago, Cool Hand said:

Nice bit of sculpting on those fender flare's, keeping the original lip is a pretty trick idea.

Hey Luke, still some work to do on the fenders, but I think they should come out good . 
 

 

13 hours ago, Can-Con said:

Nice work on those fenders Steve. I find getting them even is pretty difficult.

You guys keep building these wicked Camaros I might have to dig this one back out. Started 20 years ago and the paint went south on me so it's stripped and ready for new bodywork.  The white paint sure hides the flared fenders though.

Hi Steve, yes indeed, I am a bit worried they won’t be even. Everything measures out good, and in this paint looks good by eye. Hopefully once it’s in final paint there isn’t any surprises….

You need to finish that Camaro! Looks great, would love to see your take on the same car. Bust it out!

8 hours ago, Bills72sj said:

I too wish to continue to encourage you. Once I see how it can be done I may be brave enough to attempt it myself. I have 3 unbuilts in my stash.

Here is a link to the only 2nd gen Camaro I have done.

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/147573-1970-rally-sport-454-camaro/?tab=comments#comment-2167878

 

If I can do it, you definitely can do it Bill. Your Camaro is very impressive, thanks for sharing that. 
 

Thanks for your interest fellas.

[Steve H]

Hi guys, had a reasonable day at the desk.

It was time to start playing with the rest of bodywork. I pulled the rear spoiler from Baldwin Motion issue. The rear spoiler needs some work. In my eye, it’s way too bulky, it’s also got some nasty sink marks.

Hard to tell in the photo, but doesn’t conform to the lines of the trunk lid either.

It still needs lots of work, but much better…

Next up, the drip rails need to go…

Not sure what to say about the headlight area, yikes!! 

I will tackle this and the rear bumper next. LOTS of fidelly stuff to do on the headlight area, not looking forward to it. The rear bumper mods should be easy.

Thanks for having a look.

[Spottedlaurel]

Great to see another of your projects on the go Steve, good luck with it!

I definitely think there's something of this style to come on one or two of my future builds, I just need to find the right subject and constituent upgrade parts.