A Pair of Camaros--Dual 1970 Camaro Build-Z-28 in "Under Glass"

[mustang1989]

Well guys…the Mustang build, as much as I hate to say it, had to come to an end. I’ve gotta say that I really enjoyed that build alot. I had been doing alot of pondering about what was next up on the bench and had it all narrowed down to three but couldn’t make my mind up on what I wanted to build out of the three. It was really a source of frustration in a small way because I just couldn’t make a decision. So…to end that I decided not to do ANY of those but to build something that I’ve been wanting to build for a very long time… A 1970 Camaro with a big block in it and a Z-28 side by side. These kits are said to be a very difficult ones to work with but we’ll see what happens. I’m up for the challenge…

These cars hold great interest to me because #1…The Baldwin offering has a big block in it and #2 The 1970 Z-28 was almost my first car…till dad stopped it. Smart guy because I probably would’ve been a grease stain on the highway at an early age.

Now on the bench:

Baldwin Camaros are just evil …sporting a 500+ hp 454 and covering the 1/4 mile in the 11 second range. I’ve already got the MCW Forest Green paint for this car.

The real thing:

The Z-28 is a beautiful car as well sporting a 350 small block. Not as nasty as the Baldwin Camaro but still packs a decent wallop. I’ll be going with Cranberry Red for this one and will be turning to MCW for the color.

Stay tuned gang…...I hope to do these two cars the justice they deserve.

Edited September 16, 2022 by mustang1989

[Steve H]

Joe! With the amazing job you did with the Mustang, there is no doubt you will do these justice. I’m in for the ride sir. Looking forward to seeing these progress. I hope the headlight area on your kits is better than mine was… Also check for twist in the body. 
 

Cheers, Steve

[mustang1989]

19 minutes ago, Steve H said:

Joe! With the amazing job you did with the Mustang, there is no doubt you will do these justice. I’m in for the ride sir. Looking forward to seeing these progress. I hope the headlight area on your kits is better than mine was… Also check for twist in the body. 
 

Cheers, Steve

Thanks for the heads up Steve. I'll be looking for the twist for sure. I foresaw the headlight issue with the chrome bezels and all. I think I've got an idea for those.

[Steve H]

10 minutes ago, mustang1989 said:

Thanks for the heads up Steve. I'll be looking for the twist for sure. I foresaw the headlight issue with the chrome bezels and all. I think I've got an idea for those.

The rear spoiler on the Baldwin Motion car is also a bit chunky. I removed  the extra “meat” below the spoiler when I did my pro touring build. 

[Bills72sj]

Following. I have one 2nd gen built and 3 in the stash.

[mustang1989]

Thanks for the heads up and the comments guys. I'll be jotting down little notes along the way so I can keep track of what to look for.

Starting on the engine build for the Z-28. Here's the base engine completed. I'll be going with a MAD pre-wired distributor on this to cut down on time spent drilling the distributor and putting the wires in and will be ordering that tomorrow when I get paid.

Base chassis all laid out ready for painting. Actually this aint a bad chassis having quite a number of parts. Per some of the reviews that I've read on these kits , I'll be attaching the front subframe assy at a later stage in the build for ease of assembly.

Edited May 18, 2022 by mustang1989

[bytownshaker]

I'll following as well Joe as I'm building 2 early 70's Camaro Pro Stock's ( I'm so slow ). 

I hate that orange plastic it's so soft.

Edgar

 

[Tom Geiger]

Cool!  I like multiple builds.  I built three of the same 1950 Chevy pickup at the same time.

[espo]

Sounds like an interesting pair to build together. Like you I have always liked the Camaro and have owned a couple of first- and second-generation cars.  

[TransAmMike]

I know you will nail these builds my Friend.  Both great choices. I completed the '70 Z-28 and also have the Baldwin car to build.

I will be real interested in how you deal with the headlight issue. There are no bezels.

I'll be watching!!😀

[mustang1989]

On 5/17/2022 at 8:56 PM, Steve H said:

Joe! With the amazing job you did with the Mustang, there is no doubt you will do these justice. I’m in for the ride sir. Looking forward to seeing these progress. I hope the headlight area on your kits is better than mine was… Also check for twist in the body. 
 

Cheers, Steve

You were right. NASTY  body warp/ twist. I managed to work that issue out this morning. Thanks for the heads up.

[mustang1989]

21 hours ago, bytownshaker said:

I'll following as well Joe as I'm building 2 early 70's Camaro Pro Stock's ( I'm so slow ). 

I hate that orange plastic it's so soft.

Edgar

 

Thanks Edgar. Yeah that orange plastic is as soft as the AMT blue Pro Street Nova kits.

 

21 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Cool!  I like multiple builds.  I built three of the same 1950 Chevy pickup at the same time.

Thanks for taggin' along Tom. Great to have you aboard. Three??? I'm stretching it with two. lol 

 

16 hours ago, espo said:

Sounds like an interesting pair to build together. Like you I have always liked the Camaro and have owned a couple of first- and second-generation cars.  

Alllllllmost had me a 1970 split bumper. Almost. lol 

14 hours ago, TransAmMike said:

I know you will nail these builds my Friend.  Both great choices. I completed the '70 Z-28 and also have the Baldwin car to build.

I will be real interested in how you deal with the headlight issue. There are no bezels.

I'll be watching!!😀

Thanks Mike. Yeah.....I'm workin' on that issue. Great to have you along.

[Mattilacken]

Sweet will be following!

[Dragonhawk1066]

Those are actually pretty decent kits fitment-wise, at least the ones I built were. A lot of flash on the parts and potential molding issues in the headlight areas, and maybe at the lower-back portion of the passenger front fenderwell, but otherwise pretty nice kits. I'm sure you'll knock-em out of the park, and I'll enjoy watching the progress.

[Keef]

I’ll be watching this build, maybe will get me motivated to finish mine. I can’t wait to see what you do about the headlight issue.

[mustang1989]

On 5/21/2022 at 3:54 PM, Mattilacken said:

Sweet will be following!

Thanks Anton!! 

On 5/21/2022 at 6:22 PM, Dragonhawk1066 said:

Those are actually pretty decent kits fitment-wise, at least the ones I built were. A lot of flash on the parts and potential molding issues in the headlight areas, and maybe at the lower-back portion of the passenger front fenderwell, but otherwise pretty nice kits. I'm sure you'll knock-em out of the park, and I'll enjoy watching the progress.

'preciate you taggin' alog Craig! 

10 hours ago, Keef said:

I’ll be watching this build, maybe will get me motivated to finish mine. I can’t wait to see what you do about the headlight issue.

Thanks for joinin' in Keith. I can't wait to see how I tackle that issue as well. I've got a couple of things in mind.....we'll see. lol 

[mustang1989]

I've now got the wheels and tires selected for the Z-28 build. The rear tires will have those big ass GOODYEAR scripts shaved off and some BF Goodrich T/A ones will take their place. This'll be the stance/ look that I'll be going for.

[Keef]

Love the low stance, it gives these cars a meaner look in my opinion. 

[KWT]

Definitely gonna be following along... stance will be killer

[slusher]

Hey Joe, I will be following ass I watch all of your builds! What wheels do you have on the orange Camaro?

[Keef]

I could be wrong but it looks like the Cragars either from the BM Camaro or the recent Revell El Camino reissue.

[mustang1989]

On 5/24/2022 at 4:34 PM, KWT said:

Definitely gonna be following along... stance will be killer

Great to have you along good friend Jeremy!! I really appreciate the comments.

3 hours ago, slusher said:

Hey Joe, I will be following ass I watch all of your builds! What wheels do you have on the orange Camaro?

Brutha Carl!!! Keith was right ...from the latest Revell El Camino kit. I tried the ones from a spare BM Camaro kit that I had but wanted a different look to them since I'll be using the BM Cragars on the BM Camaro.

2 hours ago, Keef said:

I could be wrong but it looks like the Cragars either from the BM Camaro or the recent Revell El Camino reissue.

Right you are Keith and you're right again on the lower stance. Love it on these cars.

[mustang1989]

 The rear part of the chassis is about 70% finished now. Still have to install the rear sway bar, shock mounts and shocks but we're getting there. I had to take a break in the progress and narrow the rear end and arch the springs just a tad to achieve the stance I was looking for in the rear. I merely cut off the axle ends, shaved each end of the axle back about 3/16" , drilled holes in the axle and in the axle mounting ends and pinned them back to the axle. I've already done a test run and the wheel/ tire assemblies are right where I want em now. 

[Vintage AMT]

On 5/24/2022 at 7:26 AM, mustang1989 said:

The rear tires will have those big ass GOODYEAR scripts shaved off

Curious, what process do you use to remove those letters, I always gouge the sidewall when I try too..

[mustang1989]

10 minutes ago, Vintage AMT said:

Curious, what process do you use to remove those letters, I always gouge the sidewall when I try too..

I use sanding sticks starting with the medium ranges and working my way through the finer ranges. I used the same  trick on my Monogram 69 Camaro a few years back and they came out alright.