AMT 1970 1/2 Z-28 Camaro Street Machine

[DanL]

Used the AMT full bumper 1970 1/2 Z-28 to replicate the car I owned in the early 70's. I replaced the standard LT-1 exhaust manifolds with headers from the AMT Baldwin Camaro and also used the yellow traction bars. The rear street slicks and slotted mags  came from the Moebius Chevy II gasser. I had the car repainted in 1974 in Volkswagen Silver Blue so I used Tamiya TS-58 Pearl light blue on a silver base coat to try and replicate the shade. It's  close but not perfect. I managed to lower the front by 2 mm and raise the rear about the same to get a 70's stance to it.

[Street Rod]

Looks like the real car. Love that ‘70’s stance!

[DanL]

My original car ran American Racing slotted mags in the rear and Cragar SS mags up front with Mickey Thompson tires. It was common to see cars with two different types of wheels back then. Of course it had the LT-1 350 cu in engine along with 4.11 gears and Muncie 4 speed. 4000 RPM got me about 65 mph on the highway. I ran Gabriel Hi tracker air shocks in the back along with the yellow Lakewood traction bars as well as a shackle kit for clearance. The engine used Mallory dual point ignition, Holley 780 double pumper, Edelbrock manifold, Crane solid lifter camshaft, Ported and Polished heads and Hooker headers (in white of course). Exhaust ran through Thrush turbo 400 mufflers. Finished off the drivetrain with a Hays 3-finger racing clutch inside a Lakewood steel bellhousing. You really needed some leg strength to push that clutch pedal. I owned it for about 3 years, sold it once and bought it back and finally sold it for good. Made money on it each time. Good memories.

Cheers

DanL

[Vintage chromoly]

Nice work!

I really like early second gen Camaros. 

[DanL]

Just now, Vintage chromoly said:

Nice work!

I really like early second gen Camaros. 

Yes... they really are a great design and look good from any angle. It's just too bad we don't have a properly good model kit to represent them.

[charger74]

Very nice ??

[AMT68]

Looks great. I never used the Tamiya Pearl Blue on a silver base before but now I would like to use that process. I really like the look it provides. 

[espo]

I like the look of the soft blue color and the finish looks great. Always thought the lower rear spoiler looked better on the second gen Camaros. The interior is very realistic looking with the way the dash is trimmed. 

[DanL]

For those of you considering building this AMT kit. It is not a properly designed kit... it does not go together well. The initial build up , painting and detail goes OK but when you attempt to fit it all together the pins don't fit the holes and the worst is the dash, windshield and windshield surround all want to occupy the same space. This is not a simple fix either. It requires major modifications to get it even close to fitting. Of course you have to do all this modification with painted and detailed pieces which just destroys them. It fought me to the very end, even the rear license plate holder didn't fit. Two bits of advice... Lower the entire dash in the interior tub before you start cutting the windshield and secondly, do not attach the two pieces of the chassis together until the very end. This is the first AMT kit I have built and it probably will be the last one, but I really did want to build the old Z-28. Here's a few more pictures....

[Dragonhawk1066]

Pretty sharp! Well done!

[XYHARRY]

Very cool build of your old street fighter Dan. I too am a fan of this body style and have the AMT Baldwin motion Camaro in my stash. Thanks for the heads up about the kit's issues. 

Cheers, David. ??

[happy grumpy]

That's a great looking replica of your car. I like the color it fits this body style so well. I feel your pain. I've built a couple of those and they are not easy. The one I built recently fought every step of the way. I had a hard time fitting the body over the chassis . Don't be put off by this kit though, there are really good AMT kits out there that fits really well, too many to list here but you tube reviews are your friend here. Right now I am building their" culture car " chevy 57 and it's a pure joy. Anyway, you did a superb job on your camaro. 

[DanL]

Thanks for all the positive comments...

Cheers

DanL

[Oldcarfan27]

Dan, car looks great and your avatar is awesome too! Makes me laugh. ?

Edited October 11, 2022 by Oldcarfan27

[DanL]

45 minutes ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

Dan that pic is perfect for my "70s cars as they really were" thread. The fact that you owned it makes it even better. Please consider adding it and your ownership stories to the thread!

Also, your avatar is awesome too! Makes me laugh. ?

Thanks Patrick... sometimes you have to just mash the throttle and hang on!

[slusher]

Looks great!  Looks like you nailed it!

[stavanzer]

Super Build, and even Better Story.

Thanks for sharing, Dan!

[ewetwo]

That looks great.

 

[DanL]

6 hours ago, ewetwo said:

That looks great.

 

Thanks David

[DanL]

19701/2 Z-28's seem to be quite popular... so I added a few more pics of my recent build. It does bring back fond memories of my old street car

Cheers

DanL