1969 Camaro A/SA (possibly Thomas Arnett’s)

[R. Thorne]

Another fairly current Stock Eliminator build.  If I feel confident enough to tackle the painted on side trim and come up with the Monocoque 10 hole wheels, then it will be a replica of Thomas’s car.  If not, then a nondescript Stocker similar to his car in 2006-2010.  This is the kit I am using.  Painted the chassis and interior with ts 30 Tamiya.

[R. Thorne]

Removed a couple sharp seam lines, sprayed some Tamiya fine white primer,  sprayed the grill with some ts30.  Also, some ts14 on the rear end and miscellaneous parts.  Headers are for another build.

Edited March 3, 2024 by R. Thorne

[R. Thorne]

Applied a couple coats of ts 10 French blue.  A couple hours later, I noticed some “blushing” or dull spots on the top and one side that were not there after the wet gloss coats.  The humidity was 41 percent and temp was 73 degrees, or I would have guessed high humidity as the culprit.  After some head scratching, decided to put a couple more gloss coats on.  That eliminated 90 percent of it.  

[R. Thorne]

Electric water pump I gotta paint.  Another pic of the 1:1 wheels, and the Beretta Pro Street kit they come in.  Don’t want to buy a kit just to get the wheels, so may try to modify some Cragar Super Tricks (drill 10 holes in each wheel).  Installed front suspension, then started to cut some aluminum tubing for better looking collectors.  Then, remembered I had used shrink tubing on a previous build.  Looks better than tubing, I think.

[R. Thorne]

Forgot to install the rear lower part of the body, so painted it separately.  Had a little “blushing” ,so a couple more coats eliminated that issue.

[R. Thorne]

After cutting off the 4 speed trans (in preparation for a th200 automatic), patched the resulting hole with some .010” styrene, then painted orange.  Painted some miscellaneous parts semi gloss black.

[R. Thorne]

Decided to put some Mr. Super Gloss clear on today.  Turned out good until I decided to cover it (to keep the dust bunnies out while drying) with my back up resin sanding box, as I had just cleared the 57 Chevy also.  Big mistake, as it is too clear, and I hit the car and knocked it over on it’s side.  Tried to wipe it off quickly and resprayed it.  Didn’t work, so it is currently soaking in 91 % alcohol.  Today I ordered 2 tall shoe box covers, so, hopefully this will not be repeated.  It’s what I get for breaking my routine.  If you look, you can see the smudges all down the right side and on the left side, the rear quarter panel.

[FoMoCo66]

1 hour ago, R. Thorne said:

Decided to put some Mr. Super Gloss clear on today.  Turned out good until I decided to cover it (to keep the dust bunnies out while drying) with my back up resin sanding box, as I had just cleared the 57 Chevy also.  Big mistake, as it is too clear, and I hit the car and knocked it over on it’s side.  Tried to wipe it off quickly and resprayed it.  Didn’t work, so it is currently soaking in 91 % alcohol.  Today I ordered 2 tall shoe box covers, so, hopefully this will not be repeated.  It’s what I get for breaking my routine.  If you look, you can see the smudges all down the right side and on the left side, the rear quarter panel.

? we've all had that happen to us. Little oopsies are just part of the hobby. Looks like you will have to end up stripping it. Such a shame?‍↔️.

Edited March 5, 2024 by FoMoCo66

[R. Thorne]

On 3/5/2024 at 6:41 PM, FoMoCo66 said:

? we've all had that happen to us. Little oopsies are just part of the hobby. Looks like you will have to end up stripping it. Such a shame?‍↔️.

It is soaking in the tank.  It’s not the first time this has happened to me.  As you say, it’s part of the hobby.

[R. Thorne]

The paint job saga continues.  After soaking in 91% iso for 5 or 6 days (with a couple of tooth brush scrubs in between, virtually no progress in removing the Tamiya paint.  Next phase was elo paint remover with some success.  The last effort with Mr. Color leveling thinner scrubbed on with a paper towel did the job.

Edited March 24, 2024 by R. Thorne

[R. Thorne]

Next phase was some primer, then 1200 and 4000 polishing to remove 2 nubs.  Then more primer which turned out really smooth and shiny because of the 4000 polishing sanding stick. Weather conditions when final primer was applied.

[R. Thorne]

Another day, another paint job, on the same car (or so it seems).  Some builds just fight you more than others.  I ain’t quitting.  Top of car turned out fine, but experienced runs on sides of car.  Sanding down sides, mask off top, then another respray.

[Tony Coomer]

Very kool project…

[R. Thorne]

6 hours ago, Tony Coomer said:

Very kool project…

Thanks.  Finished with some 1000 and 2500 grit Dspiae pads.  Sprayed whole car again today in these weather conditions.  Took some pics right after spraying.  We will see what it looks like in a few hours.

[R. Thorne]

After the first respray, upon checking after 2 hours, noticed I had light coverage on 1 spot, so, i sprayed another reasonably heavy coat all over.  Checked it a couple hours later, Looked much better and I am satisfied.  By the way, this is still the original spray can.

 

[R. Thorne]

Finally got around to casting another TH200 trans (along with some other stuff).

[R. Thorne]

The results of a few pours.  Cleaned up one of the transmissions, sprayed some primer, then some ts30 10 minutes later, next is some Tamiya flat clear.

[Tony Coomer]

The paint looks great. Great work so far…

[R. Thorne]

On 4/7/2024 at 5:09 PM, Tony Coomer said:

The paint looks great. Great work so far…

Thanks, James.  Some slow progress.  Put some flat clear on the trans, made it look like primer again.  Was hoping for a flat aluminum look.  Sanded leaf springs down to appear like mono or split leaf springs like most guys use.  Painted them with some steel enamel.

[R. Thorne]

Appropriated some front tires from this future Bob Glidden build kit, put some rubber black on the white walls, decided to use these mags and forego my friend Thomas’s replica.  I have no wheels to use like his.  Put some ts30 on the electric water pump.  Glued the wheels on last night.  The wheels came in the original Camaro kit.

Edited April 11, 2024 by R. Thorne

[R. Thorne]

Some assembly work, putting engine and trans together (after some sanding and a couple of couplings that didn’t go right), plus some engine pieces including the electric water pump.

[deuces wild]

On 4/10/2024 at 3:07 PM, R. Thorne said:

Appropriated some front tires from this future Bob Glidden build kit, put some rubber black on the white walls, decided to use these mags and forego my friend Thomas’s replica.  I have no wheels to use like his.  Put some ts30 on the electric water pump.  Glued the wheels on last night.  The wheels came in the original Camaro kit.

Those front tires looks like the AMT Firestone Supremes.... One of my favorites...

[R. Thorne]

They aren’t Firestones (no markings), but are very similar in tread and diameter, and they fit the wheels.  Modified the pulleys and belts to fit the pump, installed headers.  Then, of course, the engine wouldn’t fit with headers installed, so, cut trans crossmember off, will reinstall after engine is mounted.

[R. Thorne]

Separated CalTracs from the leaf spring, then marked bolt heads with chrome pen.

[R. Thorne]

Next, sub frame connectors.  Started to cut floor boards out to sink connectors in, but, with other stuff already installed, decided to mount them to existing sub frames.  No cutting of floor.  Made them from square tubing.  Trimmed the “bolt head” from rear sub frame so connectors will “weld on” flush.  Will install tomorrow.