Greg Pugh Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 WOW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted October 30, 2014 Author Share Posted October 30, 2014 This will be a multi-part post.. Engine detail mockup started today. This morning I concentrated mostly on mocking up better pullies for the engine, I also wanted to use a better alternator than the one that came in the kit, as well as adding a power steering pump (though not all BM camaros came with power steering, some were deleted for a few extra HP). I dug out a old after market curbside dioramics (wish these guys still made stuff) alternator and power steering pump I had in my stash. I figure these will work good for what I wanted. I started with the alternator and CA glued the top bracket it comes with to it. Next I scratch made the rest of the supporting brackets for it drilled some locator holes in the engine block, and added some hard wire for locator pins for mounting it. Next I cut off the alternator pulley from the kit supplied pulley assembly, (I will be using the kit supplied pulley assembly to keep everything aligned) and also cut off the pulley that came molded on the RD alternator (good things these are soft white metal, it made it easier to cut the pulley off with a exacto knife ) and added a pulley from the parts by parks pulley kit I am going to use for the engine. Next I slipped the alternator assembly into place as well as the kit supplied pulley assembly to check for alignment. Next up was the power steering pump. These were made with a locator pin on the back to make them easier to mount. If you can still find some of these around, I would pick some up. I drilled a hole in the engine block the same size as the locator pin on the back of the power steering pump and liquid taped it into place to check for fit and alignment. Continued on in the following post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted October 30, 2014 Author Share Posted October 30, 2014 Next thing to do was to mock up the fan and crank case pullies. I had to trim just a tad off the water pump where the fan pulley mounts so it would sit right, since it is a double pulley and kit supplied one was a single. I tacked the fan and crank pullies into place using liquid tape and then used a piece of hard wire to check for alignment. Now that everything is aligned, it can be disassembled for paint and detailing. The parts by parks pulley kit comes with some strips of round rubber that make nice belts. though not shown here, you will see them once the engine is further along. And that's pretty much where I'm at for today. I'll post more as I get more done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10thumbs Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Looking very good. I was at this pulley stage earlier this week with my build. Those are nice looking. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byron5150 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 looking good so far mate! Nice belt detailing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1hobby1 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 very impressive. Such an epic build Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyrichard Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 suberb build !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted November 3, 2014 Author Share Posted November 3, 2014 (edited) Hi Guys, sorry it's been a couple days since a update. I have been working on the camaro, I just like to make sure of fit and assembly before I post what I've been doing. One thing I wanted to address on the engine assembly of the camaro, was the headers and side pipes. I dont like mold seems and push pin marks on parts that show. So I dechromed the exhaust parts, cleaned up the mold lines and ejector pin marks, and got them primer-ed. Tomorrow they will get a coat of model master gloss black enamel and set a side to dry for a day or two and then re-chromed with Alclad chrome. Another thing I wanted to do was to pre-fit the engine block on the front sub chassis, and then work on a plan to fit the headers and still get my plug wires installed so they look the way I want them to. (you'll understand what I'm saying here, when I get that far) Another thing I been spending time doing the past couple days, as time has allowed me, was to get the engine, and base engine parts I worked on earlier, painted so I can start putting things together and get some detailing done. And yes I did deviate from the factory color a little on the tranny bell housing. I painted the bell housing gold to give it more of a look a weekend street rodder look. So, though for the most part I will be sticking to a factory stock baldwin motion camaro, I do plan to give it that, "I'm a back yard mechanic and wanna dress up my camaro", look. I'll be doing a little of that under the hood as well.. Not alot just a few touches here and there. more to come as I get it more ready for posting. Edited November 3, 2014 by microwheel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFchronos Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Wow, amazing work Jim. The level of detail is incredible, the frame is a work of art and the paint is drop dead gorgeous. Simply stunning build, I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Awesome progress.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted November 3, 2014 Author Share Posted November 3, 2014 Thanks alot guys. Got a little more done this morning on the engine. I got the basic components put together so I can get it ready for detailing. The list of aftermarket parts I used on the engine are as follows. Pulley kit Power steering pump Alternator Starter Oil Filter Ignition Coil The alternator and power steering pump brackets are scratch made, and the kit supplied distributor was drilled out to accept plug wires. The starter and oil filter were test fitted with the headers liquid taped into place to check for clearances before permanently gluing them into place, then the headers were removed and set aside to get them ready for re-chroming. I'll leave the engine set for a day so the glue sets up nice and strong, then I'll get working on wiring and plumbing it up. Here's a few pics for now. More to come as work continues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakshow12 Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Looks great Jim! If it were mine I would put some aluminum paint inside the valve cover fins as those areas were not polished Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted November 3, 2014 Author Share Posted November 3, 2014 Looks great Jim! If it were mine I would put some aluminum paint inside the valve cover fins as those areas were not polished Hi Fred, great minds think a like lol. I was actually planning on doing just that. I had already mixed up a aluminum wash with Tamiya's flat aluminum and water, and will give it a few wash coats between the valve cover fins. I haven't glued the valve covers on yet for just that reason. I just have them liquid taped into place for now, till I get more of the detail work done and on the engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted November 3, 2014 Author Share Posted November 3, 2014 Here ya go Fred. They are still drying out, but you get the idea. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakshow12 Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Oh that's beautiful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris guthro Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Amazing detail!! One of the best I've ever seen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted November 4, 2014 Author Share Posted November 4, 2014 Thanks guys. One last update for this evening. I went ahead and setup the fan belts for the engine and added a couple of wire looms for the plug wires. The pulley kit from "parts by parks" comes with some pretty neat fan belt material made out of rubber strips. They are pliable and look pretty realistic when used. I attach the belts by applying a small drop of CA glue with a tooth pick in the pulley groves where the belts rest just before they need to curve around the pulleys. I work between just a couple of spots at a time, I also like to make the area, where the two belt ends meet, on the underside of the crank pulley. This is the least visible spot for it. To cut the belt material, you'll want to use a good sharp pair of sprue cutters. And cut them just before joining the two ends together. Also if your alternator is on photo etched brackets, try not to stretch the belt material and put to much of a bind on your brackets. I usually just lay the belts around my pulleys spot gluing as I go so as not to stretch the belts at all. If you use CA glue, and as most of you know, it sometimes leaves a little white residue when it dries, you can touch up the belts in those spots with a little bit of Tamiya semi-gloss black acrylic paint, and it will blend in nicely with the natural color of the belts. If your careful and take your time, this should be your results. That's pretty much it for this evenings progress. I'll be posting more as I go along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris D Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Sooo much better than the standard plastic pulley/belt components! Chris D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted November 4, 2014 Author Share Posted November 4, 2014 Sooo much better than the standard plastic pulley/belt components! Chris D I agree Chris, and though they do take a little time to fit and configure, the extra time is worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted November 4, 2014 Author Share Posted November 4, 2014 Small update this morning. Finally got around to getting the exhaust parts re-chromed with Aclad 2 chrome paint. I like the way they turned out. They look alot better than what they did with the mold seams and push pin marks all over them. Now they just need to dry for a few days and they will be ready to go on the Camaro. Excuse my messy work bench, it's still a little dark out this morning so my room lighting wasn't the greatest, so I had to take the pics on the bench. It doesn't always look that bad, just when I'm in the middle of heavy building and don't take time to clean things up and put them away lol. I'll try to take some better pics later of them, if the dang sun ever comes out, it's rainy today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted November 5, 2014 Author Share Posted November 5, 2014 Afternoon guys. Got a little more done on the Camaro the past few days. Anyone that says lining up the headers is easy........ Boy.... Well lets just say they sure weren't for me. First I got the plug wires and boots made and attached to the engine. I also made a oil dip stick at this point, and a starter wire and attached the starter wire. Next came the fun part... NOT!..... I first slid the passenger side header over the plug wires and glued it into place. Then I glued the dip stick into place, I made earlier. Then I slid the driver's side header over the driver's side plug wires and left it loose for the time being. I thing tilted and turn the engine until the passenger side header just cleared the sub-frame, and then maneuvered the driver's side header around until it just cleared the sub-frame. I then glued the engine into place on the sub-frame. And finally I positioned the loose driver's side header into it's proper position on the engine block and glued it into place. WHEW...... what a job! And no I don't have pics of the process because I worked steady at it until I got it right, and didn't take time to stop in the middle of things to take pics. But here are a few pics of the results. I plan to finish more detail work on the engine, with it in place on the sub-frame. Now that one of the hardest processes is out of the way, maybe I can actually get alot more done. more later as progress continues...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 Engine is coming along really nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epi4561 Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 Holy BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH!!!!! that is some outstanding work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrone Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 Really enjoying this build come together... your work is very clean and neat to say the least... keep it coming.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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