’73 Camaro

[blunc]

is it safe to assume you put in urethane bushings when you modified the front suspension?

they really made a big difference in my '67 Tempest along with the 1-9/16 front sway bar upgrade.

Edited April 23, 2015 by blunc

[Jantrix]

This just gets more and more impressive. The subframe connectors look great.

[Scale-Master]

Yes, I used graphite impregnated urethane bushings throughout when I first set it up, including the sub-frame mounts, but except for the upper control arm bushings.

Because I set the front spring rate to "Competition" (instead of the "Sport" or "Street" options) those bushings are standard rubber to provide a manageable "weak link" I could easily monitor from under the hood since I expected it to be harsh. They are still the same ones (and in fine shape) from back then.

I also shaved the lower control arm bushings to move the lower control arms forward and gained about 1/4 inch in overall wheelbase, also visually centering the front wheels in the wells. The resulting added caster was dealt with in the shims at the upper control arms. I run a bit more camber than stock to maximize the wear on the tires and to get the best contact patch on moderate to hard cornering.

The rear sway bar uses lead bushings on the bar since it will blow out the urethane ones in less than 500 miles of good use. I custom cast those myself and have had zero problems since I started using them about 1992.

[Scale-Master]

Might as well make the traction bars while I’m in the area… I milled the U channel stock from a stick of .125 X .25 inch styrene stock, the bars are sheet styrene. I’ll make and add the hardware later.

[RAMBENNA]

looks great so far, nice detail

[wmobie]

wonderful, just wonderful!

[Scale-Master]

I started painting some of the base colors of the chassis. The red oxide is partly visible on the real car where I stripped away the undercoating before installing the engine and trans.

The cross member on my car is bright red; ironically the instructions call out for a non-prototypical yellow for the rear sway bar, and I painted mine yellow back in the 90’s.

The engine was test fitted once more…

The rear suspension ride height is set up.

And the track is set.

[Scale-Master]

I cut the front sway bar off the lower control arm/tie rod/cross-member assembly and reshaped it to fit the new lower A-arms. I started with brass rod for the stabilizer links and will flesh them out with hardware later. I figure the yellow paint fattened up the thickness enough to approximate the 1-1/4 Suspension Techniques bar I put on the real car…

[slusher]

Real nice work, love the rear stance..

[RAMBENNA]

looks good so far

[jbattersby]

Looking good!

[Bowtienutz]

Incredible build and a nice street car to boot. I own a 70 Z28 SS/RS that I've owned since 79. I'm watching your build glad your taking your time and doing an accurate build.

[carl63_99]

Looks nice. What is that yellow rear sway bar going to mount to?

[Scale-Master]

Looks nice. What is that yellow rear sway bar going to mount to?

I still have to add the stabilizer links to the clamps that are on the bar. They'll go in after I permanently mount the rear suspension to the chassis.

Incredible build and a nice street car to boot. I own a 70 Z28 SS/RS that I've owned since 79. I'm watching your build glad your taking your time and doing an accurate build.

Thanks, but there is no such thing as a first or second generation Z/28 SS Camaro. It is either one or the other. The RS package was available on both Z/28 and SS cars.

[Scale-Master]

I cleaned up the tie rod assembly that was cut off earlier and added it back to the front sub-frame and installed the steering box.

[Scale-Master]

I installed the fiberglass mono leaf front spring.

[Scale-Master]

I made a brass and aluminum master for the knock-offs and cast resin copies.

Edited August 5, 2015 by Scale-Master

[Len Woodruff]

I made a brass and aluminum master for the knock-offs and cast rein copies.

Mark with your resin casting what do you use for molds and what do you use to cast the pieces?

I use Smooth-On products but once they are open they have a short shelf life.

 

[Scale-Master]

I used to use Smooth-On, but had the same experience you describe.  I now use products from BJB Enterprises.  I use TC-5045, a platinum based RTV for my molds .  The resin I use is TC-892.  These materials are over two an a half years old and still working well.

[Len Woodruff]

Thanks for the info Mark. I will check those out.

[Scale-Master]

I went back to working on the engine.  I textured and finished the valve covers…

[Mike Chernecki]

Those valve covers look great, what kit did you find them in?

 

I like the cast aluminum texture, how did you do it? 

Edited December 17, 2015 by Mike Chernecki

[Scale-Master]

The valve covers are resin copies I cast from a Revell Supertruck.  I used talc to texture them.

 

The first set of headers I made proved to be too tight of a fit into the sub-frame, so I modified a pair from the AMT ’66 Nova.  I’ll finish the look of the ceramic coating after they are installed onto the engine.

[Mike Chernecki]

Can you briefly explain your texturing technique? Do you mix the talc with the paint? Or apply talc over the wet paint? Or? Thanks for the info on the valve covers, been looking for a set of those for a while.

['70 Grande]

This is an excellent build with a great "tutorial" aspect to it!  Thanks for sharing your build-techniques here!  You could resin cast a whole bunch of those great looking knock-offs and I'd bet they'd sell like little hotcakes!