My 1978 Z28 Camaro (I Know Not A Firebird)

[Munkyslut]

Yep stud welder is the answer
Last time I did a qtr panel repair above the belt line I welded a 3/4” box section about a foot long across the new join to minimise distortion & it worked great.

 

[70formula]

And with that, the rough work is all done for the conversion. I decided to eliminate the lower tail to quarter flanges, as many of these cars I've seen that sat for a while this area rots, is full of debris, and the seam was no longer necessary. I personally think the seamless transition looks better as well. so double win - hopefully eliminated a place where cancer likes to form, and also improved the look subtly

 

[Munkyslut]

Eliminating seams anywhere is a good idea, excellent work Rough mock up shows great fit, gaps are consistent & tight

 

[70formula]

 

[70formula]

Well, she’s back together (for now) and ready to make the trip home. The bare metal spots we worked on are covered with a simple etching primer just to keep flash rust at bay. I did all the conversion work over at my brother-in-law’s place huge thanks to him for the help, tools, garage space and welder. It’s about a 45-minute drive from me, so the plan is to take her (still rough) to a car show this weekend, then back to my place afterward where I’ll start on the real bodywork.

I know it’s a little weird taking a half-done car to a show, but a bunch of my grandpa’s friends and family have been asking to see where it’s at, so I figured why not.


I put the gas tank in and of course ran into a snag. The ’78 filler neck is too long and now the license plate won’t sit straight. So I’ve got to decide… cut and modify the neck, swap to a ’70-’73 tank and figure out how to strap it to the ’78 floor, go with a fuel cell, or modify the bracket and live with the plate bracket sticking out to far, or relocating the license plate altogether and making a cover for the neck. Still kicking that around...open to ideas?


Either way, it feels good to have it together enough to move and show some progress.

 

[70formula]

well, a big milestone has happened. Drove the camaro over an hour from home for the first time ever. She did great with the exception of a few key pieces I need to address before I put more miles on her.

First - The gapping whole for the shifter which allows me to see the m20 is quite loud on the highway, so I need to get myself the boot setup

it started raining - granted i live in Oregon and its October, so it's not unusual, but with no wipers, this was quite sketchy lol. I have a recessed motor, I just need to figure out if its good, and how to wire it into my speedway harness.

Lastly, I wired in the tail lights, but the turn signals are giving me issues.

 

[70formula]

So my brother-in-law and I went on a drive in the z28, and he kept staring at the oil pressure gauge. It has been reading 0 at idle once hot, startup 50ish, if the vehicle is moving with any load on it 40-50 hot. But when come to a full stop and it drops to 650 it was showing 0 psi. This obviously is a lot concerning. However, there was 0 engine noise change, no lifter tick, no knock nothing. So, we traced things, and when I installed the gauge, I made a rookie mistake. I used a oil/ gas Teflon tape... I didn't realize but on electric gauges the threads are the ground so by teflon taping it to prevent leaks, I screwed up the ground connection. He was saying that esp. at low signal, the gauge wouldn't be grounding, thus it would drop off. Once it had high signal, it would start working again. So basically, I was just getting ready to pull a motor thinking it needs rebuild when it prob just needs a thread cleaned and a different type of leak proofing used. Permatex ordered. color me rookie...

 

[70formula]

Roughed in the recessed wiper sytem with old camaro stuff from totes I got a while back. Really happy to see it all works. I will need a nice switch and new blades to replace the old worn brittle stuff and make it permanent.

 

[Munkyslut]

That looks great! Glad you enjoyed the maiden voyage.
Teething problems are to be expected, to be honest it’s only down to your good work that they are only trivial

The sender unit grounding has caught out even experienced wrenches …….. don’t feel bad

 

[70formula]

Threads on oil sender cleaned and reinstalled with Permatex....and my low oil pressure is officially solved. across the board I gained 15-20 PSI. Now at idle hot, its chilling around 25 at 650 RPM. Startup cold she's around 60, and while driving hot 50+ PSI. So - my plans to rebuild this motor are officially shelved and my focus instead is now make this as comfortable a driver as I can and drive the hell outta it.

so now...my next project on the Camaro is I've been thinking about a lot. Currently, my wiring skills are...let's just say not the best. Behind the gauges is a mess that I am not proud of. So, next mission I'm going to redo that and make it something I can be happy with. I also need to add my new wiper switch, so I've been giving it a lot of thought.

My plan is to build a small panel and attach it to the back of the dash insert with some vibration isolators. on the new panel I'm going to put in several bus bars - one for ignition switched power, one for gauge power, one for led power, and one for a ground. From there I got some wire raceway and will use that to route and contain everything from the bus bars to the gauges. While I take the dash apart I also plan to take the heater box out, replace the heater core, install a new blower motor, and wire it all in. My goal is to not have a rats nest of wire anymore, and eliminate the daisy chains I have going from gauge to gauge. And I need defrost to work to drive this over the winter.

 

[70formula]

Small update...

I've been driving the heck out of the Camaro and decided that I prob should just get this license plate on in the meantime so that the fuzz doesn't give me any trouble. This won't be the permeant setup, but it at least works. I think eventually the plan is a tanks inc 78 style floor tank, with the neck of the earlier style

 

[70formula]

Nothing to cool to report photo wise really...but some progress is happening.

I just got thru training on a new job and midterms for college just finished and working under a small canopy in between downpours...so its been slow going on the camaro. But- I have been tinkering as I can. I got the dash insert and cluster rewired...twice more actually lol. First time I used new wiring I already had sitting on a shelf which was 12 gauge...but by time I was done, the insert was so heavy that I was like dang, ok lets do this again as trusting 50 year old plastic dash and vibration didn't seem right. I redid it again with 20 gauge, and am happier with it. Its still clearly not a pro job, and it still will somewhat bug me, but...its all routed nicer, locked down with wire track, and everything tested and worked, and it won't be a birds nest back there. I also added the new switch for the wipers and washer pump and got it tested and working.

After that, I started worked on dissembling the dash and heater, and got all that removed. I regret putting the carpet it before I did the heater box, but in summer when I was all excited to drive it and was expecting to pull the motor...winter defroster woes seemed so far off. But anywho, new blower motor and heater core have arrived, and I got the last bit of the factory insulation (which of course got wet from the heater core over the years) out. Next project will be cleaning the inside of the firewall where it all seals, por 15, kilmatz and then reinstall all brand new heat and defrost. I also got the front seats pulled and will be dropping those off to the upholstery shop shortly.