My 1978 Z28 Camaro (I Know Not A Firebird)

[70formula]

well, first letdown but sure it wont be the last...

Came off the freeway with a loud clunk and extreme metal grinding. I actually thought i blew the rear end. Used my Hagerty towing to get it back to my house. lucky / unlucky I suppose...the axle studs stripped off and i lost my lug nuts on the driver side rear. amazingly didn't destroy the quarter or anything major. aw project cars...aint they grand

 

[70formula]

Got her jacked up and pulled the wheel off to evaluate the carnage. it looks to me like the brake drum came off the axle with it the rim, and the ends of the studs gouged the inner face of the drum. Inside the back of the rim there's clear metal on metal damage and to me it looks like the drum was spinning / riding inside the rim. as you can see in the photo it looks like the studs left quite a wear mark from when the drum and wheel left the axle., it also clearly destroyed the mounting holes in the rim. I got another z28 rim on the way, and I pounded the old / broken studs out the axle and got new ones pressed in. The brake shoe has a chunk gouged out as well, so that's on the list of things to handle to.

 

[provocating]

From the time you called until a tow showed up, how long was it? I think per their agreement they are supposed to use straps to hold the car down, was that correct? I keep the brochure with the number in my middle console, just in case.

I hate that happened. Anytime my car makes a noise, does anything strange I just feel like "what is next". I know I am getting things fixed faster than I find issues, but it still makes my heart drop in my chest when something new pops up. While taking our neighborhood weekend cruise, on the second pass my wife and I both heard a noise, almost a rattling. I hope it was just exhaust, but I am thinking engine or transmission, not knowing the state of things I am still waiting for the next thing.

 

[70formula]

they called me within 5 mins of placing the help request on the hagerty app, saying I had been matched, within another 15-20 mins i was called by the driver saying where we was currently and his eta, and I was loaded on the tow truck within an hour.

Yea, project cars definitely have a way of stressing ya out...the endless cycle between having fun breaking stuff and fixing said broken stuff...never ends.

 

[provocating]

they called me within 5 mins of placing the help request on the hagerty app, saying I had been matched, within another 15-20 mins i was called by the driver saying where we was currently and his eta, and I was loaded on the tow truck within an hour.

Yea, project cars definitely have a way of stressing ya out...the endless cycle between having fun breaking stuff and fixing said broken stuff...never ends.

Did they use cloth straps during the tow?

They website states ...

Guaranteed flatbed towing with soft nylon straps

 

[70formula]

Did they use cloth straps during the tow?

They website states ...

Guaranteed flatbed towing with soft nylon straps

He used a combo of trucker chains and heavy duty rachet straps - same as I have ever seen tow truck uses... no clue if they were nylon or what would be considered "soft" other then they kept my Camaro on the flatbed.

 

[70formula]

Not much to report really, but the wheels of progress are slowly turning. New z28 rim arrived and will get the tire mounted on it hopefully tomorrow. It looks nicer then my other 3 so got some motivation to have to take and strip them all and have em powdercoated.

Also been preparing to do the butt lift on the Camaro. My grandpa had a saying that nothing is rust free until its naked and rust free. these quarter panel ends definitely reminded me of that lol. lot of Bondo and rust hiding under the paint. But, can get them straightened out and ready to go just some elbow grease.

looking forward to ditching the plastic bumper and taillights.

 

[70formula]

 

[70formula]

Been slow lately, money is tight. But, I did get some sanding pads and some spot weld cutters so I can start prepping for the butt lift. I dont really have the new latch / license plate frame / taillight housings in decent shape to finish, but I can atleast get going on converting as I can.

First time in history I have ever sanded a full panel and not find rust, bondo, crappy repair jobs, or all three! Gotta love truly virgin panels. I had heard they existed, just never owned one lol.

 

[70formula]

been working slowly but surely to get the tail end converted. Got parts stripped, and working on drilling all the spot welds on the lower tail pan. Ill take the Camaro over to my brother's place when its time to actually cut and weld, but at least under my carport I can do what I can...



Got the quarter ends set up just to picture it...

Progress on spot welds...slow going in between other life responsibilities but feels good to do something on her.

 

[70formula]

Another small step done - Deck lid got some hammer dolly work on the corner, sanded up really nice, mineral spirits, then some self-etching primer. Put it back on the body and did a quick wet sand with 320 and 600. didn't spend a ton of time on it as I plan to try to make a welded-on metal spoiler to replace the stock plastic one, but wanted the metal at least somewhat protected since I don't have a garage to keep the flash rust to a minimum.

 

[70formula]

I'm Excited for this weekend as I'm taking the Camaro up to my brother's place and we are doing the butt lift. Been a long time coming but finally got the parts and time together to make it happen. At my nephews b day party, I dropped the quarter panel ends off with my brother and he worked on them a bit getting the flanges ready and got them straighter. We may need to make a small patch or two, but a lot of the worst part of these panels we will cut off, mostly just need the back curves around the chrome bumper etc. I also plan to shave the side marker lights off as well.

 

[70formula]

Huge progress today on the Camaro - and as far as I'm concerned, just solidified my bond to it. Crappy plastic and urethane was given da boot, and the rear end of the car traveled back in time lol.

First - Lower section of tail pan removed so the 70-73 pan can curl up and mount to the lower cross rail.

We cut the spot welds out where the 78 tail pan connected to the weatherstripping trunk lip and fully removed the old tail pan connection there. I know on gears he say to just cut the front part off, but when doing it, it made more sense to just eliminate that and do it proper.

Next up was removing the center section of the tail pan as the early pan has the bump in area for the license plate bracket. and getting the original quarters cut to mate the early quarter ends.

Then, cutting out the access holes in the original pan so that I can install / access the early lights.
Gotta admit at this point seeing the car this cut up...I had some doubts for a bit.

Next we got the panel all trimmed. The quarter ends I used off a 71 camaro were quite crusty, and the 78 was flawless, so we kept as much of the 78 panel as possible even it was more work and more welding, just going to slow go the welds to not warp.

other side...

 

[70formula]

 

[Munkyslut]

Huge progress today on the Camaro - and as far as I'm concerned, just solidified my bond to it. Crappy plastic and urethane was given da boot, and the rear end of the car traveled back in time lol.

First - Lower section of tail pan removed so the 70-73 pan can curl up and mount to the lower cross rail.



View attachment 4321


We cut the spot welds out where the 78 tail pan connected to the weatherstripping trunk lip and fully removed the old tail pan connection there. I know on gears he say to just cut the front part off, but when doing it, it made more sense to just eliminate that and do it proper.


View attachment 4322

Next up was removing the center section of the tail pan as the early pan has the bump in area for the license plate bracket. and getting the original quarters cut to mate the early quarter ends.

View attachment 4323



Then, cutting out the access holes in the original pan so that I can install / access the early lights.
Gotta admit at this point seeing the car this cut up...I had some doubts for a bit.


View attachment 4324


Next we got the panel all trimmed. The quarter ends I used off a 71 camaro were quite crusty, and the 78 was flawless, so we kept as much of the 78 panel as possible even it was more work and more welding, just going to slow go the welds to not warp.

View attachment 4325

other side...


View attachment 4326

That looks excellent! Some amazing work there, impressive!

 

[70formula]

That looks excellent! Some amazing work there, impressive!

thanks!

 

[70formula]

 

[70formula]

Worked on my ’78 to ’70 tail conversion some more today. The driver’s side quarter is almost finished up in bare metal I got the side marker is deleted, all welded and blended. Instead of keeping the factory flanged/spot-welded seam where the lower quarter meets the tail panel, I’m going for a smooth, seamless transition. Personally think it’ll look much cleaner that way.


On the passenger side, I’ve got the side marker deleted and more of the welding knocked out. It’s slow going since I’m taking the time to control warpage as much as possible.


After wrapping up today, I pushed the car outside, tossed the spoiler on, set the bumper and taillights in just to get a look


No regrets at all on doing this conversion—loving how it’s coming together and it totally changed the vibe of the car for me.

 

[Knightrider189]

Worked on my ’78 to ’70 tail conversion some more today. The driver’s side quarter is almost finished up in bare metal I got the side marker is deleted, all welded and blended. Instead of keeping the factory flanged/spot-welded seam where the lower quarter meets the tail panel, I’m going for a smooth, seamless transition. Personally think it’ll look much cleaner that way.


On the passenger side, I’ve got the side marker deleted and more of the welding knocked out. It’s slow going since I’m taking the time to control warpage as much as possible.


After wrapping up today, I pushed the car outside, tossed the spoiler on, set the bumper and taillights in just to get a look


No regrets at all on doing this conversion—loving how it’s coming together and it totally changed the vibe of the car for me.


View attachment 4347View attachment 4348View attachment 4349View attachment 4350

Heck yeah!! Looking good


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[70formula]

Another bit of progress. had to work today, then after work busted out in the evening a few hours.

Passenger side is now welded and blended. It needs some work as it wanted to dive in at the seem and there's no space with the trunk drop off right behind to get a hammer and Dolley in. Everywhere else I was able to Dolley out to need just a skim coat of filler, but the last 5 inches of this I'm prob going to need to buy a stud welder and do it that way to get the low spot seam out.

Next up - the tail pan to quarter seam. Factory there was a flange on each side that spot welded together, but I'm eliminating the flanges.