Grotto Blue 68' Camaro (Hot Rod Driver)
 

This is my little 68 driver. Freshened in the mid-1980's this car was local from new and has only been owned by a handful of folks since it was restored 30 years ago. Yes, this car as seen was actually built back in the mid-'80s and has only seen 4000 miles on it since that time. The rebuild included a lot of rare options such as its Tic Toc Tach, Tilt Column, Wood Wheel, Speed Minder, AM/FM, Rear Speakers & Defrost, Fold Down Seat, Console, Gauges, Head Restraints, Deluxe Interior, and more. Only NOS GM parts were used during the car's refit/freshening and it still retains 100% of its original GM sheet metal with "Zero Rust" throughout. A real solid little driver and a time capsule of sorts since it hasn't been abused or weathered since it was repainted 22 years ago.

The car itself is not a real Z/28 but is an original Rallysport car with GM Docs and a pile of great paperwork. The second owner refit the car starting in 1984 and completed the build in it's original Grotto Blue by 1986. At that time and long before anyone cared about cars being altered, he added the functional GM ducted cowl hood, spoiler, and all of its current Z/28 options. Upgrades at the time included the Z/28 badging, deck stripes, a transplanted 302, M22 4-speed, and a 3:73 geared 12 Bolt. That Z like driveline is still in the car today, and it will soon be coming out for some Day II upgrades.

I'm keeping with the interior/exterior appearance as seen below, but adding a few modern power adders. :naughty:


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Re: My Little 68' Driver
 

That is ONE sweet looking ride.....well done.

Paul

Re: My Little 68' Driver
 

That is a beauty. Can't wait to see the next changes, although it looks killer as-is.

Re: My Little 68' Driver
 

Thanks,

Nothing will change with its interior or exterior appearance Mark. The only changes coming will all be will be under the hood.

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Re: My Little 68' Driver
 

I really like it...I'm looking for a driver like that!

Re: My Little 68' Driver
 

Beautiful ride. This shot should be in the

[/quote] is "stance important" thread

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Re: My Little 68' Driver
 

I like everything about it. Perfect stance and options. Grotto blue like most lighter shades looks so nice when it's fresh.

Re: My Little 68' Driver
 

Here's a little video I shot on a cruise around the foothills of the Rockies just after buying the car back. Nothing too exciting from the old small block..but it still pulled ok as I rowed through the gears.

Re: My Little 68' Driver
 

Earl -- nice video ... thanks for sharing ... TAZ [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

Re: My Little 68' Driver
 

Deep Purple, nice! My older brother had the 8 track of machine head totally rocks! Great car and video!

Been a busy winter so far with three projects on the go and a few engines being built for them.

The first one is this all forged lightweight solid roller assembly with aluminum heads that will be going into my little blue 68 car. A fully balanced, blueprinted small block with Manley internals, Lunati 254/262 solid roller cam, CNC ported aluminum heads with Crower stainless rockers, and a Victor Junior intake. That's been topped by an AED 750HO and behind the new engine is a Lakewood Bell with Hayes Gold Clutch and a fresh M22 Super case trans. Needless to say, the car's going to need some rear suspension upgrades to keep the tires planted and that will come from Comp Trac Bars and Frame Connectors that are going in soon. The first task is to run the new engine on the test stand and get the valve train broken in and lashed while checking everything for leaks. I'll then pull the old motor out, install the rear suspension upgrades, and will wire in a new MSD system within the car. Then it's time to install the new motor and get things ready for some spring test & tune sessions around the nearby mountain twisty’ s. I love springtime with a bunch of performance goodies to test out.

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Few updated pics of the new motor being assembled before some test runs.

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very nice car and motor look awesome!

Flywheel is backwards. You might want to fix before it goes in the car.

Car looks great!!!

That was only on there while measuring the bell housing for alignment.

I've posted some new pics too.

Lookin good!!

A few more pics of the flywheel, clutch, and bell installation. This should hook up nicely!

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Added an Edelbrock pump and an SFI balancer earlier today. Now to get the old pulleys off the 68 and get it fired on the run stand.

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Well...I finally pulled the drive line out of the 68 last week and got around to a test run of the new solid roller motor that will now be going into the 68. Ran it in last night and will do some more tuning later today as I dial in the carb and re-lash the valves. It will be installed soon along with a new Autogear M-22.

Engine Specs:

• Seasoned 010 Block 4-Bolt Main
• Fully Balanced and Blueprinted Build
• Decked .005, Bored & Honed .060
• Moroso Blueprinted Oil Pump w/ Pickup
• Milodon Deep Pan w/ Windage Screen
• GM Forged 1182 Crank Std/Std
• Manley SMR 4340 I-Beam Rods 3/8" ARP 2000
• Manley Platinum 4.060 2618 Forged Pistons 10.5:1
• Lunati 40120528 Solid Roller 254/262 @ .050 582" Lift
• Lunati Roller Lifters c/w HP Oiling
• Trick Flow 7.900 Pushrods
• ProMaxx 200cc Aluminum Heads 64cc Chambers
• Manley S/D Valves with Lunati 1.450 Springs
• Crower Stainless Roller Rockers 1.500
• Edelbrock Victor Jr Intake
• AED Ultra 750 HO Carburetor
• GM Finned Cover c/w Drippers Intact

It'll make a great little screamer for the street and should pull hard through 7500 rpm on the mountain twisty's that I like to run. Let the good times roll I say.

:3gears:

Got a little tuning time in today. Changed the oil, re-lashed the valve train, set the carb up and got the timing dialed in a bit tighter. Runs great, no leaks anywhere and now I'll pull it down to get it into the car over the weekend. Might buzz it with open headers tomorrow just to hear how it sounds uncorked first. :)

Big shout out for Tim Schuetz who posted some info on his engine thread a few weeks back regarding the use of the Macs Pivot Tool for installing engines. I bought one from Summit and used it to install the new motor into the 68, and man this thing is an absolute godsend! A simple adjustment and you can spot the engine onto the mounts and level it up in seconds. Spot on so the mounting bolts drop right through and align with absolutely zero effort. I don't think I've ever had an easier time installing an engine?

Thanks Tim...:biggthumpup:

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Pulled the engine back out after test fitting the headers and sent them off to be ceramic coated. Got them back Friday and spent the better part of today tidying the engine bay with some wiring re-wraps and installed the MSD up in the glove box. Also wired a relay for a new Aeromotive fuel pump being installed tomorrow. Yesterday I got the subframe connectors installed and should have things wrapped up in a few days so it can go for a new exhaust. Getting closer to having it all finished up now.

Can someone tell me what that 2 prong jack is that's located just left of the booster and right by the ground strap? I forgot what connects to it?

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Reverse light switch.

Thanks Darrell

I always liked '68s and I like the Grotto Blue. My '69 was originally a two-tone;5350 Glacier Blue with a White painted roof. The Grotto & Glacier Blues are similar and, in my opinion, underappreciated....(kinda like '68s are in general). Anyway, you have a killer ride there Bro.! Nothing like a rockin' SBC screaming in front of a stick, with plenty of gear!

After finishing up a new fuel system and a host of other mods, I had hoped to be rolling it today but hit a couple snags tonight. Mew motor and transmission are in but the Lakewood Bell/Clutch Fork has presented some clearance issues at the firewall which are going to take some figuring. Going to need to do the heater core now too as it starting leaking today after the valve cover pressed back against that 30 year old core outlet while we were installing the block. That ones a real bummer as I recall they are a PITA to change out. Anyways...here are some pictures to update the days work.


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Lakewood clutch forks are very bulky, plus wrong length bell
Housing pivot ball can position fork to far rearward in bellhousing aggravating the problem. If you use a original GM clutch fork and trim the back ribs slightly it clears the floor, I also used to leave the block plate out because it gives you extra 3/16" clearance , sometimes a 2x4 and a 90832B helps.

Lookin forward to seeing you and your little '68 driver out and about this summer!

3729000 is the pivot ball that usually works with that Hays pressure plate

Thanks Mike. I looked at the 15501 ball that was in the bell housing and thought it looked good compared to the stock 403 housing sitting beside it, but didn't actually measure them. I installed the Lakewood 15500 Fork assuming it would fit but it does have a beefier web along the top and that's where it's striking the firewall.

No getting around the mid plate being installed now so I'll take your advice and try switching the ball and the fork to see what difference that makes. FWIW, I called High River and they have the ball in stock so I'll pull the bell later on today and work on that this weekend to see if I can gain some clearance in there.

If not it'll be a BFH moment. :mad:

Cheers

You won't get the fork out without unbolting the Bellhsg somewhat, you'll be cursing those upper allen bolts now and at future clutch service, the lower 2 are required to clear bellhousing but the uppers can be normal 9/16 head bolts, so you can use a swivel with a 16" 3/8 drive extension. You could use a adjustable ball if you want , that way you can adjust the fork forward to gain floor to fork clearance as long as you maintain some brg to finger clearance, but the 3279000 ball has allways worked before but that was with no block plate. FWIW - a 980-32B is a BFH

I knew that part number = hammer. :smirk:

Trimmed the stock GM fork a touch, R&R'd the bell housing, and installed the GM ball with GM fork. Tons of clearance now no issue at all having the block plate. Just need to install a different boot and it's licked. I'll button up the engine tomorrow and start on the heater core right after that. Exhaust next week when this crappy mountain weather starts to smarten up.

An interesting note is that the GM Ball and the Lakewood Ball were identical lengths at 1.500 and the same ball width, but the GM # you gave me had a slightly broader (flat area) machined-face which really helped position and locks the GM fork much better than the Lakewood fork positioned itself. Never again would I ever try a Lakewood fork. Damn waste of time and resources. The allan bolts actually worked great except for one which was a pain and needed a shortened hand wrench to remove. I replaced that one when I reinstalled it before dinner. All good now. :)


Great clearance now but need to fit the boot better and glue it in. The stock fork made all the difference in the world. :)

Plan for today is to finish buttoning up the engine, weld and modify the temporary dual exhaust and get things ready for a 200 mile shake down run to break in the engine & transmission. That'll include a couple runs on nearby mountain twisty's that have great elevation changes and were just repaved with fresh blacktop. :biggthumpup:

The new engine doesn't make a lot of vacuum with its solid roller cam, and stopping power is kind of important to me so I chose to install a VP series Vacuum pump from CSR. It's kinda bulky so the only place I could hide it was in the right front fender opening in behind the battery tray. I mounted it on an aluminum plate and installed rubber matting beneath to act as an insulator. I then secured the mounting plate between the inner fender support and the front battery tray using the factory fasteners to keep from making any new holes. I need to plumb it today and tee into the vacuum lines to help support the power brakes.

More on this when things are all buttoned up. Perhaps I can shoot some video of the shakedown run this weekend. If things go well today, that may just happen as soon as tomorrow. :)

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Is that vacuum pump made by Hella? Please let me know how loud it ends up being for you...a good friend has gone through two aftermarket vacuum pumps on his radical BBC powered car and both were insanely loud (loud enough to hear over the engine).

It's mounted in an area that should suppress noise somewhat and also has rubber matting under the mounts to help quiet it a bit. I ran it when I was testing circuits a couple days ago and while it made some noise, I didn't think it wasn't loud enough to be heard over the motor?

Made by CVR Racing Products and also private branded by them for Summit.

I'll record a video of it running once I'm all connected with the vacuum line just in case it gets any noisier when it's hooked up.

It isn't dressed quite like the old motor was, but it is starting to take some shape today. Looks like I can use the cowl breather but may have to take the extension ring out? Before I button up the front of the motor and add fluids to the rad, I need to find a clip for the throttle arm and adapt it to the newer style carburetor linkage. Also need to find a horizontal coil bracket so I can lay it down in the intake valley. Right now it's just thrown over to the left as it wouldn't fit under the cowl breather.

Hopefully, I'll button it all up today and get some further tuning done before some road tests tomorrow. I'm kind of anxious to test out the new Vacuum system and see how well it works. OK...let me rephrase that;

I'm anxious to test the added horsepower and then see if it stops! :3gears:


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I just read through this thread. Very cool project. Thanks for taking the time to share.


Jason

Thanks Jason.

It's a really fun car to drive and one that a guy still isn't buried into. It'll pick up north of 125 more horsepower with the new motor in it and should hook pretty well with new frame connectors, slapper bars, and some new shocks on all corners. I'm curious to try out the beefed-up M22 Auto gear trans that just went in and will try and get the car tech'd this summer so I can see what kind of ET it's capable of.

Just waiting for the rad to get re-cored and back here tomorrow and I'm finishing off some little things while it's down. Tomorrow I'll install a new heater core and should have the hood back on the car by sundown. Shakedown runs are slated for Thursday, and Friday it will go in for new exhaust from front to rear. Just installed the slapper bars and some new rear shocks today. Having so much fun working on this car and that's what it's all about.

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Nice build.

I wanted to echo the positive comments on the pivot plate. I used mine again last weekend, but this time it was on a friends A-body, and we were installing a complete 454 w/ TH400 attached. Macs pivot plate made it simple, and we didn't even scratch the firewall.

Spendy tool, but a great thing to have.

Thank you!