Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I installed the door popper mechanism on the driver side, so just a few pictures of that. It's an Autoloc kit.






The body of the popper (OD) is a hair over 5/8" thick but the spot welds on the back make it necessitate a 3/4" hole. To keep everything straight and lined up I used two long drill bits, think a 5/16 "and a 1/2". Using them made things much easier. There are several sheets of metal that I had to go through so you have to use a good powerful hand drill. Only the first sheet needed the 3/4" hole.




I couldn't get the door to latch with the rubber non-mar bumper tip on the plunger so I had to remove it and I'll cut it down later.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

For the solenoid mounting I am going to be doing it the way that this guy did: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...ml#post5729238



I've seen it done other ways and none seem to look as functional. Some guys have mounted it on the door panel side of the door where the power door lock solenoid was and others have mounted it in line with the door handle's rod. Problem that I see with those ways is that it's not the straightest pull, the line is always at an angle with the solenoid.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Just found a site online, if you can't make your own fused relay power board like I did you can always buy theirs for $300!
https://ceautoelectricsupply.com/pro...el-w-push-ons/

robguitargod1

iTrader: (4)

What did you use for a trunk to spoiler gasket?

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I just going to use the felpro gasket material, the synthetic stuff. Buy at any parts store for less than $10 and cut to shape. I've used it for misc things and have been content using it. You can also use this stuff between metal parts and cut down on squeaks.

robguitargod1

iTrader: (4)

What are you using for a prep cleaner? Wax and grease remover, something specific, or just soap and water?

robguitargod1

iTrader: (4)

Also, how does the convertibles trunk latch? Is it motorized or stationary?

I'd like mine to be stationary, so I'm either going to modify a motorized one or find an older stationary design.

Then tweak it's placement until the hatch lines up with the quarter perfectly. Have you had to do any of that?

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I had been using Klen strip brand and it worked well. I've used Rustoleum brand as well as the duplicilor and both at HORRIBLE! They changed to a soy based product and it is awful now. After 3 wipe downs I still had small fish eyes ! I went to my paint store and bought some real prep all that is so much better.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Pretty sure these convertibles were all manual trunk releases. I have a power piece from my other car I'll try to use but I'm not quite there. Waiting on the new weather stripping.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Decided to once again re-wire my cabin harness. The two wires that draw in power are A4 (10 gauge) and G5 (12 gauge) on the C100 connector. I pulled those wires from the C100 connector and moved them onto my power distribution block I made. It was either that or make a power post up front under the hood which I wasn't keen on. I'll post some more pics of it tomorrow.

I also changed the pinion seal on my rear end and discovered that I have a 2002 rear end and it has the new design pinion seal. Had to go to the dealership to get the seal. After that I RE-polished the girdle cover.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I sprayed a new coat of undercoating on the rear wheel wells and used the new bump stops. From what I understand these Energy suspension ones are not actually for Thirdgens but Jeeps instead. To use these bump stops there is a small lip on the outside edge of the bodythat has to be cut in order to allow these to work. You can see the cut line in the picture.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Put the rear end in and torqued down the suspension. For the rear end I decided to only clean it up and put a coat of flat black Rustoleum on. Used the wire wheel on the grinder and some Phosphoric acid to prep it and then painted. This rear end only needs to last me another 1000 miles or so until I create the 8.8 rearend that I'll use. So it's not worth changing gears or rebuilding the posi.

I really haven't had to buy any "fun" parts at all while I've been building this Camaro because after owning my RS for 13 years I had plenty of good parts already on my RS.










Looking at the above picture it appears that I need to start doing so measurements and re-center the rear end.

As far as rear end components go Most of it is Founder's Performance parts. The Torque arm is a Spoohn adjustable Transmission crossmember mounted piece. The rear shocks are Bilsteins. The wheels are all 17 x 9.5. I wish I would have gone 18 instead.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Pulled the engine from the RS.








Not going to do anything internally to the engine, external stuff only. I have a new set of valve covers, I'll re-polish the aluminum ones currently on it (might sell them idk), clean the dust and oil residue off and then re-polish the heads and intake. The oil pan I need to install an oil temperature bung and have it sandblasted and powdercoated. The pan is a summit pan (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/s...t/model/camaro) but the paint is horrible, the first time I started the engine the paint on the pan eroded and faded.
I've bought the "mid-mount" alternator mount from billet specialties that I'll install too.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Got the intake, pullies and heads RE-polished and the new mid mount alternator bracket and valve covers installed. Oil pan is off to weld in an oil temp sensor bung.

I wanted to mention that the cylinder heads are AFR's 190 pre-Eliminator heads. These heads still have an unanswered question in that I don't know if they are a competition port that flow badly or a regular head that I substantially improved when I did some light shaping. The thread I started with the flow bench data is here: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...r-195-afr.html

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I think the interior wiring is done. The distribution block I made handles power and with the body grounded I had to mount it to a base that wouldn't allow it to touch the body. So I took three pieces of ABS plastic. I mounted the block to the closest sheet with a 1/4-20 bolt, two of them. The second sheet has two holes drilled into it where the bolt heads are so that the two sheets sit flush together. The third or bottom sheet is just a regular sheet to insulate the bolt head from the body. The three sheets are held together with plastic epoxy-- this thing is not coming apart. I have it able to handle four 10 gauge wires and three 8 gauge wires and two 2 gauge wires. The incoming side port is for 0 gauge. I have set screws like an amplifier holding the wires in, they aren't accidentally falling out. But if one does they're protected by either a fuse or resetable breaker. I decided not to follow NHRA rules for now...

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

On the C100 connector at the firewall A4 and G5 look to be in charge of power distribution. What keyed me in on that is that they are labeled "power distribution." I pulled both wires from the connector and totally removed those wires from under the hood. With the battery being in the trunk now I don't need my power wires going to the battery location. So on the interior side after I pulled those wires from the connector I connected them to my distribution block.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

This is just a wider shot of the wiring.



I painted the cover I made for mounting the relays. Interior side is white and other side is undercoated. The panel is grounded to the 16 gauge that they use on convertibles to reinforce the door sill area.



I still have 3 free spots on the hot at all times fuse block. One will go to the power for the remotes for the shaved door handles' clickers

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I had decided early on the keep the relays for the Fuel Pump and Coolant fans in the stock location. They are easy to get to and with good loom can look nice and since the C100 connector is already there it makes the decision all the easier. So I dressed up the area a little and made a nice mount for the relays.
I didn't have a spare $100 bill lying around like some of these members use when showing polished stuff so I had to make due with a paint mixing cup.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

The last thing I was able to do this past week was to remove the front suspension, brakes and half the steering, clean it and install it into the convertible. I have the UMI K member and A arms and have been very happy with it. It gives gobs of room on the bottom side of the engine and changing engine mounts is a breeze now. For the front brakes I use the Wilwood 4 piston Forged Super Lites (FSL) on the Corvette C5 HD rotors. The mounts are a set of Moroso solid mounts.

When I pulled it out I was able to keep it as the sub-assembly and reinstall it, I just had to clean it first.





I also got the strut mounts changed over, but that's nothing hard.

robguitargod1

iTrader: (4)

When you were painting plastics (front/rear bumper and GFX) did you sand the primer or just paint?

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I was having issues with my gun not being able to spray the primer well. For the entire car I wetsanded the primer up to 600 grit. Any areas that I broke through the primer on I resprayed with Epoxy primer. I only resprayed the spot though, not the whole panel. I could spray the epoxy primer wonderfully and felt fine going right to paint. When I was sanding I wanted to make sure I wasn't leaving any sanding gouges so when I got to the 600 grit I was pressing on the pad just enough to keep the paper in place. My DuPont primer instructions said sand till at least 400. Not sure if my technique was worth doing or not but it made sense to me.

If you don't wetsand the primer and the primer coat doesn't meld together perfectly you can get what looks like paint dieback or it looks like the color coat was sprayed on dry/above the activator temp. Because you'd have sprayed 1-2 coats of primer and 2-3 coats of color and then 2-3(or 4?!) coats of clear before you started to wetsand. This is a picture of Dieback but it looks pretty similar to if the paint had flashed too quickly or you didn't wetsand thick primer.



The clear coat looks great but you can't correct what is wrong with the underlying layers of paint.

robguitargod1

iTrader: (4)

I sprayed my plastics with adhesion promoter then epoxy. Worked well but I sprayed the epoxy too thick so I decided to block it down (which sucked), and am about to spray everything with 2K (plastics). Then I'll block everything again before paint.

For Poly primer, try this gun:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ttn-19023/overview/

It's awesome for thicker primers!

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Thanks for that! I'm hopefully done spraying thick primers for a while though. Reviews on that gun are great fro thicker stuff.

92RS_Ttop

iTrader: (3)

Been following this off and on, looking great so far!

This is probably too late for you, but wanted to post it for others. When I rewired my interior, instead of taping the new harness while building it, or before testing everything, I used 3-4" zip ties to run the wires through. I looped them together very loosely, only a click or two, until I had all the wires I needed and tested the circuits. Then I tightened them down and taped the harness, removing the zip ties as I went. It's easier to cut a couple zip ties than to remove 2 feet of tape to replace or add a wire.

Also, I recommend taking your door solenoid so apart now and checking the plunger retention mechanism. Mine just had a thin stamped steel push-on style washer to keep the plunger from popping out the top when they reset. Caused me a lot of headaches when they would get pushed off the end of the plunger and it would come out of the solenoid body. I ended up buying a couple small c-clips and put them in the end of the plunger. I used 2 on each plunger, oriented 180* to each other. Haven't had an issue with the plunger coming out since.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

That is great advice on the harness. My issue was deciding I wanted to do something else or reroute something. Luckily I bought 3 rolls when the project started and have magically found some more rolls with some of my other wiring supplies and tools.

I think I'm following you on the poppers but I'm not sure. What brand are yours? Mine look like they are held in the backside by a 1/4 or 5/16 bolt that you can adjust for the amount the popper sticks out. I have auto lock.

92RS_Ttop

iTrader: (3)

Mine came in a kit from Protocol Performance. I thought the solenoids were from Autoloc, as they look identical to pics I've seen, but I could be wrong. It's also possible that Autoloc changed the design since I bought my kit. I bought it in 2008, and it was probably a few years old already at that point as the guy I bought it from said he had purchased it but never installed it. He couldn't remember when he had purchased it though.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Do you have any pictures of what you did? I think I understand but still love to see other people's work.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Everything but the three point strut tower brace and steering column is in. Point to bring up: it is hard to put in springs on a UMI K member when no engine or transmission is in the car! I had to buy an internal spring compressor and use a 6"long 3/4" ID pipe.


The typical inner style spring compressor rent a tool that uses a spork (forked spoon) on the bottom is so maddening as to be a waste of time.
The factory K member's spring pockets are gently slopped towards the coils of the spring. Having it that way allows you to locate the spring in the top pocket, put a floor Jack under the ball joint and slowly Jack it up to fix the spring in place. That will not work with a UMI K member because UMI uses a a tube about 1.5" tall that is nearly exactly the same ID as the springs OD.




I had to use the spring compressor to compress as much as the spring as much as possible. Even then I had to use a Jack under the ball joint and start jacking, but remember there's no engine to weight the front end down!
There was another way that people use to install springs which is to disconnect the two A arm pivot bolts and just sandwich the spring in place. Problem with that is the spring isn't straight, it travels in an arc.


Picture doesn't show it well but there is an arc.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I had purchased an oil temp sensor a while ago and was just waiting until I pulled the pan next. I had been warned that simply installing it in the block would only measure the engine block temp and not oil temp. I didn't want to order a steel 1/8" NPT weld in bung for $5 when I could make my own for free. I cut out a square from some spare 3/8" steel, ground the sharp points, drilled and tapped it so the sensor seats perfectly down. Then I just welded it on and sprayed some paint. Voila!







Believe it or not, the weld on my bung looks better than the weld on the drain plug bung they did.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Started the process of installing the clutch master cylinder. I will be using my thirdgen manual pedals, T5 clutch master cylinder, a -3 AN line and the late 80's Chevy Cavalier slave cylinder. My RS was a manual T5 so I was able to easily make a template for placement based off of the position of the steering column.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I bought this on a whim because I wasn't interested in firing up an air compressor to power an air ratchet. I wasn't impressed with it at first so I tossed it into the tool chest. In the last few months I got it out again and I have fallen in love with it. It been great for body bolts, interior fasteners, the long suspension bolts, that gas tank straps, etc. If the bolt threads smoothly this can put out ~30 foot/pound of torque. I wouldn't use it to tighten or loosen anything over 30 though because it is a plastic, electronic tool. If anyone is doing any assembly/disassembly work look into one of these. The charge lasts a while.

jfl1960

very nice work, picked up a lot of ideas for my 82 Z28 project, hoping you might scan and post that template actual size for the clutch master-cylinder hole and bolt location as I am going 5 speed with my Camaro from auto and would love to get my pedals and master installed, your template would be very helpful.

Heartmotorworks

I might be wrong, but I think when I did the swap the place for the clutch master was already stamped into the firewall on the auto cars, I just had to cut it out. no need for a template. But I cant remember anymore, you'd have to check for yourself.

jfl1960

I think you are correct for 84 and newer models but I cannot find any firewall markings on mine, it's an 82 and they did not come with the hydraulic clutch master, the 82-83 maybe even the 84 were mechanical linkage and 4 speed saginaw trans, my clutch pedals are from an 82 will work with the hydraulic master but do not have the firewall support brackets which would help me in locating clutch master cylinder location on firewall and I cannot find a set of those brackets without buying a full pedal set for $100.00+. Therefore if I had a template I could accurately locate my needed opening and bolt locations then fabricate a set of firewall brackets to suit that location and my clutch master cylinder install problems would be solved. If anyone has a set of those support rods I would be very interested in purchasing at a reasonable price, that would solve my problem too. Thanks for the reply.

grngryoutmyway

iTrader: (1)

No cut out for clutch master on the auto cars. The support rods really wont help in setting the location as they are a little adjustable. I just made a template from the master itself and put it where it should go and marked the firewall.

This is with a tick master but you get the point, go to post #7 and it should help.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/ltx-...build-out.html

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

There was a cutout on the insulation but nothing on the firewall on this 91 automatic. I am noticing that there are slight differences between these cars. For instance might seat brackets I made exact for my RS and I put them in this car and they were off by 1/4". Also my template is perfect for fitment on my RS but on this car when I tried to bolt the pedals up it almost looks like the master cylinder is sitting 1/4" too low. Best solution for mounting the clutch master on an automatic car may be to install the pedals and Mark the holes for the Master's studs measure that to be sure they are the right distance and drill that. I'll try to make the pedals bolt up, I'll show a picture...

jfl1960

yeah i see the insulation cutout but it is so moveable that I wouldn't risk using it as a guide, I much prefer using a set of existing holes like the brake booster or steering column and either laying out a location or using a proper template to locate the master, if i could find a manual car locally I would make my own but all the 5 speed 3rd gens I know of are in working order and therefore not accessible to me, there are absolutely none of these cars in salvage yards in my area most have been scrapped and crushed or just plain cannibalized for floor pans, firewalls, roofs etc.

jfl1960

Been reading your thread too, nice job and maybe that is what I will have to do in the end. thanks for the reply.

jfl1960

Wish something like this was available for our cars: http://www.camarocentral.com/1970_19...p/brc-432c.htm

Heartmotorworks

I can try to make a template you can print off from mine, but its all put together right now so It wont be perfect. let me know if you want me to and I'll post it on one of your forums or make a thread so we don't hijack Tibo's thread If you're not in a hurry I'm sure my car will be coming apart again soon, so I can make you a better template when its apart.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Go ahead and post it here. Be interesting if my template was the same as yours. If there wasn't a variance in how they were mounted at the factory there wouldn't be much of a need for pedals with adjustable support braces. Wondering if they didn't use the insulation as the template....

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Polished the radiator cover and did a test fit. No insulators yet so the radiator appears low.

MoJoe

iTrader: (5)

Nice work so far!

I did my 87 this way. The 4g pedal bracket has some flexibility in it and I cut the resulting holes maybe 1/2" further down/outward than ideal or where the floor insulation cutouts were located. I had to round the edges of the Tick aluminum adapter block, and hammer the front wheel well a little for the hydraulic hose to clear.

My $.02 Measure twice, or 3 or 4 times, cut once. Try to use as many references to make sure you get it located right: firewall template, 4g pedal brackets, insulation cutouts.

FYI: My 71 Camaro was born automatic, but had a block off cover over the hole for a clutch rod... My N=1 says the hole was stamped on all cars and covered when not used.

jfl1960

Did not mean to hijack this thread, my apologies to Tibo, a template would be most appreciated, all the support brackets for 1st and 2nd gen camaro I have seen are referenced off the brake booster hole locations rather than the steering column hole locations so I think using the brake booster holes will give a more consistent clutch master location for push rod angle, I intend to make a metal plate such as the one I posted the link to earlier, that should act as a location template and put the clutch master at the correct angle and strengthen the firewall too, thanks.

jfl1960

Nice, do you clear coat the aluminum in the engine bay or leave it raw, love the polished look but for lower maintenance I went with a brushed aluminum and a satin clear.

robguitargod1

iTrader: (4)

I really like the idea of using threaded ends for radiator hoses. Both ends of course. I'm going to look for adapters that I can weld onto my radiator and water pump.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I can make a template using the brake booster, steering column or both. I do t have access to a flat bed scanner. I can mail something to someone if they are really interested in having it to make a PDF and post it.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I leave it without the clear coat. It's easy enough to polish and I'm fearful of clear coat yellowing or peeling.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I LOVE using AN braided hose! You can buy the bung and weld it on to the radiator for $10. The hose and ends are pricey but look great and seal without leaks and are tough as nails. Highly recommend it for when you get to putting your engine in.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I like using the engine on the shop crane and putting the transmission on a furniture dolly and putting them together that way. I put the engine in all by myself in 30-45 mins. But then getting the motor mount through bolts in took 90 mins with an assistant!