1970 Camaro. Project "Cindy" by iregret

11 minute(s) of a 206 minute read

Okay, so I've been slacking on the updates. I have managed to accomplish a few things here and there, but haven't been responsible about taking pictures. Slowly I have been checking off things from my imaginary list.

I finished the brake lines. Sounds simple right? Wrong! I spent about 6 hours one day dealing with my brake lines, and hydroboost. Everything was all installed correctly and I began bleeding my brakes. Starting with the passenger rear, then the driver's rear, then passenger front, and finally the driver's front. Thats when the problems started. For some reason there was no brake fluid coming out of the brake lines. NONE! So I started taking things apart one by one. What it turned out being, was an O-ring in the line lock. Not sure why Summit put it there, but it must have been bunched up when I tightened down the fitting.

After I took that apart, I couldn't get it back together because of where the line lock is located (now under a master cyclendar, and hydroboost), and old fittings. I finally got frustrated and cut the original line.

I headed down to autozone and picked up a replacement. Spent about 1/2 an hour bending it up, got it just right...ONLY TO FIND OUT THEY GAVE ME A FREEKIN METRIC BRAKE LINE! Ugh, headed back to get them to replace it. Guess what, they're all out of the one I need. So, I headed to NAPA and bought the correct brake line, bent it, installed it, and re-bled the brakes.

Brakes are bled!

Prior to all of this I ordered a Moroso U-joint Girdle from Summit. I want to replace the stock straps that we have. Well, the girdle is the wrong size, even though Summit says its the right size.

Do these look the same size to you?

Remember, my rear end is from my 1980 Camaro, and the driveline is from my 1970 Camaro. When I got rid of my 80, I put the 10 bolt from the 70 in it.

Well, it turns out that the yokes must be different because the 1970 Camaro has even a different size straps! UGH!
1980 on top
1970 on bottom

So now I have a set of girdles for a 1970 Camaro that don't fit and straps from my 1970 Camaro that don't fit with the 1980 rear end. Get all that?
Yes, I have three different sizes.

To make matters worse, the U-joints that I replaced wont work with my 1980 rear end, they're too small.

So I went to NAPA and asked for a U-joint for a 1980 Camaro and they handed me the correct sized one. GREAT!

...Except after I took the other U-joint out, I couldn't get the replacement from NAPA back in.
1980 driveline on the left, 1970 driveline on the right.

Notice how the 1980 U-joints are a different style? The clips are on the inside instead of the outside.
1980 style on the left, 1970 style on the right

So now I headed back to NAPA, with both U-joints in hand, and asked if it was possible to have a U-joint that had the smaller size on one part, and the larger size on the other. Much to my surprise, yes you can and instead of having to order it, they actually had it in stock.

NAPA PART NUMBER 372 PRECISION

It's kind of hard to tell in the pics, but can you see how the U-joint on top has both style clips? See how its wider than it is tall? This U-joint fits in my 1970 driveline, and bolts to my 1980 yoke! WooHOO!

So now the driveline is finally bolted in! It's always the simple things that throw you for a loop. haha Among other things, I also reworked my exhaust. I wasn't really happy with how low it was hanging, so I tweaked it a little bit. I still need to tighten up a few U-bolts.

I finally had my valve stems replaced. Remember how the old ones hit the calipers? Well my new ones are flush!

Other than that I need to:
Hook up the shifter
Hook up the transmission vacuum line
Hook up the hydroboost
Modify the radiator hold down
Wire in the line lock
Put the interior back together
...and a bunch of little things that I'm sure I'm forgetting.

3-30-2009

Has anyone ever found one that worked? If so, what one was it?  

I'm getting closer and closer to driving it every day. Spring time is hit and miss in Oregon. It snowed a couple of weeks ago, and was in the 60's last week. Weird. To tell you the truth, working on the car is wearing on me. I'm not quite sick of it, but I find my self less and less motivated. LOL.

I had a bit of time today, plus the sun came out! I installed my K&N air cleaner.

I decided to work on my shifter. The way that it is mounted, and the physical location of the factory hole makes it impossible to hook up the shifting cable. I finally broke down and cut a new hole.

Before:

After:

Yeah, yeah, I know the hole looks ghetto. I couldn't find my hole saw. I had to drill two holes, and cut it out with a jig saw. Good thing it will be covered up with carpet! I will fill in around the cable. The best part is, I can shift now!

I also went around and tightened up all the exhaust clamps. I need to buy two more.

I took a quick video too. It was just too nice at that moment to not hear her run.

I have just a few little things to do and I should be able to actually take it for a spin! The last big thing is hooking up the hydroboost, vacuum line for the transmission, and modifing the fan shroud hold down.

When I started it, I actually shifted into reverse, and drive. I didn't give it much gas, but it was neat to see the wheels spin, AND STOP! LOL.

Here's the video:

4-1-2009

Yesterday I put some of the last few things on Cindy before she was ready for the first test drive. I still haven't installed the hydorboost. I want to have a full day to deal with it, just in case something comes up.

I repainted the radiator hold down, and the two support bars. Put on a few exhaust clamps, and other odds and ins.

Here are the videos that I posted in the BS section. (Apparently with weak burnouts, LOL)

Link to that thread:
http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=149140

The videos:





First test drive.

Putting her away.

4-7-2009

Today I hooked up my hydroboost. The first thing I did, was read the instructions. After 5 pages of instructions, I decided to write my own.

This was supposed to be a before and after shot. Except I finished after it became dark. Anyhow, you can see that I painted my radiator hold down, and support bars.

Next I removed the power steering pump and took both hoses off.

Okay, so you can see from the diagram above, how the unit is setup. Basically you're rerouting the power steering pump lines.(duh) I have the CPP Hydroboost unit, and it came with braided lines for the HIGH pressure side of the hydroboost unit. I loosely hooked up the lines and marked where I wanted to cut with electrical tape. The first time I used a hack saw with a fine tooth blade. That didn't turn out as well as I would have liked, so I decided to give my grinder a try. That worked GREAT!

So my kit came with -6 Earl fittings. The first thing you want to do, after you've made your cut, is to take the fitting apart and slide the female piece on the tubing. Next, gently separate the wire from the tubing. After that, press in the little brass fitting.

Next, put the fitting together tighten it down. I had a bit of trouble getting the fitting to go in. So, I dipped the male part into power steering fluid a couple of times to lubricate it. After that, it slid right in.

I got so into installing all the fittings, I forgot to take any more pictures. But you guys get the idea.

After I got everything hooked up, I filled the power steering pump with new fluid and jacked the front end up until the tires were off the ground. Then, I started the engine, and rotated the steering wheel lock to lock 20 times. I killed the engine, and filled the power steering pump up again. Started her back up, and rotated lock to lock for another 20 or so. Next, I pressed on the brakes a bunch of times. I don't know if I quite got all the air bubbles out, but it turns back and forth without making any weird noises.

So, I took Cindy for a quick test drive. Power steering makes it so much better! Plus, I can stop! I havent gone over 20 mph. I just sped up, and then slowed down a bunch of times. I wanted to take things easy.

By the time driving occurred, it was dark. I have a headlight that's out, and the car has tags from 1998, so I put her back into the car port. Hopefully in the next couple of days, I can go back over there and mess around some more.

Oh...one more thing. There was no one around to take any videos, but rest assured, I did a proper burn out. LOL. Now that I have actual braking power, I can smoke the tires until I feel like stopping.