Aaron's 76 Type LT Project

10 minute(s) of a 383 minute read

Wow, talk about timing Keith, thanks for asking. To put it bluntly, life has been f'n crazy the last 12+ months. We moved into the new house back in April and it's been nothing but projects to turn our new house into our new home. We were in our last home for ~10 years and we are working hard to get things done ASAP so we don't take another 10 years doing projects. The good thing about that is when the projects are done, they are done for a long time, which means lots of Camaro time. We are down to mostly small projects we can tackle when we feel like it.

Sadly, my garage was not at the top of the to-do list, but I spent most of this weekend getting it organized so I can start work on the 76 again very soon. So you'll start seeing some progress pics, FINALLY!

In the meantime, here are a few pics of the 76's new home and the new house.

And the last thing I did was put the pass side 1/4 panel on before we moved, more because I really needed to before the car was flat-bedded to the new house. So the first thing I need to do is finish welding the 1/4 panel, weld in the drop-off panel between the trunk and 1/4 and clean up the trunk floor.

Then I need to decide what to do next. I have a dent in the pass side rocker panel that needs addressing, so I could do that. But then it will be time to get body panels on and lined up so I can move toward painting the car. We're talking next spring time line for painting. I need to stat another thread and make sure I have the right idea as far as what to do and in what order.

4-19-2014

So I am back (I never really left). After shelving the project for a while (I was always working on it in my mind, does that count?), I am re-starting the build. My 76 was patiently waiting in my garage while I got through this and that, which I won't bore you with.  

I don't have any pictures today, only what I have on my immediate list of things to do before I can move on to the rest of the body panels. I began the list yday but it's pretty boring items that don't make for many Kodak moments.

Below is what I will get done in the next few weeks, after which I will begin getting the other body panels installed to get sized up. Then I will take them all off and start stripping them down to bare metal. Luckily I won't have much "bondo" work to do except for the pass side rocker panel and some small spots on the roof.

* Finish/clean up welds on the passenger side 1/4 panel
* Finish/clean up welds from passenger side 1/4 panel to roof
* Install trunk drop down panel on passenger side
* Adjust gap on passenger side door
* Make sure sub frame is properly lined up (doing today actually, almost done)
* Fix a couple of floor board welds

I will be back soon with some updates (and pictures).

Alright, one picture to at least get the ball rolling. The metal dust on the floor proves I am doing actual work

4-27-2014

Not really any Kodak moments from this past weekend. I spent the bulk of the time cleaning up the pass side 1/4 panel welds and doing a crap load of grinding.  

I got the pass side trunk drop-down panel installed and need to clean up the welds along the bottom where the drop down meets the 1/4 panel. So I will be able to cross that off the list by next weekend.

The spot where the 1/4 panel meets the rocker panel got a little out of whack, so I will have to address that. I am not sure how that happened but nothing I can do except fix it. Shouldn't be a big deal but it's another thing to deal with.

I didn't touch the pass side door any more, but here's a picture of where it stands. The gap along the bottom is maybe 1/32" wider than the top, which I should be able to clean up. For some reason this door was a bigger PITA than the driver side door. I will address the door after the 1/4 panel is all done which will be in the next few days.

4-30-2014

It's in transit. It's an LS376 480  I've been set on doing an LS conversion all along but wasn't sure what direction I wanted to do re: the engine. So I took the "lazy" route and got a crate motor. I will get to the point of putting the panels on so I need the drivetrain in place so the car is sitting properly. It will give me something to do if/when I need a break from body work.

BTW, here is a WTF picture from my car. This is a factory weld on the trunk hinge. I have done some bad welds in my day, but this is BAD

5-5-2014

I got something in the mail today

I admit it's a little early, but I fully expect to start putting the other body panels on the car for initial fitment within the next 4-6 weeks and I wanted to have the suspension weighed down properly when I do that. I also figure if I have this thing staring at me in the face then it will be an even bigger motivation to get the pedal to the metal.

I worked on the driver side door and got it pretty close but decided to look at the door latch. It was worn quite a bit so stopped until I get the replacement door latches in so I can align them with all the components replaced so it's a TRUE fit.

5-10-2014

After starting a thread in the Body section I decided to add some metal reinforcement to the 1/4 panel-to-roof seams. I am glad I did it as it gives me added peace of mind with this joint. It's rock solid now. After filling in with All Metal it will be good to go. I need to clean this up a little but it's essentially done. Now I have the driver side to do.

You'll notice I cleaned up the roof rust. I had to kill time in between welding the patch so this was a good job to do. I hit the cowl as well.

Here's what I started with. The seam was solid but decided to add some more strength.



The patch in place with HF magnet clamps. I didn't go all the way to the ends since I had built that up some when I was welding the seam the first time around.



The patch secured down snug with self tapping sheet metal screws. I drilled some holes in the field for added security.



A few tack welds around the premiter



The patch welded in place



The seam after some grinding. Looks kind of like it was before, but it's obviously much stronger now. I need to address the ends of the patch but I decided to stop here to get ready for a date with the wife

5-11-2014

Yeah, I agree Kenny and am glad I went forward with it. It's not that much work to add some significant strength.

Thanks Tony. I feel like I have my old mojo back finally. I am waiting for the door latch assemblies to arrive so I can tackle the door alignment. I also need to address the rocker panel, which should be fairly easy. After those items and putting the All Metal on the roof seams, then I should be able to put the other body panels on for alignment. Then I will be able to really hit the shell for paint prep.

Here is the passenger side ready for some All Metal




Here's the driver side welded up and ready for some grinding




In between welding I started stripping the back panel. I was using the stripping discs for this job, which work very well and are kind to the metal.

5-17-2014

I got the replacement door latches in so it was time to get the doors aligned.  

I got the driver's side door done, but I am going to take another look and make sure it's correct.





The only compromise I am going to have to make is the top of the rocker panel peeks out a little beyond the bottom edge of the door. I don't have any choice as this is the only way I can get the back edge of the door to line up with the 1/4 panel. This might be standard fitment.

Here's some fun pictures.

I had to get creative to remove the door latch screws. I tried to get those damn screws out and could not get proper force applied, even when using a T-bar style screwdriver. I am 230 lb man so I went to plan B



Here's the warning label on my engine hoist. I like some of these warnings.