Aaron's 76 Type LT Project

9 minute(s) of a 383 minute read

I finally had some time to spend on the Camaro. I picked up at the 1/4s and got them buffed to the point of just needing final polishing. I knocked out some home projects before our son arrives in November so I was a little pre-occupied.

I am taking a few days off before Labor Day so I will have 5 days to do some more sanding and buffing.

8-31-2015

thanks guys, I did some more buffing on the 1/4s tonight. I am down to the final "grit" of polish, aside from some spot treatment but I am going to deal with that later. I plan on doing some of that tomorrow.  

9-1-2015

thanks fellas, it's good to get back into the swing of things. I am looking forward to the long weekend to get more done. I need to move parts out of my wife's craft room so once the shell is done I will tackle the doors so I can install them. That will make room to move some more parts to where the doors currently are located. After what I have learned on the shell, the doors should go pretty quickly.

It's funny (and a little frustrating) as I am noticing stray scratches here and there. They are all fairly minor and can only be seen when you look at the panel at the right angle. I should be able to buff them out fairly easily though. I will likely wait and tackle those down the road when the entire car is done and I have a chance to determine which defects bug me the most. I will have to draw the line somewhere.

9-13-2015

Got some work done on the doors. If you are thinking about painting your car black....don't do it  This has definitely been a lot of work and I think will look good in the end. But it's been a whole lot of sanding and buffing.

The most frustrating part has been despite taking necessary steps to eliminate dirt when sanding, I still get stray scratches from some renegade spec of dirt or trash. So I get to resand those little scratches and re-buff.

The fenders should be more forgiving as I sprayed those much better than any other panels. I am not sure if I will (or should) sand and buff any of the smaller pieces. My gut feeling is "no".

10-15-2015

oh yeah, we are really excited. We have a few small things left to do but we're pretty much done with the new baby tasks. Now we just need a baby.  

I know it's cheating, but I am going to talk to a detailer and see what he'd quote me on getting most of the panels buffed the rest of the way.

I got more of the hood buffed tonight. I should get that done this weekend. Then I can hang the doors and buff whatever else time will allow me to do.

10-18-2015

I got the doors mounted, which was as much about getting them out of the way as it was just getting them installed. It was a nice mental boost to actually install something for a change. I drilled guide holes in the hinges once the doors were aligned, so that helped greatly when I reinstalled them.  

I still need to buff the 1/4 panels below the body line so that's why the look different in the pics.

10-22-2015

So we'll be going to the hospital Tuesday morning to welcome our son to the world. So you might not see me posting for a little while after that 

10-25-2015

I got a little more work in before D-day. I figured it would be good to have the ability to work on some mechanical sub-projects since those can be split up into smaller "packets" of time. One big hurdle was getting to the point of being able to mount the transmission so I had to do some tests and dial indicate the bellhousing. Lucky for me the T.I.R. was < 0.010" so I don't have to mess with any offset dowel pins. That's where I left things off, so the next steps (whenever that is) will be to install the clutch and clutch plates, measure for the cushion and then mount the transmission. Then I can actually drop the drivetrain in.

A few obligatory pics of the LS

LOL, this was more or less the plan all along, with a few modifications. I had planned on having the body, doors and roof TOTALLY buffed before I turned to the drivetrain. Unfortunately I only had time to get them PARTIALLY buffed so I could give myself the chance to still do some work on the Camaro. I think it will work out well. I am already planning ahead in how I will tackle buffing the rest of the body. It will require me burning some vacation time, let's put it that way

Having a child definitely puts a different spin on this project, that's for sure.

10-28-2015

I am officially a father. Our son was born 10/27/15 at 3:52 pm. He was born at 37 weeks so he weighed in at 5 lbs 12 oz, but he is a healthy little dude. Mom and son are doing well. He is eating well now and is sleeping in 2-3 hour stretches, so we hope that holds up (and turns into 6 hours down the road )

I will post pics later since the hospital wifi blocks imgur.

10-30-2015

thanks guys! We made it home yesterday and he is doing great. He is eating very well and sleeping great. Fingers crossed we get more of this than the alternative, but we'll manage with whatever come our way.

Here's a few pics. I was pretty tired by the time this got taken. We'd been up since 4 am that day. I was well past my nap time!

11-3-2015

thanks guys. He is being so good right now, it's scary. I think weeks 3/4 can be more challenging as they begin to realize they are not in the womb, but maybe we will luck out.  

I am going to try and install the drivetrain before I go back to work so I can clear up some space and feel like I accomplished something. It shouldn't be too difficult since the front sheet metal is not installed. I just need to hook up the tranny to the motor, install the motor mounts and tranny crossmember and hope she fits.

11-15-2015

I got the spacers I needed for the transmission so I was able to get the tranny mounted to the motor. Now I need to swap out the oil pan and install the motor mounts before I can attempt to install the drivetrain.

Obligatory pic of some progress




On an aside, my bro-in-law took some photos of our son and he got this unplanned pic of me shoosh'ing Coen to settle him down and it turned out to be one of my favorites