Loosecannon's 1967 Camaro RS build

In reply to Norma66-Brent :

Yes, good for E85

Dang there's some beautiful hardware going into this beast!

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

Dang there's some beautiful hardware going into this beast!

Yes, I am trying to make a nice car but there are times that I can't justify the extra costs. Example, the hood is carbon fiber because it weighs a lot less than the fiberglass one but the trunk lid is not because I couldn't justify the extra expense of the CF version. The latest video just dropped See it here

I've been buttoning up details not worth making a video about but today I installed the steering wheel and shifter. It's a small thing but somehow feels like a big step and I literally sit in the car now and make vroom vroom noises 

Some more parts arrived and I got those installed and in the middle of this video I realized that all that's left is to hit the starter and see what happens. CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO If you're not into the videos, I'll give you the TLDR. I installed the steering wheel and shifter and they really wake up the interior of the car. I also installed a way-too-big oil cooler and finish all the fluid lines except for coolant. The layback rad causes all kinds of issues with inlets and steam ports but I'll get those sorted. I used HPTuners to get rid of VATS and the engine makes 58 psi of oil pressure when turning over with the starter. I added some gas and hit the starter button and it fired up but would stall immediately. I traced it down to not properly loading the tune after I disabled the VATS. It has just open headers so it's a rowdy beast when idling

In reply to loosecannon :

Internet high five for that big cam!

I ordered an aluminum driveshaft from a local place and it was done quickly and at a decent price. I love it when that happens. I also mounted the battery in the trunk

Having so many dollars tied up in an uninsured car was starting to give me cold sweats so I went to Hagarty and it turns out they insure classic cars in Canada, and also insure cars that are currently under construction. However, they DO NOT insure cars that they describe as "Pro Modified". I looked into it and the issue appears to be the roll bar, and others have been rejected for their roll bars, too. This was upsetting until I went down to my local Government operated insurance agent (manitoba public insurance aka Autopac) and inquired about insuring my car on layup (in storage). They gave me a ridiculously low number for insuring it against fire/theft (but not collision) for up to a vehicle value of $70,000. I asked how much to insure for $120,000 value and it was a paltry $2 per $1000 over the $70,000. Yeh, I signed up immediately

My CP Camaro is insured with Hagarty, and no issues with the roll bar, but I do not have it insured as a street car.

In reply to Gimp (Forum Supporter) :

Hagarty specifically said they could not insure a ProModified car "In your area" so maybe it has something to do with being in Canada as well? I posted this on a ProTouring FB page and others reported having the same problem and stated that their roll bar was what Hagarty listed as the issue. All I know is Hagarty wanted $1750 before rejecting me and Autopac charged $218 for the same coverage

Insurance is very specific to States and Provinces. For the most part in Canada insurance acts have been written that makes no differentiation between using a car as a getaway car for a robbery or doing a "speed test" (AX, RX, track days), in both cases your insurance is void and they can drop you. In Ontario because of that Hagerty says absolutely no track days whether you think you're insured for that or not, below the border they'll happily sell you extra track day insurance to go along with their classic car policies on the same vehicle.

Glad your public option is working for you, I wish we had a good option like that here in Ontario.

Spent hours on fiddly bits today. Got the radiator in but couldn't fit the fan between rad and sway bar so I'll have to look at options there. Also made the largest AN hose I've ever done (AN16) for the upper radiator hose and got the expansion tank plumbed, too. I added heat shielding to anything too close to the headers AND discovered that I had two giant vacuum ports wide open when I started it. Here's a picture of the underside 

I bolted the rad in and tried to get a vacuum in the system but couldn't. Then I tried to pressurize it but couldn't and was unable to see where the leak was coming from. So, I started pouring de-ionized water into the rad and the leaky thermostat housing quickly revealed itself. I fixed that and was able to build and hold pressure in the system so I knew I could safely add coolant (actually, just water for now). 

I bought a crazy, high output fan to ventilate the garage when I paint something and I fired it up for the first time in anticipation of running the LS7. It did not help much. I fired up the engine to bring it up to temp and had to stand outside then hold my breath and run in to check temps. Everything seems to be working excellent. The thermostat opened at 192 degrees and water flowed through the rad and the temp stabilized, even without fans on the rad. I have a little oil leak on the oil cooler line in the absolute worst place (behind the header) but otherwise, everything is fantastic. I was able to shift through the gears and give it some rpms and it sounds glorious. Now I need fans, wheels and tires and can drive it around the neighborhood. VIDEO: SO CLOSE TO DRIVING

It is crazy hot here today but I still managed to do a little work on the Camaro. At Springnats I managed to get a pair of castoff Yoko 315/30-18 tires so I spent quite a bit of time test fitting those. They do actually fit better than the 335's I test fitted earlier and I feel good about ordering wheels now. Might rub on the front sway bar a little at full lock but I'm not worried. I also bolted on the Anvil Auto fiberglass trunk lid and carbon fiber spoiler. I was super careful drilling the holes for the spoiler and it fits perfectly but the plan is to run a stock spoiler with 10" high lexan spoiler attached to it for competition. The stock spoiler does not slide right into the holes drilled for the Anvil piece so I had to open them up a little, not happy about it but the washers cover the larger holes.

My 315/30-18 Nankang CR-S tires have arrived! I test fitted them and can finally order wheels. The wheels are BC Forged Modular LE10 and here are pics of what they will look like (except our bolts are stainless)

Those will look amazing.  I suspect traction will be an issue regardless of the tire size chosen.  Looking good and so close.  What are you doing for the rest of the exhaust system?  Wide open headers?

loosecannon said:

It is crazy hot here today...

OK, I have to ask. What qualifies as crazy hot there? This isn't a pissing contest, I'm genuinely curious. I'm sure you'd laugh at what people around here call cold. I've seen people in puffer jackets when it was 70F here. 

84FSP said:

Those will look amazing.  I suspect traction will be an issue regardless of the tire size chosen.  Looking good and so close.  What are you doing for the rest of the exhaust system?  Wide open headers?

I am doing long tube headers into 3 inch oval exhaust to the back

CAinCA said:

loosecannon said:

It is crazy hot here today...

OK, I have to ask. What qualifies as crazy hot there? This isn't a pissing contest, I'm genuinely curious. I'm sure you'd laugh at what people around here call cold. I've seen people in puffer jackets when it was 70F here. 

32 C or 90 degrees F with 91% humidity

What did you spend on the driveshaft so I kinda know what to expect when it's time to do the 'V' ?

759NRNG said:

What did you spend on the driveshaft so I kinda know what to expect when it's time to do the 'V' ?

It's a 4 inch aluminum driveshaft with the bigger U-Joints (1350?) and was $950 Canadian dollars

loosecannon said:

759NRNG said:

What did you spend on the driveshaft so I kinda know what to expect when it's time to do the 'V' ?

It's a 4 inch aluminum driveshaft with the bigger U-Joints (1350?) and was $950 Canadian dollars

Thanks was figuring it to be that amount.....yes 1350 is the plan this coming along nicely. 

loosecannon said:

32 C or 90 degrees F with 91% humidity

Yep, that qualifies as hot. I spent a summer in Florida where it was like that every day. There's nothing like taking a shower and breaking out in sweat while you're trying to dry off. 

I'll take our 100F and fairly dry summers thank you. 

You get a twofor in this video about how I berkeleyed up the radiator in the Camaro but just happened to have the radiator that was too big for the MGB Click for video

The new radiator and dual fans are in.  I started the engine and let it idle to get the temperature up to the point that fan #1 kicks on. The temp wouldn't rise above 194 degrees so I put it in 2nd gear and gave it a few rpm, which was pretty exciting.  Click For Video