1971 Camaro RS

I don't really have a lot of progress to report on the car. I missed the cancer cruise with it but the boys and I took the orange truck and they had a blast. They got to see their first burn out contest and are hooked. Haha I did however, buy more parts for the car. I got a new AAW classic update harness for it. The wiring had some hackery done to it so I decided to just replace it all now. I also picked up a rebuilt Hurst Ram Rod shifter for it. My friend's 70 Cuda had one and I loved driving that car. Now I have my own. :LOL:

I got all new steering components with billet adjusters. (Except for the box. I picked up a good used quick ratio one) I got SPC adjustable upper control arms with taller ball joints too. I got Fragola push lock fuel lines and an aluminum fuel filter with an fittings on it. My new engine harness came today and I got my computer back 2 weeks ago.

I really need to find the time to work on it. I've been doing dodge after dodge and have a ford and another dodge to do yet too. Sheesh :LOL:

Rumor has it that there was a split bumper 'maro with a unique baked clear coat paint scheme parked at the fairgrounds in DesMoines when the GoodGuys bunch was in town..... AND that it got there under it's own power!!

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Originally Posted by rspears

Rumor has it that there was a split bumper 'maro with a unique baked clear coat paint scheme parked at the fairgrounds in DesMoines when the GoodGuys bunch was in town..... AND that it got there under it's own power!!

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I cannot verify for it getting there under its own power, but I do have physical evidence of it being there LOL

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Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

but I do have physical evidence of it being there LOL

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Please Share... you know how we love pics..

Attachment 71397 sorry Ryan, I let the cat out of the bag

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Originally Posted by rspears

Rumor has it that there was a split bumper 'maro with a unique baked clear coat paint scheme parked at the fairgrounds in DesMoines when the GoodGuys bunch was in town..... AND that it got there under it's own power!!

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Yes sir!!! I did drive it part way to Des Moines before she started getting hot so I had to trailer it the rest of the way. I'll tell that story here shortly.

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I almost can't remember where I left off on this. I was bound and determined to have this thing at Goodguys this year. I had boxes and boxes of parts I was tired of tripping over. So I pushed a dodge outside and told the owner he was going to have to wait. It was toy time. :LOL:

Sunday June 23rd I started installing the new AAW harness. My list was severly long. I didn't get the car down to the fair grounds until Saturday July 6th at 5pm. But hey, it made it.

I originally had a tuning session set up in KC for June 21st but had to cancel. I had another setup for July 1st and had to cancel as well. I fired the car for the first time at 2am on the 1st. (sorry neighbors) :LOL: I found a couple of fuel leaks I had to repair, and it had a coolant leak. So that lead to me canceling it. The tuner told me not to drive it until it had been tuned so I was worried.

Anyway, I did have this same guy flash this ecm and I was not thrilled he didn't do half of the things I told him to do. The biggest issue was he didn't switch it to a manual trans platform. So fast forward to Saturday the 6th when I finally go to drive it outside under it's own power since who knows when. I let it set and warm up to see when the fans turn on. They never did. See the truck engines have mechanical fans so the ecm doesn't control them. But these ecms are used on many applications and the function is there. This is just another thing the guy didn't do. Now I was starting to see why he didn't want me to drive it. What a kick in the ding dong!

The thing ran great and seemed to rev up and down with no issues. I decided what the heck. Let's drive it. Well it was doing fine until I got stuck in some heavy traffic due to an accident. It was getting hot in my mind, but since this is an LS it was probably fine. I aired on the side of caution and pulled in to a Casey's and just had the trailer come get me. The other thing was some ding bat lowered the car pretty low and the mufflers were dragging. I wonder who that fool was? :LOL:

So Saturday night we went home so I could grab tools and supplies. Sunday morning I woke up early and wired my fans up. This sucked because when I did my AAW harness, I removed the wire from the harness as I wouldn't need it. Whoops. Then I raised the mufflers on the hangers as high as I could. It did just fine. The thing was not really happy when I let the clutch out but we managed. I didn't get the AC done either. Sheesh. But the kids rode in it and had a blast!

Here are some pics. First is when I took it off the trailer at the campgrounds. Please ignore my brother knocking the sand out of his vag. He was hot and had a long day of being a lazy ass rolling around in my orange truck while I was getting stuff done to the Camaro. :LOL:

Second was my blended in repair from a rust spot. I also fixed the huge bondo mess in the tail light panel but I don't know if I have a pic of that.

The others are pics from at Goodguys.

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Currently I need to get back on it. We went on vacation the 2nd week in July. I sent my spare ecm off to get tuned so now I need to find the time to swap it out and see how it does now. I opted not to go to KC and give that guy anymore money. But hey, I have a $280 "flashed" ecm for another LS swap I guess. :LOL:

I also am going to raise the rear a half inch, and I need to get the vintage air installed. I need to readjust the camber and then maybe the toe. It's getting close to being able to go on the road for longer than 20 miles. :LOL:

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I'm just ready to post it on here but I brought Rita to Excessive Autosports in Tea today because of a long list of the 5.3 not running right for the last two years. I couldn't be happier with what he did, it acts like a new motor. It was a $450 dollar bill but worth it.

Good for you Ryan! You did it, and you have it runnin' and drivin'.
Plus it's lookin' good to boot. Thanks for the update.

Here are some pics of some of the stuff I put on the car. SPC adjustable upper control arms, big sway bar from Custom Works Performance. I still have the rear adjustable one to install. I also put on C5 big brakes with 4th gen Camaro calipers.

I put my moser engineering diff cover on. I tried putting a Spartan locker in my carrier but that was a big fail. I will need to revisit that later. I ground the mud out of the bad dent on the tail light panel. I pulled the dent and applied some more filler. It is way less than before. Haha I also finished the paint/blend from the rust spot by the back window.
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What happened to the locker install?

I already got the condenser and drier installed for the vintage air. Now to do the interior stuff. I didn't like the silicone elbow on the air inlet so I made it all steel. I also did the rocker trunion upgrade so I wouldn't have to have that annoyance. :cool:

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Originally Posted by 34_40

What happened to the locker install?

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I couldn't get all the pieces to fit in the carrier. It is like the piece for the RH side gear locking ring needs another quarter inch of material machined off of it for it to slide past the axle to get it in place. I fought it long enough so I put it back to a peg leg and threw the cover on so I could move on. :LOL:

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I happened to find some pics of my first 2nd gen I ever had. I still miss that car! 1972 RS 350 car. It had several different engine and trans combos in it over the years. The last was a 550hp 396/TH400. The one before that was a burly 482 that had aluminum rods and made 850hp. It had a not so good ending. :LOL:

The first pic is where it sat when I first bought it in around 1999. The last 2 are right before I tore it apart to trade it for Corvette parts.....

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Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

I couldn't get all the pieces to fit in the carrier. It is like the piece for the RH side gear locking ring needs another quarter inch of material machined off of it for it to slide past the axle to get it in place. I fought it long enough so I put it back to a peg leg and threw the cover on so I could move on. :LOL:

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Sorry to hear that. So much for plug and play right?!?!?

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Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

The one before that was a burly 482 that had aluminum rods and made 850hp. It had a not so good ending. :LOL: ..

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OH, Do TELL! :LOL::LOL::LOL:

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Originally Posted by 34_40

OH, Do TELL! :LOL::LOL::LOL:

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I had a M21 behind it and I still don't know for sure what happened. All I know is, it was fun while it lasted and it happened fast. :LOL: I was racing a Supra that the kid thought was the fastest thing around. (Of course this was in Mexico City...) The light turned green, I left in 2nd like I always did, nailed 3rd, he was no where close, put it in 4th and kaboom!!!!! I was driving over pieces, pieces smashed into the hood, but luckily nothing came through the firewall. I hit the tach recall and it went to the stop. As in past 10k rpm. As I watched the Supra drive off I saw these weird lights in my side mirror. Yep, busted... Anyway, I still think the M21 blew up, the engine over revved and grenaded. The cam was broke in 3 pieces, one head was broken, it broke the intake, the crank was broke. I saved the valve covers and nothing else. That was the only BBC I had with aluminum heads, ever. I saved a long time to get that thing running but I should have waited and put a Doug Nash 4 speed in it. The car got impounded that night too. The car got a nice retirement by the judge. I got the car back with the stipulation that it be torn apart and not put back on the street the way it was. He even sent the sheriff to where I worked and had my boss at the time sign a release form. That obviously ended my Mexico City days. :LOL:

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I'm not going to lie, that's a good story, well the last part anyhow :LOL::LOL::LOL:

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Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

I'm not going to lie, that's a good story, well the last part anyhow :LOL::LOL::LOL:

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My girl friend at the time, wife now, didn't really believ the story until she met my boss and friend/work partner. :LOL: Chris had a 68 Camaro with a 427 that had 10:1 compression and a 671 on it. He traded that car for a 83 Chevy that had a 12" lift and 44s. He too now has another 68 camaro. Oddly enough it has a 396 SBC and a 671 but tubbed and bad azz. Haha

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Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

I'm not going to lie, that's a good story, well the last part anyhow :LOL::LOL::LOL:

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Some day I'll have to tell you one of my favorite highway racing stories that took place north of Rock Rapids on the state line curves! lol

my 68 before and after loved that car. Only got stopped once by the police nd that was because he wanted to see it. As you can see in the before shot my dog didn't care for it at all. :LOL:

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Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Some day I'll have to tell you one of my favorite highway racing stories that took place north of Rock Rapids on the state line curves! lol

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No better time than now! I take that road often enough so it will be good to have a visual

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Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

No better time than now! I take that road often enough so it will be good to have a visual

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He may have to wait for the statute of limitations to expire.....

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Originally Posted by rspears

he may have to wait for the statute of limitations to expire.....

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:lol::lol::lol:

I'm starting the layout of the stripes. What a PITA this is!!!!! It probably isn't for those talented painter types. Haha

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Getting that very slight taper right so they look straight but really aren't is an art!

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Originally Posted by rspears

Getting that very slight taper right so they look straight but really aren't is an art!

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It sure is. I need to get some green 3M tape before I go any farther. Maybe I can get the deck lid done this weekend.

Just now catching up on the thread again…..nice work Ryan!!!!


Stripes can be a giant PIA to get right but sure set a car off. At least your not masking off flames! ;)


Love the pictures and stories of yours and Charlies' cars.


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Yes, the flames would be a challenge for sure! Luckily I know a couple of guys that can handle that if I ever get back on the 40....
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I knew I'd seen them, and a quick Google found a picture of the first GT350 stripe dimensions. May not help, but it shows how they get wider on the hood & deck lid at the back, fade back across the top.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2f/dc...1c0881fb05.jpg

You should be getting close to getting sick of that thing by now. I'll give you double what you paid for it after you get the stripes on.:LOL:

Been trying to get caught up on this thread. Looks like you have it going your way! Lookin' good!

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Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

You should be getting close to getting sick of that thing by now. I'll give you double what you paid for it after you get the stripes on.:LOL:

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LMFAO! Not quite. Especially at double what I paid for it. :LOL: I doubt I ever sell this. Well, maybe trade it for a 70 Cuda. Haha

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I spent some late hours getting the stripes the rest of the way masked off and then late last night I finally got them sprayed. The high humidity sure made that fun.....

Now I just have to paint the hood, then lay it out. That will be a bit more difficult as I want to go around the raised portion of the scoop. It's yet to be decided.

I'm still undecided but I am thinking of waiting a couple of weeks and weathering the stripes. I used flat paint to try and match the old paint. I'll have to see what it looks like in the sun.

Here are a couple of interior shots. I still have to put on the new front door panels and I got Morris classic retractable seat belts for the front, and some off brand black lap belts for the rear. I also need to find my old stereo to put in it. But that can wait. I need to start accumulating miles on it. :LOL:

I know what you mean about the striping. I spent 2 days doing my 68 it had strips on the sides and hood top of front fenders. What we did was paint the car the base color then taint he strips the same color but 3 more coats then cleared it I think 3 times. then sanded and recleared. Depending on where you were looking at the car what strips you could see. I don't think I have any of those pictures as my X got them and that was 27 years ago.

That thing is looking awesome Ryan! I think our next trip to Des Moines is going to be an overnighter. If I swing by do I get to drive it ? :-)

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Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

That thing is looking awesome Ryan! I think our next trip to Des Moines is going to be an overnighter. If I swing by do I get to drive it ? :-)

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I'm not sure. I haven't put an extinguisher in it yet. :LOL:

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