Odd thread name? Maybe. Didn't want it to say 1969 Camaro and attract search results. This is a project from work that I'm sharing as conversational fodder for all us GPF-ers. If you learn something, well thats a happy accident!
So as I was working on a 68 Camaro job a few weeks ago... another first gen arrived for the same kind of work. Mostly fixing work previously done improperly by others. In this case, the owner had done some decent work already, and some not so decent. In either case, "make it right" is the goal.
So let the mayhem begin.
Our story begins humbly. At first sight, my reflex comment was: "Awright, Camaro on a stick!", and heres why-
As you can see, it is jammed full of parts. But thats a sho-nuf '69 Chevy pony car. The owner has already replaced the roof, patched quarters, replaced tail panel, rear window filler and shelf panels, all floors / cowl / firewall, and added mini-tubs. I don't know if the body has ever been fitted to a subframe or front end sheetmetal since metal work began.
Once tasked with the job... first I unloaded the parts inside it and inspected them. Show you those later. I just wanted them out so I could make a quantifiable assessment of the major issue I found upon initial visual inspection. Now I needed to measure it thoroughly.
Before touching anything, I had taken pics and made a laundry list of issues that I could see, and made a few triage-type "X" measurements underneath. I determined then that the floor and tail panel, and suspension and frame mounting areas' dimensions were all in order. Like the 68, this car is also square and level on it's foundation. Whew!
But having spent a decade in collision repair previously, there was something screaming at me from across the room. A glaring problem that would raise the eyebrows of most body guys I know. So I improvised...
Yes, thats a ladder, 2" square thick walled tubing, a ladder, transmission jack, a magnetic level, and a tape measure. An IDJ upper body measuring fixture, if you will. To insure accuracy, the dolly and car were assured to be level as the first step. Then several key points on the body were established as being sufficiently consistent side-to-side, and level.
But what I was seeing was a problem with the rear window filler panel area. My trouble was I needed a way to measure the upper body and find out if the roof was skewed or what. So I concocted the jig seen above. This particular spot on the slab is amazingly flat, but before you bodymen start screaming... thats not my datum plane, its the dolly.
We have done a bunch of these cars and this dolly is the perfect width (4') to just set the rockers' pinch-welded seams right on the beams. It sits level just like that, no shims or fuss, at least in this spot on the floor. The accuracy is satisfactory for the task at hand. But yes, if you lean on the tail panel, you'll lift the front so when work begins, the tail section needs support.
Heres the drama shot, see what I mean?
Get a load of that height difference of the trunk hinges! Oh boy...
Updates to follow, as time allows and as the job progresses. Comments are encouraged, and if you have a question, shoot.
