‘69 custom Camaro

[Cheez]

Hello all, I’ve been lurking on here for years and decided to join in on the fun.   I’ve learned so much over the years following builds and the talent level on here is just amazing.  So thanks in advance for all the great inspiration and knowledge I’ve learned from so many of you over the years. I usually build in 1/25 scale, drag cars, pro touring style and basically any hotrod or Restomod.  I recently starting working on my brass soldering after watching some absolutely amazing builds.  I rebuilt my 66 nova door slammer frame out of brass and was hooked.  Which inspired me to start this project.  After research on material availability I decided to go with the Foose camaro in1/12 scale.  And boy was I like a kid on Christmas morning when I opened the box and saw the size in person. Over 30 years building 1/25 I was amazed. So here we go.  Car will be built using an Art Morrison style frame,   Probably a LS based Chevy motor and 19” front and 22” rear wheels.  I started this build a few weeks ago so I’ll be posting frequently until I get y’all caught up. Thanks for looking and any comments or criticism always welcome, as I’m always looking for the best result possible. 

[Cheez]

Found some brass 2x4 frame rails. This frame will based on the Max G from Art Morrison.  I had a big learning curve when it came to bending this rectangular tubing. I annealed it and made a bending jig but had issues with the sides sucking in. I had it soldered together and just couldn’t leave it, so I I ordered 2 sizes of smaller rectangular that would telescope inside my frame walls and basically thicken the walls with hopes of much less distortion. Theses  pics are of the original frame before I added the 2 different smaller sizes. 

[Cheez]

While waiting on my brass to show up I started working on the rear frame cross member.  I drilled out the exhausts holes, which I will cut tubing and solder to close in space inside frame rails. The holes are roughly 4” cutouts that the 3” exhaust will run through. I also bent some brass tubing to form the bottom half of trans hoop and soldered. 

[Plashdaddy]

That’s some real craftsmanship, looks great.

[DumpyDan]

This is cool, I have bought the tools this year to try something like this.  And now I have a goal of what I want mine to look like.  Really great work.

[cobraman]

Wow !  looking forward to watching this one.

[Joca]

15 minutes ago, cobraman said:

Wow !  looking forward to watching this one.

X2

[Belugawrx]

Nice work David, and welcome aboard !

Cheers

[espo]

Very impressive Frame work here. Besides the added strength of the Brass Frame you can make it anyway you want.

[MeatMan]

Very nice frame work indeed David.

[Cheez]

Thank you all for your comments, I really appreciate them.  I’ve been working on the front crossmember for a few days and finally today got something I can work with.  The tight bends are a booger to get symmetrical and after numerous attempts to get to match the frame rails, I finally did the sides separate and soldered them together in the middle of the crossmember.   My soldering skills are still very amateur, so a lot of cleanup is needed around joints.  I really need to invest in a resistance soldering unit, the one I’m using now struggles to get brass of this size hot enough for clean joints.   

I think I have finally found someone to help with the wheel design I have in mind.  I plan on having staggered wheels sizes 19”x10 front and 22”x 14 rear.   The kit supplied wheels are actually pretty nice and are 19” front and close to 21” rear according to my calculations, but to get the look I’m after the 22” rears and being wider than the kit supplied wheels are a must. I’m almost ready to tackle suspension, so needing to get my wheel and tire issues solved.   I’m going to scratch build the A arms and I am looking forward to getting the coil overs installed I got from rb motion, they are modeling jewelry in my opinion, extremely nice work and should be full functioning, if I can assemble them correctly.....lol.   

[IJ001]

Modelling on another level... model engineering !!

 

Ian.

[espo]

The chassis looks like the real deal.

[geetee66]

You're going to put us to shame, with this build!

A great start, to a build I'll be watching.

[Cheez]

Finally back to update this build after the holidays and new year.  First up, the front suspension.  This turned out to be quite challenging for me. I made the brackets first, drilled holes and soldered to frame rails. Getting the angles and holes drilled where time consuming to say the least.  And then came the mounting brackets,  although this was the look I really wanted,  I contemplated changing directions on upper A-arm mounting but finally got the pieces made and I believe with the use of bolts and nuts I should be able to get them attached and sturdy enough for suspension to travel as it should.    The shocks are from rb motion and are work of art, very impressive and they function well. 

[abelaxe]

This is absolutely amazing!!!

[Cheez]

Thank you abelaxe. 

Now to the rear suspension...... I’m using a 9” rear end I ordered off of Shapeways. I believe from Tdr.  I built the rear loop and supports and soldered to frame rails. Spent a couple days getting shape and geometry correct. It’s not perfect by any means,  but it’s close enough that it looks symmetrical. Next I made the brackets for the 3-link from different brass stock and brass sheet for rear coil overs to attach to axle.   The rear coil overs are from rob motion and quite a bit larger than the front. I believe these are made for a 1/12 scale lotus replacement that they sell if my memory serves me correct, anyhow they fit what I’m doing and scale out really well.   I have everything mocked up in the pics, and holes drilled to correct sizes, while I wait for nuts and bolts to arrive from scale hardware to assemble.  

Also, I have found someone to make my wheels.  I have been corresponding with Paul (mr68gts) and the fronts will be 19” and rears 22”.    I can’t  wait to get these so I can get the stance dialed in just right with suspension.   His design work is impeccable and I think the wheels will make this build.   

Thank y’all for looking in and as always any helpful criticism is welcome. 

[FabbricaP]

Amazing work Shawn, keep ‘em coming!

[ismaelg]

Exquisite work!  I love working with brass but I haven't in a long time....

[PARTSMARTY]

11 hours ago, FabbricaP said:

Amazing work Shawn, keep ‘em coming!

X2 FOR SURE

[GoatGuy]

It's looking great. Can't wait for more.

[HDDan]

One of the main reasons I come to this forum is to find new challenges for myself. I do believe that I have found the raised bar that I have been looking for. Excellent work and craftsmanship.

[Mr Dedo]

When my brother and I were much younger we liked to build

brass slot car frames. It's great to see other using metals in

their builds.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

Excellent work so far

[Cheez]

On 12/19/2017 at 9:59 PM, Cheez said:

While waiting on my brass to show up I started working on the rear frame cross member.  I drilled out the exhausts holes, which I will cut tubing and solder to close in space inside frame rails. The holes are roughly 4” cutouts that the 3” exhaust will run through. I also bent some brass tubing to form the bottom half of trans hoop and soldered. 

Thank you all for your kind comments.  I appreciate the encouragement and it helps motivate me to get the chassis done.

The pics I showed earlier (above) of the exhaust cutouts were temporarily put in using the largest tubing I had on hand, which was roughly 3”.  The frame rails are 5/16 (4”scale) and I  finally got the 5/16 tubing that I needed for exhausts cutouts. So my plan was to remove 3” tubing and enlarge the holes for 4”. Because the tubing is the same size of the frame rails, the tubing will be mounted slightly lower than center and slightly protrude on bottom side.   Well, I encountered some mild carnage while attempting this. The inner frame wells twisted and couldn’t be straightened and the rear frame rail had to be remade also.  This gave me a good chance to redo the trans loop, as it needed to be lower anyhow. I made a new trans loop And I spent the weekend bending new inner frame rails and telescoping smaller rectangular tubing inside the 5/16 in an attempt to  “thicken” inner frame rails to hopefully avoid the twisting disaster when drilling out new 4” holes.  I’m happy with the new rails but I spent 6 hours to carefully drill out only one hole yesterday so the process may take a bit........one down 5 to go.   I will post some in progress pics soon.   Again, thanks for the comments and looking in.