3rd gen Camaro

[MarkJ]

3 hours ago, kensar said:

Well, you are working on a smaller scale and that makes a big difference. 

I guess you have a point there, Ken. But I know if yours was in 1/25 scale it would still look a lot better than mine. I'm just getting too old for this stuff anymore. The eyes and fingers just don't want to do what I'm trying to tell them to do. Take care, and thanks again for dropping by. 

[MarkJ]

I'm going to call the steering box and shaft finished. I need to shorten the little nub on top of it and may have to shorten the lower shaft where the pitman arm attaches. When all these loose parts get finished, I will have a mass primer session and then a mass painting session to get them all the right colors.

[MarkJ]

Started working on the front suspension. Made the lower spring arms from square tubing. Made the springs from small rod, .030 thick, wrapped around another rod to form the spring. I have to do over on the springs because they are just a little too thin. you wrap them around a smaller rod, than the diameter of the spring needs to be, because after you wrap the plastic around tightly and you let go of it, it relaxes to the correct diameter.  Unlike kit springs, these look like real springs even though they are hard to see after they are installed. Already did the upper A arms but forgot to take a picture of them. Basically, just triangles sitting on top of the frame.

[Pierre Rivard]

Twisting styrene rod to make springs and letting it relax is very creative. They look awesome!

[MarkJ]

1 hour ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Twisting styrene rod to make springs and letting it relax is very creative. They look awesome!

Thanks , Pierre, but I think I have made them too thick now as you will see in the pics below. It's okay they are relatively easy to make

[MarkJ]

I made the front springs, but after looking at my ref pictures again, I have made them too thick. I placed the engine in the frame just to see how things are lining up and you can see the upper A arms which need a little more added to them. The top half of the engine is one piece including, manifold, throttle body, distributor, and valve covers. If I want to make the engine more realistic I will have to do some surgery on it and add some stuff which doesn't look like it will be much fun. The build has a Holley carb. They really tried to cut corners on this kit.

[MarkJ]

Made new springs from .035 rod. They look more scale than the first ones I did. Once the springs are under the spring arms, they are really hard to see anyway. I'm trying to duplicate the 1987 IROC suspension as best I can using ref pictures and the model 1987 nascar Monte Carlo frame I put under the Earnhardt car. Won't be correct but look more like a Banjo chassis than a stock Camaro chassis would have.

[Volzfan59]

In your earlier pictures of the first set of springs, I thought that they were fine. In the new comparison picture, I see exactly where you were coming from. Mark, I'm really enjoying this build.

[MarkJ]

Thanks again Steve for your interest in the build. Maybe someday I will actually finish it. We shall see.

[Mattilacken]

Nice progress! i havent made springs from styrene but i have done the same with bras rod, works great!

[MarkJ]

2 hours ago, Mattilacken said:

Nice progress! i havent made springs from styrene but i have done the same with bras rod, works great!

Anton, yes, any metal wire makes great springs, but I would have to epoxy them in and usually I mess up the installation and cutting out an epoxied part would be very difficult for me. Thanks for dropping by and making your comment. I love to hear anybody's opinion about anything when it comes to building these wonderful things we build.

[MarkJ]

Glued the springs in and got started adding square rod to the chassis to make it look more like a Banjo and less like a unibodied stock Camaro chassis. it won't be correct but will be in the ballpark.

[MarkJ]

I found a ref picture of an Iroc dodge that came later but basically has the same chassis as the 87 Iroc Camaro and I noticed that the lower spring arm that attaches to the spring is actually curved. the spring arms I made were copied from an 87 Nascar Monte Carlo chassis I used on an old build. Those spring arms are basically flat. So, I felt like I needed to make some curved spring arms which the pics below depicts. I think the springs will attach better to the curved arms. I had to cut the springs down by one loop in order to get the spring arms situated correctly when I glue them to the springs.

[kensar]

Nice work continuing here. Your focus on accuracy is quite admirable.

I see you opted to make springs from styrene instead of wire.  I don't think I've seen that before.

?

[MarkJ]

5 hours ago, kensar said:

Nice work continuing here. Your focus on accuracy is quite admirable.

I see you opted to make springs from styrene instead of wire.  I don't think I've seen that before.

?

Thanks for dropping by, Ken. As long a you wrap the spring tighter and smaller than you want, it works out fine because the styrene relaxes into a bigger size. I finally ended up using .035 syrene rod to make the springs. I wrapped it around a 3/32-inch styrene rod. Works better than I thought it would.

[MarkJ]

Been a while since I posted. Had to go out of town to attend my great nephew's graduation from high school. Continuing work on the front suspension, just making most of it up as I go along. But the final product should look close to what the real car had. Hopefully.

[MarkJ]

Slow progress continues. Working on the steering linkage.

[MarkJ]

Steering linkage almost ready to install. I'm using the Testors blue tube nontoxic glue now and it takes forever to cure so I make something and then have to wait a day to install it. I noticed that the faster glues were causing me to cough at night and I was having a hard time sleeping. I use it in a well-ventilated place, but the fumes were really starting to get to me.

[kensar]

Impressive detail continuing.  I hope painting all that detail doesn't present a problem.

[Rattlecan Dan]

Wow! That's a whole lot of fantastic work. Doing a great job Bud. Keep on keeping on.

[MarkJ]

14 hours ago, kensar said:

Impressive detail continuing.  I hope painting all that detail doesn't present a problem.

Yes, it will, but I'm too lazy to paint it first and then install it. Thanks, Ken for stopping by.

[MarkJ]

7 hours ago, Rattlecan Dan said:

Wow! That's a whole lot of fantastic work. Doing a great job Bud. Keep on keeping on.

Thanks, Donato. Just trying to get this headache over with. 

[MarkJ]

Got the linkage and the steering gear installed just need to link them up and add an idler arm to the other side. I just need to install an oil filter to the left side of the top front bar and then install the rear end and hopefully the chassis will be done except for painting of course. I still need to assemble the engine and hopefully get it to fit with headers installed into that tight engine compartment.

[MarkJ]

[Volzfan59]

Looks great to me. With your skills, the engine has no choice but to fit!