Kiwibirdman

Time for the car to go for a ride. Picked up from the panel shop, off to go on a wheel alignment machine and then to A1 exhausts to get the chassis work done I forgot to take any photos from the wheel alignment. Amazingly the car was pretty close. The cross member will have to be rotated slightly to give 2 Degrees of castor. There is probably more than enough adjustment in the shims to sort it out but I want to get it as close as possible. Also got my wheels back from being powder coated. I had put the other 3 away so that is why there is only one.

Got some photos from the panel beater yesterday. All panels on and gapped. It is almost a car for 5 minutes. everything will be ripped off for priming and I get to take the body away for the next stage. It's booked to go to A1 exhausts where chassis connectors, engine mounts, steering column and a heap of other stuff will be done.

As a young man of 47 I will let you take as much offense as you can handle. Quietly I think you are probably right, mullets, beer guts and too tight tee shirts from bands that were great 30 years ago.

I'll probably head down, I'm too embarrassed to bring the Firebird out with it's bashed up and copper coloured back guard. The Chevy must be oldschool, its got chrome bumpers, bench seat, column shift, leaf springs in the back and uses lots of petrol.............. Not sure how I'm going to pick out Simon (sr2) that description fits most of the guys over 40 who turn up.

That photo of the burnt orange HQ with no trim, bumpers.... on steel wheels takes me back to the HQ I had when was I much younger. Biggest difference between now and then, damn near 30 years ago, was I drove it home from the paint shop after bolting in the front seat. None of this trailering stuff around rubbish. Nice work.

Cost and complexity.

Major progress going on at the panel shop. Doors are on the car, guards are sitting in place, bonnet is fixed (only one small rust hole) and the front panel is fixed. I got the hard word that the tailgate was needed in a hurry so yesterday was spent cleaning the paint off. I did find a few small rust holes, nothing major. Having the lift up window means that the tail gate doesn't get fill up with water all the time, unlike the H series Holdens. I forgot to take photos. I'm starting to feel that everything now is making the car better, a corner has been turned. Of course it will get pulled apart again to paint the front subframe, firewall and suspension. Even the list of stuff to buy is getting shorter, I found this site www.seatbeltsplus.com who look like they have some belts that will look the part and not cost a bomb. Pictures to follow.

Wife and Kids are on the other side of the planet for a month so I'm a free man. It's booked.

Here is photo of the 7 inch wheel with the 225 tire. My son likes it I came back from my trip away at Easter to find the car has magically changed colour Progress

Nice work on the spacers, big win there. Looking at the rubber on the control arm I'd say they are toast. Complete kits are pretty cheap from the US. If there is no play in the tie rod ends give it all a good clean and a grease and away you go. Wash world is the answer in the first place. Spax shocks have a good name, those look pretty old. Pedders have been my go to for a few years now. Both the Firebird and Silverado have them,

I hear you, aiming for the old guy had it and wore through the paint look than its a rusty piece of shit. If I hate it repainting wont be hard. The Satin black look is also quite appealing, especially as the body is coming up really well. Never know might change my mind completely and paint it something else.

Got one of the tires swapped over to a 7 inch rim and bolted it up this afternoon. Perfect, not a lot of space, but clearance everywhere. I'll get the wheels powder coated and it will all be beautiful.

We do have places that can do this. I will get the offset changed on the 8 inch wide wheels if the 7 inch wheels don't fit. This is meant to be a budget build. I have a wife, kids, house, too many cars, not enough money...........

Factory HQ rims are 5.5 inches wide. HZ rims were 6 inches and I have a set of those. They will go on the front. The skinniest tyre you can run on an 8 inch rim is a 225. I'm hoping that the 225 tires that came with the 8 inch rims will clear everything when I put them on the 7 inch rims I got as well. Fingers crossed.

When you do this make the spacer an interference fit into the wheel(just enough to hold it in place) and slight clearance onto the hub centre. The hole in the centre of the brake drum will be the right measurement..

I went down to the panel shop to try the new wheels. Too much back spacing. Bugger I like the overall look. And the rear view I did put on one of the 7 inch rims which looks like it will be OK. I'll one tire swapped over and bolt it up, fingers crossed. Anyone want to buy a pair of 8 inch wide HQ rims, they will fit under the back of a HQ-HZ.

Welcome to the world of Cragar wheels. They have a multitude of different styles and options. Most of the Unilug are for GM passenger car stud pattern 5 x 4.75 and Ford 5 x 4.5 with the big but of some have the ability to go to 5 x 5. Simple answer I feel is the spacer for hub centric location. Any half competent engineer with a lathe could spin some up.

I get why the alignment guy wasn't too keen starting that late on a friday. When I had my Firebird done to similar specs it took the guys over an hour. Personally I would do all the suspension bushes then align it, save some money on something that will have to be done again. How did the steel wheels go?

There has been slow progress since the last update. The panelbeater has been chipping away at the rust and it pretty much all gone, replaced with new steel. I bought a set of widened HQ holden wheels off trade me and picked them up today. There are 2 which are 7 inches wide without tires and 2 8 inches with tires. I'm hoping that the 8s will fit, they have a massive 5 inch back space and clearance could be an issue, or they could be bang on. Here's hoping. I'll go to the panel shop on Monday and see how they go. At the very worst the 7s will fit and the tires should be the right size 225/65/14 and they look almost new. Photos when they are on the car.

You have an easy check if the wheels are the issue. Take a couple of the wheels off the HQ project and stick them on the front of the Camaro. From memory the centre bore is the same size as a Holden and the stud pattern is exactly the same. Go for a drive and see if you problem goes away. In any case a hub spacer for the Cragars is not a bad idea. Mind you the pair on the back of my Firebird have been on 3 different cars and haven't given a major problem. The ones on the front were new ones I bought for the Firebird and have never had the proper Cragar washers. I believe the washers are to stop the nuts from eating up the alloy around the holes not for location purposes. The wheel is located by the shank of the nut, on the unilug Chevs use the out side of the hole and Fords the inside. I am also confused about the wheel alignment not being able to be done. Wheel balance has nothing to do with alignment.

The other option is go and have a chat to the BnT boys on Hillside Road. I have always found them most helpful and knowledgeable, with a good range of parts catalogues

I'll be keen, need a bit of notice, otherwise she who must be obeyed organises things that I must attend, if conjugal rights are to continue.

Drive shafts are a special sort of witchcraft. Automotive drive line shortened the one in my Firebird when I stuck the T5 in, They went to the shop where the exhaust and gearbox mount were being done, measured it up, cut, shut and balanced. Didn't cost a fortune either.

Sounds like a wheel alignment is in order. Get it set up with half a degree of negative camber and 3 to 4 degrees of caster and it will be much better. The extra caster will give the steering a bit more weight. The other thing with a Camaro is to get the front lower than the back, that spoiler actually works and will push the back of the car down at speed and air gets under the front lifting it higher still. Makes for scary handling at speed.

Always happy to help. I have a lot of great memories from that car. Watch bonnet clearance with that airgap manifold, they are a taller than the standard one.