Thanks for your interest Tim! I do have some updates but where do I begin?? I know I've been MIA for a while. Looks like we left off with the rear end and rear suspension. So a while back I scored a good deal on an a 30 year old Lakewood splatter, I mean SCATTER, shield and block saver. It is NOS. Pretty neat piece with a 1991 SFI sticker, not quite Day 2 but less money than a brand new piece. It was essentially brand new with box, hardware and instructions all intact. My buddy and I bolted it up and thought well how do we adjust the adjustable screw in Lakewood pivot ball.... I mean we know how but where do adjust it to... Time for a little YouTube University THANK GOD Al Gore invented the internet!! Discovered the proper measuring technique and also saw the guy in the video dialing in the bellhousing to the crank centerline. I remembered doing this on my 68 with a Tremec TKO 600 transmission so figured what the heck might as well check. Good thing I did because it had .0135" runout. I decided to call Autogear and they notified me the tolerance is .0100" and recommended RobbMc performance dowel pins. I'm so glad they did because I probably wouldn't have discovered them otherwise. Easily adjustable and installation was a breeze. Got the runout to within .001"!!! Installed the 30lb steel McCleod flywheel, and McCleod Super Street Clutch.
Now that scatter shield and engine were mated we decided to drop the big girl in. Install on the engine was also a breeze. Now lets do the transmission. Well that was not so easy.... Slid it in there and it looked good, bolted it to the crossmember and Houston we have a problem. Shifter is just a couple thousands from the tunnel.
Seems strange I have factory original big block frame mounts and a big block chevy crossmember. What's the deal? I had Crash build me a Hurst Competition Plus shifter for the 32 spline output shaft bolt pattern. That SHOULD fit right into place but it doesn't. As I started thinking about what could be wrong I resorted to the internet and decided to type in 1967 Pontiac Firebird crossmember and what did I find? BINGO! I bought a Firebird crossmember, not a Big Block Camaro crossmember. Looks ALMOST identical but doesn't have the 1/2" offset to the passenger side. Needless to say I have a beautifully restored Pontiac Firebird crossmember now. I found a nice used BIG BLOCK crossmember and got it today. Tomorrow I'll install it and see if it corrects my shifter problems.
I also restored the inner heater box. Soaked it in Evaporust and repainted it. I discovered the original color was closer to a blueish gray than black so I repainted it with "steering box blue" paint. Looks good to me, practically dead nuts to the original color. I saved the inspection sticker and glued it back to the box after I painted it.
I also installed a new sound deadener pad from Quiet Ride Solutions after receiving two incorrect pads from Heartbeat City. I finally ordered direct from Quiet Ride and got the correct part.
I bought a gorgeous brake booster from Mike Gibbons, since a reproduction unit just wouldn't cut it for this build. My car did not have power brakes from the factory. Mike worked with me to find a pretty close date code to my car, the booster he sold me is dated 254. Car is dated 09B so close enough. I'm not trying to claim the car has original power disc brakes, I really just want as many factory parts as I possibly can.
I also took my gauge cluster apart. I bought a new, repro, cluster and had it painted when the car was painted. The original is not cracked but the black inside the gauge pods is very faded. The gauges are 100% original, all I did was clean them with a q tip and some windex. 54,113 ORIGINAL miles. I also put a new plastic lens in. I also bought the simulated chrome stickers to go around the gauge pods because the masking tape removed some of the silver finish on the gauge cluster.