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1969 Camaro Looks Factory, But is Filled with Modern Tech
Do you like it MCF ? Post yes or no ? Maybe ?
Project 3x: Will Lewis had to build his car three times to get it right, but the LS3-powered, four-linked Camaro was worth the wait
Stephen Kim Jul 18, 2016
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View Full GalleryRunning an 8.62 at the dragstrip is nothing to sneeze at unless that 8.62 figure doesn’t represent second or even minutes. Traveling at a blistering 0.029 mph, it takes a garden snail 8.62 hours to travel a quarter-mile, which works out to a 31,032-second e.t. Can we get a yippee ki-yay? That’s pretty darn slow in anyone’s book, but imagine a preposterous scenario where a garden snails absolutely annihilates an SS396 Camaro. It happened to Will Lewis when he logged just 500 miles in 10 years on his ’69 Camaro, enough time for a snail to travel over 2,500 miles. Talk about embarrassing.
Like many hot rodders, Will learned the hard way that the expectations of youth don’t always stack up to the realities of modern driving demands. To correct the situation, he transformed his Camaro from a stock restoration to an LS3-powered Pro Touring cruiser that drives like a late-model yet retains its all-original flavor. It was a long and arduous journey that took three attempts to perfect, but the donuts, burnouts, and powerslides that have ensued have made it well worth the trip.
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Dreams of one day cruising the streets in an SS396 Camaro started early in Will’s childhood. “By the time I was 13 years old, I had every parts catalog and factory build manual out there for first-gen Camaros. I could tell you everything about these cars at that age, and I was just taken by them for some reason,” he recalls. “I desperately wanted a first-gen Camaro when I turned 16, but my dad wouldn’t allow it. He probably saved my life because I would have almost certainly wrecked it. For the next 20 years, I had a job, a wife, kids, and a ranch to take care of. You know, all of the typical stuff people have to do. As I got more established and my kids got older, I was finally able to get a Camaro about 12 years go. It was my first real project car. ”
Like many hot rodders, Will learned the hard way that the expectations of youth don’t always stack up to the realities of modern driving demands. To correct the situation, he transformed his Camaro from a stock restoration to an LS3-powered Pro Touring cruiser that drives like a late-model yet retains its all-original flavor. It was a long and arduous journey that took three attempts to perfect, but the donuts, burnouts, and powerslides that have ensued have made it well worth the trip.
2/203/20Dreams of one day cruising the streets in an SS396 Camaro started early in Will’s childhood. “By the time I was 13 years old, I had every parts catalog and factory build manual out there for first-gen Camaros. I could tell you everything about these cars at that age, and I was just taken by them for some reason,” he recalls. “I desperately wanted a first-gen Camaro when I turned 16, but my dad wouldn’t allow it. He probably saved my life because I would have almost certainly wrecked it. For the next 20 years, I had a job, a wife, kids, and a ranch to take care of. You know, all of the typical stuff people have to do. As I got more established and my kids got older, I was finally able to get a Camaro about 12 years go. It was my first real project car. ”
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Considering that Will had to wait several decades to pursue his dreams, he wasn’t willing to compromise by building a clone. “I was intent on finding an RS/SS car with a big-block and a vinyl top,” he says. “Six months later, I found a real SS396 car with vinyl top that didn’t have the numbers-matching motor, but still had the original TH400 trans and 12-bolt rearend. I wanted to build it back up correctly to original specifications, and also add the RS package, as if I originally ordered it up that way from the factory.”
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As an original California car, the Camaro appeared solid from afar, but closer examination revealed a troubled past. “I thought it was a so-so restoration that ran well, and had some rust bubbles on the lower quarter-panels. I found out it had been hit on one of the quarters, which twisted the car up, so it needed a lot more work than I thought,” Will recounts. “I tried to tackle some of the work myself before I dropped it off at a restoration shop. They messed up the car and hosed me pretty badly.”
After breaking his car out of paint-and-body jail, Will enlisted the help of Jeff Cameron at Dooley and Sons Hot Rod Shop (www.dooleyandsons.com) to get his project back on track. The crew replaced the damaged quarter-panel in addition to replacing the front sheetmetal. To upgrade the Camaro’s aesthetics and performance, Dooley and Sons installed an RS conversion kit, rebuilt the engine, and swapped out the automatic for a TREMEC TKO 600 five-speed. On the inside, houndstooth-covered seats replaced the originals, and a Vintage Air A/C system was installed as well.
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Here’s where the story gets interesting. Instead of riding off into the sunset in a big-block Camaro, Will’s dream car hardly moved for the next 10 years. The car sat for so long, in fact, that he felt the need to freshen up the paint a bit, which spawned yet another round of modifications. “I took the car back to Dooley and Sons so they could polish up the paint, and Jeff asked ‘How was the drive over?’ I said it wasn’t worth a damn,” Will jokes. “I told Jeff that the car doesn’t want to start or stop, and it hunts all over the road. I said it drives just like a car from 1969, and it’s not any fun at all.”
Seeking customer satisfaction, Jeff suggested modernizing the Camaro’s suspension and brakes to enhance its overall driveability. “He said if you don’t like driving it, why don’t we make some upgrades so that you can actually enjoy it,” Will recalls. “He recommended installing a Heidt’s front subframe assembly and four-link, and some Wilwood four-piston brakes. I originally wanted white-letter tires, but Jeff talked me into going with low-profile tires on a set of Schott Challenger wheels (19x8 front, 20x10 rear). Then he dangled a 550hp LS3 in front of me, and I had to have it. Since the car didn’t have a numbers-matching engine anymore, I was OK with going the restomod route.”
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While many Bow Tie diehards would frown upon swapping a small-block into a real SS396 car, the Don Hardy Race Cars LS3 packs big-block bark in a lightweight aluminum package. It utilizes a stock LS3 block that has been bored to 4.080 inches, and fitted with a stock 3.622-inch GM crank, steel rods, and forged 11.0:1 custom pistons. A Holley single-plane intake manifold tapped for multi-point EFI is matched with a 1,000-cfm throttle body to provide airflow to factory LS3 cylinder heads. From there, Hooker headers and dual 3-inch Borla mufflers evacuate the cylinders. With a custom DHRC hydraulic roller cam managing the valve events, the combo kicks out a respectable 550 horsepower.
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Ultimately, Will’s patience and determination paid off, and he’s finally able to enjoy the type of Camaro he always dreamed of owning. “I had to build the car three times to get it right, but it’s more than I ever imagined,” Will gushes. “It handles, accelerates, and brakes just like a modern car. There are no creaks or rattles, and it starts right up, too.”
Unlike the first (or second?) time around, the miles are quickly piling up. On the drive home from the shop, Will was so smitten with the LS3 and Heidt’s suspension that he went joy riding for a couple hundred miles before calling it a day. “When I first got it back, I started looking for a wide expanse of concrete. I went to the local high school parking lot and started doing donuts,” he chuckles. Maybe he smeared a couple of snails across the pavement, too.
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4/205/20As an original California car, the Camaro appeared solid from afar, but closer examination revealed a troubled past. “I thought it was a so-so restoration that ran well, and had some rust bubbles on the lower quarter-panels. I found out it had been hit on one of the quarters, which twisted the car up, so it needed a lot more work than I thought,” Will recounts. “I tried to tackle some of the work myself before I dropped it off at a restoration shop. They messed up the car and hosed me pretty badly.”
After breaking his car out of paint-and-body jail, Will enlisted the help of Jeff Cameron at Dooley and Sons Hot Rod Shop (www.dooleyandsons.com) to get his project back on track. The crew replaced the damaged quarter-panel in addition to replacing the front sheetmetal. To upgrade the Camaro’s aesthetics and performance, Dooley and Sons installed an RS conversion kit, rebuilt the engine, and swapped out the automatic for a TREMEC TKO 600 five-speed. On the inside, houndstooth-covered seats replaced the originals, and a Vintage Air A/C system was installed as well.
6/207/20Here’s where the story gets interesting. Instead of riding off into the sunset in a big-block Camaro, Will’s dream car hardly moved for the next 10 years. The car sat for so long, in fact, that he felt the need to freshen up the paint a bit, which spawned yet another round of modifications. “I took the car back to Dooley and Sons so they could polish up the paint, and Jeff asked ‘How was the drive over?’ I said it wasn’t worth a damn,” Will jokes. “I told Jeff that the car doesn’t want to start or stop, and it hunts all over the road. I said it drives just like a car from 1969, and it’s not any fun at all.”
Seeking customer satisfaction, Jeff suggested modernizing the Camaro’s suspension and brakes to enhance its overall driveability. “He said if you don’t like driving it, why don’t we make some upgrades so that you can actually enjoy it,” Will recalls. “He recommended installing a Heidt’s front subframe assembly and four-link, and some Wilwood four-piston brakes. I originally wanted white-letter tires, but Jeff talked me into going with low-profile tires on a set of Schott Challenger wheels (19x8 front, 20x10 rear). Then he dangled a 550hp LS3 in front of me, and I had to have it. Since the car didn’t have a numbers-matching engine anymore, I was OK with going the restomod route.”
8/209/20While many Bow Tie diehards would frown upon swapping a small-block into a real SS396 car, the Don Hardy Race Cars LS3 packs big-block bark in a lightweight aluminum package. It utilizes a stock LS3 block that has been bored to 4.080 inches, and fitted with a stock 3.622-inch GM crank, steel rods, and forged 11.0:1 custom pistons. A Holley single-plane intake manifold tapped for multi-point EFI is matched with a 1,000-cfm throttle body to provide airflow to factory LS3 cylinder heads. From there, Hooker headers and dual 3-inch Borla mufflers evacuate the cylinders. With a custom DHRC hydraulic roller cam managing the valve events, the combo kicks out a respectable 550 horsepower.
10/20Ultimately, Will’s patience and determination paid off, and he’s finally able to enjoy the type of Camaro he always dreamed of owning. “I had to build the car three times to get it right, but it’s more than I ever imagined,” Will gushes. “It handles, accelerates, and brakes just like a modern car. There are no creaks or rattles, and it starts right up, too.”
Unlike the first (or second?) time around, the miles are quickly piling up. On the drive home from the shop, Will was so smitten with the LS3 and Heidt’s suspension that he went joy riding for a couple hundred miles before calling it a day. “When I first got it back, I started looking for a wide expanse of concrete. I went to the local high school parking lot and started doing donuts,” he chuckles. Maybe he smeared a couple of snails across the pavement, too.
11/20MORE PHOTOS
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Last edited by BeachBumMike; Jul 19, 2016 at 02:31 AM. Reason: to take it 4 a ride : )
>>>>>>> 1962 Corvette<<<<<<
Bad to the Bone Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop Put Teeth in this 1962 Corvette
Tuxedo Au Naturale....Sweet `Vette that visits the MCF !
John Gilbert July 18, 2016
View Full GalleryDid you notice this 1962 Corvette has a lot more teeth in it than the factory ever gave a 1962 Corvette? And we’re not just talking about the grille, from its radical hot rod stance to the nasty 454 under the hood; Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop gave this one-of-a-kind 1962 Corvette badass bite. If you ask Bobby Alloway of Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop in Louisville, Tennessee, what his favorite color is, it’s black and that’s the tune of this song.
There were 14,531 Corvettes built for the 1962 model year, but it’s unknown just how many came factory black. The year 1961 saw 1,340 Corvettes roll off the St Louis, Missouri, assembly line in Tuxedo Black, but somehow only the production numbers for Fawn Beige and Almond Beige were recorded for 1962.
There were 14,531 Corvettes built for the 1962 model year, but it’s unknown just how many came factory black. The year 1961 saw 1,340 Corvettes roll off the St Louis, Missouri, assembly line in Tuxedo Black, but somehow only the production numbers for Fawn Beige and Almond Beige were recorded for 1962.
2/22The 1962 Corvette Bobby Alloway built for his wife, Cindy, was confirmed original Tuxedo Black when the car was split from its chassis and the body flipped upside down on a rotisserie. The inverted view of black acrylic lacquer overspray on hidden areas revealed the car au naturale.
All hot rods and custom cars built by Bobby Alloway’s shop have a signature nose-slammed stance that tucks big meats in front and super big meats in the rear. To set the stance, the ’62 Corvette’s unit body sans stock frame was placed on wood blocks and mocked up with the desired size wheels and tires. From there the dimensions were sent to AME (Art Morrison Enterprises) in Fife, (Tacoma) Washington, where a custom chassis for this first in a line of Alloway Corvettes to follow was fabricated.
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Art Morrison does offer a direct bolt-in replacement for 1953-’62 Corvette frames called the Morrison GT Sport chassis, but the large, hooped, deep-dish wheels; extra wide tires and slammed-nose profile Alloway likes require the front framerails to be 4 inches closer together. The 4-inch squeezed front ’rails allow for keeping a tighter turning radius while driving low. The rear ’rails are 2 inches narrower than a standard Morrison GT Sport chassis, yet the rear suspension on the Alloway custom chassis utilizes the same triangulated four-bar with Strange Engineering adjustable coilovers as a GT Sport with a live rear axle. Straight-axle in Vette slang 1962 was the Corvette’s last year for a live rear axle. The Alloway Corvette runs a Currie 9-inch with 4.56 gears and limited slip. The disc brakes at each corner are Baer six-piston calipers with 14-inch slotted rotors breathing behind proprietary Alloway five-spoke mags by Billet Specialties. The front wheels are 17x7 and rear 20x10; all four wheels sport Diamond Back BFG g-Force T/A redline radial tires.
The 1962 Corvette Bobby Alloway found for the basis of Cindy’s car had a cherry body, appearing to have never been hit, with only a minimal amount of fiberglass corrections necessary. The original 1962 hood suffered damage from a carburetor fire that rendered the hood center crisper than a potato chip, and the front valance (lower nose panel) had severe stress cracks, so both were tossed in favor of exact replacements from Sermersheim’s of Evansville, Indiana. A correct 1962 Corvette fiberglass repair consists of using parts in the Ivory color polyester primer found on 1956-’62 Corvettes. Bodyworked and painted entirely in house at Alloway’s shop, Clausen’s Sandy hi-build sprayable polyester plastic filler was sprayed on fiberglass and steel surfaces. The body was tightened down snug to the chassis ensuring all the gaps lined up and then block-sanded until it was perfectly straight.
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From here out it was PPG products all the way from the Alloway Black basecoat to the clearcoat. In addition to Alloway’s Scotty Troutman painting the body from top to bottom in PPG Alloway Black, the ultra glossy PPG Alloway Black was sprayed on the smoothed Morison chassis and related parts. Nothing contrasts better against deep gloss black than brilliant chrome parts. Dan’s Polishing in scenic Adamsville, Tennessee, did the triple chrome plating including re-plating the 1959 Corvette grille from Corvette Central to match.
The intricate details to constructing Cindy’s Corvette are concealed from the eye in many instances. There’s not a lot of room behind the dashboard of a 1962 Corvette, but somehow Vintage Air air-conditioning, Kugel Komponents 90-degree brake and clutch pedals with master-cylinders plus a stock ’62 dash cluster full of custom-ordered Classic Instruments gauges were all installed without an outward trace. The Corvette Wonder Bar radio was sawed into a non-working thin façade to clear the A/C ducts. The pedestal-mount gas pedal is a Lokar product. An equal amount of attention to detail was paid to creating more space for the driver to move about. Instead of the behemoth stock steering wheel there’s a super clean shrunken ’62 Corvette steering wheel from Volunteer Vette Products that was smoothed and sprayed with PPG gloss red, and then perched on an ididit tilt steering column.
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Additional room was made for driver comfort through the efforts of Knoxville upholsterer Steve Holcomb of Pro Auto Custom Interiors shaving the seat foam on the stock ’62 buckets to gain two more inches of region without modifying the original contour of the seats. Steve stitched red leather to cover the bucket seats and door panels, even the repop dashpad was covered with leather. For sound deadening and retention of hot or cold air, Dynamat was spread throughout before Steve laid red Daytona weave carpeting. A look inside the trunk reveals equal treatment. To seal out rain and wind noise, original replacement rubber weatherstripping from Corvette Central and Volunteer Vette Products was 3M glued in. Two new side windows and windshield were installed to complete a total interior restoration.
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The engines in cars built by Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop idle with a distinctive radical cadence that’s thanks to the inimitable cam profiles by Mylon Keasler of Keasler Racing & Machine in Maryville, Tennessee. Not only did Keasler spec the cam Comp Cams custom ground all of the machine work and engine assembly on the 454-inch big-block Chevy was done in Maryville. For induction, a 780-cfm Holley tucks down on a genuine 1970 LS6 Chevelle low-riser aluminum intake manifold; a chromed low-profile Corvette air cleaner completes the act. The source for the polished finned aluminum valve covers was PML of Inglewood, California, and ignition comes from an MSD control box with MSD distributor. For exhaust, the ’62 went to Barillaro Speed Emporium for headers, pipes and mufflers followed with a silver ceramic coating by Gene Mobley at Performance Coatings. A Steve Long of Indianapolis radiator keeps the 454 Rat motor running cool. American Powertrain was the source for the TREMEC TKO 500 five-speed transmission.
Corvettes have been raced, customized, and modified since their introduction in 1953, and when the 265-inch V-8 was introduced in 1955 the floodgates opened. Bobby Alloway isn’t the first guy to customize a Corvette, but since the introduction of Cindy’s 1962 hardtop equipped convertible, and the Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop Corvette creations that followed he has become the best known.
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Do you like it ? Post your thoughts ?
3/22Art Morrison does offer a direct bolt-in replacement for 1953-’62 Corvette frames called the Morrison GT Sport chassis, but the large, hooped, deep-dish wheels; extra wide tires and slammed-nose profile Alloway likes require the front framerails to be 4 inches closer together. The 4-inch squeezed front ’rails allow for keeping a tighter turning radius while driving low. The rear ’rails are 2 inches narrower than a standard Morrison GT Sport chassis, yet the rear suspension on the Alloway custom chassis utilizes the same triangulated four-bar with Strange Engineering adjustable coilovers as a GT Sport with a live rear axle. Straight-axle in Vette slang 1962 was the Corvette’s last year for a live rear axle. The Alloway Corvette runs a Currie 9-inch with 4.56 gears and limited slip. The disc brakes at each corner are Baer six-piston calipers with 14-inch slotted rotors breathing behind proprietary Alloway five-spoke mags by Billet Specialties. The front wheels are 17x7 and rear 20x10; all four wheels sport Diamond Back BFG g-Force T/A redline radial tires.
The 1962 Corvette Bobby Alloway found for the basis of Cindy’s car had a cherry body, appearing to have never been hit, with only a minimal amount of fiberglass corrections necessary. The original 1962 hood suffered damage from a carburetor fire that rendered the hood center crisper than a potato chip, and the front valance (lower nose panel) had severe stress cracks, so both were tossed in favor of exact replacements from Sermersheim’s of Evansville, Indiana. A correct 1962 Corvette fiberglass repair consists of using parts in the Ivory color polyester primer found on 1956-’62 Corvettes. Bodyworked and painted entirely in house at Alloway’s shop, Clausen’s Sandy hi-build sprayable polyester plastic filler was sprayed on fiberglass and steel surfaces. The body was tightened down snug to the chassis ensuring all the gaps lined up and then block-sanded until it was perfectly straight.
4/225/22From here out it was PPG products all the way from the Alloway Black basecoat to the clearcoat. In addition to Alloway’s Scotty Troutman painting the body from top to bottom in PPG Alloway Black, the ultra glossy PPG Alloway Black was sprayed on the smoothed Morison chassis and related parts. Nothing contrasts better against deep gloss black than brilliant chrome parts. Dan’s Polishing in scenic Adamsville, Tennessee, did the triple chrome plating including re-plating the 1959 Corvette grille from Corvette Central to match.
The intricate details to constructing Cindy’s Corvette are concealed from the eye in many instances. There’s not a lot of room behind the dashboard of a 1962 Corvette, but somehow Vintage Air air-conditioning, Kugel Komponents 90-degree brake and clutch pedals with master-cylinders plus a stock ’62 dash cluster full of custom-ordered Classic Instruments gauges were all installed without an outward trace. The Corvette Wonder Bar radio was sawed into a non-working thin façade to clear the A/C ducts. The pedestal-mount gas pedal is a Lokar product. An equal amount of attention to detail was paid to creating more space for the driver to move about. Instead of the behemoth stock steering wheel there’s a super clean shrunken ’62 Corvette steering wheel from Volunteer Vette Products that was smoothed and sprayed with PPG gloss red, and then perched on an ididit tilt steering column.
6/227/22Additional room was made for driver comfort through the efforts of Knoxville upholsterer Steve Holcomb of Pro Auto Custom Interiors shaving the seat foam on the stock ’62 buckets to gain two more inches of region without modifying the original contour of the seats. Steve stitched red leather to cover the bucket seats and door panels, even the repop dashpad was covered with leather. For sound deadening and retention of hot or cold air, Dynamat was spread throughout before Steve laid red Daytona weave carpeting. A look inside the trunk reveals equal treatment. To seal out rain and wind noise, original replacement rubber weatherstripping from Corvette Central and Volunteer Vette Products was 3M glued in. Two new side windows and windshield were installed to complete a total interior restoration.
8/229/22The engines in cars built by Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop idle with a distinctive radical cadence that’s thanks to the inimitable cam profiles by Mylon Keasler of Keasler Racing & Machine in Maryville, Tennessee. Not only did Keasler spec the cam Comp Cams custom ground all of the machine work and engine assembly on the 454-inch big-block Chevy was done in Maryville. For induction, a 780-cfm Holley tucks down on a genuine 1970 LS6 Chevelle low-riser aluminum intake manifold; a chromed low-profile Corvette air cleaner completes the act. The source for the polished finned aluminum valve covers was PML of Inglewood, California, and ignition comes from an MSD control box with MSD distributor. For exhaust, the ’62 went to Barillaro Speed Emporium for headers, pipes and mufflers followed with a silver ceramic coating by Gene Mobley at Performance Coatings. A Steve Long of Indianapolis radiator keeps the 454 Rat motor running cool. American Powertrain was the source for the TREMEC TKO 500 five-speed transmission.
Corvettes have been raced, customized, and modified since their introduction in 1953, and when the 265-inch V-8 was introduced in 1955 the floodgates opened. Bobby Alloway isn’t the first guy to customize a Corvette, but since the introduction of Cindy’s 1962 hardtop equipped convertible, and the Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop Corvette creations that followed he has become the best known.
10Do you like it ? Post your thoughts ?
Last edited by BeachBumMike; Jul 18, 2016 at 07:05 PM. Reason: 2 put a smile on you face : )
Monte Of The Month -- April 2015
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 3,052
From: Brockville Ontario
Oh to have the money to afford toys like those. My buddy has a couple of the 69 Camaro's his most recent was owned by the singer from 3 days grace and he even autographed the trunk lid on the car, it was also used in the video for one of the Canada's got talent winners
