Camaro gets a heap of work!

The box issue has dragged on. At present it is still at Neils Engineering in Glengarnock having a mild rebuild. I've had no luck whatsoever sourcing new shafts for it, so they are polishing up the teeth and are going to put it back together as best they can. What I have managed to conjour up though is a Muncie NV3500 box:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Venture_Gear_3500_transmission

Not quite on par with the 290, but it is a lot stronger than the traditional T5, and should bolt in with little trauma. Not seen the box yet so cannot say if it will be perfect or not, but it is a potential solution! Fella is selling me it for £350 though, which is a massive saving over the thousands a Getrag was starting to look like! Will have it paid and up here next month... fingers crossed.

Other than that, another development has been the purchase of a pair of 265/50R15 Cooper Cobra radials for the new wheels. Heres a pic:

Tires fitted....

Test fitted. I stuck the other front one on the rear just to get an idea of how they will look...

The tire fitting fun has gave me a wee mojo boost. Decided to pop down the other day and have a quick wrench on it before I go away on work...

Need to get some serious coinage back to continue on this. Gearbox will be paid and delivered for the return from this job. Thats £300 outstanding. Then? Fit it and sort out an invariable clutch hurdle (Hydro to cable I bet)

after that.... Welding this:

Coin sized rust hole I managed to find in the drivers floor. Quite clearly from wet boot syndrome due to its location. Took the decision to cut it out the other day. Well..... kind of:

Those eagle eyed amongst us may notice that I have cut out the entire floorpan. Those with keener eyes may notice I have missed the rust hole altogether. Thats due to the rust hole sitting within the underside chassis leg. Time to get a bit extreme, and drop some floor height in the process....

First step was to tidy up the cut out I made:

...and the area around the sill on the opposite side:

Now that space-intruding chassis leg needed re-profiled:

Job done!

Time for a bit of strength to be added. With this bar I can kill 2 birds with one stone...

Welded in place above...

...and below.

With that basic frame in I could now move on to adding metal back in. Time for some folding fun, starting with the rear "seat" section. Plain sheet:

Foldy...

More foldy...

...and tacked in place. Starting to come together a bit now.

Same story for the front "feet" section

...and that gets tacked in too. Note the penetrating burn marks along the middle., Thats the chassis leg now re-welded to the new floor.

A few more welds, this time seamed and with the rear section dressed back...

...and the front seamed too. Job done!

And with the new floor in I couldnt resist a wee tester with the replacement seat. Much lower! Magic.