1974 Camaro Rebuild

[fouadhafeez]

An Update

Finally, the work on the Camaro has started, Allah be praised. The first order of the day, was ripping out the seats and wiring and electricals and carpet and dashboard. At the same time, we've disengaged the wiring harnesses for the 1UZ that is currently housed in the ride.

Conveniently, a pair of rats had made the Camaro a temporary nest...and they were rather surprised to be evicted from their home

Anyways, today was a good day, thanks be to Allah. We spent several hours going over details. The custom dashboard rebuild, the console, the gear shift, the push-to-start, the instrument cluster and the wheels and tyres came up for discussion. It's slowly started!

Pictures to tell the story of the day...

[fouadhafeez]

The Instrument Cluster

We're fabricating a custom built dashboard for the Camaro. The layout will be simplistic and minimal. The centre panel will have a 5 inch Speedometer on the left, with a 5 inch Tachometer of the right. To the right side of the centre panel we'll house the water temp and oil pressure gauges (in 3 3/8 inches each). The left panel will take the fuel gauge and battery charging gauge (again, in 3 3/8 inches). Air conditioning and heating, will be transmitted through four round vents. The centre of the dash, will house a digital climate control monitor which will control the a/c and heater.

The console will join the dashboard in the centre of the dash. In this, starting from the top, we'll accommodate the single DIN deck. Below this, we'll position the windscreen wipers switch, the cigarette lighter, and the hazard light. This will be followed by the gear shifter. Finally, we'll locate the push to start button, and on either side of this, will be the switches for the power windows.

A couple of teaser pictures of the instruments we're planning, Insha Allah...

[KamranAslam]

^^^Will look forward to see this old bird in new suit.

[fouadhafeez]

Finally...wheels!

The wheels created a bit of a conundrum, actually. The car currently, is running 275/40/18 tyres in the rear, and 245/40/18 tyres up front. They're beautiful, brand new tyres, having run less than 500 km, from new. They also happen to be ZR rated high performance tyres, which means they're good for speeds upto 240 km/hr. I didn't much like the rims, though. After much soul-searching, then...I decided that we'll keep these tyres, and just swap the rims, instead. Soooo...after a bit of searching around, THESE rims were what I found

These are Lenso OP1 rims, which happen to be brand new (perfect!), they happen to be in the right PCD (perfect!), they happen to be available in 18 inches (perfect!), they happen to be staggered so as to accommodate the fat/thin tyres rear and front (perfect!), they happen to be ultra lightweight (perfect!), and most importantly, they happen to be part of a reputable line-up of one of the better branded wheel companies out there (perfect!). Any reasons why they shouldn't adorn the Camaro?

[taz_rulez]

wow! would love to see the final outcome. BOL mate
btw are you going to drop it as well?

[fouadhafeez]

wow! would love to see the final outcome. BOL mate
btw are you going to drop it as well?

Thanks for the words of encouragement. We're certainly going to lower it slightly...but just enough to keep the stance nice and aggressive, without it interfering with the performance.

[w202]

Finally...wheels!

The wheels created a bit of a conundrum, actually. The car currently, is running 275/40/18 tyres in the rear, and 245/40/18 tyres up front. They're beautiful, brand new tyres, having run less than 500 km, from new. They also happen to be ZR rated high performance tyres, which means they're good for speeds upto 240 km/hr. I didn't much like the rims, though. After much soul-searching, then...I decided that we'll keep these tyres, and just swap the rims, instead. Soooo...after a bit of searching around, THESE rims were what I found

These are Lenso OP1 rims, which happen to be brand new (perfect!), they happen to be in the right PCD (perfect!), they happen to be available in 18 inches (perfect!), they happen to be staggered so as to accommodate the fat/thin tyres rear and front (perfect!), they happen to be ultra lightweight (perfect!), and most importantly, they happen to be part of a reputable line-up of one of the better branded wheel companies out there (perfect!). Any reasons why they shouldn't adorn the Camaro?

beautiful although i would like to see centres painted in a different colour but depends what colour the car will be good buy mashaALLAh cant wait to see this car finsihed it would be one of a kind in pakistan.

[w202]

The Instrument Cluster

We're fabricating a custom built dashboard for the Camaro. The layout will be simplistic and minimal. The centre panel will have a 5 inch Speedometer on the left, with a 5 inch Tachometer of the right. To the right side of the centre panel we'll house the water temp and oil pressure gauges (in 3 3/8 inches each). The left panel will take the fuel gauge and battery charging gauge (again, in 3 3/8 inches). Air conditioning and heating, will be transmitted through four round vents. The centre of the dash, will house a digital climate control monitor which will control the a/c and heater.

The console will join the dashboard in the centre of the dash. In this, starting from the top, we'll accommodate the single DIN deck. Below this, we'll position the windscreen wipers switch, the cigarette lighter, and the hazard light. This will be followed by the gear shifter. Finally, we'll locate the push to start button, and on either side of this, will be the switches for the power windows.

A couple of teaser pictures of the instruments we're planning, Insha Allah...

not digging th e secrews on gear lever trim

[murtaza_murti]

What about the stopping power? Cross-drilled rotors? 6/4-piston brake calipers? Size of rotors, please.

[fouadhafeez]

Some Photos As We Deconstruct The Car

[ajab9007]

Well congrats and personally I'm jealous! That's one of my favorite. Looking forward to seeing you bring her back to original life!your resto is always a treat to watch so i m subscribed:P

[fouadhafeez]

Thank you for the encouragement, Ajab.

It's still a long haul to it being brought back to life, the way it deserves. Will be looking forward to support and good wishes.

[fouadhafeez]

What about the stopping power? Cross-drilled rotors? 6/4-piston brake calipers? Size of rotors, please.

We haven't quite decided on the brakes just yet, Murtaza. That decision will be made in a couple of days, Insha Allah. But we certainly are mindful of the need to keep deceleration even more important than acceleration. Thanks for the reminder, though.

[w202]

We haven't quite decided on the brakes just yet, Murtaza. That decision will be made in a couple of days, Insha Allah. But we certainly are mindful of the need to keep deceleration even more important than acceleration. Thanks for the reminder, though.

i would love to see this baby in drilled rotors.. so u can see them through the wheels n big Azz calipers..

[adeel_malik]

Just a sentence which ill describe FOUAD BHAI.
Guys meet CHIP FOOSE ( FOUAD HAFFEZ ) and yes he is from PAKISTAN.

Fouad bhai i always skip a beat when ever i cross DHA and saw ur impalas and PHANTOM.every time i wished to jump behind steering wheel but a very well saying ( KUCH KHAWAISHAIN AISAY KO HAR KHAWAISH PAR DUM NIKLAY ).

in my humble opinion the alloys ud selected wont be doing justice as deep dish will be more suitable.Id seen 20,s lying some where in peshawar and if u dnt mind may i get them for you???.

regards

[fouadhafeez]

Just a sentence which ill describe FOUAD BHAI.
Guys meet CHIP FOOSE ( FOUAD HAFFEZ ) and yes he is from PAKISTAN.

Fouad bhai i always skip a beat when ever i cross DHA and saw ur impalas and PHANTOM.every time i wished to jump behind steering wheel but a very well saying ( KUCH KHAWAISHAIN AISAY KO HAR KHAWAISH PAR DUM NIKLAY ).

in my humble opinion the alloys ud selected wont be doing justice as deep dish will be more suitable.Id seen 20,s lying some where in peshawar and if u dnt mind may i get them for you???.

regards

Those are very nice words, Adeel...although they're quite untrue. I'm just a student of the art of automobilia, rather than a practitioner. I've been simply learning along the way, and Allah has been kind to have given me the means to indulge in this passion. The next time you're in DHA and you run across any ff these vehicles, honk, pull me over to the side, and demand a ride It's the very least I can do for a fellow enthusiast.

About the rims, I don't think 20 inch rims on what is essentially, a small car, will look appropriate. They might work on barges like the Impalas, but for the Camaro, the stance needs to be more low-slung and tight and aggressive, rather than "ghetto" in my opinion. Thus, while your offer for help and sourcing is VERY much appreciated, I think I'll politely decline, nonetheless. But rest assured...I WILL be taking you up on the offer for similar endeavours, in future.

Once again, thanks for the kind words, brother.

[khattak_lala]

Ahhhh work has started and as the boises say SCENE IS AWNNN! . Loving the instrument panel, little confused about the GEAR shifter how does that work.? Is it a triptronic kinda manual OR its auto .? Cause i cannot see the D in the figures. Plus beautiful rims BUT the centre should be painted!! BOL!

[fouadhafeez]

Ahhhh work has started and as the boises say SCENE IS AWNNN! . Loving the instrument panel, little confused about the GEAR shifter how does that work.? Is it a triptronic kinda manual OR its auto .? Cause i cannot see the D in the figures. Plus beautiful rims BUT the centre should be painted!! BOL!

The gear shifter is what's commonly referred to as an "airplane control". It's for automatic transmissions, with the difference being that in the picture '4' represents 'D'. Fortunately, while going through some stuff in the trunk, we found exactly the same shifter (which had been fitted to the car, previously) in pretty decent condition. So we're just going to clean and chrome and 're-leather' it to make it look beautiful again.

Yes, the rims are beautiful, indeed. But with some of the modifications that the vehicle is likely to undergo with regards to suspension, axles, tubes, and diffs, etc...we're probably going to wait until we have all of those mods carried out, and then test fit the wheels and tyres to see if the stance is right. And I completely agree...if we do finally settle on these rims (jiss ke chances kaafi hain) we really do need to paint the centres of the wheels.

[jagger]

a wonder car project!!!

[nickatnite]

Finally...wheels!

The wheels created a bit of a conundrum, actually. The car currently, is running 275/40/18 tyres in the rear, and 245/40/18 tyres up front. They're beautiful, brand new tyres, having run less than 500 km, from new. They also happen to be ZR rated high performance tyres, which means they're good for speeds upto 240 km/hr. I didn't much like the rims, though. After much soul-searching, then...I decided that we'll keep these tyres, and just swap the rims, instead. Soooo...after a bit of searching around, THESE rims were what I found

These are Lenso OP1 rims, which happen to be brand new (perfect!), they happen to be in the right PCD (perfect!), they happen to be available in 18 inches (perfect!), they happen to be staggered so as to accommodate the fat/thin tyres rear and front (perfect!), they happen to be ultra lightweight (perfect!), and most importantly, they happen to be part of a reputable line-up of one of the better branded wheel companies out there (perfect!). Any reasons why they shouldn't adorn the Camaro?

Definitely NOT on a Camaro:o. Please put these rims away and restart your search.