Well guys…the Mustang build, as much as I hate to say it, had to come to an end. I’ve gotta say that I really enjoyed that build alot. I had been doing alot of pondering about what was next up on the bench and had it all narrowed down to three but couldn’t make my mind up on what I wanted to build out of the three. It was really a source of frustration in a small way because I just couldn’t make a decision. So…to end that I decided not to do ANY of those but to build something that I’ve been wanting to build for a very long time… A 1970 Camaro with a big block in it and a Z-28 side by side. These kits are said to be a very difficult ones to work with but we’ll see what happens. I’m up for the challenge…
These cars hold great interest to me because #1…The Baldwin offering has a big block in it and #2 The 1970 Z-28 was almost my first car…till dad stopped it. Smart guy because I probably would’ve been a grease stain on the highway at an early age.
Now on the bench:
Baldwin Camaros are just evil …sporting a 500+ hp 454 and covering the 1/4 mile in the 11 second range. I’ve already got the MCW Forest Green paint for this car.
The real thing:
The Z-28 is a beautiful car as well sporting a 350 small block. Not as nasty as the Baldwin Camaro but still packs a decent wallop. I’ll be going with Cranberry Red for this one and will be turning to MCW for the color.
Stay tuned gang……I hope to do these two cars the justice they deserve.
I’ve been told that too ol’ buddy and thank you for the vote of confidence. Been doing alot of research on the construction pitfalls and problems with the kit. I’ve got a friend on another forum that built one…just gotta find his thread because there was a BUNCH of useful information in regards to building it.
Oh SWEET!!! 2nd Gen Camaros. I’m all in on this one. My fave Camaros by far. Split bumpers are #1, full bumpers a close 2nd. I have both kits, so I’m excited to see what you do with them, then I can throw my away.
Starting on the engine build for the Z-28. Here’s the base engine completed. I’ll be going with a MAD pre-wired distributor on this to cut down on time spent drilling the distributor and putting the wires in and will be ordering that tomorrow when I get paid.
Base chassis all laid out ready for painting. Actually this aint a bad chassis having quite a number of parts. Per some of the reviews that I’ve read on these kits , I’ll be attaching the front subframe assy at a later stage in the build for ease of assembly.
I’ve now got the wheels and tires selected for the Z-28 build. The rear tires will have those big ass GOODYEAR scripts shaved off and some BF Goodrich T/A ones will take their place. This’ll be the stance/ look that I’ll be going for.
Looking good so far. This is a pretty nice kit and should come out really nicely.
I used some of the interior, front frame, and inner fenders/engine compartment of this kit along with the outer shell of the old (and very basic) MPC '77 Camaro kit. I also added a couple PE/resin sets for the finer details…
MPC 77 Camaro1280×720 178 KB
To get this…
With fully detailed and plumbed engine compartment as well.
The rear part of the chassis is about 70% finished. Still have to install the rear sway bar, shock mounts and shocks but we’re getting there. I had to take a break in the progress and narrow the rear end and arch the springs just a tad to achieve the stance I was looking for in the rear. I merely cut off the axle ends, shaved each end of the axle back about 3/16" , drilled holes in the axle and in the axle mounting ends and pinned them back to the axle. I’ve already done a test run and the wheel/ tire assemblies are right where I want em now.
One of the shortcomings of this kit is in the exhaust area. First off, there’s LOTS of clean up to do, more so on this kit than most any other of the models I’ve built in the past.
After that is the issue of the position of the tail pipe when it’s all installed onto the vehicle and the fact that I’m not a big fan of square cut exhaust pipes exiting any give car.
OOB exhaust: (Note: the tires will be re-positioned in the wheel opening so I’m still working on that) This crazy right??
After tweaking the exhaust mounting points and bending the pipes to where I wanted them to exit the car (and adding my bevel cuts to the tail pipes and hollowing them out). That’s MUCH better.
I still have some adjustments I’ll make later on in regards to the final locations of each pipe but this is the preliminary result:
Looks great, Joe. Back in the day we would cut off the exhaust and slap some glasspacks on the headers and call it done. They sound so good like that, as long as you don’t mind a little CO2 in your life.
Great to see you move on to your next build(s). Very cool subjects indeed. Although I’m not the biggest Camaro fan I do very much fancy the '70 model. Always loved the look. I especially like the Baldwin Camaro. That one is completely boss. This will be fun as always to follow along with you. Despite any predicted hassles with this kit I am quite assured you will handle them in your constant ingenious ways. Sharp work so far my friend. I am officially on board.
