El camino rear widebody& raised rear quarters
- Thread starter jlcustomz
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Been a little aggravated lately that I haven't had much time off from work with leftover energy to do stuff, but slowly getting there on the vette tailgate project.
Got bumper cover to final install position on tailgate structure. With the extreme curvature of the vette bumper, center thickness is at 10" at bottom edge and I still need extra bumps coming out to 1 3/4" thick at the ends to cover vette lights, which I need to finish enclosing. Got my end pivot brackets partially welded in place & shock mount figured on 1 side. Slides will be doubled up & beefed up HD drawer guides with 3/8" x 1 1/4" steel between the 2. Gotta cut access holes into my redone 14 gauge steel rear inside corners & figure brackets.
Pics show pivot mount & slide bar in up & down position. Note stop on stainless pivot bracket which will take the place of needing tailgate hold up cables. Mount angle of shocks goes past pushing up just before completely down & pushes downward when resting.
Still a few details to figure such as latch locations , stops or springs to hold slide fully out when tailgate is dropped, possible bumper stops top & bottom, wiring management when sliding out, etc. Thought of a contact connection , but would rather tailgate be able to light up when extended back if needed. It is still a f'n truck, ya know.
Got bumper cover to final install position on tailgate structure. With the extreme curvature of the vette bumper, center thickness is at 10" at bottom edge and I still need extra bumps coming out to 1 3/4" thick at the ends to cover vette lights, which I need to finish enclosing. Got my end pivot brackets partially welded in place & shock mount figured on 1 side. Slides will be doubled up & beefed up HD drawer guides with 3/8" x 1 1/4" steel between the 2. Gotta cut access holes into my redone 14 gauge steel rear inside corners & figure brackets.
Pics show pivot mount & slide bar in up & down position. Note stop on stainless pivot bracket which will take the place of needing tailgate hold up cables. Mount angle of shocks goes past pushing up just before completely down & pushes downward when resting.
Still a few details to figure such as latch locations , stops or springs to hold slide fully out when tailgate is dropped, possible bumper stops top & bottom, wiring management when sliding out, etc. Thought of a contact connection , but would rather tailgate be able to light up when extended back if needed. It is still a f'n truck, ya know.
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Got tailgate partially functioning tonight, loosely attached.
Shocks are way to weak which I figured, so need plan b on them. May do cable with guide rollers to springs on inside of tailgate, which would allow the sides to be enclosed more.
Will need roller under rear slide arm as far back as possibly to help with support, particularly not using cables.
At least it's looking more like a truck again.
Shocks are way to weak which I figured, so need plan b on them. May do cable with guide rollers to springs on inside of tailgate, which would allow the sides to be enclosed more.
Will need roller under rear slide arm as far back as possibly to help with support, particularly not using cables.
At least it's looking more like a truck again.
HOW? long nights of evil mystical scheming & calling upon the powers of the dark underworld.
Ok , maybe not.
But some thought & planning though. On the c-7 vettes, there is a separate upper & lower bumper which runs up to where the lower vents are as opposed to the rear being all 1 part. This is part of the reason I chose the c-7 rear instead of the 6th gen camaro which I used the front off of. I originally cut the vette rear & was bolting it to the back, which needed a crapload of work to make blend with vehicle. Then I was going to have to cut into the back of the vette part & restructure all of it to make into a tailgate.
When making the widebody modifications, I added a sharp corner to the rear profile around the vette bumper. This profile is similar to the 2016 camaro front nose and also common to many late 60's to early 70's cars. This makes it where I can mostly just cut off what I don't need on the vette upper bumper, which is also great if I damage it & need to replace it. The outside corners of the upper vette cover were the only part that ran down below tailgate height & I cut em off & replaced with custom made steel.
When shut, it will look just like the previous rear pics.😗
Ok , maybe not.
But some thought & planning though. On the c-7 vettes, there is a separate upper & lower bumper which runs up to where the lower vents are as opposed to the rear being all 1 part. This is part of the reason I chose the c-7 rear instead of the 6th gen camaro which I used the front off of. I originally cut the vette rear & was bolting it to the back, which needed a crapload of work to make blend with vehicle. Then I was going to have to cut into the back of the vette part & restructure all of it to make into a tailgate. When making the widebody modifications, I added a sharp corner to the rear profile around the vette bumper. This profile is similar to the 2016 camaro front nose and also common to many late 60's to early 70's cars. This makes it where I can mostly just cut off what I don't need on the vette upper bumper, which is also great if I damage it & need to replace it. The outside corners of the upper vette cover were the only part that ran down below tailgate height & I cut em off & replaced with custom made steel.
When shut, it will look just like the previous rear pics.😗
Wonder what I could charge for an appearance in the next transformers movie?
looking at the front nose corners you can see how the metalwork out back is blending in the appearance.
looking at the front nose corners you can see how the metalwork out back is blending in the appearance.
Finally getting back at it after a month. Went outside at 10:00pm & started filling in the final corner of my quarter panel where it meets up with spoiler. Welder quit feeding wire at 11:00. Empty 10lb roll of wire. Ain't life wonderful.
Grabbed a little roll of .023 wire I kept at work to finish up corner. Had a mad thrash to get things put together enough to drive 1.5 hrs each way to Gainesville annual el camino meet Saturday.
Went ahead & ran proper new wiring for the separate turn/ brake lights on the new vette lights . Removed door vent & taped a 4 flat trailer wire to a shoemold trim & fished to the back of my quarter panel. Hooked up 2 wires to the blue front signal leads at the steering column for dedicated turn signals. wired to white wire at brake light switch for brake only. Then will use the 4th wire to power a back up camera I got like 10 years ago & never used. Also ran the rca line for it. Will have to figure how I want to inconspicuously mount it later. Used 2 sets of 4 wire trailer terminals to get the 6 wires I need for hookup inside tailgate. Then yesterday found a 6 wire connector I had for it . UGH.
Kept the original rear combo light wires & plan to run a few slimline led's I bought & never used down in the lower bumper vette vents. Also an extra set of backup lights. Is still a work truck Ya know.
Got no signal from green backup wire , so gotta trace it back sometime see what the hell.
Got tailgate to partially functioning condition with 2 new 60 lb shocks.
Was a little embarrassing taking something this unfinished, but made it there & back to Gainesville. Pics from others.
Went ahead & ran proper new wiring for the separate turn/ brake lights on the new vette lights . Removed door vent & taped a 4 flat trailer wire to a shoemold trim & fished to the back of my quarter panel. Hooked up 2 wires to the blue front signal leads at the steering column for dedicated turn signals. wired to white wire at brake light switch for brake only. Then will use the 4th wire to power a back up camera I got like 10 years ago & never used. Also ran the rca line for it. Will have to figure how I want to inconspicuously mount it later. Used 2 sets of 4 wire trailer terminals to get the 6 wires I need for hookup inside tailgate. Then yesterday found a 6 wire connector I had for it . UGH.
Kept the original rear combo light wires & plan to run a few slimline led's I bought & never used down in the lower bumper vette vents. Also an extra set of backup lights. Is still a work truck Ya know.
Got no signal from green backup wire , so gotta trace it back sometime see what the hell.
Got tailgate to partially functioning condition with 2 new 60 lb shocks.
Was a little embarrassing taking something this unfinished, but made it there & back to Gainesville. Pics from others.
I know people sometimes give you a hard time about the modifications you have done to your El Camino and on few things including me but you have the skills and I think your latest version or at least where I see it going will be IMO "Killer" and I give you a lot of credit for taking it out to shows in it's unfinished form, many people have a hard time visualizing what the final product will look like until they actually see it completed but if they are not seeing your build they don't realize the work and thought that went into it.
It is coming together nicely.
It is coming together nicely.
Thanks 565. I really didn't want to go out in public with walnuts & waves showing in my sheet metal to say the least. The used salvaged yard panels also still have a lot of marks that are previous repairs, not mine. But the people that actually know something about something can appreciate the work just to get it in rough initial shape. That's who I show this stuff for, screw these other morons..Gotta get a decent helper to assist in running panel through English wheel, which has been a hold up.
Honestly it doesn't really bother me when you or others give me a hard time about stuff I deserve a hard time on or when someone says something like I just don't care for it, but I like this or that, I call that a compliment as much as any.
Had one moron yesterday ask what happened seeing the raw sheet metal while everyone else was admiring the effort. But there's always one of those guys that wouldn't recognize a customized baseball bat if it hit em in the face. Have to disregard the car unsavy people.
Was does still get on my nerves is these asses that gotta post something stupid, like this guy in the link in post 69 like 5 weeks after post has been dormant.https://ls1tech.com/forums/paint-bo...-effects-extended-rockers-4.html#post20072688
Probably still upset his mamma never breastfed him.😢
Honestly it doesn't really bother me when you or others give me a hard time about stuff I deserve a hard time on or when someone says something like I just don't care for it, but I like this or that, I call that a compliment as much as any.
Had one moron yesterday ask what happened seeing the raw sheet metal while everyone else was admiring the effort. But there's always one of those guys that wouldn't recognize a customized baseball bat if it hit em in the face. Have to disregard the car unsavy people.
Was does still get on my nerves is these asses that gotta post something stupid, like this guy in the link in post 69 like 5 weeks after post has been dormant.https://ls1tech.com/forums/paint-bo...-effects-extended-rockers-4.html#post20072688
Probably still upset his mamma never breastfed him.😢
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