Words: Tommy Parry
A complete garage build save for the sandblasting, Lee’s Camaro serves as a testament to what one motivated man can do with a TIG welder, an engineering background and a basic Camaro in decent shape. With years of dreaming fueling this build, Lee grabbed his childhood dream machine and started sketching out ideas for its future.
“I picked the first gen Camaro because I have always loved the lines of that body style, and I can still remember when I was just a small kid riding with my Dad into town and spotting a beautiful black car parked on the front lawn of someone’s yard. It was an RS Camaro, and I remember thinking how cool the front of that car looked with the headlights covered and the mag wheels and dark sinister look of the black paint,” he recounted.
Lee loved the idea of blending the classic aesthetic of the Camaro with a slew of modern parts, but the aftermarket is limited. Not content with a mere restomod, he started concocting a plan to blend old and new.
“I also wanted to put a part of me into the build, which meant that I wanted the car to have a lot of modern features like automatic power windows, power locks and automatic headlights, to name a few,” he explained. “So, as an engineer, I started to look at some of the power distribution systems and wiring systems that were available. I didn’t like the cost of these systems or the limitations that they had, and the more I looked at them the more I thought that I could just build my own system and make it do all the things I wanted it to do, so I decided to build my own body control modules to control all the electrical systems in the car.
“Being more of a hardware engineer and much less of a software engineer, I knew I would need help with creating the firmware for the BCM. So during one family Christmas, I told my brother about my plan and asked if he would be interested in writing the firmware for the micro. I was expecting that I would have to twist his arm, but he surprised me and agreed almost immediately. He lives in the Minneapolis area and I live in the Dallas area, so we worked together via emails as we troubleshot our way through the various problems we encountered. We’re at a point where all the major systems are working and the car has been drivable for the last year.”
After picking up the car, Lee went straight to dealing with the corrosion in the passenger footwell as well as the rear quarter panels. Once he ditched the vinyl roof, the car was ready for a complete makeover.
Applying the coat of flat black, a tricky process through which Lee guided himself, gave the Camaro a menacing exterior that suited the incredible selection of mods he had ready. Unfortunately, he’s not completely satisfied with the result and plans to sand it down before giving it another shot.
What did please him, however, was the new footwork. A Ridetech Level 2 air suspension system, matched with a set of Forgeline FS3P wheels, gave the car the athletic stance it deserves. The car now uses flared front fenders and DSE minitubs to accommodate the massive BFGoodrich G-Force Rival S tires. Wrapped in 275- and 315-section rubber front and rear, respectively, the Camaro is grippy enough to make good use of the motor.
A crate LSA – cooled by Spal fans, a Fluidyne DB-30417 oil cooler and custom hood vents – sends its thrust through a Magnum T56 6-speed. As you would imagine, swapping a modern motor into a vintage vehicle like this isn’t simple. He didn’t like what he found, so he built his own body control modules.
One manages reverse lockout solenoid control, the cooling fans controller, a trinary switch input, automatic windows, cabin pressure relief, automatic headlights and the hideaway headlight door control. Another controls the gauge blinker and gauge high/low beam indicator, dash lights ECU ignition power, accessory power for the Dakota Digital gauges, radio and Vintage Air air-con system.
Getting past the electronic gremlins wasn’t simple, but he was able to do so in record time. It allowed him to cruise comfortably through Texas that summer. Inside, the simple interior is enhanced by a pair of leather-bound Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder seats, TMI XR door cards, a MOMO wheel and a double-DIN dash. A 3D-printed console, complete with a storage compartment hiding the Ridetech controls, looks near-factory.
After removing the rear seats, he installed two portholes with the same honeycomb pattern as the front seats to pipe some of the subwoofer into the cabin. What an inviting place to be on long road trips or short autocross sprints.
There’s still some work to do, but when it’s complete, Lee has big plans for the Camaro.
“First and foremost, I plan to drive the hell out of it. I always tell people that I didn’t build it to look at it. I also plan on taking it to various car shows throughout the states and enter some autocross events,” he said. “I also want to continue developing more features for the body control modules, and develop an improved version of the board that I would like to manufacture and sell to like-minded people who want a platform with which they can develop their own firmware and come up with new ways to implement features that make their vehicle unique.”
To keep up with the progress of Lee’s understated, innovative and inspiring Camaro, you can visit its build thread here.
