My Dearest Mina (IBM 2SS/RS)

[Mindz]

Man, you have some real balls taking on a project like the dash/door trim. I just caught up on your thread. I must apologize being that I haven't read your thread in over a year. Mina has come a long way and looks better than ever. Chris is a FABULOUTH guy, just don't get him hopped up on oranges and soda. He gets a little too merry if you know what I mean. Ask Tom Henry and the other mods that went to Camaro5Fest II if not.

Anyways, Keep up the love and level of care for Mina and she'll take you a long ways!

[Lycanine]

Originally Posted by Behic2320

Looks great!!!!

Thanks man! It's no Cali headturner but I do my best

Originally Posted by Dznts

awesome build! car looks great!

Thanks! Can't wait to finish up the trim! Check back in soon!

Originally Posted by Mindz

Man, you have some real balls taking on a project like the dash/door trim. I just caught up on your thread. I must apologize being that I haven't read your thread in over a year. Mina has come a long way and looks better than ever. Chris is a FABULOUTH guy, just don't get him hopped up on oranges and soda. He gets a little too merry if you know what I mean. Ask Tom Henry and the other mods that went to Camaro5Fest II if not.

Anyways, Keep up the love and level of care for Mina and she'll take you a long ways!

Haha no worries man! The school year is always crazy for me so I haven't really been posting much, but now that summer is here I've got a few projects I'm up to
Whenever you get around to making that list, definitely hit me up!
Thanks for checking in J!

[bluetooth-ss]

Awesome job.

[Lycanine]

Originally Posted by bluetooth-ss

Awesome job.

Thanks man! I wish your ZL1 front end would get done! Every time I see an ABM I speed up to see if it's you lol

[Lycanine]

Alright, so this was just like the first one except for a few minor things.
I decided I wasn't a fan of the line going all the way across, so I stopped it short on this one. I plan on putting a red "SS" sticker here to even it out and make it symmetrical again.
This piece I also hit quite a few bumps...most likely due to the fact that I was rushing it a bit, but I was excited to have the dash done
The plastic tabs broke off when I tried to remove it from the back of the lexan piece, I sliced my finger on one of the shards, and I repainted this piece a total of four times because I forgot a very necessary rule: Keep it simple, stupid. lol
Pinstripes work really well for this project, it's easy to tape off lines. But when I tried to be creative and add a bowtie, well, it went all downhill from there. I tried writing my car's name with touchup paint (horrible idea DO NOT ATTEMPT) and made myself even more frustrated when I didn't sand it correctly and had to repaint it all over again. I will admit, it's not perfect right now, but it's definitely good enough for me. Especially considering it took me way longer to do than it should have lol.
And here's a final note...for the dash trim, IBM isn't a really great color. It's just too dark in the interior to see. I know what color it is, but the metallic flakes do not show up because of the lack of light :/ Now, when I do it for the door panels, that'll be fine because as the door opens it'll show off the flakes just fine, but looking back I really could have chosen a different color scheme. Cool thing though, the white stripe for some reason really shows in the dark, probably because of the door's ABL, but it's kinda cool that you can see it in the dark
Now, the dash problem would be totally eliminated if I had a convertible, top down and all, but alas my coupe likes to keep her top on at all times lol
Anywho, I'll have the door panels up probably in a month. Just started my summer job detailing again so my time is a little pressed, but i'll post it when I can!
But to hold you over, I am painting my calipers this weekend, so that'll be up in the meantime!
Oh, and Happy Father's Day all!

[Mindz]

Looks professional from the picture you posted. Nice job!

[Lycanine]

Originally Posted by Mindz

Looks professional from the picture you posted. Nice job!

Thanks! I wish I had time to do the door panels this weekend, but it looks like I'm going to have to wait on that. From what I hear, they are the easiest part lol.

[SlyJester7]

can you do my trim and door panels next? . . . k thanx

[heRS]

You've done an excellent job on Mina - very nice! Amazing what the proper polishing tools will do for IBM, hmm?

[Lycanine]

Originally Posted by SlyJester7

can you do my trim and door panels next? . . . k thanx

lol I think you could handle it if you really wanted to...but yeah sure, send 'em over. It's summer, I ain't got nothing to do anyway

Originally Posted by heRS

You've done an excellent job on Mina - very nice! Amazing what the proper polishing tools will do for IBM, hmm?

Right?! I wish it would stop raining long enough that I could shine her up a bit and take her out for some sweet pictures like you always take. We don't have any mountains but the beach isn't half bad

[aquablueL99]

Jared,
Dash work is stunning...

You did good 'ma man'!...

Kurt ABL99...

[Lycanine]

Originally Posted by aquablueL99

Jared,
Dash work is stunning...

You did good 'ma man'!...

Kurt ABL99...

Haha thanks Kurt! Door panels will be done soon

[Lycanine]

Well the door panels took the back burner while I got re-certified to teach. So to itch the mod bug, I painted my calipers instead!

I'll get back to my interior soon folks!

[aquablueL99]

Originally Posted by Lycanine

I went back and added this in, but I realized I never said where my love for Camaros came from.
Like most guys, it starts with my Dad. He had a '68 SS that was an absolute monster. He turned it into a drag car that used to absolutely mop the floor with most cars here in Jacksonville in the 80s. It was a hobby that my oldest brother Chad and he spent a lot of time bonding over. I was too young to really remember the car, but I imagine it's where my love of loud exhausts comes from lol.
In 1990, Chad died in a hunting accident and my Dad lost all desire to work on the car. He sold it off quickly and as far as we know, it's somewhere in Georgia in someone's garage. Scouring through old family photos, there's only one I could find and my Dad keeps it in the garage on the outside freezer. He spends a lot of time out there just reminiscing over it.
When I started teaching, my first inclination was to find it and buy it back. Unfortunately, no amount of Craigslist and car ad searching turned it up. I held onto my Cobalt and just put it on the "To Do" list. In the meantime, I drooled over the new Camaros and I even remember test driving a LS3 IOM (much like Orange Crate ) one afternoon with my Dad. The car salesman let us drive it by ourselves, huge mistake, and I remember my Dad opening that poor thing up lol. We pulled into a parking lot and he let me get behind the wheel, but I was so afraid of grinding the gears and I had this fear of hurting such a beautiful car that I only took a lap around the parking lot before we drove it back to the dealer. Looking back, that was one heck of a missed opportunity lol
As I've shared before, my Dad suffered a major stroke in August 2010 and it left my Dad without the ability to truly convey what he is thinking. He hasn't really lost his cognitive thinking, he still fixes everything around our house and solves any electrical issue a neighbor or friend might have, but to figure out what he's saying takes a lot of patience and charade-like clues. After trading off nights at his side in the hospital with my Mom for a month, Dad got to come home and start rehabilitation at the house. Having quit my previous teaching job over the summer, and having plans fall through with Film School at FSU, it seemed like my entire world was collapsing in on itself. I had money saved up, so I wasn't worried about that, but it was a rough time for my entire family.
But God isn't just good, He's great.
In December, right before I took a 9-5 delivering medical supplies for a company here in town for slightly more than minimum wage, I got a teaching job with a private school. Life started to turn around.
My sister was getting ready to graduate high school that spring and I remember talking with our cousin at Garber Automall about getting her a car. It wasn't too long after that, that I tried lifting my Dad's spirit talking to him about cars. My Cobalt was an LS, nothing special, but I remember how my Dad always lit up when we talked about his old Camaro. I found myself back on these forums and showing him the cars different members had and how he'd smiled and get excited watching some of the burnout videos y'all would post.
With my new job, I started playing with the idea of getting a Camaro myself. I showed Dad the color I wanted, we went to Chevy dealers and looked at them in person, every time we'd see one, Dad would light up.
About a month after my sister got her car I talked to my cousin about ordering a Camaro. I literally walked in with every code for every feature I wanted, the discounts I knew I deserved, and told him to order it for that or let it be. Not too long after that Mina was mine, and well...I think you guys know the rest of the story
Here's the picture Dad keeps in his garage. It's old and exposed to the elements all day so it's a bit faded and falling apart, but he loves to show it off when people come over And while my car might never be the monster his was, Dad loves to help me put all of my mods on and watch my car slowly become my own. So here's to you Dad Thanks for making me who I am today.
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Jared,
What a nice story about THE one you love and have as Father! You both are so fortunate to have each other. And Dad's Camaro is "to die for". What a beautiful car and yes "a go getter". Sounds like he simply loves to be with his son and sharing in doing what makes you happy! Tell him for me that after reading this post, I could do nothing else but praise God for his grace on him. With a 68 Camaro like his...who could go wrong?

Congrats on an uplifting story Jared. I am so proud of your taking the time to share your Dad's story with us.....

May God bless you both...again and again....

Kurt ABL99...