COMP Cams 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Restoration

The suspension parts and core support will be media blasted and painted to look new again.



The Heidt’s subframe is essentially new, having never been painted or driven. However, it’s not “calendar” new. We’ll blast and paint it with Axalta epoxy and Imron as well.

The bottom of the car is easier to access with the body of the Camaro on the rotisserie, so final grinding and detail work was done in this position. The transmission tunnel and floor repairs were dressed from the bottom.

We took the opportunity to strengthen the frame rails where the Heidt’s rear 4-link bars connect to prevent the rails from being crushed by the mounting bolts. This was done by making a set of plates shaped to conform to the rails, then drilling mount holes and welding them in place with the HTP MIG 200 welder.





The bright spots on the floor supports indicate where minor rust repairs were made.

In the paint shop, numerous parts were prepared and painted. The process can include media blasting or chemical cleaning, a hand sanding or Scotchbrite rub, then various wax & grease removers to clean the parts before they are masked and hung in the paint booth. FBS Distributors sprayers are helpful to rinse parts down, and tape labels an tags are often used to ID the parts. It’s a long process, but the results deliver great coverage and adhesion.











The Heidt’s subframe was meticulously sanded, cleaned, and hung in the booth for Axalta epoxy and satin black Imron paint.



The completed subframe looks pretty sharp!

The next phase was to prep the bottom of the body shell for paint. Again, the entire tub was sanded and cleaned, then masked and cleaned with wax & grease remover before receiving Axalta epoxy primer. If this was to be a “show” car, the bottom side would have been media blasted, but COMP wanted a driver and did not put a high priority on underside detail.









The inside of the tub was cleaned and prepped as well.

First epoxy prime coat applied:









After the prime coat was applied, the underside was scuffed and 3M seam sealer was applied to all the areas where metal seams could hold moisture and potentially rust or corrode.