Beautiful Classic Car Build in 1968 Chevy Camaro

Extreme Audio is happy to work with any client who approaches us. We especially love classic car builds. In the case of this 1968 Camaro RS, there were two clients: John’s Classic Restoration and the owner of the vehicle. John’s was tasked with completely restoring this vehicle. This included replacing the entire floor, trunk floor, rear panel and some of the firewall. The owner intended to use the vehicle for some day-to-day driving, so he wanted the car to be rock-solid and asked that an audio system be included in the project. John’s came to us to help with the trunk build.

Subwoofer Enclosure

After taking delivery of the car, we masked off the rear of the vehicle to protect the fresh black paint while we worked on the trunk. We carefully measured the available space in the trunk and designed an enclosure for a pair of JL Audio 10TW1-4 subwoofers. These subs work well in small enclosures and, given the available space in the trunk, were a perfect solution for this car. We created a ¼ inch-thick trim piece for the front of the enclosure and cut out the squared-circle shape of the subs’ mounting flange.

On either side of the enclosure, we offset the trim panel to bring it out to the depth of the trunk hinges. We stacked pieces of wood on the trim piece equally on both sides to create the shape and smoothed it with body filler.

A perfect fit for the squared-circle sub’s mounting flange.

Offset dimensions and smooth filler create interesting 3D dynamics.

Amp Racks

We created a concealed home for a JL Audio amplifier on each side of the trunk. An XD400/4 would power two previously installed speakers in the front kick panels and rear deck, while an XD600/1 would feed the pair of TW1 subwoofers. We mocked up the outer shape of the side panels using Evo Kurv, Radii and Stik template pieces and template tape before transferring to a piece of MDF. We created an opening in the panels using several more Evol templates. Each amplifier is protected by mesh and illuminated with blue LED lighting.

We also created a new rear trim piece to surround the trunk latch and fuel filler neck. As with all of our installations, we verified the settings on each amplifier with our test equipment to ensure maximum signal to noise ratio and clean output.

Aluminum mesh and LED lighting accent the JL Audio amplifiers.

The JL Audio XD600/4 and XD400/1 found a home in each custom side panel.

The Floor

To match the sound-deadening that John’s installed in the interior, we put down a layer of Roadkill mat over the entire trunk floor. We cut a wood panel that would sit flat on the factory floor and gave it a removable panel in the center for access to added storage space. We accented the removable panel  with strips of 1/8 inch hardboard and carpeted the floor trim and removable panel. The raised accents help give the trunk some dimension.

This removable panel provides convenient access to storage.

Accent wood panels give the floor more dimension.

Another shot of the accent wood trim and smoothing filler.

The Look

With all of the panels in place and fitted, we ran a horizontal line around the truck and attached a strip of ABS plastic to it. We molded body filler against either side of the strip to give a gentle curve.

We removed the ABS strips and started upholstery, wrapping the top half of the trim panels in black vinyl that matched the interior. We finished the lower half in black carpet in the same theme as the bottom of the door panels. We inserted a chrome strip in the valley left by the removed ABS piece to complete the replication of the door styling. Then we covered the rear trim panel with one piece of the black carpet. The icing on the cake was a chrome Camaro logo between the subs.

Chrome accents and the chrome Camaro logo match the door styling.

The top black vinyl, lower black carpet and chrome trim dividing the two set the tone and theme for the build.

Many pieces come together to provide individual detail to every aspect of the trunk.

The Extras

We tinted the side and rear windows with SunTek Carbon 50% window film to help keep the interior cooler and accent the all-black look of the car. We also installed a Compustar security system with Prime one-way G6 remotes in the vehicle – because the client would be driving the car frequently, he wanted to make sure it was safe.

Once we were done, the builder and owner came to Extreme Audio to pick up the Camaro and have a listen. They were both in awe of how well the trunk matched the style of the doors, and the client loved that he would still have lots of room in the trunk.

With our portion of the project complete, the car was headed back to John’s for a bit more work before being turned over to the customer.

Give Us A Call For Classic Car Customization Today!

If you are interested in a new source unit, speakers, amplifier or a custom installation for your classic vehicle, don’t hesitate to contact us here or give us a call at our Midlothian or Mechanicsville location.