My story started when i went to college two years ago. I had a 1999 Grand Am GT because me and my parents would argue on which car to get. I was paying half so i didnt get much of a say in the matter, it came down to a 2001 Cavalier or the 99 Grand Am fully loaded, i chose the grand am. Now i reallly wanted a 240SX, i still love import cars(some of them) but i would always remember this kid in my autos class in high school. He had all sorts of cars, a VW beetle, a blazer and a 87 yellow hardtop IROC-Z, i fell in love with that thing, he always used to beat the other cars at my school in races etc, this thing was MINT also, and we always used to tool around on it. I was never satisfied with the Grand am and when i went away to college, and after the Grand Am kept breaking, my parents finally agreed to let me sell it and take my half of it back. I actually sold it to my parents in the end lol and i was able to get another car. Now rewind about 8 months from the point of me selling my grand am. I was always searching on auto trader, every day looking and looking. I was looking at imports, 240s, integras, etc and my roommate goes, Yo my friend back home, we call him camaro mark he just bought a 99z28 and is looking to get rid of his 91 RS, its got under 100 thousand on the clock and he is the second owner. I saw a picture and instantly fell in love with the thing. I called my parents got the okay and had my roommate call his friend, he said he was selling it and we went to take a look at it over winter break. By than however his mind changed, he was giving it to his sister and wasnt selling it anymore. I kept pestering him and eventually a week before i went to school, i went and picked it up, after watching it sit outside in mass. over the winter and the whole summer i finally had her, since i bought it i have replaced the engine,the fuel pump, the 9 bolt that was under there, the hood,and patched up the rust on the car. the first owner was the kids grandma he drove it for a year and than 2 years later i bought it with 87XXX on the odometer, but its off because the speedo gear was never changed, shes got 102XXX on her now and i have driven back and forth from florida 4 times with her Im never getting rid of it, i love this damn car.

The main reason I got a Camaro is because of my dad he has two Third Gen race cars, one is a tube chassis car and the other is a prostreet car. I tried to talk him into giving me his prostreet car but he would he said it was too much for me to handle. So I began looking for a Camaro I looked on auto trader, cars.com, ebay, etc. I found an 86 Iroc on ebay it needed a lot of work paint, motor, and some a lot of cleaning. Well the car went for more than my dad said it would worth so I listened to him and let it pass. I kept on my search determined to find the right Camaro. Well a couple of weeks later I found another Camaro on ebay. This one was an 89 RS someone had swapped a V8 into it but it was for sale with no motor and trans. It was black with tan interior, no power windows or anything like that but it was a 5spd which was a selling point for me. This time we got the car for only 300 dollars. Once I got it home I got to work right away cleaning it up(it sat in a garage for a couple of years). I found a motor on ebay and we had a trans out of a Firebird parts car that we had for one of the race cars. A few months worth of work and new it is a running driving car.

It was kinda dusty had to find my own rims so I just put on some spares.

This is what it looks like now. It has come a long way

There is a lot more on my cardomain site....http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2556121

man thats a clean looking car from where it started ^^^^^^

^^^^what he said^^^^

The first day I got my car... All stock, 1992 camaro rs, 305 tbi. Auto. 52,000 miles. Since then, changed ALOT

i wanted a professional paint job but places wanted 4000-4600 for a full repaint and i winded up painting it myself (ive painted other cars myslef before). the price was outragious so i did it myself and this is how it turned out.........
things wrong before paint job
clear coat pealing
drive side door had 7 rust spots all bondo'd and fibber glass jellyed
front valance broken in right and left corner witch i fiber glassed
little dent on left side corner panel poped out

My Camaro is my first car. I originally wanted a Mustang because I had always liked them and after I went and looked at a 65 with an inline 6 my uncle got me looking into Camaros. He had an 89 RS that I always kinda liked so I went with it. I found a white 87 IROC that was really nice looking from the pictures but after my dad talked to the guy and found out how old I was, he stopped answering the phone and wouldn't call back. Then we went and looked at a few and once I found this one, we knew it was the one. Knowing what I know now, I kinda wish I had waited and found a 91-92 Z28. Either way though, I'm glad I ended up with a 91 and I still got a car that was in fantastic shape. Here's how it looked shortly after I bought it:





And here's how it looks as of a few months ago:

man I love that car.. looks sick

hey on the interior what kinda seat are those, did you change the door panels the looked diffrent??

there late model trans am seats, and yes he changed the door panels. Looks better IMO.

Well had found an 82 camaro with cross fire injection in someones back yard with no title, no keys but it was free so i took it. I started working on it, but it was in really bad shape. My wife is a Service writer for a dealership, and one of her techs asked her if she knew anyone that would be interested in a 89 formula. It had been sitting in his driveway for 4 years had 82,000 miles on it. He bought it to pull the motor out and put in his sisters 91, but never did. I gave him $500 and drove it home! The interior is pretty clean, no cracks in the dash, and no rust at all on the body. The rear spoiler was rotted away, but other than that was in good shape. It's a 305 TPI WS6 Suspension, with 5 speed manual. So far I've installed all new suspension parts, headers, 3" exahust from headers to rear,chip, MSD Wires, cap, rotor, coil, replaced the orginal spoiler with fiberglass replica, new head liner, and started prepping the paint. Just bought the OEM, T-top weather strips from GM. Future up grades wished for are a 350 TPI, new wheels and tires, upgrade the rear and torsion bar, and hope to push about 400hp some day, Currently around 280 at the wheels. It's a work in Progress and still only has 84000 miles on it, and it will never see another owner till i die!!!!

Gotta love them cars!!!!

They are 98+ Trans Am seats. The door panels are 85-92 leather interior panels.

was that an easy swap those look nice how about the power tot he seat how did u remedy that?

Yeah, the seats bolt right in. I just had to pull out the center console and door sills to get under the carpet and run the harness and then run 12v to the harness.

wow that gives me an idea to do that,i got to replace my floor pans so the rugs got to go

I purchased my '89 Firebird in 1992 when I was 18 years old. It was $6300 and was the first car I ever bought. V6 5 speed. My dad test drove it since I didn't know how to use a manual transmission. The night I bought it I walked out of the bank, jumped in, killed it once in the parking lot, drove to school, killed it once on the way home but made it just fine. After about 2 weeks I finally realized that I could down shift as well as upshift. It drove a lot better after that.

This car was a bunch of firsts for me. I changed my own oil for the first time. Made my first car repair (alternator - there would be 4 more of those coming). My first modification! (springs and sway bar) And my first hard lesson on how to spot damage..... there was so much bondo on the car that it actually cracked open on the rear quarter panel. But no insurance claims by the previous owner and denial of any accidents. After 2 years the clear coat was a checkered mess, front fenders were turning orange, and the bumpers were fading a 3rd shade of red. I just had to watch it decline

But luck would have it that my dad accidently crushed the driver door on a rock wall backing it out of the garage. It was an insurance claim and I decided to go after Pontiac for a defective paint job. Pontiac gave me and the body shop the run-around for about 4 months. Meanwhile my car sat in the shop. Pontiac actually brought in a microscope to inspect the body panels in an attempt to determine what was original paint and what wasn't. The body shop had never seen anything like it before and were getting quite irritated. Pontiac finally agreed to pay to repaint only the hood. Well, it turns out the hood cost an aweful lot. Between the insurance claim, Pontiac, and $1100 out of my own pocket I ended up with a show quality lacquer with clear coat and every last blemish removed. 15 years later and the paint still amazes people.

I drove it for a few more years and had an unfortunate event December 1998. The coolant traded places with the oil and that was all she wrote. I purchased a ZZ4 wanting to do an engine swap. But I had a junky '68 El Camino in the driveway with a worn engine and realized how easy the ZZ4 would go into the Ekly vs. the V6 to V8 upgrade to the Firebird. The Elky got the ZZ4 and the Firebird sat for a few years. I sold the Elky and put the ZZ4 and a Tremec in the Firebird. I was about 1 weekend away from finishing when I got the urge for a big block. I got rid of the ZZ4, found a big block and built a supercharged 468.

Within a few months I moved to Illinois and the car sat for another 6 years. I finally towed it out to Illinois last summer but found the interior infested with mice. Right now the interior is down to metal and I'm putting in a new interior next month with 4th gen leather seats and console. I have a few jobs to do before having it running but I'm married now and it's not a priority. So it will probably sit for a while longer. But nevertheless I enjoy seeing my first car in the garage and being able to tinker with it. When it's back on the road I think the license plate has to read, RATNFSTD for more than one reason.

Here it is back in Illinois after coming off the trailer last summer....

I bought my 92 RS in Febuary when I moved to North Carolina. It was being sold for 1000 dollars with a slight tick in the engine. I have had 3 camaros but being form Illinois they always rotted away to nothing repairable. This one was straight no rust but the engine was shot. I offered 500 for it and got it. It came with a spare Daytona Iroc fiberglass hood in need of slight repair. The brakes all the way around and front tires were replaced one week before the engine started ticking. The clear coat is peeling off of most of it and needs the back seat due to having a stereo in it. I have since replaced the rear end to loose the 2.73's, put in a fresh .030 over 350 slightly beefed up. I got rid of the crappy lexan t-tops and replace them with some glass ones that were in excellent shape. Its a work in progress but its my toy and I am not getting rid of this one.

Well it was 3 months ago, the beginning of the summer, and will never forget this. I was driving with my dad to 7-11 and he told me i should buy a beater, and fix it up real nice. Later that night i searched craigslist for el caminos, chargers, mustangs, camaros, anything i could get for cheap, and that needed work.

Well I came across a 1987 Camaro Sport Coupe, 2.8 Liter V6. It was really the first time i realized how good looking these 3rd Gens are. The add on craigslist said that it had a huge dent in the drivers side door, a couple small dents all over, rust in the left quarter panel, the paint was faded on the hatch, roof, and hood, and that the fiberglass was peeling. So I thought "this is perfect"

I showed my dad the car on craigslist, and we skipped dinner to go look at it. I saw it in the parking lot, and knew i had to have it. Only $975, and i knew about all cosmetic damage, and the rust. I test drove it around a mall parking lot with my dad and it seemed to hold back a bit. I took his number, and called him 2 days later and told him i wanted it. He drove it to my house and i took it. It is my first car, and im 16, and restoring it. I have spent over $3,000 on it but its worth it. Here are some pics of the day i brought it home, Since then, ive redone the interior, fixed all the dents, put a Z28 Body kit on it, and i just finished painting it black today =), All the money went into, supplies, weatherstripping, all the little things, and most of all the bodykit.

Ill be sure to post pics of it when im done putting everything back together.

But anyway, here it is, the day i bought it:

This is what mine looked like i got it

Here are some progress pics


And now so far

skeet skeeet!

Hoot Hoot !!!?

haha sorry man, excuse my ebonics(b!tch i'm from cleveland)

what kind of wheels are those? what size? i run my t/a with a camaro Rs hatch and spoiler cause i like the cleaner smoother look of it, so i dig the last pic wit no spoiler i can see, and the flat black plus sweet wheels just makes it for me.

OK, I bought mine when I was 18 years old right before I started my senior year of high school in 1999. It's safe to say that I have a ton of memories from that first year: friends, fooball games, girlfriends all the cliche stuff h.s. stuff. I also have a few memories from the other 9 years I've had it too ; ) Anyways I bought it off a college student who was selling it to raise $$ for his tuition. I originally wanted a 25th ann. with the red stripes on white paint, but I seen this and fell in love with it....it does kinda look the same lol.

The first day I bought it:



Now:

Well I finally managed to get my camera chord and camera together w/my computer. I also decided to make a signature for my posts, but can't seem to get it to display so I'm guessing I have to have a set amount of posts before it will show. I don't know so I'll post it first.

Signature


On w/the camaro pix its only couple, but you can kind of see what I have to work with, and why my sig says UNDER CONSTRUCTION lol

i love that spoiler man i plan to pick one up here soon. Thats a good lookin RS

I bought my 92 because I couldn't afford a 60-70's muscle car. I compromised and now I'm glad I did.
I bought this for 1400 dollars with a rod knocking. Trailered it home and started the rebuild.



3.5 years later

NICE work. Very tasteful and beautiful. That might be the best looking white Camaro I have seen.

When I was scrolling down the pics, I was thinking to myself..."please tell me he got rid of the baby moon hubcaps..." LOL

Thats a nice looking car now, How much do you have into it. looks good.

This is what I had to work with when I bought it 2 years ago over in Michigan. I actually bought a 89 firebird first for the project car but found out it had to much body damage. This was up on this site as a roller and I went to look at it and bought it. Has alot of body problems (at least to me) but they are all fairly easy to fix.

Here is the last picture I took this spring. Since that picture I removed the spoiler on it and replaced it with the 3rd break light fin and the c6 wheels are on the back. Also lost the strips and the IROC stickers. Hoping to finish up the body work next year.

My story starts with a 1981 Trans Am (not a 3rd gen, but it leads there)... I was at a friends house right before graduation and was talking to him about wanting a T/A to fix up due to my obsession with Smokey and the Bandit... He told me there was a Old Trans Am in the field behind his house... So I inspected the car in the field... it was a 81 SE T/A...My friend and I went to meet the fellow that owned the car and he priced it to me for $1000.00... I told him to hold on to the car for a few days and I would return with the money...After getting the loan.. I returned on the third day to purchase it... however the car was gone... the guy had sold it to another party... crushed and broken hearted I left from there and went on a search for a Trans Am... I looked at alot of really nice T/A's at car lots and a few at a couple junk yards... nothing captured my fancy however... Five days later... I am driving over to my aunts house and spot a car, correction The Car of my dreams...It was setting off the two lane road, in a gravel parking spot, in front of a garage... Black and Gold with what could only be described as inches of dirt and dust on the hood, top, and rear of the car... I stopped, started looking at the car and then seen inside... those seats...they say RECARO... wow... I couldn't believe this find... I ran up to the house and knocked on the door.. only to hear from the owner, NOT FOR SALE!... well moving right along... that car had spoken to me... I thought about it constantly... starting to research the car to find out more... Searching for Recaro T/A's, nothing seemed to be local enough for me to retrive and start my project... Years later... I went to a car dealership, searching for a car to build up as a project and honestly I had forgot about the old Recaro... as I test drove a 95 Trans Am... we drove back into the back lot of the dealership and seen it setting there... a Recaro... Black and Gold... Windows down... T-tops out... hood up.... and setting on blocks... I asked the salesman.. is it for sale... he told me it belonged to a person in the service dept... just a project... he also told me it was a junker... not to be gross but told me it was basically a trash can, recieving many of the mechanics trash thrown into her at lunch time... I purchased the 95 but had to at least talk to the owner of the Recaro... I found out which technician he was and spoke to him about the car to realize.. same guy/ same car... he told me it still wasn't for sell and he had been having trouble with it.. but he intended to clean it out and take it back home... believe it or not... I talked him into letting me help him clean the car out... put the t tops back on and roll the windows up... which I gave him my number.. in case he decided to sell the car.... another year passes.. and as I'm getting a tune up on my 95 at the dealership... I noticed the car parked out in the field beside the dealership... asked the service manager where the owner of the car was and was told he had passed... I asked if there could be a way I could purchase the car... and was given the phone number of his wife... I called and spoke with her about the car... she told me she just wanted to get rid of the car... the dealership was wanting to charge her storage for the car... I paid the storage bill and she gave me the title... I trailered the car home and have had her ever since...
The story doesnt end there but thats how I got my RECARO!

when i just had my licence ( you have to be 18 ) I needed a car, but I wanted something special, something nobody else had.
but it also had to be in my pricerange.
so i started searching.
found some VW bugs.
an 80's mustang
a firebird bt i know a lot of 91-92 firebirds here ( with a lot i mean like 5 peeps or so )
then i came across a 91 camaro. it had a ripped grey leather interior, and american racing baja's in the front and stock rims at the back. and an exploded muffler.
you can find some pics over here how it was at the beginning and the changes I made here
http://timvanleuven.netfirms.com/Mijncamaro.htm




now it looks like this



with this interior



take note of the wood near at the door panels and middle console. it makes it look expensive.






and the rims I just bought for after the winter. 2nd hand only 1 summur driven. with tires for the price of 600 euros

For the longest time I had wanted a mustang(dont jude me! LOL!) until I came across a 1988 IROC that my cousin was selling for $750. I told him Id have the cash for him the following week, but he sold it to some random guy who offered him $1000. Needless to say I didnt get the car. Then as fate would have it a co-worker heard I was looking for a car. She came and told me her husband was selling an '87 IROC for $2500. I took it as a sign, and bought it without looking at it or having it inspected(I know, I know) So many problems I got 'em to sell it to me for $1500! Not too shabby! Ive had it for about 6 months, and so far just replaced all the cooling and added a 91 5inch spoiler. I just today started to strip the interior to put some dynamat in it. Next thing is Im dropping a 350 or LT1. Then last but not least paint!! I dont know either Kandy Apple Red, or Stock Red.

The car when I bought it...aww the memories! The last one is the latest, taken about a week ago...

Mine and many more stories here...


http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/ca...d-you-get.html

how mine started...
possibly a repost but a video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcOCkCE89pQ