History / RestorationGot a question about Third Gen (1982-1992) Camaro or Firebird history? Where can I find these original parts? What is this option or RPO code? Those questions, answers, and more!
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hi all... i currently have an 89 camaro rs, and i just put money down on an 88 camaro sport coupe. my 89 has cancer really bad, the whole bottom of the car is rusting through, and i mean the whole bottom. the wheel wells are gone, the doors are going, and under all the ground effects is gone. thats alot of metal gone, and lots more just about there... a few more trips across some rough crossing railroad tracks and i'm afraid that the car will just fall to the ground... lol
well, anyways, bout this 88. its been sitting for 4 years, the guy was working on building it up, he has a 383 in it, but he is pulling that and the tranny and the exhaust. some rust underneath, but not bad, and thats the only rust on it. was red with red interior. has t-tops. was a v-6 car, and it has an open rear end with 3.42 gears. has no hood, no front clip, and no front right fender. going to buy a used fender, and use the hood and front clip from the 89, basically the only 2 parts sections with no rust... lol. going to swap the engine and tranny and computer from the 89 to the 88, just have to do valve seals on the heads during the swap. i don't even want to hear "just put a 350 in it" cause i don't have the money to build one up the way that i want, so thats going to be later down the road. but it will get a 350 after the 305 dies, if it ever does.
oh... going to paint the car white, and keep the red interior. the interior is in near perfect condition. it would be perfect, except the headliner is sagging in the rear drivers side, only sagging there, so i will spray some adhesive in there and put it back up. the pic is the 88 as it sits at the guys house, he has some stuff on the car. it was all red, but he sanded down all the surface rust and repainted.
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oh, forgot to say this earlier... when i'm done building the 88 up, all my usable parts from the 89 will be up for sale, going to put them all on craigslist and on here. i will give you guys all first dibbs when i start the swap. its going to be a few months before i do build up the 88, going to get everything in it ready first and have to save up some cash. my parts list will be pretty much the whole car except for the hood, the whole front clip, the heater core and blower, the engine tranny and computer. the parts will all be 89 camaro. the 89 is rusted underneath, in all the wheel wells, the rear of the hatch, and the doors. not 100% sure of the extent of rust in the doors yet. the drivers side seat is torn, but the rest of the interior is good. there is no headliner. but the roof (hardtop) is in good shape. (perfect for someone that wants to do a hardtop swap)
once the time comes, i will post here, and you guys can get dibbs on stuff.
also, going to take lots of pics of the teardown of the 88, and the rebuild of it with some 89 parts.
so, its been a while since i updated this. i've only had 2 chances to work on the 88 since i got it.
first day.
sprayed the car down with the pressure washer to get 4 years of grime and pine needles off the car
pulled all plastic parts of interior from dash back, but not the dash.
pulled the rear seat buckets out.
pulled the back carpet (storage area)
got the headliner out in 1 piece.
pulled some of the ground effects.
second day i got to work on it.
pulled the whole center console.
pulled the dash.
pulled the front seats.
pulled the seatbelts.
pulled the rest of the carpet.
pulled the wiring harness.
so now there is very little left in the car that has to get removed before its down to the bare body. i think that my t-tops may be leaking cause the carpet was wet inside in some spots. going to have to check that out.
rust spots found so far.
-behind both rear tires, on drivers side its right in the corner under where the ground effects sits and its rotted though, and on the passenger side, its rotted right in the front seam for the panel under the spare tire.
-some of the corner in the inside in front of the rear wheel well down in the bottom has rotted away.
-under both rear seat buckets around the drain plugs is rotted, still had 1 on the drain plugs in the car though.
-drivers side front floor pan right along the kick panel is rotted, and the rest of the panel feels weak.
-drivers side rear floor pan has a few holes and feels weak.
the passenger side floor pans are good and solid as far as i can tell. after i get done pulling everything inside, the car is getting rolled over in front of the garage and getting put up on jack stands so i can get underneath and start working.
i will post pics of the rust as soon as i can, i don't live where the car is sitting, still moving there. as far as i can tell, i should be able to fix all the rust myself.
first one is behind the drivers rear wheel, last 2 are the passenger side behind the rear wheel. on the last one, you can see the mudflap through the hole. thats all the pics for now. let me know what yall think on that drivers side floor pans, you think i should just get a whole pan for $250 cause i think thats the route i'm going to go. and how would i go about fixing the kick panel too? thanks
