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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Some of you have probably seen me posting around here trying to find a car. I finally bought a 91 Z28 350 TPI that has some pretty nice options. Rear disc, posi 3.23, factory oil cooler, daul cats, power mirrors... etc. The car has 81,000 miles on it and I gave $2000.00 for it. The car runs and drives nice. I got it home yesterday and have already started playing. I am probably going to strip it down right off the bat and get it ready to paint this winter, then have it back on the road by next spring. My wife likes the Inferno Orange on the new Camaro so I might paint it that color. My other plans are 4th gen leather seats, new carpet, headliner, for the interior. I have a LT1 top end, LT1 Intake and the factory LT4 cam that came out of my Vette that I might through on the engine while I have it out for paint. I also bought a full T56 conversion from another member. Later I plan on building a 406.
The car is in pretty good shape except for the paint that is on it now will need to be completly srtipped.
Here are some pictures, I had to take the chin spoiler off to get it on the car trailer. On the way home I stopped at a car wash and after a few cans of degreaser the car was clean. Then when I got home I did a quick 30 min detail job under the hood.
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I have seen you waiting for a good deal. You are a very smart man. Most people dive at the first one they find. Holding out for a good deal, and you will be glad you did at the end. And it looks like you did very good... Car looks great after a good cleaning!!! have fun with it.
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88 Firebird Formula 350 87k milesDD 13.1 @ 105... 1.8 60ft W/ low compression in 2 cylinders...
Time for build #2 Superram- Trickflow AL Heads- Powermax 2012 Cam
The whole car is coming apart. I am going to do a color change and do not want any red showing at all. I am kinda pissed....I knew something was up with the pasenger sider fender. When I got the car in the air I found that someone had jacked the car up where the fender bolts to the unibody and smashed the fender and the under side of the car ...
The car was running weird....I found that someone had put a chip in the car so I loaded the factory .bin and now it runs great.
The whole car is coming apart. I am going to do a color change and do not want any red showing at all. I am kinda pissed....I knew something was up with the pasenger sider fender. When I got the car in the air I found that someone had jacked the car up where the fender bolts to the unibody and smashed the fender and the under side of the car ...
The car was running weird....I found that someone had put a chip in the car so I loaded the factory .bin and now it runs great.
That happens a lot. It is actually an area that if I am going to think about buying I also check. Crappy jack points on low body car equaled a lot lf smash fenders from underneath. Sucks but it is fixable.
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88 Camaro IROC Z28 Convertible
92 Camaro RS 25th Anniversary 2nd place Best Interior-'09 3rd Gen Fest 1st place Best Interior-'08 3rd Gen Fest 3rd place Camaro Modified-'08 3rd Gen Fest
Well its starting to look like I got what I payed for. I found some rust today. As long as there is not anymore anywhere else i think I will be OK. I think I can fix what I have found.
Drivers side behind the fender
Passanger side behind the fender, you can see how smashed up it is from the jack.
Spare tire area
Also someone changed the fuel pump without removing the gas tank.....they cut a hole in the car, it can be seen in this picture.
Its all stuff that can be fixed but I really wasnt wanting to fix rust
what a lazy way out on the fuel pump deal.also i am having little problem with the rust in my 89 camaro on the floor behind the driver seat. wondering if i should find some sheet metal and do it like that od find a doner and cut it out and weld it in?
__________________ 1988trans am gta;burn down 1987 trans am;sold 1968 firebird;sold 1993 firebird lt1;sold 1972 burban 350done 1930 model a:biggest project 1989 camaro;
Well its starting to look like I got what I payed for. I found some rust today. As long as there is not anymore anywhere else i think I will be OK. I think I can fix what I have found.
Drivers side behind the fender
Passanger side behind the fender, you can see how smashed up it is from the jack.
Spare tire area
Also someone changed the fuel pump without removing the gas tank.....they cut a hole in the car, it can be seen in this picture.
Its all stuff that can be fixed but I really wasnt wanting to fix rust
All cars have hidden secrets.....you are just finding them as you are pulling yours apart.......2k was still a good deal.
__________________ Thanks!
Tony Z
1970 SS396 Chevelle with a 580 BBC
1974 Corvette Convertible
1992 Camaro B4C (SOLD)
1993 Firehawk
1998 Kawasaki ZX-9R
1997 Mazda Millenia
I started cutting rust out last night. I hope the passenger side is better then the drivers side.
There is some surface rust down inside the rocker. I would like to coat it with something. Any ideas? Por 15, Rust Bullet, Ospho?
I might try this Ospho, anyone ever use it? http://www.ospho.com/
Here are some pictures of my rust repair. The passenger side was worse then the drivers side since it was smashed from being jacked up. I still need to coat it with the chassis saver and seam seal it. Also noticed some rust surface rust around the drivers side strut tower. I am wondering if I should just grind it off or take the top of the tower off to get at anything underneatth it. There is no signs of rot in the wheel well just this little bit you see in the pic.
keep up the good work! For what it's worth, believe me your gonna love the results once you everything is completed and to your liking!
I'm so wanting to start tearing down my baby but the funds aren't there yet...so it won't be till next year till i get involved but until then...i'll admire your work....(i'm just thankful my car don't have rust! )
I made some progress this weekend. I got all the rust finished up on the front half of the car, the floor pans completely cleaned up and coated with the Chassis Saver paint. Next I am going to take out the gas tank and fix the spot in the trunk area where someone decided to cut a hole in the car to change the fuel pump.
I also welded up the holes in the rocker where the plastic door seal trim goes I have an idea that i think will look better since the factory pieces crack.
I did some more rust repair last night. I took a few pictures.
Notice the Bud Light Lime box template. I also welded up the hole where someone cut the car up to put in a fuel pump. It looks like crap but at least its sealed up and solid. They really went to town with the tin snips.
In the last picture you can see the spot in the drivers side rocker that magically appeared when I stripped the paint off. No big deal...i will just keep going until its all gone.
Went to a local salvage yard this weekend in search of some parts. Boy did I score. My car had been hit in the pass side, I knew there was bondo in the quarter and the door. The gap at the door and quarter was to tight at the top as well. Also the pass fender was buckled up from being jacked. So, I got pretty much the whole pass side of the car, quarter, door, fender, drivers door, and rear hatch all for $54.00! They charged me $80 for the parts and I brought in some scrap metal that they gave me $26.00 for. I needed the hatch glass because mine has a chevy emblem etched into the glass and I think it looks gheto.
I took in a Dewalt 36 volt sawzall and went to town on a Berlineta that had a good quarter.
The doors that I got have manual windows in them, I like the door panels better then the cloth ones in my car and they are in really great shape. My car has power windows, so I may covert to manual since mine were really slow anyway, plus I can shave some weight. I will move over the power mirrors and door locks.
I already have the pass quarter off my car check it out...
This used to be folded up flat against the floor board. This fender was bent down low as well but not as bad as mine was. I will straighten the fender more later. I put the door and fender on so that i can make sure my quarter gap is good when it goes on.
Door gap looks a lot better
Went to a local salvage yard this weekend in search of some parts. Boy did I score. My car had been hit in the pass side, I knew there was bondo in the quarter and the door. The gap at the door and quarter was to tight at the top as well. Also the pass fender was buckled up from being jacked. So, I got pretty much the whole pass side of the car, quarter, door, fender, drivers door, and rear hatch all for $54.00! They charged me $80 for the parts and I brought in some scrap metal that they gave me $26.00 for. I needed the hatch glass because mine has a chevy emblem etched into the glass and I think it looks gheto.
I took in a Dewalt 36 volt sawzall and went to town on a Berlineta that had a good quarter.
The doors that I got have manual windows in them, I like the door panels better then the cloth ones in my car and they are in really great shape. My car has power windows, so I may covert to manual since mine were really slow anyway, plus I can shave some weight. I will move over the power mirrors and door locks.
I already have the pass quater off my car check it out...
1/2 thick bondo !!!
Holy CRAP I didn't think people put that much work into fixing damage like that! How did you find out about the damage? Was the bondo cracking? Best of luck to you man! I love watching people's progress with their projects. Hopefully soon I'm gonna be able to start wrenching on my 91 Trans Am convertible. Won't require NEARLY as much work as you're doing though!
Oh and I noticed that you said you're painting the car orange... are you gonna keep the original rims and paint the red accents on them orange as well? Personally, I think that's gonna look SWEET!
Holy CRAP I didn't think people put that much work into fixing damage like that! How did you find out about the damage? Was the bondo cracking? Best of luck to you man! I love watching people's progress with their projects. Hopefully soon I'm gonna be able to start wrenching on my 91 Trans Am convertible. Won't require NEARLY as much work as you're doing though!
I knew the car had been hit, but didnt know how bad it was until I took it apart and looked behind the 6X9 speaker in the pass quarter. It was pretty bad. They had drilled a bunch of holes in the quater and tryed to pull the dent out. I knew I would never be able to make it look right so I decided to change the quarter. Its time consuming drilling spot weld but its not as bad as it looks.
It is a lot of work no doubt.....most people probablly wouldnt go to this extent on this car and just got another shell but I have went to far and already have to much work in this one. Plus it will just make it that much more interesting when I tell people what I have done.
Oh and I noticed that you said you're painting the car orange... are you gonna keep the original rims and paint the red accents on them orange as well? Personally, I think that's gonna look SWEET!
I cant make up my mind on the color....I dont think its going to be orange anymore. Now I am thinking about C6 Corvette Jet Stream Blue. As far as the wheels i am going to take the tires off and strip them of the red then reclear them bare.
Test fitted new quarter panel.... body line is going to be perfect. I have to weld the spoiler holes up and drill holes for the ground effects. There was also a dent in the lower left side that had some bondo in it. I ground it out then beat the dent out, should only need a skim coat now. I am starting to see the light....
Geez man you're really on this thing! I couldn't replace that back quarter panel if my life depended on it How much do you charge for body work cause I'm in Elizabethtown all the time lol
Geez man you're really on this thing! I couldn't replace that back quarter panel if my life depended on it How much do you charge for body work cause I'm in Elizabethtown all the time lol
please keep us updated...very intrested to see how it turns out
I plan on it, this will be a complete start to finish build thread.
This weekend I should make some good progress. The quarter will be on for good then I should be really close to getting all the bare metal in primer. Its killing me leaving that bare metal sitting out but so far it hasnt flash rusted.
the way you stripped your car looks awesome. I am thinking of stripping my car this winter to get a better result/lower cost at the paint shop.
any tips on how to get a clean job ?
what method did you use ? tools ? etc etc more details will really be appriciated.
also did you check the rpo codes on your car. dual factory cats 350 non t-top.....might be a 1le or players series or something.
just check it...
again clean work man.....
Thanks, I just used Air Craft Remover paint stripper made by Kleen Strip. You can buy it at Autozone. They have started to sell some made by Rustoleum but I dont think it works as good. You have to put the stuff on thick for it to work good, especially if there are more than 1 layer of paint on the car like mine. Thats the reason I am striping mine. Do not get the stuff on you either it will burn threw layer of skin until you get it off or spray it with water. My brother in law was helping me one weekend and he hit an area that had striper on it with a wire wheel on a grinder. He didnt believe me on how potent this stuff was. It lit him up LOL it was pretty funny to watch. I keep a spray bottle of water close when using it because water kills it instantly. He was running around the garage trying to find that water bottle real quick...LOL
As far as the RPO codes my console is barried in the top of my garage. I will have to climb up there and snap a picture. In 91 and 92 all 350 cars where hardtops I know that for a fact. I know its not a 1LE because it has AC and Cruise and power everything.
Rust sucks !!! Man....Its gone now but I have a whole day just in the passenger side fender well. I cut out all the double layerd spot welded metal and welded it back solid all the way around. It really sucked.
I also cut out a secton of the inner fender from the donor quarter and welded it in. The quarter is on the car for good now. Most of the welding is done but I still have a lot more spot weld holes to fill.
I painted the inner fender and the quarter panel lip with chassis saver before I but it on. It should be protected from the R word....
Car looks great after a good cleaning!!! have fun with it. 
...
done
) 
How much do you charge for body work cause I'm in Elizabethtown all the time lol 
