I built my dad's 86Z a couple of years ago and it is time for some upgrades. I will be doing an entire 4th gen dash and console, sound system, and A/C retrofit during the winter. The car already has an LT1/6 speed combo with 4 wheel discs, and brand new paint. I thought I had a thread going but I can't find it. I'll dig around some more when I get home to get everybody up to speed on the project. As soon as I can find a place for my camaro, his will roll into my garage. I just can't seem to get rid of projects!!!

Here is a shot I got of the car right when it was finished.

That looks real nice, good work

gorgeous car.

Love the color. And I did that swap this past winter, I just didnt do the AC. looking forward to seeing the pics

Amazing exterior, now you will have the interior to match. The looks of a thirdgen with the power and comfort of a 4th gen, can't beat that.

Well, I have put this off long enough. This was supposed to be a father-son project but, unfortunately, my dad was killed in a traffic accident last month and I haven't had the motivation to much of anything to his car. This has now turned into a project that I will be doing alone and my son will now get to enjoy the many of the same things I enjoyed with my dad. Here are some pics of the tear down that I did today. These may not be that fun to look at, but for those of you that have done this, you will feel my pain. I have a good friend that owns hpsalvage and almost every part I will need will be readily available.

That is a very nice car and an amazing color! I'm really sorry to hear about your father though....I hope your son can enjoy this car as much as you'd like him to.

On another note would you like to sell that dash pad? I've been looking for a new one. PM me and let me know.

great project man... so incredibly sorry to hear about your dad. I'm doing a restoration with my dad, and I would devistate me to lose him.

Looking forward to seeing more pics as you go.

I'm really sorry to hear about your dad tho.

so whats the plan with the old dash pad? sell?

The dash pad has a small crack on the driver's corner. I already have an interested buyer but I will let ya'll know what happens. BTW, I will be selling all the dash parts, including the console, and wiring. If anybodyis interested, let me know.

Here's my progress today.

Now here's my question. I have been searching but I can't find any good pictures or explanations of how the 4th gen A/C duct is mated to the 3rd gen heater box. I would really like to use the entire 4th gen heater box and everything if this is possible. Can somebody point me to some threads that explain this?

Wow...that looks like quite an undertaking...I'd like to do this at some point too but I don't know if I'd ever get it done. Are you using the fourth gen wiring harness or the third gen's?

Am really sorry about your dad...I know how you feel, and I hope you find confort in doing what it seems like you guys loved to do, working on your cars.

great looking car ! best of luck

Well, I am working on the lower brace for the dash and I keep looking at the heater box and how I'm going to mount the 4th gen vents to it. I have searched for the past hour and really don't have much more information. I was thinking of using the entire 4th gen HVAC unit but since the car is already painted and assembled, i don't want to modify the firewall and I read the dash is not deep enough to allow for the blower motor and everything to fit. Now I know why few people attempt this. Oh well, it will be very rewarding when it is all done.

Well, i'm new to the camaro's in detail, and i'm picking up a V6 85 this week.

I'll leave the dinky 2.8 for now, but the dash is kinda ragged on the corners, and the console lid is bad, so what would you want for that?
You can PM me if you'd rather do it that way.

hey, do you have the radio pod thing that holds the radio and the climate control?

I am pretty sure mine is busted up.

PM me with a pic of exactly what your looking for. Everything I am pulling out is in very good shape and I am pretty sure I have what you need.

Ok guys, I met my goal of getting the dash securely bolted in by tonight. I spent all day making some brackets and modifying the 4th gen air duct to mate to the 3rd gen heater box. Enjoy!!

Here is the driver side after cutting off the factory bracket

And here is the passenger side after I cut off the factory bracket...

Here is what it looks like with the dash bolted in...

Driver Side



Passenger Side



And here is the air duct that had to be cut to fit the heater box. I will have to go get some plastic glue and small pieces of ABS to make sure the holes like up perfectly. I don't want any air blowing anywhere but where it belongs.

I will be using the 4th gen harness throughout the entire car. This includes the engine harness and the 4th gen relay center under the hood. My plan is to make everything work just like the 4th gen, including the cruise, remote lock/unlock, headlights, A/C, and the retained accessory power. This is why I am using as much of the 4th gen wiring as I can. Hopefully, I won't have to splice but a couple of connectors to mate to the engine harness.

PM Sent.

Thanks. Tony.

Out with the old.....



And in with the new...



And here is the existing engine harness that will need to be mated to the new 4th gen engine bay harness...





Surprisingly, the 4th gen bulkhead fits very well in the existing firewall opening. I am debating on wether or not I should weld in a plate and cut it out so it fits perfectly.

lookin good bud.

looks like a great build, keep it up and keep the pictures coming

bump on this?

PM sent

Well its been a long time since I have updated everybody and I'm sure some you have forgotten all about me :-(

Anyway, I have been trying to work on this thing for a long time but the holidays, a new job, and trying to sell our house and get the plans together to build a new one has taken its toll on my project. I have finally just started working on it after dinner and trying to get as much done during the evenings and whatever time I can steal during the weekends. I have been doing nothing but wiring for the past couple of weeks. I have made ALOT of progress and have tested almost all the circuits before I say I am done. Here are some pics of the mess I have created.










I should be wrapping up the wiring this weekend and will be trying to figure out the A/C system. I remember seeing the vacuum schematic somewhere on the forum and I still need to figure out how to splice the 4th gen A/C controls with the 3rd gen harness.

Looks good keep up the great work! Looks like quiet an undertaking, but the end result is definitely worth it!!!!

These past couple of days have been very productive. I finished the engine harness, tested all the circuits, and hooked up the battery for a live test. There were no sparks or blown fuses so I must have done something right. All my headlights, fogs, blinkers, and park lights work. I found out the start relay and hatch relay needed to be grounded since the bcm wanted the coded key and the hatch relay wanted a park/neutral switch. I can't believe how easy this was. The 4th gen ac control was the same and all I have to do now is hook up the vacuum lines. Hopefully tomorrow I can start it and let it run to test the gauges. But all the sensors seem to be functioning with the key on.

What a weekend this has been. Our house looks like it is going to be baught (finally!) and I am on a mad scramble to get as much done as possible. I was hoping to get it started to test the gauges but my battery was dead so I spent most of yesterday charging it and doing some small odds and ends. Hopefully I can have good news to report tomorrow.

Looking good. I like the newer dash look. I used the 96 just cause I got it CHEAP...lol Free

Well, murphy's law showed up. Apperently, my 5 year old battery is not up to the task of starting my car, no matter how much I charge it. So I now have to go buy a new battery. Hopefully this can be done tonight so I can have some progress to report.

Great thread. Kudos for keeping up the progress even in the midst of your situation.

It's alive!!!!!! She started this evening, though it wasn't easy. After purchasing a new starter, it still kept clicking. I called a buddy of mine and he suggested I move the gound from the cross member to the engine block. I figured a ground is a ground but obviously not. I moved the ground cable and it fired right up. To make matters even better, the CEL isn't even on. What a good feeling it is to not have to make any corrections to the harness. All I need to do now is fix the clutch master cylinder allignement issue and she is road worthy again. YAY!!!

Good deal. Nice color by the way.

;l,

For some reason I had my tach hooked up to the control module so it was giving me some crazy readings. I got it where it belongs (the computer) and all is well. Now all the gauges are working perfectly. I got the clutch setup fixed and hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to take a test drive. I'll have some pics posted tomorrow.

for those of you following this thread, you know I was in the middle of trying to sell our house so we could build a bigger one, while trying to get the interior of the car finished. Well, the house sold and we have been in a mad rush to move everything before closing on Tuesday. I tried to move the car to the in-laws on Saturday so I could finish working on it and the stupid thing wouldn't start. After doing some troubleshooting, I replaced the coil and it fired right up. I made it halfway to their house and the darn optispark went out. What luck!!! After waiting for my buddy with a flatbet to tow me the rest of the way, I now have a car with a half-way put together interior and no ignition. Since I am slightly superstitious, I can only think my dad was trying to look out for me. After all, eventhough he is no longer here, it is still his car. Hopefully I can get the new opti ordered this week and start working on it next week. Or, I can try and finish the dash swap and then worry about getting it running. Any thoughts?

i'd go ahead and get the dash stuff finished up then go back and get it running. Finish what you started before you start something else.

Hey, so just out of curiousity. Have you ever been down in Kemah, TX for the car show they used to have at the Chick-Fillet in front of Target? A year or so ago I spotted one down there on a Saturday night that looked identical. Just wondering if that was you.

hey man, your doin really good work with this car. i was wondering if you knew anything about repainting the interior pieces? my 82 z is black in the dash, bud terribly painted in the back, and i want to sand it down and repaint it and i was wondering if you knew anything about that.

Sorry to say that wasn't me. I haven't been out in public in this car in years. It has always sat in the garage.

I have had good luck with the DuPont interior paint. It is more like a dye that works really well and is sprayed on with a paint gun. I haven't tried any other type of spray. Just make sure you scrub it really good to clean it. I would suggest comet and a scuff pad to clean it and then rub it with some wax/grease remover before painting. Don't sand the dash parts. They are plastic and if you sand too much you will ruin the texture and it will look uneven.

Very nice. Cant wait to see the end result.

Man, it's been forever since I updated this thread! We have sold our house so progress is extremely slow. I am working out of my in-laws garage and have no power tools and 1/3 the space to work in. Our new house is supposed to be finished around christmas time, and then I get my own 4-car garage to play with.

I have been working on getting the stereo system installed so I can put the interior back together and clear up some space. I finally got the amp surround and the sub box built. I haven't covered them yet because I am still doing some minor tweaking but I think it will look pretty good when it's done.