A little work in progress from a forum lurker...

[Jonboy2312]

Hello! I've only posted a few times before, asking for advice with an engine swap (rebuilt, bored-up 1992 3.1 into an 86 car)... anyway, i thing the car is now presentable enough to be shown. I'm just so happy with it I can't resist Anyway, here she is: It's an 1986 Sport Coupe which originally came with a 2.8 MPFI V6. It may not look like much but it went a long way to this stage. When I first got it, it was a rusty mess - it looked absolutely pathetic. blisters of rust everwhere, coming out from underneath someone's idea of paintwork touchups (done with a thick enamel and a big paintbrush! ). There was also black "rustproofing" painted OVER the bottom vinyl. Obviously - it didn't work. The back end is now fully rebuilt, with a reconstructed passenger side quarter panel and completely new wheel wells. There was NOTHING left in there. Rocker panels are a similar story... it all costed much more than the car itself, not counting the machanicals Steering is pretty much rebuilt and a number of other bits (like the transmission mount, just this week) have been replaced. It runs like new now. I've put a lot of elbow grease - sanding, filler, spraying - to kill the rust and make her presentable until she gets proper sandblasting and a lovely new paintjob by June. What I have planned for this car is a very clean and simple look (it's always Iroc, iroc, Iroc... so of course I had to be different ) - smooth nose, like an RS or an IROC (without the silly three scoops), but with the 'double chin' of the Sport Coupe - a custom, scaled-down version of the IROC grill (to fit in the SC/berlinetta front end) - no skirts, basically as little plasticky bits hanging on it as possible. - traditional three piece spoiler - dark silver paintjob with black headlight wells (this color, IMHO, will go much better with the interior... that's how the spoiler I bought is painted and I really like this color) - possibly an early Z28 hood - original rims Now, if only I could find some leather berlinetta seats in red... The result, I hope, should be a nice, simple, sleek car - what do you think? Any comments? Suggestions? Better ideas?

[karl's-92'-z28]

Looking good, clean & simple. Must be good on gas.

[Jonboy2312]

Originally Posted by karl's-92'-z28

Looking good, clean & simple. Must be good on gas.

Heh heh, it is Costs me about $40 a week as a daily runabout - work, groceries, etc...

[Cadillac]

3.1 is a great motor. I had one in a Cutlass that was real peppy!



What is your transmission and rear axle on that motor?

[Jonboy2312]

Originally Posted by Cadillac

What is your transmission and rear axle on that motor?

The transmission is a Th 700R4, and... umm... I'm rather ashamed to say but i have no idea what kind of rear axle there is. Whatever was normally installed in 1986 Sport Coupes, i guess

[mw66nova]

the rearend in the 86 2.8 cars were the 3.42 open drum rears. one reason why it's so good on gas, cause you don't have to lug the engine down low....

the car is very clean, good job sir. your plans for the car sound very close to the way my car is setup right now actually (as far as looks goes, not drivetrain wise, lol!) here's a couple of pics that might help you visualise the sportcoupe, with a spoiler, and the early 82-83 z28 hood...very simple, very clean, very nice in my opinion.

[Travis odell]

yea....mw66nova thats a good way of being cocky

[Jonboy2312]

Originally Posted by mw66nova

the car is very clean, good job sir. your plans for the car sound very close to the way my car is setup right now actually (as far as looks goes, not drivetrain wise, lol!)

Now that's an awesome car you have... And to tell you the truth, some older photos of your car were what inspired me to make a custom grill. At one point, you had fog lights in there, right?

Well, I did a similar thing, getting rid of the rather... boring stock grill. But then, I also fabricated a new grill and got rid of the three little scoops above it. I don't know about other Sport Coupes, but those looked absolutely terrible on mine - the plastic around them seemed rather warped an the whole thing seemed uneven and cheap. So I got rid of them.

I'm quite happy with how the customized front end turned out. And i've been wondering if there's anone else out there who did the same thing.



So, the front end will stay just like this - I'll just add a standard -piece spoiler in the back and that early Z28 hood if I find one. Thanks for showing how it looks on a Sport Coupe! Defintely goes well with it.

BTW, here's how this car looked like when I first got her...


Then, as rust was simply painted over with a paintbrush (I'm not kidding!), it all came out and it looked ten times worse. It's just sad how mistreated this car was. If you look closely at some of the current pictures, you'll see that the fenders are crushed from underneath - someone tried to lift it all wrong. Rocker panels are damaged as well. That's why I didn't give it a proper paintjob yet - those things have to be repaired beforehand, and soon. Oh, and as for the color.... I'm thinking GM gunmetal. That should look really classy with this interior and those rims... i think

[mw66nova]

Originally Posted by Travis odell

yea....mw66nova thats a good way of being cocky

give me a legitmate reason why i'm being cocky and i'll bow out of this thread...

Jonboy, that nose looks killer! i always wondered what it would look like with those holes filled in but thought they broke up the front end a little bit. i was afraid the front bumper cover would have a "top heavy" look to it. the car looks excellent brother. the gm gunmetal color will look very classy, good adjective :thumpsup: what did you use to fill in the holes with? i'm no body guy...i let me buddy take care of all of mine, lol!

fyi, those running lights will cleanup with a little time. i did mine with a 200-400-800-1000-2000 grit wet sanding and then some rubbing and polishing compound. beats trying to locate some new ones anyway...not sure if gm still makes them or not, but i just cleaned mine up cause i had some time while the car was at paint...gave me something to do, lol! i did my tails, running lights and side turn signals. my car did have fog lights at one point (actually, the went on and came off a few times) and when i put the iron heads on this motor, i was having a hard time keeping it cool. the aluminum heads did a little better job of dissipating the heat.

[Jonboy2312]

Originally Posted by mw66nova

Jonboy, that nose looks killer! i always wondered what it would look like with those holes filled in but thought they broke up the front end a little bit. i was afraid the front bumper cover would have a "top heavy" look to it. the car looks excellent brother. the gm gunmetal color will look very classy, good adjective :thumpsup: what did you use to fill in the holes with? i'm no body guy...i let me buddy take care of all of mine, lol!

The holes were filled with Bondo putty. it may sound simple, but it was harder than I thought. Bondo is sticky and drags a little bit. If you try to flatten it with a putt knife in one direction, it will lower in the other end. Which means you need a rough filling layer (preferebly the kind with fiberglass in it). Then a top layer to make it all smooth, and a lot, a lot of careful sanding.

The grill, on the other hand, that's sculpted with fiberglass. I learbed this stuff when making something else :
http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/6549/dsc0007sp7.jpg
(Off topic, so no thumbnail :P )
Sadly though, I don't have a place where i could arrange a workshop again.

You mentioned cooling problems... Well, I have one of my own to take care of. I've just realized the cooling fan hasn't come on once, ever. And the tempreture indicator is at 0 at all times... oops! I'm guessing a broken or disconnected sensor. more work to do... :/

[Jonboy2312]

A small update, after a few minor cosmetic touches...




... and here she is again, spending family time with her older sister



I have something of an idea on how her final, new paintwork should look like - I'll post the designs soon and ask ou gus for opinion

[karl's-92'-z28]

Wow its coming along nicely, I like the fog lights it gives it the thirgen camaro look . Where are you located at Jon?

[Jonboy2312]

That would be Montreal. West part of the island, Ste-Genevieve to be precise.

[BADNBLK]

Originally Posted by Jonboy2312

I'm quite happy with how the customized front end turned out. And i've been wondering if there's anone else out there who did the same thing.

I did the same thing with the 3 holes in the front of my old 85 SC. I used a plastic welder and then body filler over the welds. I never got mine in paint and it is great to see what my car could have looked like. That front end is the way the factory should have made them! Car looks great, keep up the good work.

[Jonboy2312]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone

There's still a long, long way to go for this car - lots of bodywork, interior work, full paintjob... But it's shaping up bit by bit, and helps me imagine what it'll look like after the planned work.

mw66nova, you'll probably find the latest additions somewhat familiar






A 1983 Z28 hood and spoiler. Moreover, I have a full set of 1982-84 Z28 ground effects, rear bumper and a matching nose. I'm still wondering whether to install them or to stick with the original simple idea. Either way, I still have time to decide, as both rocker panels have to be replaced first, anyway.

[mw66nova]

whoa, that's almost scarey! cool deal bro! honestly, i'd like to see you keep going in the direction you are going in, but i'm kinda partial



this is actually an older hood that had cracked where the supports run along with perimeter of the hood, so i stripped the supports off and used 10 dzus fasteners to pin it on. obviously that was not a pratical thing for a driver, so i put a bolt on hood back on, but there you have it.

we need to go ride around together or something....you know...go pick fights with your car, go back to the house to "uncork the exhaust" and come back with mine....geez that'd be fun...too bad you live in canada.

[Jonboy2312]

Originally Posted by mw66nova

whoa, that's almost scarey! cool deal bro! honestly, i'd like to see you keep going in the direction you are going in, but i'm kinda partial

yup... I'm kinda torn like that. in the end, I think I'll go for an early Z28 replica look. The ground effects are THIN, much more subtle than on later models. they don't go below the rocker panels, they just square them off a little bit for smoother airflow. the chin isn't any lower either, it's just at the very front, and not recessed like it is on SC's. What won me over is the spectacular air intake in the nose - it's much bigger, grilles are set deep and have those cool ramps leading to them. I really like that.

Well, I think I've decided, and I have an appointment to pick up that nose today at noon. I hope I can manage to squeeze it inside the car somehow. Damn, I really need to get a pickup truck, too

this is actually an older hood that had cracked where the supports run along with perimeter of the hood, so i stripped the supports off and used 10 dzus fasteners to pin it on. obviously that was not a pratical thing for a driver, so i put a bolt on hood back on, but there you have it.

Yipes... are they that fragile?

we need to go ride around together or something....you know...go pick fights with your car, go back to the house to "uncork the exhaust" and come back with mine....geez that'd be fun...too bad you live in canada.

LOL! That would be a laugh Oh well... maybe there'll be an f-body meet or somehing like that somewhere half way beetween

[mw66nova]

Originally Posted by Jonboy2312

Yipes... are they that fragile?

they can be. it depends on where they were stored and such. the lift off version had sat outside for a few years and had some nasty rot from being sun beaten. my second hood was stored in a shed for 20 something years and was in like new condition. even had the underhood material still in tact!

[19CAMARO85]

hey man, that sport coupe looks great. get the 3 piece spoiler for sure. the front nose looks GREAT. i almost did that with my old sport coupe but i didn't i just put ground effects on it. I think thats a sweet lil project you got yourself. Keep us posted.

[Jonboy2312]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone
Whatever I decide on, I promise I won't make a monstrosity

[CamaroLover09]

That's a beautiful car, man. This is just my opinion, but I think the early Z clone look would be awesome on that car. It would look like my Z28 did back in 1983 before 25 years of wear and tear. Are you going to keep those wheels or go with different ones? Also, you mentioned a fresh paint job. Are you going to keep it white or go with something else?

Whatever you do with it, keep up the good work and take care of her!

[Jonboy2312]

Actually, I'm leaning heavily into that direction now that I've picked up the remaining parts. I found a frcomplete Z28 bumper with all the lights , and of course the bumper cover:



I already have the rear bumper cover and all the early Z28 gfx, including doors and quarter panels.

And this coming Saturday, I'll have a set of lovely, shiny 1983 Z28 rims in MINT condition. I guess it's a no-brainer now, right?

Before I do anything with the gfx, I need to replace my rocker panels, fix up the floor on the drier side, straighten up or replace the fenders... and before any of that, i'll need to fix my newly developed braking problem. The previous owner crumpled and stuffed the seal into the master brake cylinder reservoir, so it looked full - and it was just rubber against the little window. Yup, warning light goes off, I check - and the reservoir is empty. Crap...

Now theres air in the system, the pedal is very low and I have close to no brakes in the back. The front works fine - it's easy to lock the wheels, but the back just keeps rolling - which just sucks in rainy weather like today - I slid some 2 meters past a couple of stop signs yesterday, and I have to get to work today. Oh well... I'll have to be extra careful. The e-brake barely holds and it's a bit to easy to spin the back wheels with brakes on - this is what happens at 35kph, front wheel lock, but the back keeps pushing: http://www.mediafire.com/?v19xmtljge1 - if it was still wet, I would have gone straight through that fence... This needs to be fixed ASAP.

[karl's-92'-z28]

Try to adjust your rear brakes & bleed the entire system starting with the wheel farthest from the Master cylinder then work your way to the closest. Make sure you got a few bottles of fluid & make sure your Master doesn't go dry or you will have more air in the system. Be sure all hoses Aren't leaking.

[CamaroLover09]

How are you going to replace the quarter panels? The entire back side of these cars is all one piece. I'd like to know how you do so I'll have an idea of what to do when I do mine. Both sides of my quarters are junk. Parking lot accident before I bought the car on one side and my friend decided it was a good idea to lean into my car on the other side.

Nice find on those wheels. From what I understand a mint set of those is pretty hard to come by. Mine used to be perfect before my girlfriend had to borrow my car for a week. I wanted to kill her when I saw all the curb rash she managed to pick up on every single damn one of my wheels. I'm going to buy a set of iroc replicas when I do my resto years from now. I think they look better anyway.

Keep us updated! I want to see what it looks like when it's done, especially if you keep it white! And get those breaks fixed. You'll really feel bad if you put your car through a wall!

[Jonboy2312]

Originally Posted by CamaroLover09

How are you going to replace the quarter panels? The entire back side of these cars is all one piece.

Ah! My mistake, sorry... I meant ROCKER panels, of course.

{quote] I'd like to know how you do so I'll have an idea of what to do when I do mine. Both sides of my quarters are junk. Parking lot accident before I bought the car on one side and my friend decided it was a good idea to lean into my car on the other side. [/quote]

Well, what ou can do is have a good bodyshop cut off the damaged portions and rebuild them. M car was missing huge chunks of the quarter panels when I bought it (rust damage). They were rebuilt together with the rear wheel wells. Pretty much the entire lower part of the back end is completely rebuilt.

Nice find on those wheels. From what I understand a mint set of those is pretty hard to come by. Mine used to be perfect before my girlfriend had to borrow my car for a week. I wanted to kill her when I saw all the curb rash she managed to pick up on every single damn one of my wheels.

Just how in the world did she manage to do that? Anyway, m new rims look like this:

- I would say they are absolutely spotless... I'm very happy with this find

Keep us updated! I want to see what it looks like when it's done, especially if you keep it white! And get those breaks fixed. You'll really feel bad if you put your car through a wall!

Yup, my wife and I have pretty much decided now that it will stay white. It's a nice, elegant color. I think it should get a little color accent that matches the interior color, like the factory original: http://members.cox.net/berlinetta1/m...ntBackPage.jpg - BTW, I highly reccoment that site (http://berlinetta.info) - there are some very nice scans of early rd gen Camaro bochures, starting with 1982 - i learned a lot from just those, like that my car is actually loaded with optional extras

Let's see...

-Aux lighting kit (trunk, engine bay, reading lights)
-custom interior in red, with adjustable headrests
-Extended Range Soundsystem
-rear defogger
-cargo space rollup cover
-power windows
-remote hatch release with pull-down motor
-optional rims
- and of course, t-top

As far as I understand the brochures, those were all optional. There's still a couple of things I forgot to mention, I'm sure...

[Jonboy2312]

New wheels on... brake lines replaced, differential rebuilt. The right axle seal and bearing were broken. My baby is in great health again

[Jonboy2312]

Heh heh, i am now a proud owner of TWO camaros

[85_ZED28]

Nice car!

[PowerHour84]

lol nice car, love the hotwheels too haha

[chattersonm]

i hope i can make my 86 coupe look like that one day

do you know how long it take to take off the front bumper cover and assembly? cause i bought a new bumper cover w/o lights and everything, and i think my camaro was in an accident at one point, cause the fiberglass thing in between my bumper and my bumpercover is cracked and damaged. and do you know how much it cost go get the wheel wells and panels redone? mine are kinda rusty to lol.

[Jonboy2312]

But mine still looks horrible - it's in desperate need of a paintjob, and removal of a number of rust spots.

The wheel wells and the right quarter panel together costed me $700 (Canadian). And there's a lot more to fix...

Anyway, here's a more recent picture

[lopedawg]

Your car looks great! I just started reading this thread today and it sure has come a long way. I'm glad you decided to go for the clone look, though I'm partial 'cause I have an 83 in white. How long 'till you get the rest of the ground effects put in?

Great work and keep us updated.
In the mean time, here's some inspiration for your project...

Its from the 1983 sales brochure.

[lopedawg]

One more for good measure.

[Jonboy2312]

It's been ages since I posted in my 'main' thread.

So I've had my third gen for over a year now - and what a year it was! It's been the most enjoyable car ever, yet at the same time the worst headache ever, as well. if you've seen the thread about my stubborn electric problem, you'll know what I mean. It was bloody frustrating!

Here's a couple of the other things that came up:


Snapped bolt in the transmission mount (second time...)


Differential leak


Bad main seal


Torque converter failure


This has been there since the beginning - note how the rocker panel and even the fender are all crushed inwards. The other side was the same. At some point some retard jacked this car up in the wrong spots and ended up bending the floor and crushing the rocker panels and fenders.

[Jonboy2312]

This led to massive rust, too:



Then there was also the close encounter with a woman in a CRV who apparently found her license in a cereal box:


i swear, this car got me very, very depressed... but i never gave up on it and things are looking much brighter now - more about it in the next post.

[Jonboy2312]

Yup, I finally started the big restoration project. I'm absolutely glad I took my time with it and ended up finding the best mechanic/bodywork guy on the whole Montreal island... He's fantastic!




Yup, there I am... i get to help with the project directly, with my own two hands. That's also a great way of saving on the most tedious work hours (stripping down, reassembling etc), and I get to see how everything is done - and the quality of Mike's work is amazing (he's very Bondo-phobic )- especially compared to that disaster of a bodyshop I've been to before.


The temporary rattlecan paint was a b***ch to remove...


It was about time to get this thing off!

[Jonboy2312]

The t-top bar had a big patch of surface rust under the front rubber pad - we got to it just in time!


The SMC hood halfway through the sanding


The fugly patch of bondo on the quarter panel was put there by the previous bodyshop. He redid the whole patch, giving it the proper line, too. The other guys just made the whole thing smooth...


Hmm... kinda makes me think of a DeLorean. If only there were stainless steel body panels available...


Hole? What hole?

[Jonboy2312]

Lots of progress done


A glimpse of the final color


That's what it looked like yesterday. After we're done I'll install some new interior parts (like a mint dash pad and console lid / armrest). Mike will install my new steering column - yup, my electric problem was indeed the ignition switch. And this new column will give me back my cruise control switch that some previous owner took out, and a Z28 steering wheel - perfect for the 82-84 Z28 look I'm going for.

Next year we'll do the engine bay and the floor in the back of the car (minor issues only, nothing like the front was...)

I JUST CAN'T WAIT!!!

[Louis_84]

Looks good!

I think the 3 slotts look kinda kool. Although I personally like the earlier sport coupes more...like mine

[Jonboy2312]

Originally Posted by Louis_84

Looks good!

Thanks!

I think the 3 slotts look kinda kool. Although I personally like the earlier sport coupes more...like mine

I really like your car... the 82-84 years are pretty unique and much more rare than all the later ones. Fabulous condition, too... but you really should find the right wheels for it, like my winter rims you see in some of my pics. Then spray the spoiler white and it'll be fabulous


I never liked the extra slots in the SC and Berlinetta noses. They were sloppily made (always warping) and served no purpose, either... I'm almost totally sure they were only made to make the base models less attractive than the Z28 in order to sell more of the latter.

[majobis]

Fantastic! As I've said, I'm very familiar with how snowy/salty the West Island can get. Will you be keeping the interior red? Out of curiousity, how much will the autobody job run you?

[Jonboy2312]

Originally Posted by majobis

Fantastic! As I've said, I'm very familiar with how snowy/salty the West Island can get. Will you be keeping the interior red?

Yes, I really like this interior. It's so different than anything I've seen when I lived in Europe. Gray, gray, gray, black, gray, gray, and did I mention gray? I'll just need to replace the headliner eventually, and perhaps redye the front seats. Although if I'll come across red leather seats somewhere... I'm not gonna say no to that

Out of curiousity, how much will the autobody job run you?

3.5K... only because I'm doing most of the tedious work (stripping down, wirebrushing, reassembly) myself. Otherwise the project would come up to 7K. It's a LOT of bodywork involved... plus a good quality paintjob.

[bigdavesiroc]

looking alot better than the first pics. good work.

[Jonboy2312]

Well, I guess it's time to revive my thread, because IT'S DONE!

Well... almost. There are still little tidbits to install and fix, but I can pretty much call it finished

[green92]

Very nice, great job and huge improvement. Congrats

[Jonboy2312]

Thank you!

It took a long time to get here, and there's still some more work to do. Tomorrow I'll have my rear spoiler sprayed and reattached, I'll install a new dashpad, and fix up the gfx mounts a little bit.

The car seems to have lost a LOT of power, but it was its first time out since I put her in the shop this past winter. i think everything should go back to normal as I refill the tranny (it leaks a bit) and drive to and from work a few times

here's a few more pictures, by the way

[mw66nova]

dude, that thing is looking amazing! i love the new color!

[Jonboy2312]

Originally Posted by mw66nova

dude, that thing is looking amazing! i love the new color!

Thank you! I can't even begin to describe how happy I am. There's still a couple of things that needs to be done - the rear spoiler needs to be installed better (all the studs were pretty much loose) and there's an exhaust leak at the right manifold... the putty crumbled off. I guess i should get myself a new y-pipe at last, but I need to save up first. As you can imagine I'm pretty much out of funds at the moment

[mw66nova]

oh jeeze, i understand. i'm actually about to post a thread about why my funds are depleted!

[Jonboy2312]

Shiny