Wow that looks great! How do you prep it for painting with plastic? I'd like to change the paint color like you did but I don't know how to section it off without pulling the interior. I also love the color

man an update is needed!!!!lol

Wow man!! You're an inspiration! Good job so far!!!!

great build thread! we need more pics!

Sorry guys, I just got the internet back after a month or so. Not much has really changed however since I took a break and painted my 94 in between. I did smoke the taillights and turn signals one day I was bored at work.

Also looks like the Maaco Im working at may be closing so Im going to have to finish the panels at my buddys garage this summer. The hatch, spoiler, and hood are primed, wetsanded, and ready for paint. I am going to shoot these since these will be scuffed down after the orange paint to shoot the black stripes and then cleared again.

More updates soon!

lookin good

Well, bad news, the Maaco I was working at went bankrupt, so I got the car home and in the garage, but I still need to work on the body panels and paint them. I took a gallon of Hugger Orange paint before I left. Im going to try and get the hood, decklid, spoiler, and doors painted this week at my buddys garage we can convert into a booth, so Im left with the bumpers and the ground effects next week.

I need a dash pad, will trade a LT1 dash for one if that interests anyone. I am giving this car to my wife for her daily driver, so Im going to leave the 3.1 in and try and make it reliable. Also if anyone has a low milage 3.1 laying around cheap, lmk too.

man!!! that nice i have an rs that chevy hugger orange too but mines a 305 also 5 speed like yours..

i have a 3.1 with 150k. its currently in the car though....

Just sittin here at like 2 in the morning with nothing to do and stumbled across this thread. Like everyone else said above, keep up the good work, it's lookin great, and thanks alot for saving a fine car from the junk pile! Hope to see it finished!

This car is beautiful I want to do hugger orange with white or black hocky stripes(liek the 67 68 69 camaro had down sides)

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I ended up snapping a couple quick pictures with my phone, so forgive the quality.

Here is the ground effects, the front chin had like 5 coats of paint on it, so I had sand it down pretty good, otherwise in perfect shape...



Here is the hatch before I seperated the glass from the hatch panel. Gone this far with the car, mind as well...



Reinstalled the hatch glass on the car since that can be assembled right now. Also you can see the taillights I tinted. 3 coats of black mixed with clear and then 3 coats of clear on top. Still need to wetsand and buff the lights though (I know, Im way too anal!)

I thought you were going to paint the car arctic white and then do a red interior.

Change of plans, saw hugger orange on a car in person and fell in love.

AMAZING! I cannot wait to see the finished project, sure wish I knew how to prep my car for paint!

Very nice. its looking good. i have the same rims on mine and i like what u did with them. i also thought about smoking the tail lights but havent decided whether or not to yet. Keep up the good work

It's not hard! Try a search... I did and I prepped my car by myself and had it painted a couple months ago. Paint isn't peeling yet! *knock on wood.*

any updated news on the car?

Not really, been busy working on my other Camaro. But I did sell my 91/92 wheels and bought a set of IROCs that I am going to polish up like I did the 91/92s. Ill snap some pictures soon!

GOOD JOB MAN!!! glad to see you saving a third gen, and one with a 3.1 everybody knocks it but its a great engine, i bought my 90 rs with 110,xxx original miles over three and a half years and has been my daily driver since. went from 18miles to work and back a day and 200 miles to home town and back every weekend, then 80miles to work and back a day for over a year, now at 165,xxx miles she takes an easy 4miles and back with a warm up every morning,3.1= gutless but great power plant!!!

car looks amazing! I was excited to see Artic White though! HO is a good 2nd.

Wish I had the ability to turn mine into something nice like yours. maybe someday.

Heading out tonight to assemble the car. I am not happy with some of the bodywork that still shows so Im going to just edge the doors and hatch that way the door, hood, and trunk jambs are all done. Then I will fix the spots that bother me, prime the entire car, and then just paint it as an overall. Im too picky I guess. I want this car nice!

Might as well get it right! And you're doing a great job, and it's nice that you're able to do this yourself since this looks like a $6,000 paint job!

Started putting the Camaro back in one piece yesterday so I can finish the bodywork and prime and seal the car since all the jams have color on them. Here is a picture of the rear bumper and ground effects installed...



Would have done more that day but all of a sudden the sky got really dark and started to hail so I pushed the car back in the garage. Im off work today so may be able to get the front bumper and hood put in.

This cloud was really changing shapes quickly and moving fast, not sure if it was a tornado trying to start or not but I took this picture in heavy lightening outside my garage...prob not the best idea...



Another shot of the storm...

Got a little bit of work done with people stopping by to talk every couple minutes, I got the front bumper, ground effect and hood installed. Stopped for dinner and to surf thirdgen.org so I may go out later and work some more, but just some updates...

Front clip assembled, just need to install the grill and foglights...



Debating between this grill and the Z/28 grill I painted earlier in on the thread. Something makes me like this one over the Z/28 grill...

[IMG][/IMG]

My other project (94 LT1 Camaro) I thought Id share a picture of. Just got done swapping a LS1 front clip on it along with a SS spoiler...

your project is awesome I picked me up a 89rs 305 tbi 700r4 and found me a set of 91/92 wheels although they don't look as good as yours they need sanding and polishing badly. BTW how did you do that? they looked awesome when you finished. In the long term I found a model of what I wanted mine to look like here: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...Z28/New1-1.jpg

And I think I'm going to take my time like you did and get it just right.

Trust me, my wheels were rough when I started, had a lot of deep curb rash and was able to get alot out, but I went all the way down to 80 grit for those and had to work my way to 2000 grit. Just takes time...ALOT of time! Spent over a week per wheel! Anyways, I sold those and took a set of 15 inch IROCs in on trade. Didnt know they made 15 inch ones but guess so and it looks like those will need the same treatment.

I love the SS hood on that car. I wanted that originally but found a deal on the cowl hood so who knows, I may still buy that hood...

Awesome job. Soon to reach completion.

progress looks great!

...whats the word on the catfish? Z28?

Short story without getting off topic...Full story, free up two hours and click the link in my signiture...

The 4th gen started out as a 94 Z28 with a LT1/4l60 trans. It was rough and basically ready for the junkyard as well when I got it, body was shot and engine overheated when ran. Over the past 2 years I have been documenting my progress on it on which you can see if you click the link in my sig below. It started out being built up as a nitrous'd 10 second car but after my wife wanting a Camaro (was going to give her the thirdgen but decided to keep it for myself) I decided to "detune" it and make it a nice daily driver.

I also did a facelift on the car to the LS1 front clip/SS hood as well as swapping over the dash and swapped my ProStar wheels for SS ones. Should be painted black in the next few weeks.

I really like the cowl hood. Who makes it, and is it steel or fiberglass?

Its a Harwood 3 inch pin on cowl induction hood. It weighs nothing but I need to notch the underside brace above the headlights because it doesnt sit flush.

After selling my 91/92 wheels to pay for some parts for my 4th gen, Ive been tossing the idea around of doing 4th gen wheels. My favorites have always been the 17 inch 5 spoke SS wheels.

One of my friends mentioned he had a set of the SS wheels when I was mentioning I was looking for some. I told him I was looking for silver ones, but he said his were silver, but he painted them black and were just sitting in his basement. So went and picked them up tonight.

The 4th gen wheels look good shape, a little curb rash but hopefully I can sand and polish that out. Im not sure about the center caps, since they were painted black too. The factory had a chevy emblem on the caps but these have them painted over. Can I buy just the decal somewhere?

Pics of all 4...



Close up of one. Going to need to find the correct color of silver and repaint them like GM had them originally...



And of course you need one of these to run the wheels in the back...3.23 limited slip rear end out of a 94 Z28 with 80K. Need to sand this and paint it as well...

Looks good, keep up the good work. I cant wait to get started on the body work on my 87. Good choice on the ZR1's, I'll be running the same thing on mine.

Little update, taking the doors/hatch/side ground effects to my buddy so he can edge them for me in Hugger Orange so I can install all the body panels. Still trying to decide how we are going to tackle the paint job now but at least the car will be in one piece and parts wont get lost.

I have some pics of what Ive been up to that I will probably upload mid week for you guys...

Sad to say the cowl induction hood is gone. I traded it for a low milage (50K) 305 long block along with a stock hood which I think I will find a set of hood blisters for unless I come across another cowl hood.

I also was reading a LT1 cam is a good match for a 305, so while its on the engine stand, I will put my stock one out of my 94 in it along with some 1.6 Comp Cam roller rockers I never used.

Going tomorrow to pick up a Edelbrock carbed Performer intake manifold, v-belt accessory drive setup, starter, and distributor. I know the intake is the older bolt style so I will have to research how to get it to fit. I made on fit on my 355 I had in my old 89, just cant remember what I did.

Anyways, snapped a pic of the engine, cant wait to install it! May need to pick up another T5 since the extra trans I had turned out to be a V6 T5.

Got a little accomplished yesterday on my day off work. First started out trading Vic (vicv8rs91 i think on here) 2 fenders for a distributor, Performer intake manifold, accessory drive brackets and accessories. While getting these, we run into a guy hauling a couple engine off to the junkyard. Turns out to be perfectly fine engines he didnt have space for. So I picked up a 77 350/TH350 complete engine and trans for next to nothing! Upon engine teardown, I may go a 350 instead...either way, gonna be a V8!

Heres the 305 with the Edelbrock Performer intake on it...



Then got my ground effects, hatch, gas door, and doors sanded on the inside so they can be painted and bolted up, then just have to do the outside work and repaint the car. Here is Rob (weaz4200 on here) helping me sand...

great build

Took this grill in on trade the other day...



Now I have the "CAMARO" grill, the RS grill, and the Bowtie grill in my garage. Not sure which one I will run yet. Guess its gonna come down to what looks the best once the Camaro is painted. Which speaking of, my doors/hatch/ground effects should be dropped off Sunday so I can install them for a complete car once again!

mikey i still can't believe seeing that car back at the tire shop compaired to now. it's come a long way in a decent amount of time. this winter we are going to tackle into mine as well and get started on the chitown group

Whatever you do don't go with the 305 if your looking for any power.I've blown up 3 305's already,there just not meant to take the abuse a 350 will.IMO

My buddy painted my door jams and ground effects for me earlier this week and dropped them off this afternoon.

Drivers door jam all edged...



Passenger side all edged...Actually need to swap out the power window to manual, I had to get a new passenger door.



Ground effects all painted...



Drivers side door is on...starting to look like a car again! Just need to sand and prime the door and I will actually have to paint that on the car. Im glad the outside wasnt done yet because I would have chipped the paint lining the door up!



Drivers side with the ground effect installed...



And passenger side door installed...



Talked to my former coworker from Maaco and he said what he wants to do is panel paint the bumpers, remaining ground effects, hatch, and spoiler and then mask off the doors on the car and spray those. Goal is to have this done before Thanksgiving, which would be approx 1 year anniversary of buying the Camaro.

Not building a race car here, just a nice cruiser with a little power. Granted the 305 isnt perminant, but I dont plan on building a replacement engine for awhile either.

Rob stopped by today and helped me start lowering my 91. He gave me some Hotchkis 1 inch lowering springs for my car. Granted its still a V6, a 305 will be going in soon so these will be the right springs for the engine. Due to shorter daylight now, only had time to get the fronts done, but already an huge improvement! Cant wait to see what the Camaro will look like with the V8 in.

Some pics, for before pics, look in the post above and notice the stock wheelwell gap. Sorry for the night time shots, it gets dark around 5 now And yes, 91/92 wheels are back on the car, took a set in on trade for the previously mentioned 15 inch IROCs. So tossing the idea around of polishing these up or running the ZR1s with the 4th gen rear. Guess I could sell either set to pay for a 3 inch cowl hood.

Front after lowering...



Rear still stock height...



Front side shot...



Rear side shot...

Awhile back, I traded my 3 inch pin on Glastek cowl hood for my 305 engine so I could do the v8 swap. Since Im trying to get this call all ready for paint I started looking for another cowl induction hood. Turns out my buddy Jake was getting rid of his and I traded him my 4th gen rear end and ZR1s for a 4 inch VFN cowl induction hood.

Not sure now what I will run for wheels, I have a set of 15x7 American Racing Torque Thurst IIs and a set of 16 inch 91/92 wheels that could use polished. I think the TT2's would look nice, but Im not sure if 15s would be too small and look out of place. Or if I should just sell those and find something else

Anyways, he is a couple pictures of the hood sitting on the Camaro. Not bolted down yet since I still need to sand/block it and have it painted. Looks bigger than a 4 inch but I think VFN only made a 4 inch hood.











Also traded some spare parts laying around for a set of Flowtec shorty headers. Dont believe these have been used and look like they are in good shape. Ill probably repaint them with high temp paint which I did on my old set of headers I had on my 89 and the paint never burned off.

Last weekend I had a 4th gen friend locate a decent dash pad for me in the junkyard. Thought it was perfect but there is a small chip missing out of the corner of the drivers side but you cant see it with the door shut and without looking up so it will do until I find a better one.

Here is a pic of my original dash...pretty bad shape...



And here is the new one, not bad for $30...



Believe it or not, I actually am getting some work done besides parts collecting. Started getting the bumpers ready for paint. The rear one I stripped down completely and the front bumper I sanded down the imperfections and just need to scuff the rest of the bumper



Still looking for a windsheild and a v8 T5 transmission if anyone has either local.

Well its been a year now since I purchased the 91 and started this thread. Its come along way and Ive gathered ALOT of parts (anyone whos seen my garage knows this is true) Still I feel like Im way behind. Wanted this car painted a long time ago and I guess I was lazy and got burnt out on the bodywork after painting the shell and didnt touch the car for awhile. But Ive gathered most of all the parts I need. Still a couple odds and ends I need, but have the major stuff.

Still looking for a windshield (sure I can find at a pick n pull) a grey headliner, a mint dashpad, a V8 T5 or T56, and a lower dash panel if anyone has them local.

Looks good man! Your color looks similar to mine.

Just an update, all the remaining unpainted body panels minus the doors are over at my buddys who will paint them so I can reassemble the car and drive it over to his place to paint the doors and touch up/respray the fender and a couple areas that got bumped or chipped in the process.

The 305 engine is completely disassembed, I ran a hone down the cylinders to clean them up and going to start assembling that after the holidays. Picked up an Elgin Cam thats pretty aggressive that I plan on using instead of the LT1 cam. I am pretty much just doing it for the choppy idle sound, but should be a decent engine...for a 305.

Undecided still about wheels...

Just a few words to keep you going bro, reading this thread and following all your updates, you should be proud as H E L L of what you accompished so far! Not too many guys and do a complete restoriation all on their own. I personally cant wait for the finished product. Just wish I knew how to body work to paint mine..KEEP IT UP!!!


P.S. On the subject of the wheels maybe some 18" IROC'S? Just an idea...