My 91 RS Build Thread...Sorry Cash for Clunkers... - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

Camrs89 · 11-25-2009, 01:14 PM

Saved this one from being crushed into a cube. So despite the fact it is rough, it will be saved and is in good hands. Background on the car...

Bought this car from a coworker who daily drove it, drove drunk on night, smacked a pole, parked it at work and let it sit for 2 years. The guy then wanted to trade it in for Cash for Clunkers, but couldnt get approved or something, so I bought it for $300. So after 6 years, Im finally back into a Third Gen! The engine runs, seems to have a manifold leak and the EGR tube has a pinhole in it, flushed the coolant, Seafoamed the engine, changed the oil.

The engine is a 3.1 (I know, but it runs so its saved for now) with a 5 speed. Not sure on the rear end yet, but Im assuming its a open rear but may have a decent gear with the manual trans. The original color is blue with a grey cloth interior. (I would like to change this to white paint and red interior if I can find all the pieces)

Looks like bodywise, Ill need a front bumper cover, front ground effect, drivers fender, passenger lower ground effect, drivers door ground effect. The shell is solid and the wheelwell area seems ok. Let me know if anyone has these parts.

The torque arm mount to the trans is missing/broke off. The previous owner used radiator hose clamps to secure it so that will need fixed immediatly. The rotors are shot from sitting for 2 years so those need replaced since the backside has groves cut into them. The engine has 171,000 on it, not sure how long it will run, but didnt hear any odd noises.

Short term goals are to get the car drivable and to run reliably, replace all the damaged body panels, and get it painted. I would like to go with white because that was the color my 89 was originally. I would have painted it white but the paint job was free on that car because a friend had leftover red paint. I always like clean white Camaros. Maybe even paint the factory spoke wheels and call it a day.

Long term goals would be a V8 swap, not necessarly a monster engine as I already have my 94 as the "race car" Just something that runs good, is reliable as this will be daily driven (sorry, just cant stand some fwd car) I would even consider a 305 in it since those can be had running cheap. Bodywise, chrome IROCs wheels, a SS hood, and Hugger Orange stripes would be nice!

As I am building this car, I will add pictures to show my progress. Here is my starting point, lets see what I can do with it...

View of the front end damage...

Interior needs work, hopefully changed over to red with some red/black 4th gen seats like my old 89.

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THE-Z · 11-25-2009, 02:46 PM

I have a complete nose and areo chin both in mint shape waiting to bolted on.

-lmk

resop27 · 11-26-2009, 11:29 AM

nice project but i See a 89 325 sitting next to it. Haha love both e30s and camaros. seems like you have a project. I also Have all the red plastics carpet console door panels. arm rests, Pretty much my entire red interior from my white 91. If your interested

Awesome-X · 11-26-2009, 11:45 AM

Its a bit rought but definitely fixable. I don't see any rust on it and the damage isn't to anything that can't be unbolted.

ZONES89RS · 11-26-2009, 06:03 PM

Glad to see a 5 speed car saved! Good job, i love the two i have, even though they are 6 speeds now, still, factory sticks are the ****.

Camrs89 · 11-26-2009, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by resop27

nice project but i See a 89 325 sitting next to it. Haha love both e30s and camaros. seems like you have a project. I also Have all the red plastics carpet console door panels. arm rests, Pretty much my entire red interior from my white 91. If your interested

Yeah, the BMW is my buddy Yuta's project car. Our boss lets us store the cars there. He's turning it into a drift car, actually he is parting that one out since he bought a more solid body. Im sure u can pick the shell up cheap in a couple weeks. Im interested in the red interior if u want to PM me a price?

Camrs89 · 11-26-2009, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZONES89RS

Glad to see a 5 speed car saved! Good job, i love the two i have, even though they are 6 speeds now, still, factory sticks are the ****.

Yeah, Id love to put a 6 speed in it down the road. I do have a spare LT1 block and crank in my garage if I got really ambitous.

Camrs89 · 11-30-2009, 06:54 PM

Well I made a little progress the other day on the Camaro. Found some used but still good 245/60R15 tires to replace the worn out 225/60R15s and 275/60R15s (too big IMO) Gave the Camaro a more stock ride height instead of a raked stance.

Given a little more time or maybe this spring, I will sandblast these rims and paint them white and find new center cap decals. I know everyone hates these wheels but for some odd reason they have grown on me. They were on my old Camaro when I first got them is probably the reason.

Here is a picture of the old tires on the car (I love working at a tire shop when I need work done on my car)

After with the 245/60R15 tires installed...

Camrs89 · 11-30-2009, 07:05 PM

Then I picked up some 4th gen charcoal(?) cloth seats from a local Pick and Pull for $100. They just need a good shampooing (along with the rest of the interior but more on that later) and I may have the drivers seat reupholstered since it has some wear on the outer edge but not too noticable, just as I restore the car, I am a perfectionist so once it starts looking nice it will bug me.

Anyways here is the car with all the old seats removed. Once it is drivable, I will take the car to a detail shop I used to work at, clean all the plastic panels, shampoo and redye the carpet (doesnt appear to be torn anywhere, just stained) and clean the seats really good.

Got the back seat in, looks alot better, just now gotta clean that carpet!!!

Front seats are in, looks and feels alot better! I did convert the drivers seat from power to manual sliders since I didnt have the wiring for it and it saves on weight a little too.

Now just need to find a good dash pad, a headliner, glove box lid, door armrests, and probably a Grant GT steering wheel and I think the inside will be done (minus the major cleaning/shampooing lol)

nascarfan7 · 11-30-2009, 07:23 PM

Concerning the carpet, The cost to remove/clean/re-dye would be pretty close to new wouldn't it? Once you get it cleaned up you will still know there are some stains underneath that dye job

If you can get it clean as new, I want the name of that detail shop lol.

St_Anger · 11-30-2009, 08:29 PM

are the tires 245's all around? any rubbing issues lock to lock in the front?

greatpumpkin_68 · 11-30-2009, 08:48 PM

i am guessing that you accidentally uploaded the same pic twice?? the before and after pics of the tires sure do look like the exact same pic.

Camrs89 · 11-30-2009, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nascarfan7

Concerning the carpet, The cost to remove/clean/re-dye would be pretty close to new wouldn't it? Once you get it cleaned up you will still know there are some stains underneath that dye job

If you can get it clean as new, I want the name of that detail shop lol.

Its really just going to be my own time since I get to do whatever I want when I go there, perks of my uncle owning the place! So hey if it saves me 100 bucks, thats money I can use towards a new hood or something! Plus when I detailed cars, once its clean, the gunk is all gone, just some discoloration, which carpet dye covers right up and probably would never know the difference once its done. Used to do it for all the car dealers that we cleaned up their trade ins!

Quote:

Originally Posted by St_Anger

are the tires 245's all around? any rubbing issues lock to lock in the front?

You know, I didnt even check. Im going to guess they will be ok, but will double check for you and myself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by greatpumpkin_68

i am guessing that you accidentally uploaded the same pic twice?? the before and after pics of the tires sure do look like the exact same pic.

LOL fixed that, although cant really tell too much in the two pics I took, I should snap some from the back.

Camrs89 · 12-05-2009, 09:31 PM

Think I found a picture of what I have in my mind of my Camaro when its done, I believe this is 90Z28SS's car...

Im probably going to keep my stock RS wheels and not sure if I want the grill on the Camaro above or the RS grill.

So thats my goal, lets see if I can get this wreck that nice...

Slash · 12-05-2009, 09:59 PM

good to see you saved it from the crusher.
-
my dad works for a Dealership and when they were doin cashfor clunkers someone traded in a 87 irocz w/ the 350 in it. they had no choice but to run liquid glass into the motor to blow it up then it got picked up by the trailer to the junk yard

SAD TIMES

mtflyboy · 12-06-2009, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slash

good to see you saved it from the crusher.
-
my dad works for a Dealership and when they were doin cashfor clunkers someone traded in a 87 irocz w/ the 350 in it. they had no choice but to run liquid glass into the motor to blow it up then it got picked up by the trailer to the junk yard

SAD TIMES

It is cars like that, that got crushed that make me want to scream at the people who came up with it...

But thank you for saving another 3rd gen!!! Good luck with the plans.. I wish I had a family owned shop ahah it would make things easier...

Camrs89 · 12-06-2009, 06:51 AM

Although I hate the CFC program, I did benefit from it a little bit. Found a nice 02 Z28 in the junkyard (why anyone would junk this, it was easily a 8-10k car) the seats are in my 91 and the dash is in my 94. So I made best of a shitty situation.

Camrs89 · 12-07-2009, 06:09 PM

Started taking the bad body panels off the car yesterday. I started with the drivers fender. Fender came off pretty easily, just a bunch of 10 mm and a 13 mm bolt. I found a fender and front bumper locally for the car that will go on this, then I just need to find the ground effect pieces and a hood and will start prepping the car for paint.

Here is the RS with the fender off the car...

And the junk fender...

Camrs89 · 12-13-2009, 10:16 PM

Contacted Denny from Third Gen Ranch and picked up a really nice used fender. Installed it on the car today. I also took the front bumper off the car. Looks like I will need to bend the drivers side frame horn back some from when the previous owner got in an accident with it but other than that and replacing the crash bar, no damage to the core support or anything. Hope to get all these damaged panels replaced so I can start prepping the car for paint.

Here is the fender installed...

Front bumper off, notice the bent drivers frame horn...

Also picked up a front bumper from Denny and a set of ground effects from another member on here. The front ground effect needs some work to repair 2 one inch cracks on each side of the panel. I have a buddy who works at a body shop that will take a look at them and try to fix them, if possible...

The side ground effects...

87cmroiroc305ho · 12-17-2009, 07:48 PM

ahhh, i finally get to see the project, looks nice, i like the seats in there.....

Camrs89 · 12-17-2009, 10:29 PM

Decided during some down time at work to throw my spare tire on the Camaro and start painting the rims one by one. I want to paint the rims the Artic White since that will be the color of the car. I also am going to polish the metal trim around the spokes.

What I got done today...dismounted the wheel at work, sanded the old blue paint completely off and shot a coat of primer. Tomorrow I want to paint and clear it, let it dry and then start sanding the spoke outlines.

Snapped a couple pics....

After sanding...

Shot a coat of primer...

MitchellDeMoor · 12-18-2009, 02:21 PM

Nice car man looks like a fun project. It's not just you I love those wheels I think they are total bad azz.

Camrs89 · 12-19-2009, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MitchellDeMoor

Nice car man looks like a fun project. It's not just you I love those wheels I think they are total bad azz.

I think these wheels are the wheels everyone thinks of when they think of a third gen Camaro. I started to paint them today, but since it is 25 degrees outside the garage, the paint just wanted to run, so I have to find a heated garage or just wait until spring.

Camrs89 · 12-19-2009, 04:20 PM

Had the day off work yesterday and went in to work to use the lift to put on my front nose and start pulling off the ground effects and spoiler so I can paint under them.

Made a discovery after pulling the ground effects and spoiler off. Found out the car was originally a silver color instead of the blue that I thought was original and just fading. Im going to try and find the color code on the car and confirm it just out of curiosity, although I still intend on painting the car Artic White.

Here you can see where they didnt paint under the spoiler...

I think I am going to replace the hatch since there seems to be some heavy surface rust that may be rotted once I start sanding on the underside of the hatch where the outer skin overlaps the inner skin.

Also pulled the ground effects off since they were all damaged except for the drivers side bottom panel (probably keep it as a spare or sell it) I do have to reuse my door ground effect brackets since the pieces I got didnt have brackets on them. Guess I will have to drill the rivits out and use either a self tapping screw or a nut and a bolt to attach the ground effects to the brackets.

Ground effects off...(Spare is on just so I can move the car around while Im painting the wheels)

Did get some help from Keith (87cmroiroc305ho) as he bent the frame horn back into shape, installed the crash bar and the front bumper. I do have to somehow fix the high spot on the drivers headlight pocket (visible in the corner of the pocket) Im guessing heat it up with a heat gun and tap it down with a block of wood is the best way to fix it unless anyone has any ideas.

Also I have an extra set of foglights I am going to try and take apart and polish up as the ones on the bumper I put on appear to have mold growing on them!

Im trying to decide how I want to approach doing the bodywork on the car now that I know Im not sanding original paint. The guy who is painting my car wants to paint it as a whole, so it needs to be assembled minus the lights and all that. He said not to sand to bare metal if I can avoid it and finish with 320 grit. After that he will take over and finish it. The car really doesnt have any major bodywork other than a few small door dings and a couple small patches of surface rust. Any suggestions on what grit would be best to take off the top layer of paint and still leave the factory paint/primer on?

I do have a passenger door coming as i found mine was rusting under the ground effects along with a rear hatch. I am still looking for a hood if anyone has one local. I also picked up a passenger fender but it doesnt have the slots in it for the ground effects, not sure how I can create those or find a way to secure them.

Chezoom · 12-21-2009, 02:44 AM

Very nice job so far. Subscribing. I love seeing these cars come together like this. I wish I could find something like this to...

Camrs89 · 12-21-2009, 10:14 PM

Went over last night to 87cmroiroc305ho's housse the other night and pulled some parts off the 92 Camaro he was parting out. Pulled off the rear ground effects, passenger door, rear bumper, grill, center console, gauge cluster and an antenna. I also have a rear hatch off of his car too but couldnt fit that in my car, so have to grab that another night along with a passenger fender. Here are some of the parts Im going to keep and the rest I will sell or trade off.

Pic of the grill, it was warped on the top a little bit, took a heat gun and straightened it out a little bit...

Filled in the license plate holes and painted it black with the Camaro logo white...

Gauge cluster for a v8 car, going to hang onto this incase I find a running 305 or 350 cheap...

And the center console. Going to try and clean this up, I like the carpet on the side vs the plastic one I have. Although since mine is a 5-speed, I cant use the top plate.

So as Im gathering parts, my garage is packed with parts. Looks like a Camaro exploded. Going to try and organize this so I can get my car home to my garage instead of at work where it is now. I cant wait to start sanding it down and prepping it!

Camrs89 · 12-21-2009, 10:21 PM

Did spend some time tonight painting one of the wheels white and sanding and priming another one.

A coat of white paint is on the wheel now, going to wetsand the paint with 1000 grit, clear it, and then polish the lip and the outlines of the spokes. Should look nice I hope!

The center caps I will paint black, but I wonder if there are any decals for the center of the cap. I was thinking like black center with a red bowtie would look pretty cool.

chazman · 12-21-2009, 10:26 PM

I'm really glad you're saving this 3rd gen! BTW, where abouts on the northwest side are you?

IROCK ZZ · 12-21-2009, 10:37 PM

i wish you didnt live so far, i have an entire red interior!

mtflyboy · 12-21-2009, 11:11 PM

looking good so far man keep it up! I just finished a couple things on my ride its lookin a lot better, and it is running just about perfect.. Now it is just cosmetics.

87cmroiroc305ho · 12-22-2009, 01:37 AM

i dont think theres any filler on the door, i sanded that one down, theres a lil dent i think on it thats it. lets get some body work done....
wheels are looking goodd

Camrs89 · 12-22-2009, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chazman

I'm really glad you're saving this 3rd gen! BTW, where abouts on the northwest side are you?

Thanks! My car is in Mount Prospect and I live in McHenry. Ive been keeping it at work since Ive been using the lift to work on the car. Where are you from?

Quote:

Originally Posted by IROCK ZZ

i wish you didnt live so far, i have an entire red interior!

I bet shipping would be expensive for the interior.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtflyboy

looking good so far man keep it up! I just finished a couple things on my ride its lookin a lot better, and it is running just about perfect.. Now it is just cosmetics.

Thanks, Im kinda working on the cosmetics first, although minus fixing the torque arm mount and redoing some vacuum lines, the car runs, but I need to get to that so I can start driving it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 87cmroiroc305ho

i dont think theres any filler on the door, i sanded that one down, theres a lil dent i think on it thats it. lets get some body work done....
wheels are looking goodd

Seems like it has a high spot on it, Ill see if I can knock it down and smooth it out.

chazman · 12-22-2009, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Camrs89

Thanks! My car is in Mount Prospect and I live in McHenry. Ive been keeping it at work since Ive been using the lift to work on the car. Where are you from?

I'm in Roselle.

cliff1970 · 12-22-2009, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IROCK ZZ

i wish you didnt live so far, i have an entire red interior!

where are you located? im interested. seats and driver side seat belt release for sure

Camrs89 · 12-30-2009, 10:35 PM

I know I said I liked the factory 15 inch rims, but I guess I easily change my mind. Traded some parts for a set of 16x8 "91-92" Camaro wheels...

The rims need painted and polished though. So pretty much same as I was going to do for the other wheels.

I do need a set of mint center caps if anyone has these or knows a place to buy them new for a decent price. The ones I have will look out of place once the rims are polished. Any suggestions on tire size? I have a set of 245/50R16s laying around, but something wider would be nice if I could get it to fit.

May tackle this soon since the weather is in the mid 20s right now and cant really do too much to the car in this weather. I also need to repaint the grill and polish up the foglights, hopefully that can hold me over till it warms up.

ThreeOhFive · 12-31-2009, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Camrs89

I know I said I liked the factory 15 inch rims, but I guess I easily change my mind. Traded some parts for a set of 16x8 "91-92" Camaro wheels...

The rims need painted and polished though. So pretty much same as I was going to do for the other wheels.

I do need a set of mint center caps if anyone has these or knows a place to buy them new for a decent price. The ones I have will look out of place once the rims are polished. Any suggestions on tire size? I have a set of 245/50R16s laying around, but something wider would be nice if I could get it to fit.

May tackle this soon since the weather is in the mid 20s right now and cant really do too much to the car in this weather. I also need to repaint the grill and polish up the foglights, hopefully that can hold me over till it warms up.

my favorite rims... good choice!!!

87cmroiroc305ho · 12-31-2009, 12:39 AM

i like em too lol, what color scheme u doin on the rims?

Awesome-X · 01-04-2010, 05:36 AM

Looks like its coming together. I personally like the 16" ones the best. Not those but the other ones..lol

camarogeorge · 01-04-2010, 09:15 PM

Looks like its going to be a really cool car. I can't wait to see it done. I've got a 91 RS with the TBI 305 and 700R4 auto and love it. BTW the 16" wheels are much better.

87cmroiroc305ho · 01-04-2010, 10:09 PM

he said his plans for the 16" wheels are to do the stock grey in the inlays and polish the surface. just bumpin for ya.

Camrs89 · 01-04-2010, 10:31 PM

For you old timers on here, you may remember my first Camaro (I was a fool and sold it)

Custom made hood I built before the fiberglass 2 inch cowl hoods came out, polished 91/92 wheels, taillights blacked out, but otherwise stock appearing

Engine...solid lifter cam, ported 305 heads, 750 Holly carb

Seats from a 4th gen

Me and my buddy Daves (HrdRockA4305) Camaros

My Camaro with the car club I started (Central Illinois FBodys)

Camrs89 · 01-11-2010, 06:42 PM

Had some spare time at work the other day and decided to start the process of polishing the 91/92 wheels. I dismounted them and stripped the clear with Aircraft paint stripper. All of them need minimal wetsanding before I polish them, but one was pretty oxidized even under the clear so I will have to spend some more time on that.

Paint stripper applied to one...

All 4 after the clear was removed, you can see the worse wheel in the lower left...

After wetsanding to 1500 grit...

All polished up, just need to paint the inserts...

Chezoom · 01-11-2010, 08:26 PM

my wheels look like your lower left wheel. how do you go about polishing them?

PowerHour84 · 01-12-2010, 11:44 PM

Nice man

mtflyboy · 01-13-2010, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Camrs89

I know I said I liked the factory 15 inch rims, but I guess I easily change my mind. Traded some parts for a set of 16x8 "91-92" Camaro wheels...

The rims need painted and polished though. So pretty much same as I was going to do for the other wheels.

I do need a set of mint center caps if anyone has these or knows a place to buy them new for a decent price. The ones I have will look out of place once the rims are polished. Any suggestions on tire size? I have a set of 245/50R16s laying around, but something wider would be nice if I could get it to fit.

May tackle this soon since the weather is in the mid 20s right now and cant really do too much to the car in this weather. I also need to repaint the grill and polish up the foglights, hopefully that can hold me over till it warms up.

I just my new tires on and
Front: 245 55R16s
Back: 265 55R16s..

Hope that helps..

BadBowtie88 · 01-17-2010, 01:40 AM

Just stumbled across this thread and wanted to say awesome project man. Glad that there's people out there that can still see potential in a car that doesn't look very good at the moment.

bowtiekid91 · 01-17-2010, 03:06 AM

hey man very nice build so far and im interested in your car club. i live in geneseo illinois and was wondering if you would like to meet up somewhere and cruise in the summer.

Camrs89 · 01-18-2010, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowtiekid91

hey man very nice build so far and im interested in your car club. i live in geneseo illinois and was wondering if you would like to meet up somewhere and cruise in the summer.

I dont think the car club is together anymore, think it fell apart several years ago IIRC, I sold my 89 and stepped down as president and left it to another member.

Looking to hit the HOT ROD Power Tour this year with this and possibly Woodward Dream Cruise and of course all the local cruise nights.

Camrs89 · 01-22-2010, 09:34 AM

Picked up this Harwood 3 inch cowl induction pin on hood for my 91...

Due to the cold weather right now Im just gathering parts, a paint job is on the list first thing come spring.

Also going to do the umi crossmember torque arm to solve my broke torque arm mount situation. Also looking to redo the front brakes from sitting for so long.

Camrs89 · 02-23-2010, 09:17 AM

Finally had a break in the snow and unburied my car (which will be the last time since I brought the car home from my work where its been for the past 3 years between me and the previous owner to my house)

I also have been working part time at Maaco in addition to my other job and talked to the owner who said I could paint the car using their booth and supplies.

I managed to piece together a full set of crack-free ground effects (have the chin spoiler coming any day now in the mail) and installed them on the car (will be taking them back off to paint them, but at least everything will be installed until the time comes for paint)

Drivers side with ground effects...

Passenger side with ground effects...(You can also see the worse of the bodywork on the far edge of the door, looks like heavy surface rust, although not rot-it is solid, it is heavily pitted. Undecided if I want to replace the door or somehow fix it, just being picky since I wanted a straight, rust free car)

I also installed the pin on Harwood 3 inch cowl hood after I took these pictures, will try and get some updated ones soon after I finish trimming the edges of the hood (wont sit completely flush until I dremmel the lip smooth in the front and back of the hood)

I ended up bringing the Camaro back home during a blizzard, snapped this picture with my phone right before we loaded it onto the trailer