mdavidson101

Well I took a little break from the 3rd gen Camaro's and Firebirds. I've finally got back into them. I'll share my full story, and as well I will tell a little about the new car, when the time comes.

A couple years back, well 5 to be exact, my Dad had bought an 84 trans am. 86k original miles, WS7, LB9 auto. It had a bent rod when he bought it. He paid $1200, Its a solid Michigan car and I would say these cars are getting harder to find in any usable condition. It had sat for a good 2 years before I started to get out of dirtbikes and into fast cars. I was looking into trading my 2001 YZ426F for a 300zx turbo, 5 speed. He wasn't too happy. Eventually my persistence paid off, instead of letting me trade the bike off for a car, he gave me the trans am. Thats where the fun started.

Immediately I had to get it running. It needed a choke pull off, after that a fusible link, then a full tune up. Then a fuel pump, followed by brakes and tires. It was then off to the races. I was 15 sophomore in High school, I had a nice old sports car. I wasn't into girls, I liked my car and doing some motocross. To boot the insurance on the car was $240 a month! I might have gotten a Careless driving ticket for crashing a dirtbike and going to the hospital. Dont ask, stupid cop.
The Nice rod knock really hurt the performance of the car, and was getting really loud and obnoxious, so it was about time to yank the 305 and throw in a L98 350.
Pulling the motor was quite easy, I may have been young, 16 at the time, but my mechanical skills exceeded my years of experience. I blame my Dad for that, always teaching me new things and automotive principles.
Back on track, pulling the motor was easy, although if I had a good cherry picker it would have taken far less people.
Putting the motor in was a feat itself. I had problems with wrong parts, incorrect gaskets, missing bolts and weather problems. Took 4 days to put the motor in after we got all the correct parts.
The night we got it finished up, there was a group of people standing around the car, looking at it, checking it out, watching other cars drive by. Well about 10 o'clock rolls around, barely light outside still and this car was eyeing my car.Driving slowly and the like, well the group was conversating and all of a sudden.... CRASH! The car driving by hit the neighbors mailbox on the other side of the road! I'm guessing he was rubber-necking. HA! Best part is they didn't stop, instead took off like a bat outta hell! They drug the mailbox a good 5 miles down the road!

I drove the car for about a week with open headers, It wasn't super loud outside of the car, and I live in a really small town, It was a blast driving it. Eventually it made its way to the muffler shop.

Fast forward a bit, The motor ran great, the 2004r was a little weak, and died. My neighbor guy rebuilds 700R4s for cheap, and I happened to have one laying around. Well I got a new Torque converter TCI (lock up one) and spent 500 altogether to have the trans taken out, rebuilt, and put back in. I think I did pretty good.

Fast forward again, the 15in rims just weren't cutting it, I found a nice set if 16in Iroc-z rims with brand new tires, paid 450 for them, threw them on and did great. I also bought another car, really a big POS, but it had silver interior, it was my winter beater. Had severe damage to the front, sides as well as rusted through strut towers. I ended up selling it to one of my buddies, the next night he swerved to miss a deer and smoked a tree at 75. The harmonic balencer was below the motor.
How the Car looked before I traded it.
Car was amazing for a bit, and then a trip to Ohio changed that. Blew the motor up, as well as cracked a rim. Needless to say I was over it. I was getting into trucks at the time and came accross a Chevy it was lifted, had a 5 speed and a 350. I didnt tell the poor guy the motor was junk. Either way, he didnt tell me the truck had broken axles, 4 barrel was siezed and the 4wd actuator was rigged.

I ended up trading the truck for a ric-er and some cash. It was an 87 RX7. Well That didnt go well either. Put a motor in that, and ended up blowing that up also. Damn foreign junk.

Well back life, I found a girly friend who had a sunfire and a passion for mustangs, I ended up helping her get her dream car- 1997 Mustang V6, 5 speed, deep purple. I was content at the time, amazing girlfriend, shared her nice car. Then this year some A-hole pulled out in front of us on Valentines day. Needless to say the 'stang was a total loss.

Luck happened apon us, My Dad wanted to help us out. He bought a 2006 KX450 that needed some work for $1200, We found another 97 Mustang, 4.6 auto. He wanted a bike. luckily for us he traded. It was a track car, Had slicks, line lock, and some wall damage lol. It was fixable, ended up pulling the core support out 6 inches, new bumper, new headlights, new hood, new rear tires, Full brake job all the way around

At least we got to use some parts from the wrecked one. Then downhill, motor started losing oil pressure, running terrible, Found a DOHC 4.6 for a swap, ended up taking the injectors out and fixing the terrible running issue. The gas mileage was terrible and college was taking my money, time to find something a little more friendly. Girlfriend wanted a Jeep, I didnt really have any say in the matter, I did crash Her car. So jeep time it is!
The jeep also has some problems, sounds like a reoccurring problem! The gas gauge doesn't work and theres a bit of rust. I didn't think it was a big problem, but it is. Its not the sending unit like I thought, but the ECM sending out incorrect reference signals. Oh well.

Well again, My Dad was getting rid of his jet boat, and I found an add for a 1984 Camaro on facebook. He was asking a good chunk of change but I thought "might as well trade the boat for it!'
Up north hauling the boat I go! 4 miles away from the car, Flat tire. Unrepairable and no spare. Grr. Call the guy with the camaro up, told him got a flat and I wont be able to make it. He asked where I was and said he would be there shortly. He came, took the rim and tire, bought me a tire and had it mounted and balanced. Onwards we go! Make it to the boat launch, and try to start the boat. No Go, it was out of the go fast juice. the guy takes off without a mention and comes back with some gas! pour it in the tank and continue. took 15 gallons before it sucked into the carb. by that time we flooded it by pouring some into the carb to get it started. Well off to his house we go. We hooked it up to a battery charger and tried to start it. It shot flames out of the carb about 5 feet tall! Might want to check the firing order. (I did mention to him that the distributor was brand new and needed to be timed) Got that figured out and back to the boat launch. Get there, and oops! forgot to unplug the lights when I backed it into the water These guys must really want this boat! I know if it was me on the other end I would have walked away a long tie ago!
Took the boat out and ran it 60mph on the water- not to shabby. I dont like boats at all!
Finally!! I get to finally look at the Camaro! I will let the pictures tell some of the story.



Now why I paid so much for the car and yes it has a T-56
The shaved door handles didn't work when I got it, so I completely gutted the interior to eliminate the poppers and start from scratch. They work, although the passenger side is missing the parts that pushes the door open.



And I have a couple questions now.
What can I do with this!? I believe it is bypassing the vats?

And How do you hook up the 3rd gen heater blend controls to the 4th gen dash?

Where does everyone else with this swap have this stuff mounted? and what about the computer?


I would like to post some more pictures, but I am limited to 12 at this time.

mdavidson101

Here is a couple more pics.

mdavidson101

Here are a couple random pictures.
The 'stangs together

The Chevy truck


The Mazda RX7

mdavidson101

Heres a pic of the 2 birds. The nice one and the POS.

mmadden55

I really don't know why anybody would put a 4th gen dash in a third gen, personally I like the third gen dash better to start with and it is a lot less hassle to stay with it.

Javier87z28

iTrader: (1)

Interesting story and welcome back lol

mdavidson101

Personally, I HATE the 4th gen dash. It doesn't fit and looks like crap. I will be trying to find a good 3rd gen dash to put back in.
I believe they put it in so the gauges would work.
I really like how the 3rd gen ignition cylinder and key is still in the car, bypassing the VATS.

mdavidson101

Thanks! Its been quite a wild ride! I learned a lot, and putting that knowledge to good use!