hey guys im new here on this forum so hello. First off im 16 not to technically inclined and I bought a 1987 camaro not long ago that needs some work.
Here are the specs:
305 engine
quadjet carb
it's not a rs or z28
body has little rust except hood has seen better days.
anyways there is a few problems:
When i got the camaro i took it up to emmissions and it well failed miserably with extra high hydro carbons and carbon monoxide. After closer inspection my friend and i discovered that one of the spark plugs was not in place. So we bought a new one (wouldve bought 8 but money was put into purchasing car). Before taking it back to emmisions we decided to try and fix the door on the drivers side because it has a lot of up and down movement causing it not to shut very well. While doing this we forgot to reconnect the wire that was going through the door area to the electrical box that apparently ended up controlling the fan. Well without knowing this my dad took it up to emmissions and well this time it was running great but then it starting steaming and leaked anti-freeze and they had to stop the vehicle. So now we have recconnected the wire and the fan works fine. So do you think it will pass the next time we take it? the first time when it went all the way throught it had about 3x the carbon monoxide and I think 7x the hydro carbon. The second time my dad before taking it got an oil change done, added some of this heet stuff to the gas, and added more anti-freeze, and he changed the airfilter. Ive sinced then changed the breather filter, and pcv valve
Anyways things i need some help with:
fixing the door. the previous owner had some bushings and stuff that he said would fix it so we replaced them and it helped but door still doesn't shut right.
The latch needs fixing too because the door won't open from the inside.
On both cases it is the driver side door.
I need one maybe two exhaust brackets cause when looking at the back the right side is lower than the left and you can easily push it up but it causes a wierd rattling sound when driving. So i was wondering what size brackets would fit?
I may need help getting this thing to pass emmissions.
The fuel and speedometer guages are the only ones that work.
My ideas for the car:
Upgrade to an edelbrock exhaust kit with dual catylic converters.
convert the automatic to a t56 manual
get a nice looking hood and paintjob
Im already close to getting some new bucket seats because the current ones have seen better days.
I may upgrade the engine to a LT1 but not for a while
Overall i want this to be a head turner and have power and control but won't be a gas guzzling beast.
The only picture i have is the one that the owner posted on craigslist and it's pretty crappy looking. In person it does look much better.
actually heres the link to it: 87 Chevy Camaro
I got the car for 1300 not 1500
thanks for looking and your help.
Oh btw right now i only have a budget of like $250 for parts but if you can put a list on what i should do first and how much it would cost that would be cool.
Last edited by CrazyBear : 06-05-2006 at 11:00 PM.
I don't have enough time right now to answer all of your questions, but I'll try to "hit the high points" - I'm sure that others will be able to fill in the gaps and/or give you better info.
High hydrocarbons on an emissions test generally means that you're not burning all of the fuel in the combustion chamber - and running on only 7 spark plugs just might have something to do with that... The "tune-up"-type steps you've taken will help a lot, but you might as well replace the cap & rotor while you're at it, it's pretty easy, doesn't cost much, & will give you better mileage too (which helps when you're on a teenager's budget!). New plugs would be a real good idea too, but maybe not strictly necessary if it's running well.
Other things to do would be to examine all of your vacuum hoses for cracks or leaks, something like that can make a real difference in how the car runs. While you're in there, take a look at your belts & hoses too!
I'm told that adding a bit of E85 (up to 10% or so) to your fuel can help too, but there are only a few stations in the metro area that carry it, so don't go crazy trying to find it - just make sure that the car is good & warmed up before you go to the testing station.
Might not be a bad idea to let it run in your driveway for a while, just to see whether you've fixed the overheating problem.
The door issue I don't have any experience with, but I'm sure that others here can chime in. The door bushings are a known issue with these cars, so just do a search & I'm sure you'll find something.
Dual cats aren't strictly necessary, just get a decent high-flowing aftermarket unit - less cost, & less weight to lug around. Exhaust brackets can usually be fabricated from any suitable metal you have lying around, as long as you know someone w/ a welder...
Gauges - very likely a bad ground, or crawl under the dash & look for a wire that may not be connected. Also see if you're able to see the circuit board for the dash, & if so, shine a light up there & see if you can see any cracks... (Very probably not the issue.) You may find a blown fuse for the gauges, but if so, replacing it may just fix it temporarily - you'll need to find out what's causing it to blow.
Finally, once you get all of the "little stuff" fixed, & are looking into fixing it up a bit, the first decent mod you should consider is subframe connectors - probably not the first, "sexiest" thing you think of, but they really make the car a lot nicer to drive!
Again, welcome, & good luck!
(You might also consider joining our motley little group, we've got some good people here!)
well thanks for your help so far. With my money right now im going to buy 7 new spark plugs, another gas powered strut for the hood (i have one new one the other i thought was new but isn't), i might buy a carb rebuild kit because my nieghboors brother will rebuild it for me for $60. Also i have a few other things to address.
Like how do you loosen the air shocks. The previous owner said he got them replaced and right now when you drive it any little bump you hit feels like you hit a boulder and the car is very bumpy to drive. I think he said something about a nozzle in the back left of the car that you can leak it off or something. Anyways this car has a bunch of small projects on it like fixing the radio atenna, getting a new windshield wiper fluid pump, getting the guages to work, getting new seats ( the driver side seat is kindof torn and is in a permanet recline type mode). Also is there a way to tighten the gas pedal? it moves back and forth but it also kindof goes from vertical to almost horizontal with little effort and without pushing the pedal to increase gas.
Anyways i'll see what i can do about the guages cause that will tell me if i need a new thermostat or not. But im not very technical on this stuff so i might not be able to tell what the issue is.
About the joining the group sure. If someone lives near me i might be able to drive it by so they can take a look but it would either have to be close cause it doesn't have up to date tags with the emmissons problems or it have to be after saturday unless my dad gets off his butt so i can get a temp plate.
Welcome! Good to see we have some more new blood here. The more the better. I love those sport coupe camaros, looks like you have a pretty straight one. Good luck with all your small problems, looks like you will need to get a good manual. This site and your search button will be your new best friend. When you get her running you will haave to come to a MHTG (Mile High Third Gens) meeting.
i can help ya out on a few here, first off, automation upholstrey in aurora, tehy do all our work, awesome work and good price when the time comes anyways.....I'll have to look but i think i have a set of good hood struts laying around here somewhere, they were brand new but i didnt like the pressure with the glass hood
AS for the tune up...now is time to start your upgrade, ignition stuff through msd runs close to if not cheaper than your off the shelf napa stuff, a fit set of msd helicore wires goes for like 34 bucks, accel or msd cap and rotors about 20 bucks, through some delco plugs in it and maybe lean it out just a hair to get her through emmissions
as for the air shocks, they are probaly the smae setup my dad runs in his 81Z, there should be two lines running into the center with a schrader valve somewhere, just like a bike tire, let the air out till it feels right.....Of course i'm biased to air setups but those are junk i'd suggest finding 2g's and doing a full air ride technologies swap ....welcome aboard and feel free to contact us with questions and concerns, most of us have been all the way through these cars whether it be motor, driveline, interior, body etc and like me and russ we have done a few thirdgens!!
thx for the help so far. First off i did some more inspection and work today. The door has a number of problems. First the door side hinges are loose causing the door to sag down and not shut as well. Second the latch on the door you have to manualy reset inorder to have it shut all the way. Third is i looked at the handle and well the plastic piece that is supposed to move the latch is broken off. So would it be easier and cheaper to buy a new door or replace and fix each problem?
If i could meet one of you guys better equiped with tools for this kindof stuff that would be nice. My dad has tools better equiped for yardwork and outdoor type use.
Good news though is that i got a temp plate thats good for 60 days so i can drive it around and to school to show it off and scare these new ***** kids.
I'll try to go to one of those meetings.
Tommorrow im helping my friend hopefully on his '84 camaro with putting on two front fenders, and i'll be taking my baby up to the emmissions testing again hopefully this time i'll pass or at least be really close.
IrocBuilder i'll be happy to take one of those off gas powered struts off your hands.
edit: My best friend has a '84 camaro same engine and carb and tranny as mine. He's getting a turboed 350, and upgraded exhaust in the next few months. Since i don't work as much as he does i would rather than trying to beat him in speed , but beat him in handling and overall performance. So if there is any ideas on how to do that significantly without killing me with my $8 an hour 15 hours a week job.
Last edited by CrazyBear : 06-07-2006 at 12:19 AM.
First off, did you get a chance to take it in for testing again today? If so, how'd it do?
Also, based on what you've said, I might be thinking about getting another door - but again, that's not something I've had to deal with, so I'll let someone else chime in here.
Finally, it might be a better idea for you to get both of the gas struts if possible - that way both of them will (probably) have an equal amount of "wear", & you won't have unequal forces lifting the hood.
Thanks for the help so far.
I haven't been able to take it into emmissions yet but i have driven it around and it is sounding really good.
I did have one scary moment though. I was driving on I-25 going to blitz paintball park with some of my friends. I was following my friend and he doesn't use his blinkers that often and well he took a sudden turn so i followed and well it was too hard so my back end went out. So i turned the wheel the other way and it skid hard, so i ended up going down a grassy hill. The car was fine though i was just a little jittery.
I'll see if i can go to one of your guy's meets just tell me what time and where, being that schools out i have plenty of freetime.
i would have gone but i had work during that time. I'll try to make the next one.
tommorrow im taking it to emmissions because i have the money in my hands now. Im sure it will pass though it sounds much better and the exhaust isn't nearly as black.
This is my wishlist that im hoping to get most of these during the summer:
upgraded exhaust probaly edelbrock but please post opinions
new hood not sure on what look though
new door
interior upgrades and seats
paint job
t56 manual transmission
out of all those the paintjob is probaly going to be the last thing i do. First is either the door or the seats. Then i'll take reccomendations on what to do. Im going to stick with the 305 engine though because as it is that's plenty of gas consumption for me. Thanks for your help so far.
Well today i took it in for emmissions and it failed. It had about 43 co when the max is 20. 4.4 hydrocarbon when max is 3.
Near the end though it started steaming and leaked anit-freeze on the floor. Im thinking the problem is a bad thermostat. The only thing that failed was the emmissions the rest all passed. Im probaly going to have my carb rebuilt or convert to tpi, and get a new thermostat.
converting over is gonna cost ya some bucks, and for tpi, really why bother i'll get into that later....
You cant modify what isnt working is what i've always gone by, that being said where your driving it you need to do something quick and in your case affordable right now to get it running and past the emmissions check, rebuild the carb definately if you havent already pick up a good set of wires, cap and rotor, delco plugs , pcv valve, breather filter all your basics, when you get the carb back on it lean her out just a bit, that usually gets stuff to pass in the carb world figure your in for about 100-150 bucks......if you can get it to pass then this will by you time if its running well to look into upgrading
For the money to swap to a tpi setup imo its not worth it, teh conversion is fairly costly as i looked into it for the rs, hence the reason i decided to just make a bitchin fast tbi car i'd look more into a hsr setup or even going to a stand alone 4bbl tbi setup like the one from hollley, cant think of it off the top of my head but its not exactly a tbi its more of a port inj. Tpi is a flawed setup, you can improve it but as i said for the money to convert it......I budgeted it out to right around 2500-3k to convert it after all the wiring, parts and different sensors etc
i'd look more into a hsr setup or even going to a stand alone 4bbl tbi setup like the one from hollley, cant think of it off the top of my head...
Hmmm. If by "hsr setup" you mean Holley StealthRam, that wouldn't actually help him, as he'd still need the injectors, wiring harness, ECM, etc. from the TPI setup, the only thing different would be the intake manifold, & that'd probably cost 2-3x what the regular TPI intake would cost... I think that the other one you mentioned is the "Pro-Jection" system which I've heard is decent for mild performance applications, but it's not cheap either.
I'm not much of a fan of carburetors, but in this case I think it's his best bet - get a decent vacuum-secondary 650 or better yet, a good Q-Jet, add a good intake to it (Performer RPM seems to be best, but don't know if it's smog-legal or has provisions for sensors) get it tuned well, & boom, you're done!
well right now guys im looking into buying an edelbrock electric choke 4bbl carb either 650 or 750 cfm. I might also get a open air filter type thing from edelbrock. Anyways we have a two new rivals in our muscle car type thing me and my friends have. A 80 something mustang gt with a 302 holley 750 and x pipe dual exhaust. and a 73 grand am with a 455.
btw after looking at your victory pictures irocbirdbuilder that is the kindof air thing i was trying to describe.
well right now guys im looking into buying an edelbrock electric choke 4bbl carb either 650 or 750 cfm. I might also get a open air filter type thing from edelbrock.
None of that is emissions-legal.
High CO is due to rich fuel mixture. Get a new O2 sensor.
High HC is from unburned or partially burned fuel. Could be because it is too rich, but is probably due to poor ignition.
Instead of all these expensive, illegal modifications, do the right thing and give it a proper tune-up - plugs, wires, distributor cap & rotor, O2 sensor. You may also have to do something to the carb, most likely is sealing the well plugs on the bottom of the fuel bowl.
yeah right now im working on the funds to rebuild my carb and take my car in for a tune up. My O2 sensor passed emmisions testing so im thinking it's not the problem.
That is just a visual inspection to make sure that those parts are on the vehicle. So by passing that it means that they saw it was in the pipe and plugged in. That does not mean that it is working, or working in a full range. They are not that exspensive and should be replaced to prevent future headaches.
alright ill add that to my list of repairs which is:
rebuild carb
fuel line to carb needs replaced
take in for tune up
get o2 sensor
thermostat
tighten up the exhaust (a bracket broke on the right side)
get two new seats
a replacement set belt connector for the driver's side
new hood (stock one's plain)
paintjob
interior work
and that will have the car working well and comfortable. After that comes all the not so neccessary stuff
Well right now this is what i have planned:
at the end of the month when my check comes in im getting my carb rebuilt for $150 which includes timing, tuning, and parts, etc.
then with the $50 i have right now im getting a fuel line and 02 sensor and if i have enough money left a thermostat. by then it should be drivable and for my b-day i either going to have the carb rebuild payed for or i'll have my parents get me something else and i'll have like $70 more dollars from relatives n such which should allow me to have enough money to take it in for a tune up. after that i'll save up some money for some basic stuff like seats, primer, etc.
does this sound good?
also im trying to work on meeting you guys someday with my camaro but considering it's not running it's kindof hard and i will be the odd ball if i show up in some rice burning '95 nissan sentra (good gas mileage on that thing though) . If you guys ever want to check it out just send me a pm and i'll tell when and where.
You guys reccomend any place to get a paintjob. Ive heard makko sucks. Also if you could tell me if it's worth priming myself rather than have them do it , that would be useful info too.
hey where do most of you buy your parts? Also can you send me a link for the plugs, rotor, cap, ignition, subframe connectors, and such so i have an idea of what to look for. When i get it to pass the e-test which won't be long cause as we speak my carb is getting rebuilt and i'm getting paid at the end of the month which should be a fairly large paycheck.
The "tune-up"-type steps you've taken will help a lot, but you might as well replace the cap & rotor while you're at it, it's pretty easy, doesn't cost much, & will give you better mileage too (which helps when you're on a teenager's budget!). New plugs would be a real good idea too, but maybe not strictly necessary if it's running well.
....welcome aboard and feel free to contact us with questions and concerns, most of us have been all the way through these cars whether it be motor, driveline, interior, body etc and like me and russ we have done a few thirdgens!!
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