Well I thought Id show what caused me to fail my PA inspection this year. I knew about the rust under the car and was going to fix it this winter, but I guess Ill have to start a little early. This is really the only rust I have on the body, and Im kinda afraid of taking body parts off and finding more. Needless to say this was enough to ruin my day. I have no idea where to start. I dont know how to weld, thats my biggest problem. So as of today Im looking for a new daily driver. Pass side... --- Driver side... --- Driver inside...

Yikes! Bummer dude.

Ugh, that sucks. . . that's gonna be a lot of work, man. . .

The bad news is I wont know the extent till I get the fenders, GFX, and other stuff off. But from first glance Ive seen much worse be fixed. When there is a will there is a way...and there is the will. I will be searching this extensively, but if anyone has any tips/info feel free to chime in.

If you have a harbor freight near you, a flux-core wire feed welder can be had for about $129. Otherwise, take your car to a different inspection location and close it up with some underbody coating to get you by to keep driving. I'm so glad FL did away with inspection in the 90's. Keep us posted.

I thought about doing that. I know some people that would give me a sticker. But I wont be driving the car this winter and Ive been planning on buying a car in a month or two so I figured Id just fix the problems and get the car a little early. Ill be ripping off body parts here in a couple days to see how much work I have ahead of me. Ill keep you posted on the carnage...

Just wanted to give you guys an update on the "project". This is after 2 days with about 2 hours of work each day.
This is currently where I am...



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Working my way to here...

Owch, your car has a little cancer :P

These is the only "outbreaks" that I know of right now. After the scans and biopsies we'll know more where we stand.
My dad gave me clearance to use the angle grinder/cutter that he just "got" from his work. It wasnt osha approved. We'll see what fun I can have when the fenders come off.
Plus Ill probubly use this thread to show when the engine comes out...so stay tuned...

wow they actually fail ur car for rust in pa??

I guess if there's enough to make it structuraly unsafe. . . I lived in Vermont for a few months during the winter. . .seen some cars that were so bad, there was no way in hell I'd ever ride in it. . .

Good luck Gimmcs, hope you can save your car.

Massachusetts is the same way (I was born there).

They will not fail you for rust on the body, but holes in anything that is structural they will. Its just killing me not being able to driver my car

But I think I got about as far as I need to go today, I might have to take off the doors too. And the 3.1 just sits patiently waiting for upgrades...


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The rusty carnage...

You like my carpet?

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There were a few rocks in the pass fender...


Both fenders are crap due to the *** who ruined them with the jack

I had a little bit of time to work on my car today, so I thought Id update this. Took out a little bit of the interior to see how bad the floor is...


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Here is the rust area...


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And dont you just love when you find a bonus screw when your trying to organize things. Its shorter than all the others of the same size. It came out of the center console somewhere...


I plan on taking out the rest of the seats and carpet in the next couple days to see the rest of the floor boards.

I found all sorts of cool things under my carpet:

A set of original keys that fit my car (a bit corroded)
a few fasteners like yours
a power window switch that was completely frozen solid, but unfaded and brand new. All were waaay under the carpet and must have been there for 20+ years

I got the front carpet out today. Once I got that far I figured "why not?", and out came the rest. I found a few little spots of rust that made it through, but nothing really major. I think, besides taking off the doors and getting rid of some of the rust, Im at a stand still.


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Besides about another $1.50, or so, in change I didnt find anything else "cool" besides this sticker. It was in the trunk area, where it raises next to the spare tire. I have no idea.....

that "bonus" bolt look like the one that holds the console to the shifter.

the floor looks to be in good shape, so its not as bad as it could be.

when i first took out my interior, i found almost $10 in change, a key to the car, a key to something else and my build sheet, which i did not know what it was at the time and managed to lose it .

Ouch man, I got some rust too, my rockers, and under the GFX on my doors, and 1/4's. But the floor and trunk is all solid, apparently the mechanic I had look over my car said that he hasn't seen such a solid 3rd gen in a while, he also found a build sheet..

Man, I'm just glad that my car was bought fairly local (Sarasota Florida), brand new, and still has the owner's manual and window sticker. The origional owner (think I am the 3rd owner) paid $14599 new.

Grimm, you can repair that little bit of rust. Go to Harbor Freight (if local to you) and grab a $129 welder, and practice on some scrap. Neer been a better time to learn, than right now. I think you could get a grasp of it.

That doesn't look to bad, I say fix it. When I gutted my interior, all I found was some dirt and...um.....dirt lol

I had thought about buying a welder and just doing it myself, but the spot thats rusting looks important and hard to duplicate. I thought I had posted a better picture...

If it were just the hole in the floor I would, but it has eaten through that brace that the door is bolted to.

If you have a JY close, go grab a grinder and see if you cand find those areas. Put them on your car and trace them, then cut inside the line (enough to remove the rust) and keep tacking them until they are sealed. Only one way to learn :P

Thats exactly what my dad suggested, minus the welding part. I have to go around and see if there are any JYs that have any good 3rd gens.

so glad thats not my car...that suxx...my car was sitting on top of dirt and grass for 3 yrs in NY and i got no rust .....thank got for that oil leak spitting oil on the underbody keeping it lubed lol

Mine has alot more cancer then that, but in different areas. I'm wondering if thats why carfax shows "frame damage" because everything measures right.


Thats a VERY clean garage you have, I dont think ours looked that clean when it was new

Yeah that was my dads big project. It never looked that clean, but he wanted to clean it and paint everything with special paint before he starts on his car.



I wanted to start taking out the engine today, but I might have found a buddy who can help me with the rust and I may have to back out the car. So the engine stays where it is for now.

How's he going to do that with yours in there

Mine will probubly be done before he really starts I want to have mine back up and running before next summer. Hopefully by the middle of spring.

I'm here is PA also. My Camaro has soooo much rust. I am going to have to cut the whole pan on the front passenger side out and replace. I am need foot wells on both sides. And there is a spot it the rear that needs replaced. There is a spot that appears to be where a jack slipped and took a small bite out of the rocker and frame that rusted and got worse. As for the frame I am going to weld like 1/4 steel over it and then put some frame connectors over it. I'll get you some pics. Its pretty bad, but fixable. As for the rest of the body its really good shape. I have some rust around the door handles and a hole in the one 1/4 panels where the GFX is. After I am finished with the floor. I am going to spray all kinds a crap and cake it on so it will be easier to pass inspection. Your not supposed to weld anything to the frame here in PA. It sucks that there are talks that they are going to pass strict smog laws like in CA here. They only do visual checks in most counties and very few counties have sniffer test. The county my car is registered in has no smog at all. I live in one county that has is and I registered my car in another. Good luck! And wish me the same.

I'm in PA, as well....but my Camaro must've been garage kept for a number of years because it hardly has any rust at all. I've got a bit of preventive rust work to do before winter, but that's all. I can get that done in a day.

Anyway, good luck to you guys and they better not get stricter with inspections around here, or else I'm moving to Florida.

Woot! .

I just found out today that a guy I work with everyday has a car repair garage he does side jobs. He has a CNC machine, mandrel pipe bender, and a bunch of other stuff. He said he could help me with some "modifications". So I might have some serious custom stuff on my engine come next spring

I have access to a CNC machine. You wouldn't believe the stuff you can make. Especially if it's a full CNC like we are having delivered mid-next week (lathe and mill in one, wooot).

Yeah I have a couple ideas for a couple parts.
I told him to make me an aluminum block.....he laughed. He said he could but it would cost a lot more than I would want to know.

Especially when GM offers them for 2k. A chunk of aluminum the size needed to make a block is not light on the wallet.

Well the block was pretty much a joke. I dont have 2k to drop on something I dont really need.
I had a couple hours today, so I did a little more work. I got the driver door, and the rear bumper off. I have to change the door hinge pins on that door anyways.


I found a guy who owns a body shop who might help me with my rust repair. Friend of a friend, so he should give me a good price if I decide to take it to him.
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Oh and I need your opinions. Should I take the engine out before I ship the car out for the rust repair or leave it in. Im just wondering about the ease getting it to and from the shop.

Depends on who is doing the work. I would ask which was better for the individual.

^i wish my floorpan looked that good! just ripped my carpet out and am welding in new metal from the driver's seat forward...

Well Im tires of waiting. Next purchase will be engine hoist and stand. Going to rip out engine, rebuild it, and get rebuilt tranny. By that time hopefully my rust will be gone and soon after hopefully so will the tread on my back tires


Plus on a side note, I found my next project. An old Mustang Fastback. All I need is an engine and tranny. No paint or rust. Dont worry its not for me (not a fan of Fords). Im looking for a 427 or bigger in it...Chevy of course.

Don't know if you have a Harbor Freight nearby, but the weekend of Oct5th, they are having a sale. The folding engine hoist is $97, and the engine stand is $27 for that weekend only. I'm grabbing both, so I don't have to borrow them ever again!

Also I have helped put a 355/th400 in an 86 Mustang LX. Went 11.8x on motor, and 10.3x on juice. They are light, and grab good, too bad Ford can't build a tranny to save their life (I know, I have three Ford's )

I just found out that there is one about 45 min away from me. Now I just need to find a truck or something big enough to bring them back. Thanks for the heads up.

The one I found is a early to mid 70s (not 100% on the year yet). $300 for a rolling chassis...Cant pass it up. Although there is no interior. It was going to be made into a drag car. Ill have to see if I can peice something together.

i have a thread on here with pics of my rust repairs. but my car seems to be dying via a strange electrical prob


anyway you cab see the pics before photosite takes them down

http://kcampbell2.photosite.com


for some ideas on how to repair.

oh, and that rust is nothin. nothin.

Thanks for the pics. The gave me a good Idea of whats to come.

On another note, I had a little free time today so I started taking a few things off the engine. I figured the more I take off while its still in the car the easier it will be to get out.
Here is what I started with...



After a few busted knuckles and some choice words, here is how far I got...



I mainly just cleared the pass. side.

Man, you must have ran into some problems, I had the whole top end off my car, and the 3500 heads mocked up in a Sat just breaking stones again!

Again, too bad you didn't live closer .

The biggest problem I had were the small nuts at the base of the EGR. Im doing this slow. Dotting all my I's and crossing all my T's. Ive never done anything like this before, so Im in no rush.
Plus I only worked on it for about 2-2.5 hours.

I've thought about it, and the DIS reluctor wheel on the 60* store might interfere with the turbo. Have you made any solid plans yet?

Also, I ran across a good deal from someone over there for some yellow springs. The problem is they are still attached to the heads, and the guy doesn't have a compressor tool. I worked out a deal with him, and will be getting the entire set of heads with springs on them. I'm going to refurbish and port them, so you let me know if you are interested and I will give you first dibs on them because of you purchasing so many parts from me . All I would ask is that you give me your heads in exchange. PM if so...

How would that interfere? Mabye putting the shims on the water pump pulley would interfere? I eather have to make a reluctor wheel work or get a 3.4 block. Im not sure what Im going to do right now.

You just like taking my money. I think I should just stick with what I have now, seeing how I have a hole and rust that Im going to need to fix first. Mabye if I have some left over...

No, it's not like that! I'm glad to see someone else taking a leap to the "darkside"

If it was about money, do you think I would have been so cheap on the mods I did to my turbo pipes? I spent several hours on that and only charged you a few bucks! Mainly I would want you to take care of shipping, and put a little beer money in my pocket .

I can't wait to see what you come up with.

I know, I was just kidding.
The main problem Im seeing is the DIS. I have a set of 3100 pistons, so thats why Ive been trying to make all this work with my 3.1 block. I know that going with the 3.4 block is easier, so Ive looked for a local 3.4 block but Ive had no success yet. So right now Im not really sure which way Im going to go.

I just got these and thought Id put up a pic. 24# injectors. Should be enough for the turbo setup. No work today. Tommorow hopefully all the accys and exhaust manifolds will be off. But that all depends on when I get home from work.