Thought I would ask everyone's opinion on what I should do first. Should I get my car to run really good? Or... should I get it to look really good and run decent?

Any comment accepted.

 

myself i'm going to get a new engine and suspension before i do any body work. however my body is in decent shape, just some ground effect holes need filled and some dents pulled. a little bit of rust also. it looks pretty good 20ft away though.

so for me its engine/suspension, body, interior will be last.

 

Well, the body on the car is almost perfect, just the paint is has peeled halfway off and one of the headlight covers is primered. I'm kind of leaning towards making it a sleeper to begin with, then making it look good.

 

yeah performance than visual, you want the car to go as fast as it looks... if not faster

I'm fixing rust then drive train then paint and finally interior.

 

Do the body work last so that if you scratch or dent something, it'll be in line for a fix.

I too like the sleeper look. Check my Car Details.

JamesC

 

I guess you could call it a sleeper, but at anyrate its an f-body, anybody who knows anything about cars will be a little leery going up against. I'd go for the engine and suspension first, like James said you wouldn't have to worry about scratching anything everytime you work on it. you going to get a professional paint job or you good enough to do it your self?

 

except the fact that 3rd gens are SLOW in stock form, most have 305's with autos... no one is scared of them, thats why they make such good sleepers, ls1 f-body is a different story, those do a good rep

 

Well, I'm planning on buying a 350, and I have someone who does paint for pretty cheap, but I decided to make it fast before it looks that way, thanks for the feedback.

 

^^^ good call

 

Engine/drivetrain first...

No point in having a pretty but broken down car, parked and sitting in the driveway, while you hafta bum rides off of others.

 

Depends on how big of project and how long its going to take. I don't like welding thin metal when its zero degrees cold in my garage. And Bondo has to be put on at a certain temperature. I don't know how cold your winters get or what your timeframe is, if you are thinking its going to take 6 months or 6 years to get your car to the goal you are aiming for. I just don't like to do body work during the winter months.

Otherwise, get it running right first.

 

All depends on what you do with the car, what your goals are, and where you are now.

My goal was a NON daily driver, that could be taken to shows, and that performed well. All out racing and having a rep on the "street" was not important to me.

The car ran great, and was pretty much stock. Since reliability wasn't an issue, I moved onto the interior, which i fully restored. Paint was always good, so I put in a cam, did the exhaust, tune, trans, rear, suspension etc. etc.

Now the car doesn't win best of show ever, but I have my fair share of class trophies, and while it's not considered fast by you and me, it's still a blast to drive. It'll out handle any "stock" car out there by far, and it'll run with stock LS1 cars. ....but everyone is different, so it's hard to tell you what to do.

 

Indeed, stock 3rdgens are considered slow, and i keep forgetting most people on these forums come from well populated areas, i'm from central wyoming, people around here race with there pick'em-up trucks and grand am's lol, they see a camaro and instead of racing at the light, they take a side street to avoid being imbarrassed.

 

My thing is always this.

1. Gotta run good
2. Gotta look good
3. Gotta sound good (audio)

To me, a beautiful car shouldn't run like garbage. Must run good to take it out ever nice weekend and show-it-off.

 

Alright... I found a 350 today at the Pull and Save, gonna buy it tomorrow. Then, I'll be getting an Edelbrock RPM Air gap intake, and a Thunder Series AVS carb. Any experiences with those parts, other than the 350?

 

Nice, i'm glad you decided to get the 350. Edelbrock intake manifolds are good, and i've heard some good things about the dual plane RPM as well. don't know much about the thunder series tho. how much are you planning to mod this car?