There is a car for sale locally that im interested in. Its a good deal for 600$. An 86 camaro, its drivable, but needs a little work to be daily driver reliable. It has NO rust at all, perfect body from what Ive seen. It is a v6 manual car. I know I know, why get a v6 car if I really want a 350. Well for 600 hundred dallars that's a quater to a third of what a v8 car thats in one piece cost in my area. Frankly, since I'll end up replacing things like shocks/springs/radiator/etc with higher quality units right from the start, its cheaper to get a v6 car and convert it to a 350 carb. This is as opposed to buying stock parts(or paying for them with a v8 car) and replacing them once i get the car anyway. This is a project car, I already have a complete working 350 to transplant. So... onto my question.

I love all thirdgens, but some more then others. My favorite nose is that of the 91/92 camaro's. Since this is an 86, can I convert the nose to the later style, what kind of work is entailed in doing so.

Also as a general question... Im going to look at it again before making arrangements to buy it. Since the drivetrain will be replaced right away, what should I look for that would hint a car that needs major body work? Body work would be a serious turn off for buying.

Thanks ~ Garrett.

 

check all the lines on the car. like where the door meets the frame, hood lines, and hatch lines. make sure they are all evenly spaced throughout the entire line. its hard to eyeball to make sure a frame is straight so if u can bring it to an alignment shop, shouldnt cost much to just check for a straight frame.

 

Actually, I do believe that the nose is the same on 85-92 models with ground effects. The only thing that is different is the front ground effect. And, to answer your question-Yes, it will bolt right on, except for the fact that you will have to drill holes in the bottom front part of the fender for the front ground effect to bolt to....I think...If I am wrong please correct me......

Peace

 

I had mine done when I had my car painted ... It was really easy to do ... I have a 91 RS... my nose is from a 85 z28

 

Ah this project is easy to do. The front nose is the same from 85-92, the spoiler and gfx's styles are 85-90 with curved sides and 91-92 with nonfuctional air vents on the sides of the lower spoiler and rocker panel gfx's. I like the 91-92's style over the 85-90's much better. Also the bumper will bolt on with no modifications 85-90 and the 91-92. Just make sure you keep all the gfx's in the same style on the car, if you go with the 91-92's get the same bumper to go with it.
My car originally was a 85 SC, and now it looks like a 88 SC with gfx's. The swap is easy to do, you need a drill and a donor car with the gfx's. You will need to drill the 3 holes in the front of the bottom fender for the lower spoiler, 5 in the bottom of each door, 1 in the rocker panel side of the rear quarter, 2 for the rear quarter gfx to bumper pieces, and if your lucky you wont have to drill the holes for the 3 piece spoiler or highrise spoiler if you choose so.
The best way to make sure you drill the holes in the proper locations is by making cardboard templates. Cut the cardboard to the shape of the panel you want to drill out on your car and poke a hole in the board where the hole is. Then place the card board in the same exact spot and drill. Heres a pic of my car after the swap sorry but I lost all pics of my sc when it was original. PC died.

 

i dont know if this is a stupid question or not but will a v8 bolt up to the belhousing of the transmision a v6????

 

no it wont bolt up to the 60* v6 bellhousings

 

dont buy a camaro buy pontiac , every poser in the world has a camaro . be original and get a pontaic

 

Both makes of thirdgens look great but it just depends on the person who want one or the other. I personally like the looks of the camaro much better than the birds. I dont know what it is but I like how my camaro always looks like its smiling at me

 

I personally prefer the look of the camaro, but that is opinion and varies from one person to another. The fact is in my area, firebirds are notoriously *******/local idiot cars. I dont really care who drives/drove them, but its the fact that they beat the crap out of them. There has not been one well priced firebird in good (one piece/worth fixing) in my area over the past year and a half. I peronally dont want to spend 3500$ on a car that is one scratch away from totaled, and has no usable parts on it. That coupled with the fact I prefer the looks of the camaro over the firebird is why i'm going camaro. But hey, if you want to buy me a firebird with your money I wouldnt mind one bit !. Donations welcomed.

Speaking of looks, I was looking at a '77/'78 firebird. Talk about an awesome looking car. That has got to be one of the most bad *** looking cars I have ever seen. I would take a late seventies bird over camaro any day. It wasnt for sale .

Enough of this off topic mumbo jumbo, thanks for the help in answereing my question. You guys rock.

~ Garrett