Any updates.. Did you stick to a 3rd Gen shell or 2nd?

I wouldn't expect anymore updates from Neil...well, at least here on TGO....

When is he having the garage sale of all the goodies from that car?

done with anything 3rd gen, even the people he has befriended? LOL. seems silly. i figured id see him post by now.

either way, wont affect me any.

Is he on nastyz28.com now or something.

read the WHOLE thread, project scrapped, why is this thread still open?

i read most of the thread and saw that he "may" be getting a second gen. If so I wanted to check out his build. Nobody is forcing you to keep opening this thread. Plus the thread still has a lot to offer for others wanting to build a car similar and might have a question about something.

I've spoken with Neil the other day.. He's out of the thirdgen game, sorry guys. AGAIN, I would not expect ANY updates from Neil. Good luck and God bless

update as to what hes gonna build and then throw away next?

you do know you can still read a thread if its closed right? you just can't post in it with the "any updates? is he done?" every other month, hes said hes done, iirc he sold off almost everything did he not? even if he is getting a second gen he wouldn't be adding anything to this thread on thirdgen. i still say close it

if someone has a question they can ask other forum members if anyone remembers der.

WOW...very SAD! I remember following this build since day one!! It was going to be the BEST 3rd gen in the world...seriously. What happened, did the car catch on fire or something?

Its all in this thread, you just have to read back a few pages.

still feel the same way.
will he abandon his 2nd gen clan when he makes a body change again?

Im adding my .02 - This thread just doesnt add up. Cutting a whole car over cancer? Ok then why wasnt this addressed at the body shop from the get go? Total screw up and IMO BS. Now he's selling the motor and trans but thinking of building another Chevrolet? Why not just keep the old combo for the new platform? This thread stinks man. Seriously.

Smells fishier than a bait shop.

i love the amount of doubt and hate because he decided to call it quits with HIS car HIS money and HIS time. why are you all so mad? you think he owes you something or what? if you wanna see it finished why don't you all invest the TIME, SWEAT, and MONEY to do it yourself.

Hate or mad has nothing to do with it. I DIY plenty so no argument there for you either. It doesn't take a detective to see the story is a little sketchy. As for you, it's on a public forum built for others to observe and ask questions.... And I don't mean to strike a nerve here but defending a story like this is pointless. It's Like working up a hot girl but not being able to come through for the "BIG WIN"... (You wouldn't be defending that for a reason would you??) No **** I'm in awe... This ending sucks!

I just wish he would have had a TGO garage sale on all the awesome goodies that were thirdgen specific.

what the hell are you on about? are you seriously implying that because i understand that he started a project and then got sick of it and frustrated and then quit with it, that i for some reason am unable to satisfy a woman? man Ive heard some dumbass **** in the camaro community, but that about takes the cake. sojer be damned this is the new troll thread

now that is a reasonable complaint

Relax man, just some BS rant humor. Honestly, your too serious for your own good.

I gotta go to work... Have a good one.

Doubt? Yes we all have our doubts as to what really happened. But the truth may never be revealed.

Hate? Who the hell said anything about hating Neal for his final decision? You can stick that assumption right back where you found it.

It just seems like a big waste to spend all that money (probably six figures worth) and time to just cut everything up, scrap it, and dissappear without a real reason or excuse. We all choose to believe what we want, that's freedom of choice. But don't make halfed-a$$ed assumptions about how we feel because some of us choose to call BS.

This is turning into a soap opera LOL

Weird, I started reading this thread today form post one, and after finishing post one from him I said to myself...This is never going to complete. I scrolled down a bit and was stoked to see 43 pages on this thread, figured I was wrong... but decided to double check and jump to the end.....
Sorry to see I was right.

Check out the cut-up lateral mount and the rust on the inside of the wheel well.....?

^ The car was FAR from finished and the build clearly wasnt going the way Neil wanted so he pulled the plug. No need to get all "hater" on this now. Took this thing farther than most ever will, so a bit of respect is in order dont ya think?

As you grow old you learn that sometimes, LIFE INTERRUPTUS!
I myself have been working on my project off and on since the mid 90's.

you know i tried to say the same thing but didn't word it aswell, its like they just don't get it

It was a beautiful car. People are just bummed they never got to see it finished.

that's just it again though, how do you think neil feels about it all? he was the one actually doing it

this.. makes me cry... just spent 5 hours straight reading this entire thread. all for the door handles.. and got sucked into all the cheering and stuff.. like reading a novel. like no lie, it hurts, this ending is unbelievable.... im gonna go crawl in a hole and die now... no reason to live anymore.....

you dont sink 30-40-50k into a car to the point its almost finished and notice some rust. never posted an accurate response, or posted pics of the damage that was so bad that he had to cut the car to pieces.

if rust was the real issue, then the car should have been scrapped when it was originally torn down.

kinda like going on with breast implants and a face lift on an 80 year old lady that has cancer and needs a heart transplant.

dont make sense.
hahah.

What really doesn't make sense is how emotionally invested so many 'MEN' are in this project. If i didn't know any better i would think these 'MEN' are a bunch of middle aged people suffering from menopause. There are so many reasons a person may want to tell their story a certain way because 'do i really want to be THAT GUY that made such a big mistake?, nah i'll just say it didn't work out because...'

People do that all the time with NO intention of harming/hurting anyone except 'maybe' your FEELINGS. Get over it people...

Someone please lock this thread!

Really ?? people have doubts about the the problems with the demise of the car. Long story -short. Neil got screwed by the shop in Houston who did the work. As we did more and more on the car the more issues we found. But when you have so much invested .it's hard to just throw it away. So we worked on it and worked on it. with the idea of coming back later and addressing these issues. We were mainly doing drivetrain .exhaust etc...but after it sat in the sun for day when I was cleaning out my shop, the entire car developed paint blisters....I mean big *** blisters.I was working on the rear quarter panels and discovered that when the widened the rear fenders they did each side different.one was 1/2" higher than the other and had rust covered in bondo..We knew that was the stopping point of trying to salvage the car.


issues with the car.


left front snout / core support had been replaced- left side was 3/4" further forward from a-pillar

turn the steering and the left front frame rail would rotate about 5/8" ( front snout)

crappy fiberglass hood never did fit right..Oh wait the car is 3/4 longer on the left side. no wonder it wouldn't align.

rear quarters. one side had 3/4" of bondo on it over a seam where they widened the fenders.

lower rockers- cancer covered with bondo.

new rear tail lights wouldnt fit because of bondo build up. the ones the body shop installed had be cut.

mini- tubs- imagine making some tubs using street signs and an axe as your only tool...

paint- entire car was blistering.....the more sunlight-the more blisters.

Neil put trust to a shop to do the work correctly and they did poor work. bottom line. it looked great when it came into my shop.It has a $10K paint job and it looked like they did great work.Problem is that it was all hidden under the paint. Neil asked me if I would fix it. I said NO. I cut the car up by myself.we could have sold it but Neil didn't want the liability of someone building the car and falling apart or getting hurt .That is the main reason it was cut up. It was junk !!!!

He bought another 3rd gen that we had blasted. Body was awesome. He called me one day and said what do you think about building a 2nd Gen.? He told me before he started the 3rd Gen that he wanted a 2nd Gen Trans Am but couldn't find a reasonable car to build so he built the 3rd Gen. He has since bought a 2nd Gen Firebird ,ordered a Roadster Shop chassis and we will be installing his LS drivetrain shortly .So that is the real story. Nothing crazy ! Neil paid top dollar for inferior work and ended up with a car that would never been up to his standard.....

any link to the new build?

It's been a while since I've updated you guys but not too much has gone on with the new build until now. I see many of you are disappointed that the build was never finished but I can assure you that I was not too happy about it either. I can agree with many of you in that I made many mistakes along the way.....sure the car had a bit of cancer, but if you know there is a cure for what you can visually see, cut it out and move on. Having owned this car since the early 90's I was prepared to do what it would take to make it a nice car....there was definitely a sentimental and financial attachment since I poured so much into this car! Look at it this way, I started breast implants on her only to find more cancer which would require a lot more cutting (see John's previous post for details) and honestly this was wearing me out. John was prepping the rear quarters for the spoiler end caps only to find 3/4" thick bondo on the passenger side.......pure disappointment is all I can say about the work some body shops do! To think I gave this guy aloooooot of $$$$. I guess when you ask for a "show car quality paint job" it's all relative. I didn't realize his idea of show car quality was polishing a turd! I'm getting frustrated again just thinking about that! Another life lesson I guess.....so guess who's doing the body work and paint on my new project? Yep, Neil, damn straight! So, back to the rear spoiler, to make that right would have require major cutting of the body and that wasn't the only issue (again see the previous post). I was at the point mentally of wrapping up this build and NOT tearing it down completely only to start all over.........that was frustrating for me! But I eventually got to that point, bought another Camaro, stripped it and was ready to start fresh with a solid body only until I also found a pretty clean 1970 Firebird, my dream muscle car to build! So, I found myself at a crossroads and maybe it was my "menopausal" moment but I decided to go the Firebird route. I can also say it sucks to leave this thread or novel as many of you call it with such a crappy ending... Kinda like the show "Lost", but I hope that many of you will follow the Firebird build.

I don't have a link or pics to share with you yet, but if you want to see what the chassis will look like go to:
http://roadstershop.com/chassis/1970-81-camaro/
Should have it by the end of the month. I decided to go the IRS route and I think there should be pics of this rear end on the Roadster Shop's website. The LSX454 and T-56, Big Stuff 3 and gauges will find a home in the Firebird. As much as I like the wheels, I might need to go with different offset's in the front and rear....TBD.

Anyway, for those of you who are interested, I'll keep you informed on build progress with a link to pics/video.

All the best to you guys,
Neil

id be interested in updates of the second gen.

good to hear from you Neil,
and the story why you ended the project.
good luck with the 70!

Thanks, I appreciate that!

On another note, if the moderators decide to lock this thread I understand; however, if they do not I will be more than happy to answer questions about this build and provide any insight wherever I can. Just downloaded the app on the phone so it should make answering PM's and posting replies much easier.

lmao Neil... I'm surprised it hasn't been locked already