Not all Camaros where cerated equal and neither was mine!

Soft springs, ac-delco shocks and sturts, nearly the smallest sway bars offered for a 3rdgen a non-performance oriented steering gearbox oh don't forget the worn out bushings on nearly every suspension component. Open differential rear end with dumb brakes. This all had to go!

(My goal)
To replace the entire suspension, drive line and exhaust system. Have a nice cruise able car that sounds amazing and have the ability to take auto crossing on a weekend plus have the underside look as clean as the topside. . .


Heres what im staring with














Now on to the topside of the car

 

After taking the seats and carpet out i found random sports of rust mostly surface and some small rust holes no bigger then a quarter i also started to scrap the underside rubberized coating off to see if i could find anything else that was hidden






I soaked these suckers in cleaner for a day to make the tar easier to come up

 

masking the ares getting cut


Heres one example of a patch panel i made.
I don't have any shrinker's, stretchers, brakes or dolly tools
just a vice and a hammer. I used 16ga steel for all my patchs




All the ares on the floor pans patched






I started to clean up the wires and mask off the dash
i did a long once over with a wire wheel on the entire top and 80 grit sand paper where i saw fit. after that was done i below out the car with an air hose and leaf blower and vacuumed it i then used a paint prep over the entire car till the rags would go over the surface and not pick anything up. It has nearly taking me the whole summer and fall to get to this point! Then i layed down some rust converter to be on the safe side. . .


waited a day for the converter to dry then scuffed it up then primmered the top side with a primer that has rust stopping ability's


waited another day to paint

 

 

Wow,
Looks good.
That's the same thing I want to do to my car, going to go more drag oreiented though.
Just need to save some money before I start.

 

I was planning on starting a thread just like this, you beat me too it!! Doing the same to my car, but rebuilding engine also. Looks good!! Really nice job on the handformed patch panels...

 

yea i just got done with the bay and engine on mine i have a thread on that too
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/cama...bay-start.html

 

i had a few rear ends laying around both from 3rdgen and 4thgen cars but i decided to refresh a 9 bolt i pulled from a low mile iroc iv never ran into any problems with a 9 bolt other then the scares parts - But will see how it holds up around corners

Heres a few before and after - i also fab up my own rear deff cover its not like after market ones that utilize the mains but it should add some structural integrity





I bought re-manufactured iron calipers and new e brake cables these are just to get me by for now. I plan on going with corvette 13" rotors and 4 piston calipers on all four corners in the future

 

Looks real good. What did you do on those pieces that are slotted into the floor? Do people weld in a staright plate? Im trying to fiqure out with my rusted ones what I should do.

 

i like this project and seems like you do thing once and do them right! I will be following this thread and I am sure others will be learning from it. (not that im an expert). cant wait to see the results. keep posting progress!!

 

1LE drive shaft - just FYI 87+ rear ends with this driveshaft you'll need a part # 3-3130 u-joint



cleaned up the drive shaft

 

I first went with a random technology torque arm
but i ran into some problems, i wanted to make it cross member mounted . . .














After i welded the mount for the transmission bushing to bolt to i decided to not keep building it,
Heres why. The arm i had was a random technology which mounts to the tail shaft and uses a special bushing. At the beginning of the arm where it mounts to the tail shaft was threaded for what i thought was for rod end so i sized out a rod end i needed and ordered it. i screwed the rod end on the of the torque arm only to find out the speedo cable interferes with the operation and movements the arm will be doing. i could have maybe got by with an electric speedo or just cut the torque arm back a bit to accommodate the extra length the rod end added but i didn't want to cut it so i decided to just buy cross mounted torque arm instead which i should have just bought in the beginning


----------
I went and ordered one from UMI along with some relocation brackets

 

The fourth gen looks jealous, given ya the evil eye in the background!

 

Got my UMI stuff

 

Subframes - after looking at many sets and buying steel to build my own i decided to go with jegsters since they are bolt on's. i plan on sending the car out to get a custom alinement and get it put on a frame rack at the same time so once the cars on the frame rack and everything checks out like i hope, the sub frames will be welded while the cars still on the rack making it 100% strait . . .
after thats done im going to tie in the front and rear sub frames using the same size and thickness of steel



these only weigh 15lbs each and i already got them bolted in i had to mod a few areas on the floor pan but man these tuck up nice. . . now i just need to add some new paint

 

Nice job.......

 

 

uhh I cant wait to see this car all done.

 

guys

Well i decided to paint most all my components blue i tried red at first but i didn't really like and it didn't go well with the color i have for this car plus everyone else has red colored crap so here you go . . .

 

more stuff, i decided to give a pan hard rod with polyurethane bushing a try. realistically i should be running what i have ran on my other cars and thats a pan hard bar with rod ends but the vibrations and noise is not really what i want on the street. not only does the pan hard bar center the rear end it also plays into the rear handling characteristics of the car

 

looks great man, I like the idea of waiting to weld your sub frame connectors. keep up the great work.

 

thanks! well i weighed the UMI torque arm with all the hardware and cross member altogether it came to 38.4lbs
its very heavy but by the looks of its construction and welds it could probly take unlimited amounts of power and torque forces with out braking
----------
im basically trying to keep this car on a constrict diet. . .

 

I went with polyurethane bushings on my a-arms since my OEM rubber bushings where shoot. I do plan on going with some DEL-A-LUM bushings sometime soon.
but to keep the a-arms from twisting with the "no deflection" polyurethane bushings i reinforced them
i also went with new Moog ball joints too!

 

WOW!!! just what are those pieces of steel for in that last pic ^^^^ is that your a-arm reinforcements? Looks good!

 

subscribing..awesome work man!..keep it up and keep us posted

 

good work on your floor pans. fortuantly for me both mine have been completly rust free inside and only minimul surface rust underneath and i live in IL i guess im lucky.

 

New Linkage Vs OEM stock

 

Headers - i went with jet-hot coated hedman long tubes and for the y-pipe and cat back it will all be 100% mandrel bent stainless steel tubing 2.25" into 3.25"

 

Nice work, i just did the front end myself (PITA) getting ready to do the rear, the pics should help a ton thanks!!



Btw where did you get those calipers, and how much where they ?

 

i got them from checkers or bumper to bumper i forget but it was $65 per caliper with a core

 

Thanks

 

Looks like your car is going to turn out great!

 

I already have a 8 point roll cage and a 3 point STB but i don't think i'm going to use them. they been siting in the garage for nearly ever. . . the only reason why i would use the 8 point which even then id just do a 4 or 6 point is to run a 5 point harness and make it a 2 seater. . . i plan on making it a 2 seater anyways but im really undecided, i dont really need a STB and its not going to work with my engine setup but its to early in the build to know for sure - I do however plan to get some Alston Racing sub frames if i don't use the cage this will really help triangulate everything . . .


this week i should have most the stuff bolted into place
and should be closer to taking it to the framer

 

very sick. i could never do all that work. i just sent with a completely new stock iroc on my 90 but you went all out. way to go.

 

i see you went with a 4th gen rear end but isn't it 4 inches wider than the 3rd gen reat end? are you going to use lots of negative to get the wheels to fit like a 3rd gen. or did you mean something else when you said iv?

 

thats not a 4th gen diff, its a 9bolt

 

Wow. Great Job.

I just started my long-term project today. Came home from college to find two inches of water in my floor board. I'm stripping my floor boards tomorrow. Thanks for the cleaner idea for the plugs!!!

 

och - well good luck i also use a impact hammer with a chisel on the end

 

Subscribing. I like to see these kind of projects. Done at home, but done right. Looks good so far.

 

Dude, I'm following this! Q..how long have you owned this car? Smart to do the suspension first...you'll definitely feel a big diff. with all these mods. I know I did, and I didn't do as much as you're doing!!! Are you up-grading the brakes? What springs are you using?

 

Wow I am planning on doing a similar sort of deal. I am gettin an LS1 and I will find a transmission from somewhere. But will my driveshaft and stock rearend work with the new transmission and LS1. Sorry if I am coming of stupid but this is my first full on build. I really like what you did with your car and it should turn out really nice. Keep up the good work and good luck.

 

this was my very first car. i'm doing the car in steps
engine bay, chassis & suspension driveline, body & paint, interior,
wheels tires and brakes. . . { i do plan on upgrading the brakes after i get bigger wheels i plan on going with 13" rotors and 4 piston calipers on all four corners
----------
what tranny?

 

i posted this in another one of my thread but if you haven't seen it here you go - i had to modify the k-member and a-arm ears to fit the headers in with out having them rest or touch the k-member and ears



again making and forming my own peaces by hand

 

i hope to get the underside wrapped up by the end of next week - im still undecided on the roll cage. . . i think im just going to stick with my organelle plans and triangulate the underside subframes

 

That is the k-member in the pic correct? Never saw one of those rusted through yet.. damn..
Also hard to tell from the pic, are they new brake lines? I just got done with a full strip down of my engine bay repaint and installed a new drivetrain.. what a mess... my lines were starting to rust through on the drivers side around that area there..

 

iits not rusted through i had to cut peaces off and box it to fit the headers in like i said . . .






i had to cut and modify about 5 to 7 peaces on
the - k-member and a-arm ears....

 

wow, a little reading goes a long way... don't know how I missed that.. lol, looks like it's coming along nicely

 

Looks like it is coming along very nicely

 

First of all thank you for the reply. I am not sure about transmission yet I still have to find one. I am still in high school and I am on a very strict budget. I am trying to do the cheapest build and so far so good. Is there a way that I can retain the driveshaft and rear end in the car. If I dod get a new rear end would I also need a new driveshaft. Thanks for all of your help. I really like what you have been doing to yours and it looks like you do good work so I thought I would ask an expert. Anyway good luck with your she looks like she is off to a really good start.

 

The 700r4 transmission wasn’t available in Camaros until 1984. so i dont know much about the pre 84 drive shafts but the 1984 - 1992 steel shafts where 2.5" in diameter they where mass produced with very relaxed tolerances the 1988 - 1992 aluminum drive shafts like the one im using are 2.75" in diameter theres about a 7 pound differents between the steel one and the aluminum (the aluminum one being lighter of course) besides the decreased rotating mass the aluminum one has a higher critical speed do to the 0.25" incress in circle diameter then that of the steel one and is also high rpm tested, moving on the 4thgen V6 cars they came with a two peace drive shafts and as far as i know all 1993 - 1997 cars have steel 2.5" diameter including the one peace drive shafts that V8 cars got there was a service bulletin put out for the 4thgen V8 cars do to terrible vibration coming from the drive shaft more then half the cars rolling off the assembly line for those model years. if your was under warranty they would replace it for free with that of a 1988 - 1992 aluminum one and in rare cases the 1984 - 1992 steel ones. GM finally fixed this problem for the 1998 model year making a 3" aluminum drive shaft standard so to answer your question all 1984 - 2002 drive shafts will work for any transmission in these model years (700r4/T5/4l60e/t56) and any rear end in the model years (9bolt/10bolt) the only thing that you will or maybe run into is the different in U-joints there are many pros and cons to using a aluminum drive shaft over a steel one

but holy crap im winded!