Hey everyone, new to the site and new to the chevy world. Picked up my first 87 camaro about a month ago, 2.8 and running, it is currently my daily driver. I liked the feel so much I went and picked up another 87, this one is a 305.


Back story and my experience level:
I have been a honda guy since I bought my first car, I know I know.... tuners... Yuck. But ladies and gents I have seen the light and made the switch. Sold my civic and moved to camaros.
I know how to swap motors in hondas all day but I am new to this realm so I will need some help, I am reading all of the posts that I can and am soaking it in!

What I want to do. The 87 that I just picked up has a better body than my other (the a** that had it before me put a sunroof in my daily driver) and I want to work on that as my main project. Want to swap over to a carbed 350 and eliminate the mess of wiring in the bay. For now I am in the process of stripping it down, and I want to know the areas that I can shave, I don't want to start filling holes that I will need later for the 350.

From what I have read there are a minimum amount of wiring that is needed to hook up a 350, thus another reason for wanting to tuck and shave.

I want to keep the windshield wiper motor, relocate the battery. I am very open to suggestions, also does anyone live in nor cal. sac area?

 

If you are in Cal. aren't you going to have to worry about emissions, visual inspections etc? If so a carb'd 350 may not be the answer.

 

That's why I love being in the military and being able to register in a state that doesn't care about emissions. They only do vininspections where I'm from.
So pretty much anything goes with this build.

Btw I went to tech school in Wichita falls! Denim and diamonds all the time! Can't beat 50 cent beers.

 

yea, there is lots of bay-destrians on TGO (me included East Bay). what you shave depends on what you want to keep.

I shaved my door handles, firewall, antenna, nose + tail emblems, wiper fluid and coolant overflow... if it was't a vert, I would do the gas cap too! it's not the rocket science that everyone makes it out to be. was quite easy.

 

Very nice, I'm also in the middle of taking a class for body restoration mainly for the welding portion. What kind of welder should I look into buying in order to close up those holes?

 

MIG... but just about anything will work.. your not making full seam welds, just a tack here and there.

 

Also note that some dragstrips, tracks, and auto-x events may not let you in if you have shaved handles due to safety concerns.

Dragstrips that stick to NHRA and IHRA rules won't allow a relocated battery unless you have an electrical cut-off in case of fire. Which kinda doesn't make sense to me as a factory car doesn't have an external master cut-off switch anyways.

One of the reasons I haven't relocated my battery yet though, I don't want to install a master switch on the rear bumper.

 

For a welder I use a small 110V Miller MIG. I can use both sheilded and flux core wire. It is big enoungh to handle anything I have ever needed to weld. Maybe multiple passes but it has worked very well. I have built a 20 foot car hauling trailer and ramps as well as trailer hitches and repaired door panels and built three carports with it.

 

Id use a MIG. I wouldnt do stick welding as it will be very easy to burn through thin metal.

If your looking to clean up the engine bay, id get rid of the windshield washer bottle, coolant washer bottle(both turn a hazed yellow over time) and if you dont want it id even get rid of the heater setup. Itll be a bigger project for sure that will require welding, not tacking or filling in holes. Im sure there a ton of engine bay stuff im missing for sure though! So those are only suggestions! Good luck with it and take some pictures when you finally decide to do it!!!!!

 

MIG it is then! Thank you all for the replys! This build seems to be coming together quite nicely. I'll be picking up a four bolt main next week for $50. Machine shop will be its next stop and durin that time I'll be prepping the body for paint.
I think I may stick with the AC and heater setup just for that extra bit of luxury, never really had AC in a car before.
Thanks again all. I will be sure to post pics of the build.