I have seen on here many different threads on tech about how to swap fourth gen parts back onto our third gens and for many things it makes a lot of sense to upgrade for performance. But what about swaps from first and second gens to ours, maybe for looks and maybe just because it can be done, maybe because some things look sharper or are stronger/higher quality? I personally like the the first generation emblems, but that has been done and is pretty basic. What about things like the ols steel frames off of those cars?... likely it either couldn't be done/wouldnt be practical but that is on the far end of the spectrum of course. So am am officially asking it here because i haven't come across anything on it here about it -
what can be swapped, what have you swapped and what would you like to(see?) swapped into a third gen from the older models?
if a moderator thinks this would fit better somewhere else then by all means let it go there.

 

some of the preproduction 3rd gen z28s can be seen with '80-81 z28 wheels on them and they look good i think. In my opinion 1st gen and pre-78 2nd gen parts/styling generally looks wrong on 3rds-wrong era styling.For a while,starting around 1987,used to see 3rd gen parts installed onto 1st and 2nd gens-usually wheels,steering wheels,and sometimes consoles...

 

Someone on here swapped 2nd gen Z28 fender vents onto to his camaro. Can't remember who it was at the moment, but it looked great. I have the vents to do it to mine eventually, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I'd love to swap in the firstgen speedo & tach pods into mine, along with the low center console gauge cluster.

 

the gauges huh?... that would be somethin else, would you go with the fuel level, oil temp, clock or "camaro" in cursive right in the middle?... i've seen all different types ... i do love the look of the gauges down low too.... i honestly didnt think of that, maybe i should have posted in the interior section

 

Speedo & tach on the dash behind the wheel, fuel/oil/volts/temp on the console. Possibly an air/fuel as well, if I can fit it and make it look good. I do have some of the firstgen script Camaro emblems that I wanted to put on the front fenders. I was also thinking of putting the firstgen trunk badge on the dash in place of my stock RS badge. I have also kicked around the idea of putting one of those script emblems on the engine valve covers, like the old 60's Corvettes had.

 

Don't know if lits been done or could be done but rear axles.

 

what would be the benefit?... stronger?

 

yes-most 2nd gen had 8.5 ring gear instead of 7.5/7.625/7.75 rings found on thirds(i have heard '77 up non-performance 2nd gen also came with 7.5 ring gear) 1st gen had 8.2 rings. I have always wondered why GM never came up with a 8.5 rear for performance thirdgens,but they did come out with an 8.5 for high-performance G-bods...

 

there was a dana 44 available through chevy... and the borg-warner 9 bolt was on some 85-92 camaros... (very very few)... i suppose you could cut the stuff off of the 8.5 rear ends and weld on the stuff for a third gen... but if you were going to do that you may as well use a GM 12 bolt
but then you wouldn't have "all camaro" parts on your car

 

I would like to see a thirdgen, later than 86 preferably, z28 with a '69 RS nose and a big chin spoiler.

 

hmm, how would you go about that?... anyone have the dimensions for the front end on those cars around?.. hell if anybody is any good at illustrating and wants to draw somethin like that up i think everyone on this forum would dig seeing it.

 

In 1969 you could get a 12 bolt rear end in a camaro, Think COPO, so you could have an all camaro parts,

 

nice, didnt think of that.. how many spline though?

 

sickness91z28

 

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Sick...ew8-1.jpg.html

cars so dark you can barely see definition but it looks nice... i think.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/580439...vrolet-camaro/ <--thats the page where i got the pic up top from

 

Thanks! That's been bothering me.

 

Got your message Bobby! I have the car in storage right now, it'll probably be in storage for most of the year. Getting a new garage built to put it in. Here is a little more recent picture.....you can see the bottom of the fender vent a little closer. When I get it out of storage, I can take some more pictures if you want.

 

thanks man, looks great very clean. ya if you think about it i would love to see more. thanks.

 

I was honestly going to weld them into the fenders to have a "seamless" look. But they are made out of aluminum.....can't weld them to the fenders....

 

The rear axle would be a great swap and I looked into doing it. The big roadblock is that the 2nd gen rear axle doesn't have provisions for the torque arm mount and welding to the cast center section of the rear axle isn't ideal.

I like that a lot of styling crossed over from the late 2nd gen Firebirds to the early 3rd gen Firebirds, such as the louvered tail lights, the 3 spoke steering wheel, and the early cars with power windows even had 2nd gen firebird emblems to cover the window crank hole in the door panel! I like the 2nd gens enough that I decided to go with Snowflake wheels on my 84 T/A and I think they go very well with it.

 

doesn't sound impossible but i wonder if the weakening of that center section would be enough to make much of a difference. or if it would, wouldn't it just be better to get an axle built to do what you are trying to do? i mean if you put all that time and energy into making something do something it wasn't meant to do only to fail and ruin a perfectly good part in the process it would be a waste. however if you were to do it and do it right and it worked then you would have made a nice little discovery for the community that would/could be forever remembered...?hmm?

 

Well that's why I ended up not doing it. I decided it wasn't worth the work/risk even though it'd be cool to do. I was trying to come up with a bolt-on torque arm mount but I couldn't come up with a design I was happy with

 

even if ya could, the amount of fabrication required would be a pain in the a$$.

 

If I had the time and money and another 3rd gen I'd swap in a 69 Camaro complete interior. I like them way better but the modification to make it fit would be ridiculous.

 

ya... and the price !

 

Haha like I said if I had the money.. which seems not to exist with me anymore.

 

^ with most anyone anymore my friend...