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Hello all, First post to this Forum! and first Camaro project, I hadn't really thought of posting anything until now for the fact of getting a little bit of extra help in my journey along the way of building a sweet hotrod. As i just said the goal of this whole project was to build a fun, fast agile third gen. I'm not going to type out my whole life story. Although i will share that i' have owned a few fun cars, (WRX-and a 89 Corvette). With that being said, i know a little A-LOT about FAST vehicles
This car will be my first attempted project on my own to see if my skills can get the job done. (I am only 22) and most of my life i have been helping with my father with his cars as I was growing up. Long story short, the car i decided to buy is rough to say the least. I will share some photos..... almost every body panel on the car has dents, the car was sitting in a yard for years with the t tops missing.... huge rust holes in the floor, both bumper front and rear were beat to hell.... The stock 305 had so much blowby it was smoking like a steam train... the 700r4 would slip going into second gear.... tires run flat overnight. Anyways you should get the point now. The only good part of the car was it at least drove down the street. Also i could move it in and out of the garage when painting and stripping the interior. I skipped a lot of steps not adding this thread or pictures earlier, but here we are.
What's done so far you might ask? interior is stripped- drove around my big city and picked up front bumper, hood, fenders, tail lights. I picked up a T5 trans I'm going to swap the the auto out with, i have a 87 GTA rear end that has POSI and a better rear gear ratio (with disk brakes). This car has rear drum brakes. Oh and 1 more thing. I am building a 1 piece rear main 383 stroker with a Eagle kit i purchased on Summit. Picked up some nice AFR 195CC Enforcer heads that are on that motor now. Without more backstory i am going to share those photos now. Sorry for the blurry photos, I had to capture photos from a video walk around I had.
Here are more photos that i ran out of space for.......
Not exactly a Professional finish on the paint, but it looks pretty good because of the Satin Color.
Great pics....looks good! You might start another thread in "Tech/General Engine" to talk about just the drivetrain, and then share all of the body updates, in this thread. It's come a LONG way, so far!
Quick update on the floor project...
Yesterday I cut out and welded the rest of the rear passenger floor in, came out okay I guess...... the welds aren't pretty but hey, it's not going to be a show car. I will add those pics...
Today I have working on cutting out the driver side floor pan and WOW there is a little bit more damage that i didn't notice earlier.
As i grab my flashlight and crouch on the floor, lean back and glace up at the underside of the pan.... my eyes widen! this is what I see..........
In all seriousness its not the worst thing in the world. From what it looks like to me is the last owner tried to put the car on a lift or jack stands where it was already rusty and soft. I don't have a picture of the inside of the car because i took a hammer to it to straighten in out, but the inside part of the door seal was pushed into the foot pedal area about and inch. That wasn't really something I noticed until I looked at the adjacent side of the car. Im still thinking on the best way to cover that patch and side piece without making it an even bigger fabrication project.
Here are more pics of what the floor well like like at the moment after i have cut out most of the rust......
After looking at these photos, my question to you guys is what I focus on reinforcing wise, I'm not sure what parts need to be the strongest and if I need to weld a flat piece from that beam to the edge or just a flat panel across and welds from the beam to the underside of the panel. if you guys get my meaning.
Not the sort of surprise you want, but it happens. You're making good progress...keep it up.
I'm not an expert on this, but I know the transmission crossmember nuts, welded inside the frame, have a bad habit of twisting off when you try to remove the bolts. I'm not saying THESE are the trans croosmember nuts (they may be...I don't know), but it might be worth throwing a weld on those nuts if they are salvageable, or replacing them if they are not, while you have good access.
Not the sort of surprise you want, but it happens. You're making good progress...keep it up.
I'm not an expert on this, but I know the transmission crossmember nuts, welded inside the frame, have a bad habit of twisting off when you try to remove the bolts. I'm not saying THESE are the trans croosmember nuts (they may be...I don't know), but it might be worth throwing a weld on those nuts if they are salvageable, or replacing them if they are not, while you have good access.
I will have to check that out, I appreciate the heads up! I will keep this updated on the progress...
random one - is your car a factory t-top car? I ask as I had understood that t-top cars came with metal ridges on the transmission tunnel - but may be I've got that wrong?
Wow, those floor pans! That's adding..... lightness!!
As a long-time autocrosser, the first question I'll ask is: What class are you building for? From the new engine and trans swap, I'm thinking it's already going to be a CAM/CP build? Answering THAT question now will go a long way to knowing what's legal and not in class. That way you're not bringing a knife to a gun fight for the next event.
random one - is your car a factory t-top car? I ask as I had understood that t-top cars came with metal ridges on the transmission tunnel - but may be I've got that wrong?
Yes, the car was originally a t top car. I've looked everywhere for a RPO sticker and couldn't find one my specific car. I found one in the center console where it should be, but after searching up the vin on the sticker a few times the only thing that it would pull was a Suburban vin with its RPO codes. There is a vin for the car on the windshield, not sure if i can look up the vin somewhere to find those codes.
Wow, those floor pans! That's adding..... lightness!!
As a long-time autocrosser, the first question I'll ask is: What class are you building for? From the new engine and trans swap, I'm thinking it's already going to be a CAM/CP build? Answering THAT question now will go a long way to knowing what's legal and not in class. That way you're not bringing a knife to a gun fight for the next event.
Right on! I was wondering when I was going to run into other Auto X guys.... I think I was aiming for Cam C to start. The car is not going to be getting any real suspension overhauls for a while until I start saving money LOL. I haven't looked in the rulebook for a while, It might even be Street Mortified. You might know more of where it could fall.. 300tw tires, gutted, modified motor. That's really what its going to be in the next year or so. What region are you in?
The gutted interior will put you in CP for now. CAM still requires some interior pieces.
Nebraska Region
CP #29
1981 Camaro
IIRC, even SM requires some interior bits, but it's been a while since I've read the SM rules. CAM, I believe, requires a pretty much full interior, although you can replace things, like carpet and sound deadener with light weight carpet, etc. I don't think SM requires a back seat, but the area needs to be covered with carpet.
But yeah, a hearty Welcome, to CP!! There's NOTHING wrong with the Heavy Metal Class!!
I'd suggest a class that lets you run at least a 4-point roll bar, and a 6-point is better, if for nothing more than stiffening the chassis. Make sure you can tab the top of the main loop to the top of the sail panels. Then, go with weld-in SFCs. They don't call these cars 'flexible flyers' for nothing!!
The part I've pointed out with arrows, the circle and outlines (got a little overzealous with the markings) is a substantial part of the car's frame/structure. Much like the C4, that you're familiar with, that rocker rail-into-the-door post area is the structure of the car, and the floor pan is more-so to hold up things inside the car (seats, your feet, the center console, etc) than it is much of a structure. Yes the floor pan adds some strength to the car, but it's minimal compared to the rocker rails, A-posts, roof frame, B-posts and other features that are clearly designed to do one thing only; add strength and stiffness to the structure.
Anyway, That section is important, I would make a pattern, then cut out all of the rust and then butt weld in some sheet of comparable thickness or slightly thicker. That's going to take some time to get the pieces cut right, welded in, and I can't tell in the pics, but it looks like you need an "inside", and a "bottom"....at least. You can probably buy pre-stamped rocker pieces, but they cost $$, and you can hand form pieces from sheet w/patience and practice. Your choice. Also, If Pick 'n Pull/Tear A Part etc has any F-bods you could cut out a rocker/floor assy and weld the whole segment in.
Last edited by Tom 400 CFI; Mar 31, 2026 at 05:57 PM.
The part I've pointed out with arrows, the circle and outlines (got a little overzealous with the markings) is a substantial part of the car's frame/structure. Much like the C4, that you're familiar with, that rocker rail-into-the-door post area is the structure of the car, and the floor pan is more-so to hold up things inside the car (seats, your feet, the center console, etc) than it is much of a structure. Yes the floor pan adds some strength to the car, but it's minimal compared to the rocker rails, A-posts, roof frame, B-posts and other features that are clearly designed to do one thing only; add strength and stiffness to the structure.
Anyway, That section is important, I would make a pattern, then cut out all of the rust and then butt weld in some sheet of comparable thickness or slightly thicker. That's going to take some time to get the pieces cut right, welded in, and I can't tell in the pics, but it looks like you need an "inside", and a "bottom"....at least. You can probably buy pre-stamped rocker pieces, but they cost $$, and you can hand form pieces from sheet w/patience and practice. Your choice. Also, If Pick 'n Pull/Tear A Part etc has any F-bods you could cut out a rocker/floor assy and weld the whole segment in.
Okay perfect! this is good to know, I will use this as a template. The steel i have to work with is 11gauge so it should be pretty decent for this footwell if its as important as you say. As i thought about how I'm going to do this more. I'm thinking of cutting a long piece to the seat connector, then all the way to the piece that starts to bend up to the firewall then tubing that whole structure together. Second i will add the floor pieces in. it also looks like the factory tac welds the subframe connector to the floor. Not sure if its beneficial to put a few beads on the underside of the bar and floor.
Thanks for all the help!
It's not easy to do good looking welds on tin with a 110 MIG.
Seems like it might be easier to work on with that seat not there?
Looks pretty good. Do you need to grind a radius into the new sheet on the inside of the rocker, where the door post turns into the rocker rail? It looks like the weld seam is too high up, right there...
Last edited by Tom 400 CFI; Apr 12, 2026 at 08:51 PM.
It's not easy to do good looking welds on tin with a 110 MIG.
Seems like it might be easier to work on with that seat not there?
Looks pretty good. Do you need to grind a radius into the new sheet on the inside. of the rocker, where the door post turns into the rocker rail? It looks like the weld seam is too high up, right there...
If I'm following with what you are saying, I met the new panel to the top of the rocker panel. Then I welded over the top of the two pieces. i wont have to cut off the bottom piece as that only holds up the front fender.
There's NOTHING wrong with the Heavy Metal Class!! 
