Hello everyone, I'm new to the thirdgen forums (I'm still learning about the site so bear with me) but I have a few questions about what to choose. So I currently drive an 83 camaro z28 with a 5.0 HO and a 5 speed, t tops, power everything (except seats) that my dad, uncle and I just recently painted. It's in my dad's name at the moment (it was just sitting in the back yard rotting away) and I have the chance to buy it, or go with my original plan and keep saving for a 4th gen ss, 6 speed, t-tops etc. the blue camaro still needs a lot of work. It runs pretty decent for being the original motor but it desperately needs help. The trans has about had it, the motor smokes like a trailer park on the 4th of July and the suspension is nearly shot. It's been in two wrecks (when my brother owned it) and needs to be straightened out on a frame machine. It doesn't need much but it sits slightly higher on one side. If I buy the blue one i could get it for around 1500 bucks. I would do a motor and trans rebuild/swap to start (after fixing the frame) and it would either be a 350 motor that we have sitting in the garage that needs to be machined and put back together, or I'm considering putting an ls1 and a t56 in it. Which should I do? Let my dad keep the car and my go ahead with my original plan and buy a 4th gen? Or buy the one I have now and fix it up? I'm gonna test drive a couple 4th gens to see how they feel, sometime in the next few days.

 

Depends on how much you want to spend on it. LS1/T56 swap is expensive. To give you an idea, my LS1/4l60E swap was upwards of 5 Grand. Easiest is to buy a donor vehicle that was in a wreck and transfer the good useable parts over.

If the third gen is bent and twisted in frame, it will need an entire rebuild. So if you are willing to put that much in, be ready for it.

 

4th gen Firebird/Trans Ams are nice. The Camaros are horrible UGLY. But.. they do haul @%#

 

olbluez28... And one test drive in a nice solid clean 4th gen LS1 6 Speed TA and you'll be hooked......I know.

 

I have one of each, my '86 has an unfinished LSx swap in it, I'm into the swap about a grand, and it will take at least another grand to get that driveable. Only I don't really want to. Current plan is to get my LSx into my '94, then put a '96-'00 Vortec 7400 ( best of the stock, production 454s ) into my '86.
Like everyone, I want a used T56 in each, but I'm not willing to pay the going rate. Good luck finding one for $1500. I can have 3 4L80Es plus HD rebuild kits for all 3 for that money.
Styling is a matter of personal preference, noone can decide that for you. As for the 4th gen having any objective benefits, I've yet to find one, other than ABS. I guess that depends on what you think about airbags and rear shoulder belts, which third gens didn't get until 89 or 90.
Both gens can fit huge brakes, 18x10.5s front and 17x11s rear, similar aftermarket support, 4th gen does have more salvage yard support now.

 

When you say an entire rebuild what do you mean? Rebuild as in suspension components/mounts? Sub frame connectors? If I buy the car I was already planning on getting some umi peformance coils, subframe connectors, swaybars etc.

 

Hahaha yeah the thirdgens in my opinion were the last truly good looking camaro. But I wouldn't mind living with a fourth gen either.

 

I was also thinking about a ws6 TA but haven't found any in my location..

 

I have a little over 8k at the moment, 1500 for the thirdgen would leave me with almost 7k for repairs, aftermarket parts and what ever else. There are a couple ls motors in the atlanta area for 1600-2100 but don't come with a trans. But they do come with wiring harness and accessories. Supposedly, that is..

 

By rebuild I mean that on the surface it may have little problems like alignment, but when you pull the pieces off you might find wrinkles in the subframe. Also if your body panels are dented or beyond fixing then you need new ones- which are pricey. You might also need to have the car put on a frame machine to get straightened out. If you go LSx, then you need a harness- or one that you can take apart and build to suit your needs. In addition if you buy a complete LS1, you will still need the stuff that will make that LS1 and that Camaro join hands in matrimony. (fuel, exhaust, electrical)

If there is rust on the body then those pieces have to get cut out before the disease spreads. If your car has a problem with the floor then you need to replace sheet metal and unless you can weld, it needs to be sourced out.

I took mine in phases. I first removed everything- i had nothing in the engine bay. I painted and then placed the steering back in and the brakes. I then installed the motor and then the trans and then worked around it. Lastly I did fuel. I worked on the car by day and the harness by night. In under 2 months I had it back together minus the exhaust. That took me another 3 weeks and cost around 150 bucks in total because my dad and I can weld and were able to reuse the old exhaust tubing for the most part.

With suspension, it depends on what the car has now, I went all stock and am perfectly happy. The car sees daily driving and has never seen the track. Driving it feels great, it is comfortable, fast when i want it to be, and a looker.

And the other thing is that you may not want to put all you have saved into a car.

 

I need to get it up on a lift and take a look under it and see what it needs. The car has minimal rust. Ive had all the interior panels out and havent found any rust inside. I took car of some rust in the t top area but eventually all of that needs to be redone. But we sanded the all of the surface rust off and weve had most of the body panels (fenders, hood, all base trim, duck tails, spoiler etc) off when prepping for paint and didnt see any horrible paint. My uncle (used to be a professinal autopainter/delta jet painter) walked us through the prepping of the car. But like you said i dont know if dumping all that money in to the car would be worth it. Ill send some pics

 

Heres what it looked like before

 

And after

 

And what used to be the worst side of the car. This was a (get it looking a little better and then figure out what to do next) paint job.

 

And here's where you can really see the bent frame. Dont mind that ugly a$& exhaust, its getting cut off and re done eventually.

 

Honestly, it depends on what you have more of a passion for. I'm a sucker for third gens, so I might be just a bit biased, haha.

But in all seriousness, I'd go with the blue Camaro.

 

Dang, you have made a lot of progress. Props!

 

besides the body frame being the way it is, what mechanically is wrong with it (excluding motor/trans)

basically I am thinking what does it needs besides that stuff - so when you do open it up you are sort of prepared and stuff doesn't appear out of thin air which causes you problems down the line

-you know the old saying fix one thing 2 others pop up

 

Thanks! It's come a long way from when I first pulled her out of the back yard.

 

Well, I just replaced the water pump, fuel pump, rebuilt carburetor, clutch slave/master cylinder and line (pain in the a$&) and a couple other things. Other than the motor and trans it's pretty solid. It needs new shocks and a brake line on the front left spindle. The clutch is like 4-5 years old I think, brakes are relatively new and the rotors and bearings are still pretty tight and not worn down. I need to get the car up on jack stands and crawl under it and see what else. We just did an autocross with it and it did great with having some worn out parts. (Everyone was in the low 40's and I finally got in to the mid 40's. 45 or 46 I think.) but other than that I'm not sure what else it needs.

 

Had some under steer but cured it with a tab of POWWAAA and drifted half the course

 

In that case do some research on doing a 350 and and LS1 swap, and whichever appeals to you more, go with it and feel free to ask if anything is unclear... this forum helped me out a lot with that.

Stick with the 3rd gen IMO

anyone else.....

 

Yeah i know.. Decisions decisions.

 

I'd stick with the 3rd gen imo. Also you can always snag a 5.3 instead of the ls1. When I was looking I was looking to pay 1500 to 2000 for just the ls1. I snagged my 5.3 and 4l60e for 900 bucks. Biggest thing though depending on where you source your motor from you will need the accessories and oil pan setup. I got mine from the junk yard and either way they won't sell you the accessories but I'm still only out about 5 or 600 for that.

Last thing I'd like to point out. A ls swap seemed like a big reach for me but thanks to everyone I'm finally almost done with everything.

 

Yeah..

 

Sorry for not replying very quickly. Ive ended up buying a super nice ss 4th, 6 speed, for around the same money that i would've taken me to completely rebuild the thirdgen. I would like to thank everyone for their tips and opinions and for being super nice and for quick responses! I will continue to post as i will still drive the third gen every once in a while and im sure my dad will have some questions in the future about electronics on those things haha.