Just wondering what everyone has spent on say like a 82 or 83 3rd gen that needed work. What have you spent to restore to decent condition? I got an 83 Z which needs floor pan repair, new doors, emissions crap added, exhaust work, new paint, new carpet, weather stripping all the way around. Can you justify a restore on this car or would she be a good donor for my Iron Duke Camaro?

Brandon

 

Donor, it would cost you atleast $10K to get it restored with yourself doing all the work.

 

Do it slowly over time. It is really hard to justify restoring just about any 3rd gen right now. The value will in time go up, especially on certain models, so it will make a little more sense later on, but chances are you will never get all of your money out of it.

The 83 Z will be worth A LOT more than a base camaro will in years to come though.....

Good luck and hope it helps...


Tom

 

I'm not saying performing a frame off. Was thinking of restoring just enough to drive. Fixing everything that needs, plus adding new carpet, headliner, seats, & paint & either new engine or just add emissions. Here's exactly what she needs:

New doors (donor car)
New carpet (from leak)
New weather stripping (all the way around)
Emissions equipment
Paint
Exhaust work
New e-brake cables
speedo re-connected
New dipstick/tube
A/C, heating repair
New floor pans or patches at the least
New gasket for rear end

She could be a donor car for the Iron Duke car or the other way around.

Brandon

 

The floorpans look like the most costly $$. Check with a few body shops and see what the cost is to replace them and take it from there. Looks like pretty much anything else is easy stuff to fix...

Thanks

Tom

 

Just trying to do everything I can to save her before teardown. The floor pans could be patched for now. Thanks for your input.

Brandon

 

I had about 7 grand in my 84 Z28 (L69)-1992 Z28 Clone before a lady hit me and smashed the hell out of it. I've got a 91 Z28 now....so far...I have over $1000 in just the exhaust.....I'll probably have around 5 grand by the time I'm done with it......

here was the 84:

 

Sweeeet!!! :hail: :hail: :hail:

 

I have restored the inside of my car and all decals and emblems on the outside. Maybe i have spent something like 1000 dollars.

 

I think Ive got like 2200 in my car, but I had a motor and paid nothing for labor as my father and I did the car. I bondoed quite a bit, it was MUCH cheaper than two fenders, and you cant tell where the bondo is. Half-assed to fix that way, yes, but cheap. My interior is mostly intact, but my windshield had bullet holes in it. My paint was awful, but that was painted, and the car had no exhaust when I got it so it was just an excuse to get a Hooker System. Restoring a car is fun besides, work on it slowly. My father took 16 years and about 3 grand doing his 67. What if he junked it 12 years ago? Hed be a fool, and would regret it like he does his old 61 vette with a 302 in it (yeah a real one, he got from someone with a dealer, hes a fool) that he sold 13 years ago to buy a boat. The boat held its value though, but I cant beleive he sold it. Hes glad he kept the camaro, and he finished it before I got into cars. It was in as bad of shape as your Z, and now it is in awesome condition and makes a great driver.

 

I've been wanting to restore my 88 camaro, but I just recently found our how much it will cost to get it painted.

Here in Kent, WA, they want 3k to paint the car. Since the car needs to be stripped down to bare metal the total cost will be 8500 plus body work. She needs a new hatch, passenger door and passenger rear quarter.

The car is just a plain jane camaro w/ ground effects and T-Tops.
It only has value to me. I bought her brand new in 1988. I'm thinking of just putting her to sleep and checking on a 34 ford kit car.

 

Over the course of 6 years ive probably spent 1500 to 2000 on my car. I haven't done much too it over the years.

 

I bought my 92 GTA for only $7,000 and since I've got about $5K in restoration and upgrades. I still have another $4,700 or so to go. Of course when I'm done it will be showroom condition and mechanically 100% perfect in everyway. It will be far from concours but eventually in about 20 or 30 years I will spend the really big $$$ (est. $40K in todays market) on a full concours resto.

I would like to add that the main reason I've spent so much is because I ONLY use Genuine GM parts, GM Restoration Parts, GM Approved Parts, and NOS parts. I've also already started to put away other NOS parts for my future concours resto. Of course some of the mods I've done are not Genuine GM but I do allot of research before I do an upgrade and that parts that I end up buying are always what I believe to be the BEST, I also believe them to be fully reversable for the concours resto and I keep all of my original parts that I remove...