Pingonk

I just wanted to introduce myself and my car since I am a new member on this forum and also as a memory to look back on in the future.

I am now the proud owner of a Third Gen 1990 Camaro RS, I bought it around March of 2011 so I have not had it for long but in the time I have had it I have found out a lot about the Third Gen Camaros and Firebirds.

Back in March I was shopping for my first car, (you know how it is, every car looks like a Ferrari when your looking for your first car) I looked at one 1984 Camaro Sport Coupe that I found on Craigslist and I could not believe when I first sat in the car, it was like a fighter jet compared to the family van, I loved it even though it was only a V6 I thought the exhaust note was amazing and it had a 5 Speed . I had $700 with me (He was asking $600) but there was another guy there at the same time, we both really wanted the car and we both offered him $700 the seller could not decide so we resorted to the best method for deciding...a coin toss...I lost .

I had made up my mind, I wanted to get a Third Gen for my first car, so I patrolled Craigslist determined to find another Third Gen in my price range, nothing came up. After a few weeks I decided to look on Ebay, one search led me to a 1990 Camaro RS it was in terrible condition but the owner said he had put over $3000 into it ? I bid on the auction and won it for $790! I was thrilled, we drove it home the next day which was easier said than done, due to the fact that the it stalled at every stop, no A/C, the headlights were aimed up and to the left and the car had no muffler.
The car looks like it was owned by a junk collector (down here in Georgia we call them Rednecks ) and with 7 previous owners, it might have been. I wanted a project and I sure got a good one, I have been working on the car for the past few months trying to get it to the point where I can use it for a daily driver, in the process I have cleaned the whole car inside out, dissembled the whole interior and rear bodywork and replaced quite a few parts.

While trying to make up for the massive amount of neglect (and being involved in 1 minor accident) I have thought about selling it, but I realized that this would be my only "first car", and I did not want to look back at my first car and think about how I gave up on it and bought another car. It may not be much to look at but I do not want to sell it to someone who does not appreciate it (like the last 7 owners ) I am trying to fix it up for a daily driver and I am almost done, all it needs is a paint job/bodywork, new fuel injectors and some new tires. One day if God wills it then I would like to do a complete frame off restoration and bring it back to it's original beauty.

See the pics below taken right after I bought it, it was not much to look at but I could not have been happier at the time.

I will post some work-in-progress pics later.

toxik IROC

iTrader: (12)

pics or it didn't happen (i joke... but i was see) good luck man

Pingonk

Drew

iTrader: (58)

If you haven't already, you need to fix the power wire running through the door jam. If the hood hinge doesn't pinch it, the door will. That's a real good way to burn a car down.

If you're not really attached to the car, save your money and look for something with a V8. V6 thirdgens are money pits. While a 3.1L is usually a good solid engine, the car will never be worth more then about $1000-1500. To swap the V6 for a V8, is far more work and far more expensive then just buying a V8 car to begin with. Not to discourage you, but it's better to find out before you dump a bunch of money into bringing the car back to life, rather than later.

Pingonk

I have already dealt with the wiring problem. I will post more current pics eventually, these are from when I first brought it home.

Also, I do not plan on selling it, I can appreciate it for what it is (plus it is my first car). One day I will probably buy a convertible IROC-Z with a 350 V8 and a 5 Speed but until then...

toxik IROC

iTrader: (12)

it will be your very owen money pit..... goood luuuuuuck to you

shortyskater

Great story! Good luck on the restore. Hopefully some day we'll see a great looking car!

Coyote850

iTrader: (1)

Ok to be honest,that car is in rough shape. So you have your work cut out for you. But if you stick with it and make it look good, it will all the sweeter. Start saving some serious money and get the body work/paint done. It looks like it has some rough spots, you wanna stop that corrosion as soon as possible.

Jason E

Good luck to you...I've always been partial to grey third gens. My first one, an '89 RS similar to yours, was grey...and after 10 years of searching, I recently bought a grey 350 IROC.

Drew is not wrong with what he states about it being a V6. Beautiful, mint V6s struggle to get near $4,000 on eBay, which has about the highest transaction prices possible for third gens. Take it from someone who owned a V6 RS for years...enjoy it, make it nice, but don't throw countless $$$ into mods and such for a V6 car. Its flushing money.

Regardless, good luck.

Pingonk

Yes it is a money pit, but I do not care about the money, even if I put 10 grand into it if that is what the car is worth to me that is all that matters, (I would think that third gen members would be the first to agree, because third gens are not very valuable to begin with) If I wanted to make money I would have bought something that would be worth more after working on it.

I have spent around $600 on it so far and I have fixed over 30 things on the car since those pics were taken, I will post some more recent pictures as soon as it stops raining and the sun comes out (I live in GA). I plan on fixing the car up for a daily driver first, then later on I will probably do a frame up resto/mod and make it into a show car.

All that remains to be done on the car to make it a daily driver is:

Paint job $150 (using the "Ultimate Budget Paint job")
Tires $400 (New tires from Sam's Club)
Original Tire Jack $30 (Third Gen Ranch or Ebay)
Fuel Injectors $130 (South Bay)

After I fix these things I will have about $2100 in the car (including initial cost) plus countless hours of enjoyment working on the car and learning new things, if you think about it that is not to bad

Drew

iTrader: (58)

Everyone starts somewhere. If you look around a bit, most of us aren't still working with our first thirdgen. We're not trying to discourage you, if anything we're encouraging you to take advantage of the current low values and put your efforts into something you might enjoy more over the long term. It's not about making money, it's about friends not letting friends dump time and money into a poor choice without being fully informed. If it's what you want to do, go ahead, just keep in mind that other people may not get too excited about a V6 thirdgen, even if it's a show car. For $2100 you could probably find a run down 350 TPI Irocz. If that doesn't interest you, go ahead with your plans, just don't say we didn't warn you.

Pingonk

I could not agree with you more, I realize that a V6 is not very popular and that it will probably never be worth what I put into it, I want it to be in show car condition for my own enjoyment, but since third gens are so cheap I probably will one day buy another one, probably a convertible IROC with a 350 and t5

Pingonk

Sorry it took me so long to post some work in progress pics, but I finally got a chance to snap some pics this morning. (To get the full effect open the before and after pictures of the interior and look at them side by side)

Keep in mind this is not the completed project, I plan on painting the car (white at first for a daily driver, Gunmetal Grey when I do a frame-up restoration) and putting some new tires and injectors on the car before I am done with it, I have fixed over 40 things on the car but many of them are not visible, (light switches, gauges, fuel filter etc.)

Also a pic of me working on the car (when I reassembled the IAC after cleaning it out, my Mom snapped some pics)

lethaldomestics

Very nice. keep up the good work.

l_dis_travlr

Its amazing what some TLC will do for these neglected jewels.
By all means, get all the mechanical issues resolved if your intention
is for a daily driver. Thats just the common sense starting point with
ANY used car. You'll have plenty of time/opportunity to decide what
kind of restoration you want to do.

However, 99.9% of us that have been down that path will agree --
project car and daily driver are mutually incompatible.

Good luck, welcome to the brotherhood, and thanks for helping
keep the breed alive.

kk

l_dis_travlr

Bump...

Pingonk

Thanks for the support and advice guys, the car still looks bad on the outside, but I plan on painting it white with red stripes that "waterfall" on the front and back.

I took it on a camp out with the Boy Scouts and they all thought it looked awesome