Hey all, I just purchased a 1992 RS Camaro for $500 dollars from a friend. Here is a picture of it before I started stripping it.


Now I'm completely new to all of this stuff, and needed a bit of help. My dad and I are completely rebuilding it. What order would you suggest doing so?

Here is the current progress of everything.






It needs a lot of work, and not just interior, lol.
I also found what seems to be a phone line coming out from behind the two back seats, any idea what this could be from?


And this red cable was also found behind the rear seats.


Any thoughts?
The Camaro came with a 305 that had 246,000 miles on it, and we are currently rebuilding a 350 to put in.
Any and all feedback about any of these questions would be greatly appreciated.
Sorry for so many questions, but I am a 3rd Gen newcomer.
-Josh

 

the red cable is remnants of the power wire for an amp that was back there at one point, the phone line was probably for a remote bass ****

 

Oh alright, any answers to the other questions?

 

heh Welcome to the site! Looks like my car and what I want to get it to. Still need the z28 hood louvres though. I have the back spoiler and plan on leaving my car white. I think you did good on the price. gotta start somewhere right? Mine has 155k and thats where i'm starting. If I were you I would try to find another car with another interior or something to try to keep the cost down. other then that your probaly gonna need a new headliner, carpet and door panels. All not that cheap but a good cleaning and you may be able to reuse your old one.
The only thing I'm afraid of is taking out my engine. Me nor my Dad have ever tackled a task that big lol.. Which is really small I guess.

 

Well yeah the price pretty much got me. I currently have no plans for the Camaro besides stripping it down, and starting over, lol. We planned on just ordering all new parts that we need as they pop up, but for now we are focusing on pulling out the 305, and rebuilding a 350 we just bought. We also know nothing about the engine work, but we'll see what happens.

 

Welcome to TGO.

Wrecking yards, especially pull your own parts yards, are great places to aquire replacement parts. Also, check out the sponsers here on this site for good new and used parts.

Take a look through the tech section on the board. Lots of good info there and as always, perform a search for any topic your interested in knowing more about or post a question if you get stumped.

Once you have the drivetrain out of your RS, you might want to consider upgrading or replacing the worn suspension parts, including brakes. Those items usually go near the bottom of the priority list.

But, whatever order you choose, you'd be time and money ahead to make a end game plan for the car and your wallet, then stick to it. Easier said than done, as you will probably spend a lot more time and money on the project than anticipated.

Good luck

 

Cool, thanks for the ideas

 

Unless you are going to re-install some really serious system you can get away with losing that heavy scosche sound deadening material. You'll see better gas mileage lol. Or keep it in and know your system wont rattle too much outside the car. I'd take it out though, I have a system and all I did was tighten the stock bolts in the trunkish area and wd 40 all of my hinges. No vibration except lisence plate. But back on track, that looks exactly like what I went through on the interior swap on my car. That scoche sound deadening material weighs a ton!

 

Yeah that's what I've heard, but I doubt I'm going to put in a sound system that will require that material. I am really really leery about my gas mileage, and I am doing anything to get as many miles to the gallon as I can, any tips on that note?

 

For starters, plan your engine rebuild accordingly. Auto trans? If so, rebuild and stay away from high stall converters. Replace the restrictive OE exhaust system and upgrade the air intake filter.

 

If when you do your swap you go manual, keep your rear end gears low too, like 3.42-3.08 for gas mileage purposes. As for the sound deadening material, you'll see a difference if there's over 50 lbs. in there, and that stuff adds up quick so I wouldn't doubt it if there were.

 

Yeah, we are currently removing the sound deadening material with a hot air gun. Any other suggestions on an easier removal?

 

You're on the right track, that and some soapy water in a spray bottle so when you wedge a scraper in between the material and the car it slips off easier.

 

why remove it? it will keep road noise down and carpert goes right over it

 

The weight of Dynamat and Accumat, which I've heard to be around 50 lbs a roll(?) is weighing down my car and decreasing fuel efficiency. Also, the sound system which will be installed does not have very large subs, which is what causes most of the rattling. The sound deadening material has also began to stink severely, and that alone is a major reason to remove it. I believe mice or rats began living in the vehicle while it was being stored in a warehouse by the first owner, and that contributes to a lot of the stink also. Any tips on how to get rid of stench?

 

It looks like your well on your way to dismantling it. You can't over document where everything goes. Bag it, pictures, whatever it takes to keep it organized. I thought I did an OK job with mine. 2 years later when I put it back together I found out I didn't do so well. I'm still looking for parts, screws, etc.

 

Yeah we already have been bagging things, and tacking them up to our garage wall above the parts we've removed. I've been documenting the entire process through a series of pictures and videos because before I bought my Camaro I wanted to see a person doing what I was planning on doing, and all I could find were 30 second video clips of people revving there engines and doing burnouts

So I decided I will be the first one to post a video series of the entire process, lol

 

Well, we're currently removing more Accumat and Dynamat Original, but we have a 350 waiting to go into the car. Anyone have suggestion on what should go on the interior or under the hood?

 

As far as what? As for the smell, you can use 1 part bleach to 4 parts water and scrub everything down, as long as there's no upholstery in there, if there is, go to the auto parts store and pick up a can of carpet/fabric cleaner with the scrubber on the top of the can. Usually does the trick, after all of that use some Febreeze Auto, and that should kill the rest of the little nasties making smells in your car.

 

Do you knwo anything about the engine in the car now. BC you state it a 92 RS. I see a rochester quadrajet on there, 92 RS' were TBI not carb. you may want to research that before starting the swap bc someone else may have changed a lot of stuff to get that carb on there. wiring harness computer exhaust dash electronics. That car came with an airbag but the steering wheel has been changes so that whole system may still be sitting there. also looks like its been painted. and the wing is a z 28 only wing so someone put that on there too. how good is the body and subframe on the car with everything I see in the pics it smells like a wreck rebuild to me but for that price if they fixed it right your good to go.

oh and when you thibnk you have enough pics take some more.

 

Nice catch on the carb, didn't even see that. As for the air bag, thought he may have known that already, but in case not, you had one lol. If you're swapping out the motor for a 350 carb'ed with no computer controls like I am, you may have slightly better luck with your install considering some of your wires look like a rats nest, kinda like mine did/do.

 

Well it seems like the first owner did a lot of modifications to the car, and I will get more detailed pictures next time I am at my dad's house. The first owner drove it until the engine had 246,000 something miles on it, and just stowed it away in a shed. It was then purchased by its second owner, a friend of mine, for $1,000 last November. As far as the steering wheel/airbag system, I know nothing of that either. We're basically working our way down to gain access to all of that stuff. All the Dynamat and Accumat is out of the car now. I don't believe the car was painted, because I power washed the hood and some clear coat and blue paint came off with no undercoat. The body of the car has various rust spots which will need repairing. I am a bit stressed about the rebuild. I'm 15 years old, and I want to hopefully get the car done by November...but I don't think that will be happening. My dad and grandpa are helping me with the rebuild, but alone I know close to nothing about cars, and I saw this as my learning opportunity. We have a Chilton book on the Camaro, which we haven't really used yet but I will keep you guys updated with pictures and everything, thanks for the help!

 

Chilton books are great but see If you can buy A Factory Chevrolet manual from ebay or something. I bought one and it tells you everything on how its made from front bumper-back bumper in that order. lol.. Good buy. I dont know how the chiltons books are set up though.

 

Alright will do! Today we are hauling the 350 into the garage and we're going to start building it, while we take apart the 305. I will post plenty of pics and keep you all updated

 

At least the rear of the car was painted before. If it wern't there would be holes from where the factory 3 piece spoiler was removed.

 

I would have liked to re-wire the fuel pump to the 305 just to see if it will run but last night my dad took out the radiator and carb, and he doesn't want to put stuff back into the car once it's out. The 350 we are rebuilding has the Intake and Exhaust manifold, oil pan, and headers stolen.

Since we are buying new pieces, what do you guys recommend we buy replacement wise?

Also, what about installing a balanced stroker kit?

 

Shorty headers for clearance reasons, aftermarket y pipe, gonna need to know what kind of carb you have to recommend an intake manifold, PM 5-7kid with details of everything you have and he'll help a lot. I have no idea about balanced stroker kits, but I bet 5-7kid knows about those too.

 

I guess we have a Rochester Quadrajet carb?

 

A stroker kit isn't a bad idea if your budget allows it. Check with a local machine shop to see how much they would charge you to prep the block (hot tank, magnaflux, new cam bearings, clearancing, etc.)

 

I wish my budget would allow a stroker kit..lol. My parents (mom) don't want me to have too much power, but my dad doesn't mind. Saturday the 350 will be moved to the garage and the 305 will be taken out of the car, so I will take plenty of pictures of everything and post them on here for your viewing please, lol

 

wish my motor swap project was moving this quickly. Good luck man!

 

Well, the only reason mine is moving so quickly is because I have an uncle that is selling a 350 for 100 bucks..haha. I still have to do all the engine bay work and get everything painted! It sounds like a nightmare. What does your engine swap involve?

 

Still your moving with it he means. I cant move with mine because me and my dad have been so busy.. I would love to rip into mine but cant find the time...

 

I know how you feel. My dad works some pretty long hours so we basically only have the weekend to work on the car. Even then, we all have weekend plans, too. I wish I knew a little bit more about how to do some of this stuff, because I would be in the garage by myself doing it, but my dad is pretty much teaching me right now, so I'm relying on him lol

 

Alrighty folks well the 350 engine is in the garage, stripped down and ready to be sent to a machine shop to be prepped for rebuild. I will have plenty of pictures up as soon as possible!

 

My engine swap is still at the buying the components of the engine stage lol. I just got my heads like two weeks ago, so I'm not even up to motor pull/put back in stage yet lol. And on top of that I work about 65 hrs. a week, so that puts a serious damper on working on my ride.

 

Josh,

Welcome to the site.

Here are a few sites that might help you for parts

http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/index.asp
http://www.moderndaymuscle.com/interior1?b=1
http://www.yearone.com/pco/G_0907/t1.asp
http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/
http://www.summitracing.com/

Here is my interior right now. I've been collecting parts for the past 18months.....just remember...patience.

Good luck

 

Yeah I am finally starting to realize how long this will take, and I don't think I will be done by November for me to drive it, lol. I just realized that the first owner hacked and modded the car to get the carb in, but there is still a TBI computer installed I guess? Which is most likely pumping way too much gas into the carb, so what do you guys think about buying a used LS1 computer or something?
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Sorry about the double post, still learnin how to work the forum =\ lol

Thanks for the help! Your interior is exactly what mine looked like about a week ago! lol

 

The pump would not be pumping too much fuel to the carb, most likely there was a 3 port return style regulator installed that had the pressure regulated down to a usable pressure. The pump simply is on or off, the regulator controls how much fuel it allows to the engine. The LS1 computer idea is really cool, currently there is someone on the forum that is trying to make it work with a gen I sbc and they actually have it running now I believe! The problem is it involves a lot of custom and one-off parts. You would have to be a gifted fabricator to pull it off with some of the pieces you would have to make, that is unless you plan on running and LS1 with it.. if that's the case disregard what I just said.
Edit: You do have a 3 port regulator installed, it looks like a mallory, if you look at your picture it's in front of the brake master cylinder and appears to be attached by the strut mount.

 

So what steps or procedures do I need to take since I have a carb installed?

haha I feel really stupid actually because I hardly even know what half of this stuff is, I'm kind of a newbie here

 

that depends what you're tying to do, what type of induction do you want to run? Are you gonna stay with the carb or go back to TBI or??

 

Well, we have a carb so I figured we would just stay with that lol