well about a year and a half ago a good friend of mine's aunt blew a head gasket in her 88 camaro and decided she didn't want to pay for it anymore, so she gave it to said good friend of mine, but she didn't know much about it. so it sat around for about 8 months with the blown head gasket. after a while my good friend decided she just didn't want it anymore, and instead of selling it, she gave it to me.
for free, yay

i just tonight finally got a chance to take a few pics of the car,










rims that came with it, american racing outlaws

things i like about the car,

IT WAS FREE
not too much rust, a bit but not terrible
small amount of work and it runs perfect
the rims are pretty cool
custom sub-box with subs and amp came with it

things i don't like,

its an automatic
its a 2.8l v6
it needs paint
some rust
crank windows


planning on fixin her up, but any opinions on her, i'd love to hear it

 

the rest of the pics

and the interior








the engine

 

okay and the last ones, sorry the pics are so big

the underbody


and this one i just though looked cool, i took the picture as i exhaled in the cold weather


so let me know what you all think....keeper or just trash?

 

The price was right. I think I can smell that nasty interior from here! But hey... if your up for the project I'm behind you 100%. Behind you ... and upwind!

 

ewww that interior looks horrible but otherwise thats a great free car to fix up. A lot can be done with that car and make it look amazing. Good start though.

 

Get that thing off the grass ASAP!! but other wise if she's solide great car to make a little 350 swap. and just have some fun!

 

coulda at least got the leaves out before the pics lol.

 

I've seen WAY worse costing a lot more!

I like that rear wing. Rarely see it though, and I have no idea what models came with that, or whatever.

 

Looks like a great project. If you have the time and money then go for it.

 

yeah you can't argue for the price, i am hoping to get it in the shop to replace the head gasket soon enough, to get it off the grass as well.
the interior is the first thing i'm planning to replace, not so much smelly, just ugly as hell. obviously 20 years old,

yeah i really like the rear wing a lot too, never really seen it before,

on the plus side, aside from my exaust most of the rust is only surface rust, nothing major. hoping to get some new paint as soon as i replace the gfx clips, its missing a few. you can tell from the inside of the door that the car was once black, it was painted white with come spray paint, so no clear coat.

a lot of work to get her to where i want her but for the price, its so worth it

 

crank windows are the only windows for me. they very rarely fail, and no need to turn the key.
id almost suggest doing the headgasket yourself, its not a fun thing to pay for. if i were near you id do it.

 

I'd take it for free...but use the money to redo the interior original...the seat covers in that thing are atrocious.

 

yeah i plan on doing the headgasket myself, when i said the shop i meant my grandfather garage, thats just where everything automotive goes down,

and yeah the first thing on my to do list is to get the interior up to shape, then body work and then last a 350 swap with a transmission swap (auto to 5 speed)

just as soon as i save up some money

 

shoot.. I'd say you got yourself a good deal..

your car looks like its in better condition than mine when i bought it.. and yours has and engine in it.. can't complain got mine for $300 lol..

all I can say about the swap is.. make sure you have most.. if not all the parts before you do the swap.. otherwise your car might be out of comission longer than you want it to.. or your going to be making a lot of trips to the auto parts store.

also.. I like the spoiler too.. if you decide to sell it.. or get rid of it.. you let me know.

 

i have no plans to sell it, i'm hoping to completely redo everything on this car, until its show quality. a real rags to riches style conversion.

i want to:

convert the windows to power
swap a 350 in
swap the automatic transmission to a 5 speed manual
put in a completely new carpet
get a new dash pad (cracked original)
get rid of what rust it has
re paint the entire thing (engine bay, body, and engine)
get a new exaust

considering putting in t tops, just for the complete custom effect
also considering the 4th gen console swap, not sure yet

also i was told that the seats were from a 4th gen, can anybody tell from the pictures wether or not they are?

 

Can't tell by the front seats due to the cover but if they are the same style as the rear than they are original. Your rear seats are identical to mine.

 

free stuff is always good!

i did notice your panhard bar is bent, might want to address that.

 

hmmm didn't notice that, i have yet to really dig into this car to find all of the "goodies" i need to fix, looking for a top end kit to re build that, then i'll take her in and tear her down

 

dont bother with trying to make your car a t-top car.. it will be a lot of effort to make your car look just like every other thirdgen.. so it wouldnt really be custom.. i mean if you did like a targa top or something.. but from what I hear.. cutting up the top of your car weakens it a lot because of it being a subframe car.. or something on those lines...

hardtop cars are harder to find.. around here anyways.. for the 5 speed swap.. you might want to read up on your options.. especially with the engine you want to put in there.. because if you want to pick up a stock 5 speed for a thirdgen.. from what I understand.. they arent so strong behind a 350.. reading and research is your best friend, especially when restoring.. customizing a car..

and your in luck.. because TGO is an awesome resource, not only for thirdgen camaros, but with chevy engines and transmissions in general.. I can't tell you how many times I've googled a generic question on my engine or transmission, and TGO is the first result.. there are a ton of very car smart people on this board.. I can't tell you how many times five7kid has helped me out..

 

Have fun getting those rusted wheel locks off, i sure did, i think i still have the socket with the lock stuck in it.

As far as that spoiler, it's an 88 Sports Coupe spoiler, one year only spoiler. Looks good.

 

yeah the t tops were just an idea, i'll probably just end up leaving it as is, and i knew the stock 5 speeds were nothing special behind a 350, i haven't quite decided what i want to do yet but as you said i'm in the right place. i'll be sure to keep everyone updated with what i end up doing to this thing,

as for the rusty lock bolts thats one of the things i'm going to hate, on the plus side though i actually have the key for the lock bolts, so i'm not ruining any sockets just to get the damn things off,

the spoiler is by far my favorite part, its one thing i haven't really seen a lot of, regardless of what happens to the rest of the car, i'm keeping that part.

 

Yea i had to junk my '88 sports coupe, but i kept the hatch with the spoiler, don't know what i'm going to do with it yet but i still have it. I wouldn't say rare, but definally like running into it only once in a while.

As far as the ruining socket thing, thats what they have Craftsman tools for :-D, just gotta figure out how to get the key out and then if the socket is bad just return it, lol.

 

hoooray for the lifetime guarenty. (for some reason i couldn't figure out how to spell that word,....forgive me)

yeah i know there not really rare, but i like the way they look and you don't really see a ton of them, so its slightly more original

 

I've been thinking about re-tooling mine a little wider on the outsides, so that it was similar to the 91/92 Z28 wing that overlapped the rear quarters, but mounted to the hatch. Just one of those things when i get time...

Excellent starting point, can't wait to see where you take it!

 

yeah and i'm just itching to completely re do this thing, or at least get it up and running, i want to drive this thing before the snow soooo bad.

 

NEW PAINT!!!!!!!!!!!!




cleared out most of the body rust, still need to do the interior, but cleaned her up, got a new paint job, and she looks a ton better already.

took the pics with a crappy camera, better ones up soon, ignore the date, i never set it right for the camera, its obviously not 2005
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also not sitting on the grass anymore, currently sin the shop awaiting the next nice day to take her out, still rebuilding the engine,

 

Cool! New paint is great motivation for a project. Can't wait to get mine done, but I'll have too. I assume you fixed the head gasket?

 

New paint ! already? Dang was it done professionally or who did it? I'm still in the process of getting mine done 2 months and counting but hey,school comes first. Also More updates when you can, its good to hear turn around stories like this.

 

yeah fixed the gasket, currently rebuilding an old 350 engine i pulled out of an old nova for a swap, looking around here for a posi rear end and all the other engine components i need,

and fixing the interior, still working on that

 

new paint but holes in the floor? I understand you want it to look "good" but dude, dont make it backward. If you dont want to redo it next year, do it right, do it once.

 

no i cleared up all the rust in the floor, when i said redo the interior, i meant new carpet/ seats ect.

the only rust thats left on her is the tiny bit in the exaust, which i'll be replacing by the end of the month anyway.