Taurus’ Camaro History:
My car was purchased brand new in 1982 by my father straight off of the show room floor at Raines Chevrolet in Sunnyvale for 16,000 dollars and some change. I came to find out later from the owner of the dealership that my car was the presentation vehicle for all of the new car shows in this area at that time and had been specially prepared and built for that purpose, my car was among ten others like it that were destined for car shows in California. The car was originally equipped with the crossfire injected 305 cubic inch engine and TH-200C automatic transmission and the very rare Dark Claret Metallic paint job. Over the period of many years the car was always kept in the garage and rarely driven, I remember taking it out only on the weekends and for special occasions. Once I was in 7th grade I started taking an interest in the car, and handled all of the maintenance and upkeep, including making some improvements with my own lawn mowing money. When I was a sophomore in high school my dad had bought another car and was ready to move on from the Camaro, on Christmas morning he pulled out the pink slip and signed it over to me, I was stunned! The car had just over 30,000 miles at that time. I drove the car through high school, taking the best care of it I could (mine was the only car at school that had a car cover over it all day). Shortly after I graduated from high school my Dad passed away from cancer, leaving my car as my only physical link to my Dad. I decided after that to make the car the coolest and most awesome third gen on the road, in tribute to my Dad. I originally started with suspension and a few other odds and ends and then ended up going completely nuts, as many of you know the car has been in the garage really for the past ten years on its way to its current state (The car has just over 41,000 miles on the clock today). On to the mods list!
Drivetrain:
1994 LT1 mostly stock (150 shot NOS kit)
T56 Transmission (Pro 5.0 shifter with Lou’s short stick)
4th Gen rear end
All of the 4th generation cars wiring harness was used in order to make this a near as factory installation as possible.
Suspension:
Hotchkis Springs
Del-a-lum front control arm bushings
1LE sway bars
Wonder-Bar
Tokico 5-way Struts
J&M Caster Camber Plates
Spohn Tubular Track Bar
Hotchkis signature series LCA’s and Panhard bar
Spohn Tubular sub frame connectors.
Exhaust:
Factory manifolds, 3 inch to 3 inch Borla stainless cat-back system with cut-out.
Brakes:
OEM GM 1LE front brakes, stock 4th gen rear brakes, stainless steel lines.
Steering:
OEM GM 1LE steering box, new steering components with Hotchkis tie rod sleeves,
4th gen steering column.
Exterior:
Original paint, factory fiberglass hood and decklid.
Interior:
Original seats, new carpet and headliner, 2002 Z28 dash with 1997 instrument cluster and wiring harness and 2002 center console. Autometer narrow band A/F and fuel pressure gauge.
Wheels and Tires:
C6 Z06 reproductions from Wheel HQ.com in hyper black finish
Rears are 19 by 10 with a 295/30 tire
Fronts are 18 by 9 with a 275/35 tire.
Apperance:
Powder coated engine accessories such as water pump, power steering pump etc.
Ceramic coated in near chrome for the bracket (All stainless hardware for mounting).
Brake Booster is powder coated to match the wheels and inner frame rail paint color.
Canton fabricated aluminum valve covers.
Braided stainless fuel lines with Earls fittings.
Braided power steering lines with correct stainless fittings for high pressure use.
Underside of car has been cleaned and repainted with a rhino liner like material.








Let me know what you guys think!!!

 

Looks really good. You need to post on here more often, looks like you know what you are doing.

 

LOL! Thanks Firebat! I am working on getting more involved with posting, I have been on here for years getting help from others, I can only hope at some point I can repay everyone for all of the help!

 

Unbelievable history behind your car! Truly inspiring dude. You did a very nice job indeed. Never been a big fan of the 4th gen dash swap ,, but man u pulled it off nicely. Hmmmm.... i just might??

Again nice car, dad would be proud.

 

awesome car!!! i could never dream of mine looking anything close to that. love the 4th gen mods!!!!!!!

 

I'm not a Camaro fan, but that car is sharp. Your dad would be proud of it. It's great that he passed the car to you. I hope I can pass my 87 to my daughter one day as she has expressed interest in the car already (she's 6 lol).

 

nice man and i agree your pops would be proud

 

i like the swap and the pant scheme, but I will never understand the ugly and bulky 4th gen dash swap.

 

good story and unique colour, never seen another like it!

 

awesome, post a lot more interior pics!

 

nice job. i love my 4th gen dash!.

did you get all the gauges on the cluster to work?

 

Hi Everyone, Thanks for the great replies!
TPI TERR: Yes, I used almost all of the 4th gen engine bay and dash harness, so the gauges work very well.
Thanks again everyone, I will try to post some more interior pictures when I get a chance!

 

good!
how did you go about the fuel gauge?

 

TPI TERR, it's pretty easy as long as you are using LT1 stuff. The instrument cluster is from a 97 which is the first year of that style instrument cluster and dash but the last year of the LT1, I am using a baffled 1LE gas tank with a standard TPI fuel pump and sending unit, the gauge worked without any modification at all, I did have to locate the sending unit feed in the wiring harness coming from the back of the car and in essensce patch it in to the 4th gen harness but that was pretty simple because the 4th gen dash harness intercepts the harness running to the rear of the car in the same location on the 3rd gen as it does on the 4th gen, as long as you have the wiring pin outs you are good to go Hope that helps! I figure if you are doing an LSX swap then having the LSX Camaro/Firebird gas tank swapped over with the LSX instrument cluster and harness then everything would work equally as well.

 

sounds good. i have mine working, with my ls1, ls1 tank and a lot of wiring..

but i always wondered how do the lt1 and tpi guys do it.

 

Very nice looking car, dash swap came out perfect

 

TPI TERR: that's awesome, I can't wait to go LSX in mine, but since the LT1 donor car came up for free I couldn't pass it up, I think it's going to be another few years before I go the LSX route.... Enjoy it!!!!!!

1A Dan: Thanks, I appreciate the nice comments

 

That is nice,great color too.

Dan is that motivating you to fix your monument,under the auto cacoon...

 

shhhh, its cold here in new england and I don't have a garage

 

Car looks great! Just curious-what is your paint code? I have a 82 base firebird that is paint code 78 (maroon metallic)-it looks just the same color as your 82. It definately is not a common color.

 

1A Tony: Thanks

Kymmee, i would have to look up the paint code number (i have the build sheet somehwere...), but the color is dark claret metallic (Maroon Metallic). I would love to see a picture of your firebird if you've got one

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...ase-model.html check out my post in members firebirds-there are a couple pix-let me know what you think! thanks

 

kymmee, that is a nice and very clean firebird you've got there!!!!! The color is spot on, it's really cool to see some other cars out there in this color! I have lived in the same place my whole life and as far as I know there was/is only one other Z28 in the same color in this area, I bought it recently from the original owners with 62k on the clock, it needs a full restoration though which I Am working on currently (I plan on leaving the new one completely original). Well anyways kudos on the sweet car, enjoy it!!!!!!!!!

 

I have to agree-we both have nice looking early third gens!! Good luck with your resto project.

 

Those wheels would look factory if they were a bit smaller. Crazy how well they match the car.....

You've got a great example of an early 3rd gen there.

And (hey, you asked, lol) I've also never been a fan of the 4th gen dash. Bulbous and round, in a car with all straight lines. Looks odd IMO.....

 

Jensen73110: Thanks! I was thinking the same thing about the wheels when I first saw them on the Z06, they are really similiar to the originals in a cool new, modern way. The dash is definitely something that you either love or hate, I have two 82's, this one being modern with the newer engine and all of that, I like having the newer dash, but in my other car which is all stock I love the factory dash, so I am kind of on the shelf with it myself, depends on the car

 

not at all what i was expecting when i clicked the thread.
very nice.
not a fan of the pillar pod, but car looks great.
the 00-02 steering wheel would be a nice upgrade.
any more pics of the car?

 

I like how you left the outside pretty stock and updated the interior. It is kind of like a suprise inside. Car looks great! Love the clean look of the engine as well.

 

Stage20: Thanks a bunch, I agree with the 00-02 steering wheel, I have been looking for a decent one for quite some time I want the nice leather wrapped one with the stereo controls and all that, eventually.... I have some other pictures that I will add shortly.

Shelby7099: Thanks! That is exactly the approach I was going for!

 

Here is the car back about 2 years ago when we were getting started

Empty Engine Bay, its hard to see but I did some painting on the inner "frame rails" and the transmission tunnel.

This was while I was in the process of restoring the interior

The new carpet came out nice in the back

Working with the 4th gen dash

Here is the LT1 going in.

Engine in the car

 

Spohn CrossMember and Torque Arm

Hotchkis PanHard and 4th gen rear end (Will be getting swapped soon for a nicer one from a LS1 car) Borla Muffler

OEM 1LE Front Brakes

Fitment of the rear wheels

Before I removed the "Iroc-Z" decals my Dad added in the late 80's

One more from the photo shoot.

 

pass blame on the iroc decals.
haha.
did you get a specific backspace on the rear wheels or use a spacer?
i like the stance.

 

Hi Stage 20, rears are +56 mm offset, 19 by 10, with a 4th gen rear I didn't need any spacers. Up front I still have the spacers, I am engineering a way around this that I will be trying out soon.

 

Nice clean car, I like the stance also.

 

Thought I would pop up a couple of pictures of my second 82 Z28 (LG4, TH200), I got this one from the original owner with 62k on the clock, we are in the process of restoring this one, once the weather impoves we are sending it out for paint. With this car we are going for a "stock appearance" resto-mod. We are going to convert the car to crossfire and back it with a 700R4. I am building a 355ci engine that we will be using the new renegade CFI manifold, modified throttle bodies etc... however I intend to make the engine appear dead stock, we are going to leave the factory exhaust on it, all stock suspension, stock interior, stock tire size etc.. should be fun!
here it is the day we brought it home, pretty rough shape...

Before and after changing the dash pad


Here is the wife working on the car, I did buy it for her... wink, wink....

Interior shot, We are probably going to change this to the light grey like my other car, only because the wife hates the maroon. I did pick up a set of Lear Siegler seats today that we will probably drop in there.

Here it is after a little detailing, not that great but better than before.

Here are both of the cars together

I won twenty bucks on this as a bet, my friend insisted that these cars weigh 3700-3800 pounds stock, this is with a full tank of gas, full interior, A/C, spare tire, etc.....

 

that pic of your wife working on the car.... i call bs. those arent near enough tools to be working on a 3rd gen.
i dont see a hammer, pry bar, duct tape, zip ties, or a 3 ft extension with a funny socket welded to it.

 

Stage20: I almost died laughing, that was classic!!!

 

Wow looks very nice! Love the dash swap!

 

looks great I like how you went with the camaro fourth gen dash instead of the normal firebird/ta dash setup everyone seems to use. It looks much cleaner imho

 

Sorry to bring this thread up from the dead, but your car looks awesome! I love the dash swap, do you have any pics of how you modded the 4th gen a-pillars?

 

I sort of halfway finished the drivers side one because the 4th gen pillar that I cut down mated right up to the gauge pod, the passenger side I never finished. The car is getting a cage now, and I plan on running the front down bars through those openings in the corners.

 

While I am at it, here is my second car after paint. Forgot I had pictures of it on this thread.

 

post pics of the cage install.

 

That is one clean car. You did a great job, your dad would have loved it.

 

Nice ride. Just curious because it was a special prepped car. Did you keep all the original parts, so if at a later date you can bring back to original?

 

I want to do the same thing but Im not doing it to the IROC I hope to pick up an RS or or a plane jane camaro and put a 383 stroker in it. Change out the rear end and stuff and maybe the shocks but nothing cosmetic. If it has rust then I am leaving it there so when people want to race then they think it is just some V6 camaro. P.S. I'm going to put hush puppy exhaust on it so it is real quiet! Either the 383 stroker or maybe I will put a 454 in it and bore it out.