I’ve been on the board for about 5 years now and haven’t really posted anything specific about my own project so I thought I’d start my own build thread. The car has most of the work done now that I’ll post but it’s going to take me a long time to slowly add stuff to here. I’ve always used Thirdgen.org as a good reference for all my projects so I want to try to help anyone else working on their car. I’ll try to dig up and reference as many other threads as I can so you know where I got some of my info.

When I first got my license (7 years ago?) I knew I wanted to get a thirdgen but thankfully I didn’t buy the first one I saw. It was to this day the biggest piece of crap I’ve ever driven! (too bad it was a gta because I like those) Thankfully the second thirdgen I found in town was much nicer. I found this car sitting in front of a motorcycle shop.

It was a 92 Camaro RS 25th anniversary edition and I bought it a few days later. The guy was selling it for his brother in law from Illinois or something so I didn’t get much history on it, but overall it was in decent shape. The outside of the car was in pretty good condition with no major dents or panels missing, but there was some rust underneath. The interior was okay, just the usual cracked dash, missing radio with stray wires hanging out, and a few panels missing etc. It seemed like the perfect project and I bought it for my first car.

My main reason for buying a car like this was to have a project that I could learn on, and something I thought was pretty cool looking too. My Dad nor anyone else in my family ever worked on cars so I thought his would be the best way to learn. The car ran and drove but I knew it’d be a lot of tinkering so I thought it was great. I started to do a lot of research on thirdgen and other websites to learn about the Camaro and general car knowledge.

1992 Camaro RS 305tbi Automatic 2.73 gears open rear end
Bone-Stock Engine bay (pieced together in photoshop)

Picture of it outside with a crappy camera

 

Nice car looks almost identical to my car. ( 92 RS 25th anni ) but mine is a 3.1 with t-tops same color too. My car was in the exact same shape no radio and a little rust underneath but it ran and drove so I bought it as a project for $700. Beautiful car bro enjoy it I'm sure you already have!

 

Looks like a solid start!

 

Nice car dude,

What have you done to it since you got it?

 

and what do you mean by "pieced together in photoshop"?

 

Looks clean! What are your plans for it?

 

nice RS

 

thanks for the comments everyone I was surprised to get anything back after my first post to be honest.

Lmancha96-Ive done quite a bit I'm just trying to organize and remember everything so I can post pics and information about it. I want to start with the interior and get some pictures soon of the stuff that I've done there. Mostly small stuff that isn't that difficult but I think makes it when you're sitting in it.
And I said pieced together in photoshop because apparently I only have 2 halves of the engine back picture from when I first got the car. You can see near the tensioner that it didn't all line up. Other than that you can barley tell!

I just wanted to post a start from where I came from so you can see what's done to the car. Since most the work is already done it's not the logical order but I enjoy watching build threads so I hope you guys get something from mine too!

Interior to start I think since it was the easiest (when I knew nothing compared to today...)

 

Started to take a few pictures of the interior pieces I’ve worked on. I always try to pay attention to the details, I think it makes a big impact and ties everything together.
Just a subtle change but I changed out the factory gray armrests for black ones.



When I got my car it had the typical sagging headliner. It was only held up around the outsides and by the dome light. I decided to pull it up and fix it. Sorry no pictures but if you’ve got the same problem you can fix it a lot cheaper than a new one.
1. Remove headliner- you’ll probably break the clips on the front of the headliner so be careful, and pick up some extras from your local parts store.
2. Remove the old material and pick up some matching material from a fabric store (that’s the weird part asking the old ladies where foam-backed material is). I compared my sail panel to the new material.
3. Lay fiberglass material on the headliner and fix any areas that are damaged. My headliner was damaged along all the outsides, so I had to fix quite a bit before I laid the material on.
4. Make sure you lay resin and material across the entire surface of the headliner where the material will contact. The glue needs a good surface to contact and if you try to glue it to the old foam it’ll just fall down again.
5. Spray 3M headliner glue on the headliner and lay the fiberglass material on the headliner. Let it dry overnight and replace the next day.
6. Mine is still holding strong over 3 years later!


^Hard to see in the picture but the fabric matched well and it's still holding well to the headliner^

 

I started on my interior first as well (actually still working on it) I felt it was a little more straight forward than everything else....

Cant wait to see more updates from you buddy.

 

One thing I had to take care of right when I got my car was the fan wiring. First driving the car it would get pretty hot indicating something wrong with the system. I found out the previous owner had hacked the factory wiring off and rewired the fan to 12v direct power. It wouldn’t bother me so much if it wasn’t wired in with a piece of LAMP CORD. That had to go right away but I didn’t want to have it just hooked up to constant power
I decided to wire my fan up to a switch in the factory armrest/glove box. I liked the idea of having the fan on a switch so I could warm it up easier, but I was worried about forgetting the fan off and not noticing my temp gauge. I decided to wire up a “dummy” light, I put a 12v led in the factory hatch warning light location.



I wired it up to a toggle switch so this light is ON when the fans are OFF, and when the light is OFF the fans are on. It works pretty well as a reminder that my fans are off and it’ll heat up pretty fast. I ran the wiring into the factory arm rest so I don’t have any switches hanging out in plain view.

 

When I first got the Camaro, there wasn’t a radio at all. All I had to work with was some sliced wires, but I got a harness put in and installed a nicer dual cd/stereo. I slowly upgraded all the components of the stereo over the years until I’ve got to my current setup. It sounds great in the car especially with the windows down, the only thing I’m looking to do yet is get a nicer amp for the sub and power the speakers with my current amp. I went with a 10” for faster sub hits and a mix of mostly rock with some rap etc. The sub sounds great pointed right at the back glass, loud when I want it but I normally have it turned down just to even out the sound.

Current Audio Setup:
-Pioneer CD/MP3/USB/iPod stereo
-4x6 Eclipse Speakers in front
-6x9 Pioneer Speakers in rear
-10” Rockford Fosgate Subwoofer
-400watt amp

I was able to fit the Eclipse 4x6 in the dash with a little modification, the 6x9s were a direct bolt-in in the rear sail panels and the Rockford Fosgate sub is hidden in the hatch. The Pioneer deck I have has a usb port and MP3 port in front but I always try keep the car looking stock. I was able to run a usb cable from the rear of the deck into the armrest, but I went a step further and mounted a usb port permanently in the side.



It looks kind of shotty in the picture because it’s so close but I never even noticed the texture around the port before, and it’s almost completely hidden from any view. I almost always have my iPod plugged in because it also charges it for me, but I wanted it removable as an option.



Here it is higher up with the placement of my electric fan switch.



Here’s what the Pioneer deck looks like



This deck has a really nice feature that I use all the time. When I change songs or turn the volume, it looks like the picture above picture. One of the best features I use though is after about 5 seconds the deck will automatically shut the display off and look like this with only one single blue light in the corner.



This is great! It helps me stick with the “sleeper” look as well as not blinding me at night with the bright blue screen that would be on all the time.
Sorry that was a long post but I’m really happy with my setup and it sounds great. I always shoot for quality of sound verses sheer loudness and it’s pretty good where it’s at now. I've had this current setup in my car now for about 3-4 years and everything still sounds clear and the equipment has held up nicely.

 

Thats an awesome setup...

i was actually thinking of doing something similar with the usb port. but your idea is definitely better.

Going to have to steal it lol

Cant wait to see more UPDATES.....

 

What model stereo is that? looks great!!

 

Just a quick update- washed my car today and parked it for the winter! I put some more antifreeze in the car, did some donuts, washed it, and put the cover over it. Still looks stock! Like I want it to…but it’s not It’s a lot of fun to drive, too bad I have to wait a few months to drive it again! More updates to come if anyone’s actually interested haha

 

I couldn't remember what model number and it took me forever but I found it online. Pioneer DEH-P5100UB, I'm sure it's discontinued now I probably got it about 3-4 years ago but for $250 or so it's been a great stereo with more hookups than i'd ever need. I like how it charges my ipod for me and I change songs directly from the display

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...rs/DEH-P5100UB

 

That was a great color on the Thirdgens.

 

i see it says you have a 400sbc in there.... getting reallllyy anxious to see what its looking like under the hood

Car looks great by the way....

 

Looks like a cool project. I love when I see the 400 SBC's swapped into cars as it refreshing not to see a 350/355 swap like has been done a million times.

 

I wish I would have had more time to check your car out when I picked up that front bumper from you. I am looking forward to more updates.

 

Thanks for the positive comments, there will be more interesting posts to come haha. Just trying to remember all the other little things I did when I first had my car…

-Open element air cleaner
-Removed all air lines, plugged manifolds with brass plugs- this makes changing plugs so much easier!
-Removed smog pump and just used a shorter belt
https://www.thirdgen.org/serpentine
-Removed the heat diverter valve and rerouted heater lines

These are all easy projects that clean up the stock engine bay and make changing spark plug easier.
Small things I know but better things to come! Got the car painted at the end of high school so pics to come.




This is a picture the night before bringing the car to paint. Crappy picture and nothing special but I tried to clean the engine bay up a little bit from stock.

 

When I was in high school I went to another high school in the area to take a class in the afternoon. One day I came out to my car and someone did a hit-and-run on my camaro.


It's hard to see with that pic but he didn't hit it very hard. Just crushed the license plate and took a bunch of paint off the front of the bumper.

Man I was pissed! You know how stupid drivers are especially in high school though. I figured parking on the street near the school would be a better place rather than inside the parking lot but I still got screwed. The school security cameras didn’t catch anything but luckily I actually remembered who was parked in front of me that day. The next day the police were involved because the kid denied it. We lined up the 2 cars and the trailer hitch lined up perfectly with the damage on my front bumper.

I got a quote to have the bumper fixed and his dad wrote me a check for the damage. I knew I wanted to get the whole car painted anyway because I was starting to get a little rust showing through. I found a really cheap painter and started prepping it for paint.

 

The painter I found ended up giving me a really good deal. His operation seemed less than “legal” if you know what I mean, but it was so cheap I couldn’t pass it up. When I went in to get a quote he said the week after he was having a half price sale to get more business, and he had a 2 year warranty on all the paint jobs he did. The half price job plus the check for getting my bumper fixed made my nervous because it was so cheap, but I figured it couldn’t be worse than I had now!

I was always weary of this guy because he just seemed kinda slimy but when I went in to see his work they were buffing a black trans am they just painted and it looked GOOD! I didn’t expect that nice of a job on mine, but I was more concerned on getting a few body imperfections fixed and getting the visible rust out of the way.

I always hate showing people pics of the car rusty, but it was getting bad before paint. The edges of the hood were getting rusty underneath so I went out the day before I was sending it to paint and bought a black hood with no rust.

Overall the car didn’t look too bad besides the rust by the gas door; I’ve seen a lot worse on thirdgens! Regardless, here’s the car the day of dropping it off the painter was also doing all the body work.





^AHHHH I HATE THIS PICTURE!^


^And finally at the painters.


The pictures actually make the paint look nice before. It was starting to peel clear, had dents and long scratches every where, the rust, and I was a perfectionist.

 

I’ve actually had some time to put out a lot of update, just trying to get ahead to the fun stuff!
Here are some progress pics of the bad areas that needed fixing.





^AHHH SOOO BADDD^








That’s all I got when the serious areas were fixed.

 

When I was waiting to get the car back from paint I did some cleanup on my front markers. It doesn’t look like it did a whole lot in the pictures but the lights were much more clear on the car.


^Before^

^after some simple buffing. I’m planning on doing them again with sanding first but it made a huge difference once they were both on the car.

 

heck yeah man, keep on the good work!

 

Looking great, way to save one.

 

Keeping it the same color?

 

loving the black 4th Gen do have a first Gen as Well?

 

I see a second gen in the background

 

I know that's why I asked would be great to own all five gens

 

glad this car was restored, looks good.

 

looks pretty good and when was the 400 sbc swapped in? Nice car

 

Thanks! Plenty more to come.

Thanks, it has some rust but with enough time it's always fixable.

YUP! Car was actually painted a few years ago...just trying to catch up to what I'm currently working on. More pics to follow.


400 was swapped in recently. Trying to document everything in order so I'll come just wait!



I was really wondering if anyone was going to notice the other F bodys in the back of that picture. I'm currently renting a shop and letting some friends store other cars there too...about 11 cars in there currently lol.
The black 4th gen belongs to a friend of mine

It's a 95 LT1 with a fresh 383 and a procharger. Lots of fun! It'll never hook up though
The 2nd gen next to that is a 78 Firebird I'm helping a friend with. It's getting all new brakes, ALL new suspension with a 2" drop, full exhaust, engine bay cleanup and a tuneup
That project has a lot of hidden rust that's set the project back a lot...but it's a decent looking car and it'll be drive able again after sitting for 9 years.


There's plenty of fun stuff in there to distract me from going to school right now. Ha you'll just have to spot stuff in the pics I guess to hear more!

 

When I finally got the car back, I was really happy with how it turned out. The rust repairs looked amazing and overall the paint looked nice. It was by no means a show car, but it was all one color and you couldn’t see any imperfections from less than 5 feet away. I put all the headlights etc back in and was proud to show it off. It was done sometime in August before going to college I believe.

4 days after it was painted it got wrecked. It didn’t even make it to the weekend so I could do a photo shoot with the new paint and it got hit right in my own driveway. My brother was leaving early in the morning and plowed into it in reverse not looking where he was going. His Sebring hit the Camaro on the passenger side front bumper and it took most of the paint off there. It kinked the fender in the center and took paint and filer off that fender and a lot of the bumper especially in the headlight pocket when the bumper flexed. It didn’t touch the hood or break any lights but my new paint job was ruined.

This was a few weeks before going to college for the first time, and my car I was trying to fix up to be really nice was just painful to look at. I stopped driving it and parked it in the garage. I didn’t even want to think about it. It wasn’t fast so looking nice was all it had going for it at this time! I went to school and wouldn’t even go look at it when I came home.

When I got back for Christmas break my brother had gotten the front bumper repainted, but it was never the same. The repair itself wasn’t done very well; you could see signs of repair and it’s not the same shade. For just paying to get my car repainted I really wasn’t happy.


At this point I was looking to sell the car and start over with a different Camaro and work on performance rather than looks. The car sat for about a year without working on it at all.

 

Waiting to hear about the killer drivetrain and et's that make it a sleeper!