visitor

Alright, I've owned the car since December-ish, and I've gotten a bit done on it, but I'm on a budget like anyone else, so please realize this will take a while!

Anyhow.. I was browsing cl one day, thinking of getting rid of my old project car (an Acura rl), and came across an add for this camaro, wanting to trade for a 4 door honda.. contacted him with the quickness, and we set up the trade. I got the "worse" end of the trade, as the camaro needed an ENTIRE new suspension, wouldn't idle consistently, paint was destroyed, tires were bald, interior was wrecked etc. on the plus side, it had a 350 swapped in with 30k miles (documented), a t5, a decent exhaust, and was relatively straight and rust free (two small patches on rear wheel well, surface rust). I've been doing auto upholstery for a few years, so I had made friends with people that could take care of all of this! Here are pics from the ad..




Had it delivered to my place, and took a few more pics (I'm no photog, please forgive)


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Pretty trashed, huh?
I started ordering parts..

Hard to tell what's all in that pile of crap, quick rundown is:
Kyb gr2 shocks, lotek lowering springs, new bearings, new tie rods, ball joints, idler arm, center link, hood and hatch struts, rear control arms, and poly bushings, etc. parts are mainly delco or moog.

visitor

After I got all my parts in, I contacted my buddy, who's a mechanic, he came down and helped me get the car road worthy again. I'm not great at in progress pics, but I will post what I have.

Old hatch and hood struts, and map sensor (that I found out I didn't need.. Of course)

Rear control old vs new

Rear springs.. Supposed to be 1.75" drop, iirc. In person, I didn't notice much, if any actual drop, BUT it rides much better. I'm fairly certain the old garbage just sagged that bad (was the original shocks struts, etc. with 200k one.

Now that that's done, I drove it a bit, mainly to different shops getting paint quotes (still can't really drive it, as it's not idling right, and fuel mileage is horrid)
I finally decided to go with my buddy for paint, as I know his work, and I try and help out friends if I can. He really gave me a killer price, but part of our deal was I'd strip off and reassemble what I could, to save him some labor (and me some money). With that, I started tear down.

Took off the tails, plate, and spoiler


Stripped the lights, grille, etc. also not pictured, I stripped the window sweeps off. I left the side and rear emblems for him to remove.

Here it is ready to get loaded up..

visitor

Here's some in progress shots..




Time for color!


Paint is DuPont nason. Car was straightened, sanded, primed, sealed, painted and cleared.

visitor

First sunlight pics!




Parts have slowly started to trickle in.





Not pictured, but here are new inner and outer window sweeps.
On the way are new headlights.
While they were out, I cleaned and polished the tail lights, and scuffed and had my buddy shoot my headlight bezels.

Tail lights were sanded, polished, sealed, and uv protected.

Car is still not back, it still needs wet sanded and polished.

That's where I am today.
Things left to do this year:
Replace injectors, computer, prom with one out a vehicle with a 350 tbi and 5 speed (still has stock 305 computer.). I'm fairly certain this is the cause of the idle issue.
Subframe connectors
Track down oil leak
Complete interior (I will be doing this myself, just have to figure out what I want to do).

Goal for next year:
Install 383 (thinking of using the tbi compatible one from tuff dawg engines)
Install wilwood brakes

Any thoughts/comments/questions?

I H8 WWD

iTrader: (5)

Let me start by saying, I think you got the better end of the deal. It's a clean 3rd Gen. Looks like you have a good start to things. I'll be starting my own personal thread for my build this year, in a week or two. Been a member for many years. It's time I post up.

I started my clean-up essentially removing what isn't needed to run the car, as well as replacing all maintenance parts. Looking forward to more of the build.

Budget, I dislike that word when used in a hobby. There is no budget to anything, just personal. Someone making $500k a year might see budget as $50k a year on the car, whereas I'm in the boat of $1k a year...maybe. Been working on mine for nearly 9 years and have roughly $5k into it. So...

Well get to it. I want to see these parts installed pronto haha. (Ragging on the title)

visitor

Haha, fair enough.. My Acura had a full custom interior, and some nice 20" wheels, all new suspension,etc. but after all that, I never "bonded"with the car, so I don't miss it!

I've got somewhere in the neighborhood of 3k in the car so far (not including the value of the car), and am HOPING to be DONE with it for around 8500. No plans for an ls, or t56, etc. so, I think that price range is realistic.

visitor

For gigles, here's some pics of my old Acura interior I built..









All built and installed by me.. Grab handles, steering wheel, shifter etc. is hand stitched. Steering wheel airbag was covered in leather, notice the double stitch through the center.. That is actually there as the center is stitched with thinner airbag thread, meaning the airbag is functional..

I H8 WWD

iTrader: (5)

Did you happen to pick up some relocation brackets for the lower control arms?

I believe interiors are very important. You after all enjoy the car mostly behind the wheel. I plan to completely overhaul mine. Fiber dash, Defi guages, plush carpet (just for the front compartment) fiber door with nice pulls and sheetmetal panels. Bucket seats, drifting spec roll cage etc.

Edit: You post quick. But I love the red stitch. And I really enjoy double stitch everywhere. My Z31 was done up in black and silver primaries with neon orange stitching. DAMN I miss that interior. Carry on.

visitor

I didnt pick those up.. should I have? I still have some suspension pieces to buy.. should I add those to the list?

I H8 WWD

iTrader: (5)

They're highly recommended to correct the geometry from lowering the rear. Even a good upgrade for stock height vehicles. Read this.

Vassago

Awesome build so far! I love the purple 92 Camaros. Always wanted one. You are very lucky to have found her, I wouldn't say you got the least out of the deal. Can't wait to see more!

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Looks great visitor. I said it in another thread....I LOVE that color. Nice work.

Also, this Acura interior looks sharp. Also the Corvette interior you posted before. What did you use on the headliner/door panels of that car...is that Alcantara, or something similar? My headliner is sagging, and I was considering this type of material when I redo it.

I H8 WWD

iTrader: (5)

Just please no Crushed Velvet. I had a friend do this to his car. Boy was that stuff...to His liking. Thanks lol.

visitor

Hey,

First off, thanks!
My headliner and door panels were done in alcantara (the brand name). Its been found it to have the BEST colorfastness, and wear characteristics. Sensuede is a close second, although the nap is much less pronounced. Those 2 are fairly expensive, and if you are on a budget, keyston has their stuff called "streetsuede" (fyi, that's what yourautotrim.com sells.) Thier backed headliner suede is nice, but the regular (unbacked) stuff is garbage. Lmk if I can be any more help!

visitor

Not much of an update, but my sealed beam conversion headlights came today.

These things are actually pretty crappy., but they're like 20 bucks a set.. Didn't expect much more. I've ordered another set to tear apart and do a proper projector retrofit on.

I H8 WWD

iTrader: (5)

At least you have the center city/cruise bulbs. Mine are angled to the left side of all the headlights. Sort of dislike it. So there's that for a +1. I ended up going with the APC harness conversion for H4 bulbs. I think my 90/100w bulbs are too much for the harness as it's showing signs of burning in the palstic of the connectors. Might just revert to stock for now until I can get this kit.

visitor

Mine are angled as well.. why is that? I thought of getting the ones with the.led city lights, but tbh, they look like the stuff I see on donks around here. The glass has lots of little defects in it, etc. They're pretty crap. I've never done a retrofit before, so I'm excited to try

I H8 WWD

iTrader: (5)

My problem though was that the little bulbs in these headlights hit the metal housing behind the housings, so I had to cut part of the metal out, which right behind that is, the http://www.ebay.com/itm/14076015-GM1221103-Header-Panel-New-Chevy-Chevrolet-Camaro-92-91-90-89-88-1992-/310781460807?fits=Year%3A1989%7CModel%3ACamaro. So since that is in there a bit more (I didn't know how to uninstall it at the time) than the little metal housings I decided not to cut into that, and essentially jammed the bulbs in there, so the wires are 90* towards the opening. We'll see how long they last that way.

visitor

Not much of an update, but my paint guy is sanding/buffing and sent me a teaser shot. This is his reflection in the paint..

visitor

Long time since updates, but here we are. Cars painted, almost back together. Im NOT happy with the paint job, looking for a new paint guy, but ill have to live with it for a year or so. Got to clean up the overspray, and polishing residue, put the grille back in, and high beams in. Also needing to get it retinted. Does anyone have the wiring info on the low beam headlights? As in what color or prongs what

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Well, it certainly looks nice in photos.

visitor

Thank you, it does. Ill admit, 5 foot away it looks GREAT. Its only up close you see the (numerous) issues. Nevertheless, it will be stripped down to metal and redone again. I'm moving to the interior for now though (and some suspension)

visitor

Also, I have installed new injectors, and a 7747 computer (although its running an auto tranny chip currently), and it runs amazing.

I H8 WWD

iTrader: (5)

Here you go.