Poor old beater camaro, it's jealous next to my other stuff since it doesn't nearly get as many nice parts as the others and looks a little run down because of a holes putting dents in it in the parking lot (parking spaces are a whole lot smaller here and people can't drive...and they don't leave a note )
Then again, I drive this thing a lot, as crappy as it looks, it drives very nicely, handles firm and engine runs solid. Just smokes on startup and lacks power. No rattles or squeaks (I actually put quite a bit of time in it, just didn't make it all pretty, functionality is key here, not looks)

Anyway, I figured I would post a little because it is getting some attention and I will pull it apart this year to give it a major overhaul.

when I got it









next to my then not procharged 87 (red one in stock shape there)



M6 wheels, then a couple of guys here copied me... I removed them (removed them from 87 also)



rusty but solid (did weld in new sections where the door pinch area is)


sure looked allright back then


threw on left over N10 dual cat

 

alston SFCs




quicky rear muffler swap, stainless section with a powersprint muffler, the stock one had rotted out



new wheels and tires


old interior out, in with the new (at this point I had already installed a new dash pad and a lot of the console parts, a lot of it was broken, had screw holes etc)





new headliner (repaired old one) sail panels and visors done in same fabric


LAst thing I did was throw on this 4" spintech I had laying around. I quickly fabbed a 4" stainless end section for it and a slip in merge for the 3" pipe off the dual cats





made it so the rear section runs parallel to the body line


sounds OK now, not great...I would have liked it louder so it needs more power, a lot more

But...I have the stuff for that. I have a twin turbo SLP-T ram that I'm building but also have a mostly complete procharger M1 (P600b, marine version), brackets etc. dual LS1 procharger intercoolers, or a dual C4 corvette procharger intercooler set. I will custom build all the pipes from aluminium..not a problem.

[img]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5sy4ayqt14/img]

For now the car is on 17 and 18 Work Equip wheels. They are nice wheels but I don't feel they look all that great on this car and the front needs to be spaced out a little. I will go back to the 19s. I had all the vredestein tires develop wear spots down to canvas and they are a hazard. Had them removed. the wheels had some weather rash (paint bubbles and flaking off) so I will recon them and then slap on 265 and 305 Bridgestones. Have the tires, just need time to do the wheels.

To do list:
AC delete w/ factory heater box
new built engine, probably twin turbo slp t ram 355
New steering linkage from moog with adjuster sleeves
retrofit T56 6 speed
tubular LCAs
J&M strut mounts
headers (if not turbo, otherwide log manifolds and 3" downpipes)
tunnel mounted short tq arm
maybe a watts linkage (if I change this on my 82 trans am)

I may also upgrade the brakes to the larger c6z51 or c6z06

Just put one of my 2 C6Z06 sets on my 93 camaro (which needs a sunoco spoiler bad, just the dollar is a little pricey for us now)

 

Very cool!


Did you notice much of a change when you added the N10?

 

Not a lot, maybe a little. I think the biggest gain came from the supersprint muffler (absorption muffler) replacing the stock one

 

your "beater" is nicer than most guys cars

 

it has a big dent in the door now, both rear fenders dented and the rear bumper on both corners, it's nowhere near as nice visually as it was in the above pics

I almost have my 93 Z28 back up to snuff, I'll pull this into the shop and will do some more stuff to it. Really wanting to pull the crossmember and motor and redo it with all the powdercoated and new stuff I have lying around and soup it up. It's just too slow and it reeks of oil

 

nice looking IROC beater!

 

boy do i know what thats like lol. unfortunately i sold my camaro a month or two ago. leaving for the navy anyway can't take it with me. sorry its a bit beat up lol i know what thats like too. my neighbors backed into mine more than a few times.

 

Well, it's partly apart again. Time to redo some stuff and renew the rear axle brake line, and .... fix the damned rust hole I found. Ugh. Again, rust behind the factory sealer crap.



Luckily a very easy fix, but still... only spot it has rust. The other spots were the crumpled up pinch welds but I already fixed those a couple years back.

exhaust off (yes, the ugly power exhaust with the mig splattered reducer according to someone here on the forum)



Wondering if I should pull the tank and install the nice new powdercoated spare one I have



Looks like it is a replacement tank, probably a recall for leaking filler tube.


front has mucho rust... really tempted to pull the whole subframe. I have everything in spare, powdercoated and ready to go. But, I know myself and I will end up redoing everything and having yet anotther major project



old parts that came off, they are already powdercoated from a previous rear end install I did. Will however replace with tubular stuff I have lying around



quicky rear axle build. Didn't feel like taking it to the blasters so I took most of the crap off and have it a lick of paint. In the future I will swap in another axle I have lying around that's now udner another car (it's completely powdercoated and as new)

 

Here's mine I didn't like to think of it as my beater she was my baby sold her about a year ago regret it to this day very fun to drive and myn was definitely a head turner they say you dont know what you got till its gone its true . she would of looked good sitting next to those other ones

 

Here's mine I didn't like to think of it as my beater she was my baby sold her about a year ago regret it to this day very fun to drive and myn was definitely a head turner they say you dont know what you got till its gone its true . she would of looked good sitting next to those other ones

 

All of these are far too nice to qualify as beaters. Beater means beat to death and still being beat on. Here's a real beater:

 

Got my wheels back from the coater today. the black was tarnished by wheel cleaner (someone at the car wash probably mixed it too strong)

Had them done in matte gray, probably going to go for the matte look on the whole car





Tires will be 265s front and this time 305s in the rear. I got rid of the Vredestein after they developed sidewall issues, chipping whole sections of rubber and braid sticking out.

 

I like the color

 

Me too. They look nice.

 

Well, I have rust, and again it's the seam sealer that is the issue.











Then I went hunting and found more,l on both sides








Then I figured.... it's buggered as it is already, I might as well just cut it all up and install this








If I do it, I'll need some small bits and pieces like a new u joint and some caps/straps for them as well as some bushings and rear c4 rotors. Part of me wants to do it but part of me wants to keep the D44 for my 77 formula. This is the last D44 I have complete, I have another one in pieces and a couple of the weaker 80-82 units (they are the stronger of those, 82 units, same as 80 & 81 manual option with the 1350 joints and 3" shafts)

 

Decided to keep the D44 for another project (2nd gen formula)

Fixed all the rust, redid part of the factory seams and resprayed it all with black stone chip coating. Not super pretty but easily maintained and resprayed during periodic inspection







redid fuel tank, fresh pump and filter





plated bolts, brackets and shields




adjustable short tq arm


This will need a custom mounts, the tunnel mount plate will never fit without cutting the seat belt plates off, not gonna do that. I'll add a crossmember between the SFCs

starting to look somewhat pretty again




I have Z06 calipers and rotors for the front, those should fill out the wheels much better





The discs are at the platers, they will be gold. It's a lot more durable than the blue zinc plating.

 

I fabbed a new TQ arm mount, not the prettiest and I didn't have enough steel left to make it 1 piece. So I figured, what the hell. I will cross it over to the other side to support it a little more but I'll have to remove the exhaust for that and to do so I need it on a 4 post since the arm of the 2 post is trapping the exhaust against the bottom of the car. This car is never going to be pretty on the underside as the others are, I drive this one the most. All I care about is performance. I'm going to lower it some more. The Z06 brakes will improve braking a bit more (already has C5 stuff w/ baer 2 pc eradispeeds now), manual trans and a fresh engine will go in. Full length headers and a new 3.5" exhaust are ready to go in for the most part

 

Almost done, still need to pick up TQ arm from powdercaoters

 

Looks great!

 

Beater get's torn down more and more for better and cleaner stuff to go back in









all this original stuff, yuck





ready to get shoved in a corner

 

What kind of motor is going back in? Are you gunna coat the undercarriage like you usually do?

 

A 355 or maybe 383. Retrofit t56. Z06 brakes. Maybe t ram or a custom made something but will need a cheap hsr base for that

No not gonna strip it all bare. This is a sort of daily driver. Not going through the hasdle of coating it all. The others won't be driven as frequently and are much nicer in terms of attention to detail

 

Off with the old, on with the new. Shocks sure got ugly real fast, same goed for the spindle and the adapter brackets. (and the old hubs, caliper aburments and allen heads), it was all zinc plated gold but man, it's all a dark brownish gray color now from brake dust and it will not come off. Those semi metallic pads wore like mad, took out my rotors (expensive baer 2pc eradispeeds) and they always made noise.












I will have to swap custom made above hubcentric to BMW centric adapters from 15 to 20mm ones (they are in reality BMW adapters that are machined out on the inside for a slop free fit on the spindle)

 

Added a support bar to the TQ arm mount

 

Freshly coated front suspension stuff, missing bolts because the're still at the platers and I didn't have enough spares

 

beater build continues.

first I stripped the dented door. I previously did a quicky fix on this to keep it from rusting. I had some paint mixed for the engine bay to redo some spots (mainly near the MC where someone dripped fluid all over the strut tower and it got all n nasty) and when I was done with that I used it to quickly paint this door. IT's not perfect and will need more prep and finish and clear coat but I did this to check the color match to the rest, it's good, not perfect (car has been poorly repainted before, over the original decals lol and the iroc lettering taped off) or I may spray the whole thing without clear coat and do a matte coat finish.







still have some waves in the front, I guess my metal work didn't get them all out so I'll have to go over it with the evercoat rage gold.

match is ok






underside coming along



time for pedals...manual pedals. Working under the dash (ugh) and cutting holes



hole cut, master installed. Sure is nice if the sound deadening is still there, makes for an excellent template after pulling the pre punched center hole (just have to pull the piece out)




much better..cars have 3 pedals, not 2


also removed AC condenser


z06 brakes

 

most everything in the front is back together
















starting to look alright if I say so myself

 

found my non AC heater box. Forgot where I put it...it was in my 87 iroc LOL





it fits..yaya

 

fabbed limiter strap mounts




no more loose springs


I thing this looks pretty damn good


time to gut the interior again and start cutting for a manual, already completed pedal swap etc. Will need to rewire the harch unlock and wire the PN switch through the clutch.



OH NO! not again... this f%$#@%#$ sealer ...



rest is solid




hoping to revive this carpet... it's faded in spots and stained from coffee... I may attempt a botcher rattle can replay on this. Can't get worse than it is



looks a lot cleaner than it was


Another issue, those founders CC plates don't fit at all, not on stock struts and not on koni, bilstein (don't have other brands), the bushings in the monoball are way too small, I had to mill them out to less than half the remaining thickess of the bushing. What gives? I have J&M hotparts on my 2 other cars and they are just bolt on, no issues. Guess you get what you pay for.

 

Dude looks like a monster truck. SLAM IT!!

 

There's no engine in it lol

 

t56 is set in stone, hole for shifter is cut, no way back



and...I've had this thing for a long time, time to put it in



tinted the lens with window tinting foil, don't have the original dark lens

 

got my hands on an original shifter boot, much nicer than fabbing something out of shet rubber


and I installed Bi-Xenon on the outer lheadlamps because visibility sure is poor at night

 

When I go to sleep at night...I dream of my ThirdGen being 1/10 as nice as your beater, and DAMN look at your fleet of Thirdies! We definitely have different definitions of beaters.

 

got the new rear tires on also.

 

I installed projector HID (xenon) headlights using a pilot bi xenon system. I retained H1 halogens on the inner high beams Hopefully this is the solution to very poor visibility at night. I'm thinking about putting much brighter bulbs or leds in the daytime running lights and getting some LED lights and hook those to the fog light wiring so I can turn those on and off. I am not putting the stock fog lights back on. One of mine is cracked and I don't really like how they look.

 

Wouldn't this be fun?

 

Heck, yes! Although I don't know if THAT falls into the definition of "beater", per se, unless you mean "beater of rice".

 

Double dog dare you to do it!!!

 

Well, I did get some more LS parts, got a holley mid ram, afr mongoose heads, jesel shaft rockers, arp head studs. The issue I'm weary about is that with boost it's damn easy to break piston 7 or 8. A 4 corner steam port system is not the solution IMO. The mahle powerpak pistons are forged but not the most desirable alloy for boost and the ring lands are nowhere near thick enough for high boost. JE has a set of pitons for 6.125 rods and stock rods and std bore (don't want to overbore a pristine block with only a few thousand miles on it) and I have a TSP TorquerV3 cam for it and it's not the most suitable for boost because of the 111deg LSA. What to do.... what to do. I'm eyeballing a LS1 set up for diamond 3.908 pistons (pretty much max overbore) with a broken starter mount (no problem welding that back on) but it's just more money, more engines...not like I don't have too many engines and engine projects as it is. I just couldn't let that D1SC get away from me LOL