Hey all, Im new to TGO and this is my first post. I am wanting to start rebuilding my 85 Camaro. Dont have a lot of money atm, but I wanted to get any and all of your expertise and suggestions as to what and where you all would start at....again, without spending any money, what can one do to start tearing into my soon-to-be-eventually BEAST? Basically, if you had a Third Gen and were going to rebuild it the right way, where would you start at?

 

By rebuild, what do you mean? The engine? Chassis? Everything? How's it running now?

Honestly, IMO if you don't have a steady, reliable stream of money, don't even start. You'll end up with a torn down car, no money to put it back together and it'll sit. For a long time.

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but I seen it happen too often.

Without spending any money, just wash & wax, vacuum and maybe change the oil if you have some extra coin.

 

Thanks for responding. idk if i should just get it back on the road by getting a new engine or just do everything. My baby has a rod knocking due to 223K miles on it. It needs paint, interior, engine.....etc. Its been sitting for 2 years all ready and I miss driving it and I'm feeling like I need to do something. Thoughts, opinions, canters?

 

That sure puts a damper on things if you can't drive it afterwards to run comparisons. However, there are a few things you can do that do not cost much, like the throttle body bypass, cleaning out the Plenum or even grinding out the front of the Plenum.

What direction do you want to go in with your ride eventually? Drag, street & strip, autocross???? Cars do not like to sit, so just you keeping it dry and putting a few 20 minute drives on it once in a while is fantastic. I understand you've got a rod knock, but is it still drivable if you baby-it along? Nitro-Nicky

 

....forgot to mention, and you might already know this- many of us have eventually turned to, and used David Shelby's book: "CAMARO PERFORMANCE-Handbook".

It covers all the basic performance modifications areas that our 3rd generations need. Nitro

 

Thanks for the info Nitro. It looks like a book I will be getting in the near future. I'll prob go with strip and street or autocross. and yes, it starts and goes, (prob should putt-putt it around more often than I do). Do you know if the Camaro Performance Handbook goes into any detail about CA emissions?

 

Hey, Goodmorning to ya. Regarding that Camaro Performance book, or any other 3rd Gen Performance oriented book. None that I've seen have delved into the Satanic rituals of California's vision of World Dominance through the Porthole of Smog Compliance/Emmision's 3rd circle of Certification-
(sorry about that; must've been something in the Holloween candy I ate last night)

Anyhow, due to the potential for annual emissions law changes, as a book subject, it would have to be treated like a college textbook subject with new update versions coming out once or twice a year. This is where our Web Site's "SEARCH" function comes in. Be forewarned: if you ask a question that could have been easily answered by: 'SEARCH', or on a generic subject that has been asked 80 X a week for the past 7 years----- You are likely to be told rudely to use 'Search', totally ignored, or treated with little respect on the 3rd Gen Board as a time waster. So get familiar with using 'Search' and the info posted at the top of each General Topic Message Board.

The Northern Cal guys are GREAT! and they really stick together as a group. If and when possible, come out and hang at an upcoming get together: There's always room for one more at county lock-up; or so I've heard;~]

FINALLY (Geez, like, finish the novel dude!) with your Hot-Rod. You've got the basic, favorite intro 305 Camaro and not a whole lot of funding. I've got to be brutally honest with you here: These 3rd Gen's are a money pit, and an unfair one at that. So many of it's parts and systems are set up like Domino's. You touch one, and it knocks over several others.
If you already have a great set of tools at your disposal; a parking spot for dismantling & rebuilding; good mechanical skills, including understanding how to test for electronic gremlins; and that all important extra income source,it's still going to take a chunk of money and time to make it into a modern day performance machine. If you lack any one of those areas I mentioned, it can quickly turn into an ugly messed up pile of unfinished, expensive junk.

If you arn't tied to this Camaro body for a sentimental reason, then I'd seriously suggest taking a look at the 3rd Gen's for sale here on this board and figuring out how to get a loan thru a credit union or some other creative way of finance. You can buy one here that someone has already poured literal thousands upon thousands of dollars on and it still needs paint or interior, thus keeping the price down to around 5ish thousand dollars. They're even cheaper on Ebay, but usually they don't have anywhere near the amount of detail work repair and modification already done. For even $3500 you can get a heck of a great handling and working Camaro off the for sale board here over time.
Don't be like me: 6 years later, it still dosn't have the new engine in it, my woman hates the mention of it's name, there's more money in parts than I have in savings, etc. That's poor planning in life!!!! Nitro

 

Hey, thanks for all the info. I have the tools and the skills and a parking spot, just no funds. I know its just a basic Third Gen, but it does have some sentimental-ness to it. I needed a car 14 years ago and always wanted a Camaro. When my wife and I got married in 98', she used the money we got from the wedding to get me this car. (Big AWWWWWWW!) Anyways, I keep trying to tell her to call up Overhaulin', but that'll nvr happen. So, I gots ta do it myself.
I've been spending a lot of time on the boards collecting info and also ideas for which way I want to go. If I have to polish one lugnut at a time for now, so-be-it. At least I'm getting ready to get ready!
Hopefully my money tree blooms this spring (ha) we'll see.

 

I have to agree on waiting till you have to money to really do anything with the car. Several years ago (when I live in Fresno), I got a 83 or 84 Camaro w/ 2.8. Since the engine was knocking I also got (what was susposte to be a working) 3.4 engine. $1k total.

I swapped engines to find the new 3.4 was also knocking... After tearing everything out of the vehicle and breaking down both engines, I was left with a mess a parts and a striped car. It sat for the next couple years till it was sold.

I tinkered with it. Put in a 91 gauge cluster in the dash. played with painting the interior plastics. But nothing really substantial to moving the car to a finished driveable product. Don't get stuck in the same cycle.

 

Some of the things to do with storage. Just in case you are not aware; the mice will eventually eat all your wiring. In order to keep mice out of your ride get a CLEAN 5 gallon bucket. Fill the bottom inside with up to an 1/2 inch of corn starch. That way the little buggers will get in but never check out. Of course the inside walls need to be super slick and clean. This was my grandpa's way and killed more mice than Stacking Hay does! It's also the best way to get them out of your attic or basement, because they just can't get un-thin from that heavy meal, plus there's no water to wash is all down with.

So get that book, and start mouse proofing your ride. Iz there anything else helping it decay while you're twiddling your thumbs? So It's only a possible rod bearing?

Tools you going to need: 'Can of carburator cleaner. 'Ziplock baggie that will hold a full of oil, oil filter. 'A fresh High Quality Oil Filter: Preferebly a 'Haynes', or 'Napa Gold'. Definetly NOT a 'FRAM' oil Filter.
*Some extremely clean rags and or several layers of white absorbant paper towels.
*A tool cutter that oppens the end of your oil filter up. This is something machine shops do all the time, car racers, etc. They should have them at Cheap Tool House, but you might be able to borrow one ahead if you promise to return it cleaner than when you borrowed it.
^^^The whole idea is to empty out the oil filter, and then cut open the oil filter as cleanly as possible so that it does not add any extra metal shavings. This is why a hacksaw will not work. -Once that oil filter is open, you can carefully lift that coiled up/zig-zagged formed unit out of the metal container and lay it on some of those spotlesslessy clean paper towels you safetly laid out. After allowing the excess oil to drail away, you can then take a pair of scisors, a knife or whatever was sharp, and laid open one end of the continuous zig-zagged pleated circle; unfording it till you can see where the metal(s) have been hiking.

*A good machine shop should be able to tell you what bearing was the culprit.

*Now, Before you go any further, and this is SO DAMNIDID Important!- Before you get a fresh oil filter, or fresh oil, or decide to even scratch your dog's butt, lay down the tools in your hand and slowly back away from the car as if it is about to give you **** herpes.

Now go to your computer and download the worldfamed article called: 'The Engine Oil Bible'. Read it, and be more informed than most Ford and General Motors Engineeers will be for Decades into the future possibly! You kept mentioning wanting to do something cheap and easy for this love machine your Luv Wench and You got a few years ago; updating yourself on this info can be.

Now getting back to that pesky bearing. Hopefully what you'll end up finding is that it's a simple crankshaft bearing. It's going to be a pain in the rump to do, and we can walk you through it; but the goal will need to be to find a way to drop the oil pan, and switch out the one bearing set. I've done this several times on front wheel drive import cars.
The other option, at that point, is for you to have located a really great running 'used 305 off our used engine board; then just switch out the old for the better.
If you've done any checking, the used engines for for a song compared to new engines.

Those 305's were teriffic cannon blocks and it wasn't until someone started dropping several THOUSAND dollars into the 350 california smog blog were they able to get it to wake up and move!! Infact; for several years, there were no difererence really between the Camaro 350 and the 305 HO.

What town are you in? Nitro