Barn find?
 

Hi there; I'm new to this forum, but not new to Camaros. My dear old Mother is old, and has recently decided to discontinue driving. As her only Son, I've been the one to help her with her vehicles, since my Dad's passing in 1990. Therefore, it's my latest task to help her resurrect the two vehicles she still owns. Knowing the truck has run recently, I have centered my attention on her car that hasn't left the garage since '97, just to pass an emissions test for licensing. which in fact was the last year it's been licensed. After excavating my way into the "outback" garage, I discovered the "Original" tires needing some air. I'm currently in the middle of draining all of the fluids, and oiling up the motor, prior to turning it over. Although the car is very Dusty, and has it's share of Cobwebs, It appears that it should clean-up nicely since it only has 20,000 miles since New! I'll post better pictures once I get it back into service.....

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Man that's great.So what got you interested in a car you knew was sitting all them years.

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JACKPOT!

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WOW. What year is it? Like an 82?

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I've been very busy with my own life...... I drove the car a bit in the 80's, and had so much fun in it, I bought myself an '85 F-41. After putting 217,000 miles on it, I sold it to a Gentleman in New Zealand. Knowing this car was just sitting, and becoming a preserved specimen, I've been resisting the urge, so that it could stay that way..... Ohh..... It's an '83.

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You sir have one very nice car. Ignore the Cross-fire haters that might pop up, please do not dismantle that car. Clean it up and enjoy it or sell it to someone who will. Those seats are to die for!!

The only bummer is a full tank of what may be varnish lol.

Please keep us updated with pics as you clean it up. You have come to the right place for help. Plenty of guys in this section dedicated to keeping these cars looking original.

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Nice! Love the interior. I've got an '83 CFI as well, and am putting in the exact interior in it, once I have the front seats redone.

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Fantastic! An original Crossfire with the LS interior to boot. Has to be an '83 based on the lettering on speedo and tech. Great, great find. Clean it up, enjoy and take good care. Not many original CFI examples left like that out there.

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Wow man....what a great treasure. I would die to own that z.

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Thanks all! I've been keeping all the Nephews, Nieces, and my own 23 yr. old Son at arms length from this car for quite some time... LOL. I've tried to explain to them that this cars true value is in it's Originality that's been preserved. It only had 13K on it when it was parked in 1990, and accumulated another 7K up until 1996, when it last saw Daylight. Now that My mom has decided to quit driving, she has relinquished the car to me. I'm currently flushing the complete fuel system, and changing all the fluids, plugs, etc. and plan on pressurizing the oiling system prior to start-up since it's sat so long. The tires appear to be without rot, but I would never trust them due to their age. The car is accident free, and the slight discoloration to the nose in the pics is due to the thick coat of Carnuba I left on it to protect it from the cover. As you can see, I quickly buffed it off around the Drivers side headlights to expose it's true condition. The car is completely Un-Molested, and the only thing not original is the Battery, and the Hood Struts. This was a very Fun car to drive, so It's going to require a Ton of restraint on my part, not to ring up any more miles then necessary. Being new to the Forum, and quickly realizing that most, if not all of you know far more about these cars then I, I'll probably be asking a few questions in time. and If anyone requires information for Originality purposes, this car might be a valuable source for them? Anyways, Thanks again for your interest, and making me feel welcome in your Forum.

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I appreciate the fact that you realize what a peach that car is. I've never seen one without air conditioning -- that has got to be rare! That color & style interior totally does it for me. It sounds like you have planned everything right. That would be a wonderful summer weekend machine. Hopefully the future heirs will come to appreciate this history-on-wheels like you have....and the car will remain in the family.

If I may offer a suggestion...try to find a nice set of original wheels & mount tires on them so you can keep the original tires & rims safely stored. As one of the previous posters mentioned, you may have issues with the in-tank fuel pump due to varnish & stuff. At least the gas that was in it isn't as awful as the garbage they're selling today!

Thanks for sharing the pictures of it with "us".

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Congrats man ! Take a lot of pictures! I wish I had more pics of when I found mine! Glad your going to keep it stock.

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That is one sweet ride man can't wait to see more pix of her cleaned up and running. I wish my mom had a cool car like that to pass on to me LOL!

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wow that is the first CFI early third gen Z ive ever seen with A/C delete. Love the color combo, it truely amazes me as how many hidden third gens are out there.

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WOW, that's one SUPER nice '83! And I don't even like the 82-84 cars! That's gotta be a really rare color combo at this point too since I'm sure many of the few surviving ones got painted black or red with rattle-canned purplish-black interiors. Obviously the original Lear-Siegler seats have also got to be stupid-rare by now too.

Too bad it doesn't have a/c...

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Thats the best part of the car. I've never seen a highly optioned early Z with CFI and the LS interior and AC delete. That car has to be one of only double digit production. I've never seen or heard of an AC delete CFI car, let alone with the LS interior.

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Agreed. Of course it probably gets a tad stuffier in Atlanta than it does in Washington State! Personally, I'd thow a towel over the seat & sweat in style

I wouldn't be surprised if less than 100 of these were built with this option combo.

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As a proud owner of a '83 Z -28 I gotta say..............congrats. Thats is a gem of a Z-28. Once it gets tuned up she should run great. You are one lucky guy. ;)

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LOL you wouldn't be saying that if you lived down here...

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Beautiful! To think that something like that has been 10 minutes away from my house for so many years, it makes me wonder how many are left in that sort of shape.

If you ever need any help with anything or take it to any shows in the area I would love to see it in all of its original glory. :)

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Thanks again guys. So now come some questions.......


(1) How much info can be derived from the vin? ( 1G1AP87S8DL152062 )

(2) What does the tag on the radiator support tell?

(3) Where would I find the equipment tag?

(4) Is there more then one Camaro Registry? If so, which would be the best?

(5) What's the best way to Document the cars authenticity, aside from it's Original Paperwork?

(6) Is there any way to find out how many cars were actually built like this one?


Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!

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(1) How much info can be derived from the vin? ( 1G1AP87S8DL152062 )
AP87 = model; S = crossfire 305; 8 - check digit (meaningless-calculated number to verify a valid VIN); D - 1983; L - VanNuys, California assembly plantl; 152062 - sequence number -- others will expand on this

(2) What does the tag on the radiator support tell? Assembly plant, some body options (e.g. CC1 - t-tops), paint codes, approximate date the body was built

(3) Where would I find the equipment tag? These don't have Chrysler-style option tags or Ford-Style BUC tags -- just the radiator support tags.


(5) What's the best way to Document the cars authenticity, aside from it's Original Paperwork? You need the build sheet. You have a very good chance of finding one sandwiched between the foam seat bottom & springs of either front bucket seat because your car is a VanNuys car. You can easily see it if you look underneath either front seat with a flashlight.

In your case, I strongly suggest you unbolt the seat and carefully extricate the sheet rather than attempt fishing it out with the seat bolted down. Your car is far too nice to risk tearing the sheet. The build sheet is GOLD in your case & is the factory blueprint of your car. There is no documentation more valued & thorough.

I would definitely remove the sheet if you find it, make some copies & put them somewhere safe like a safety deposit box or something. If you don't find one under either front seat, there could likely be one under the front and/or rear carpeting. If the car has never gotten wet you probably wouldn't want to dismantle it though (I would anyway!). Some claim to have found build sheets behind door panels although I've never seen one there.

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Perhaps more than one might imagine; see this link.

This other site is usually a good reference for getting all kinds of information on the original equipment list, but your VIN doesn't seem to be in their system. That's not too unusual for this generation of F-Bodies, though; mine doesn't show up either...

That's probably the best way: dealer order sheet, build sheet, original window sticker, purchase paperwork, maintenance records, etc.

The RPO sticker (not sure where it is on an '83 Camaro, but mine's in the center console) has a lot of 3-digit, alpha-numeric codes that pretty-much tell the story of the original equipment list. Here are a couple of sites that will help decode them:

http://www.c2e.info/rpocodes/
http://www.lesabret-type.com/GMRPOCodes.html

Great find! Best of luck with it!

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Congrats on your new aquisition. That is a very nice car you've got there. Love the L/S conteur interior. If you feel like shelling out $50 you can get an original dealer invoice from gmmediaarchives.com

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Actually, after it made it to 20, I wanted to wait till 25, then it became the 30 yr. old mark.... So here we are!

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Wow, great looking Z.

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Thanks all. Haven't spent much time on the Z, as the Little Truck took a Little more work than anticipated.... But after changing the Fluids, Plugs, filters, etc., throwing on an old set of tires, and replacing her cheap fog-lights w/ some Cibies, I drove her home,and gave her a bath. Not bad for being almost 30 yrs. old.....

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...... '83 S-10, 59,586 Original Miles

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That Z is a Beauty! The S-10 ain't bad either... Welcome to Thirdgen.org! It sounds like you are on the right track with this car. As others have said, that has to be one rare car. As the owner of a 24K 82WS7 and a 29K 86WS6 I am facing some of the same questions as you. You are wise to keep you son, nieces and nephews at arm's length on this car. We have four grown children and 11 grandchildren, and although I want them to appreciate the cars, there is no way that I will let them have unsupervised access to them. When it some time for Grandkids to drive, I will get them something newer, practical, and disposable. Please be very careful not to run any of the 15 year-old fuel into that Cross Fire, or you will have a mess. You may want to replace the fuel tank, or atleast have it boiled out and flushed. Keep us posted on your progress.

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Wow, nice truck! I bought my '83 S10 between 10 & 12 years ago for $400 at an impound auction. It had been wrecked pretty good in the front end & was generally abused. It wore various colored front end pieces until I finally found straight white ones -- so far I've put over 100K on it since then & it's got either 200K or 300K on it now. Knock on wood, I haven't had to do any internal engine or transmission work on it & it gets used almost daily.

Yours is too nice to beat on -- it looks like it may be a Durango or Tahoe model which is nice (mine's a base model). Keep the door hinges oiled though: the hinges are welded to the body as well as the door -- even worse than our F-body cars.

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Thanks. I'm truly blown away at the condition of this truck. It is a Durango... Who'd of knew? I thought that was a Dodge... LOL. I'm kinda excited to use it for my commute, as my Super-Duty cost's between $250 ~ $300 a week, at today's rising fuel cost's. My neighbor is Chomping at the bit to Buy it, so at 261,000 miles, I think I'll let it go., right along with the AM radio that the S-10 has! ;)

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Very impressed:) the CFI are hard to keep tuned but wow what a nice color too! I have great memories of one like that I went with Mom for a test drive and had it the whole day with t-tops off and a good cassette in the player:)
I like that year as the Z-28 lines are so cool and those seats!! nice!

Keep her original and stylin! clean her up and share pics!!

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Good looking car! What's its current status?