Hello all,
I'm new here. I couldn't find a specific area on this forum for build threads but noticed someone else had a restoration thread going on so I figured this might be the right spot.

So, where to begin?? As a kid, I had an 85 Camaro. It was a great car but I always liked the GTA trans am. So, one day shopping around for another project that I do not need I stumbled upon this car. It was rough in appearance but appeared to have reasonably good bones ad the price seemed decent. We drove 2 hours to take a look and made a deal and I drove it home. It might not have been as well represented as I had hoped so maybe not a smokin' deal but. It's mine now...

So the details- 87 GTA, hardtop, 5.7L, light saddle interior, Y84r, WS6, G80... The claim was 121k- yet the odo is broken so yea...
Body is straight, wheels are original, interior was wrecked, some small rust bubbles.

Car drove fine except for all the wandering on the road. 40 year old neglected car. What do you expect. Trans shifted firmly- felt like it might have a shift kit. Engine was smooth except when it wanted to sputter and die at idle. (which was around 500rpm), Gauges told me I had 60 psi of oil at nearly all times and the temp said I was at 220 most of the way. I've read that these gauges are not very good so, likely the issue. Also, noticed that the I couldn't fill the fuel tank without it kicking off. Lights work, power truck lid works as well as it's release, power windows work slowly (don't they all), the mirrors work, door locks work. Even has the original spare and jack, and all new tires So, not all bad.

Got the car home and started cleaning but it was simply too much nastiness so the entire interior came out. Lots of mouse houses, and even a dead bird under the back seat- literally feathers and bones... We cut the carpet to pieces and pulled all the plastics. The front driver's seat was stuck in position and we could not get the one of the bolts loose without significant time spent fighting. Finally got it off and discovered that the track had a deteriorated CVS bag jammed inside. It took a while of fishing but I got it all out. Lubed it and now it moves...

Cleaned and disinfected the interior and discovered a few more rusty bits than anticipated. A couple holes under the the front of the car where it appears a jack might have slipped of a pinch weld and some rot out back in the spare tire well, hidden by the cladding.

I didn't think much of it until I discovered that there aren't body panels for these cars... WTF??? Then the issue with sourcing matching interior pieces?? I thought these cars were popular! Ugh. Oh well...

So once stripped and cleaned, I turned to the master cylinder as it was leaking. I painted it to prevent rusty appearance and did the booster as well. I'll be going through things little by little to make the car road worthy-er.

Lots of odds and ends to sort through. Console is being repaired. Rear view mirror the auto dimming one has been dismantled and cleaned, Since I am trying to do several things at once, we also pulled the dash pad to be recovered, (headliner was already missing), and put some sound deadener down to keep us moving in the right direction.

 

My phone is not cooperating with my PC so I have to go back and forth to get all the pics to load. A few more in the post below.

 

A few more pics

 

The sound deadener was just placed in the spots seen and the trunk. I have more coming in order to do the doors and the floors- after we figure out what we are doing with the rust.

While we wait on that, we have a few pieces on order- fuel tank vent valve, trans rear seal, new filer and gasket for trans, new rear diff fluid, fresh oil and filter, steering pieces, etc.

If you noticed the fuel hard lines look rougher than a night in jail so they have to be replaced. Maybe the brake lines too. Still need to figure that out.
When I removed the air box and charcoal canister I found some "custom wiring to some sensors that was done with speaker wire and wire nuts- Can't make this stuff up. Maybe someone can point me to what I need to fix this mess properly. Also need to figure out vacuum line routing as most were rotten and many disconnected.

 

Side note: I was bummed when I noticed the RPO sticker was missing but I found it under one of the seats. Also, a very nice build sheet under the carpet and the seller gave me a copy of the original window sticker so that's kinda cool!

I also forgot to mention that the idle issue was likely the result of the TPS only having one bolt as the other one had been snapped off in the throttle body... Ugh.

 

It occurs to me that I forgot to ask... I would like to install the original style radio (cassette or cd is fine with me). The original was missing as were the mounting pieces and some "genius" cut the connection wires in order to install something aftermarket so I also need to source the connector ends as I like to have things as clean as possible.

If anyone can point me in the right direction that would be great.

 

where did you find the build sheet under the carpet I have a car I got from the original owner and have been looking nothing was under the seats, thanks

 

If it were me, I'd look for one in a wrecking yard and cut off the oe connectors then solder them into my car. Or, source them from someone selling a parts car on Facebook. Where are you located? I know there's a guy or 2 in the Long Island area who sells a ton of used third gen parts, used to come across the listings on FB marketplace.

 

Build sheet was under the front drivers side carpet.

 

A couple updates:

I think we're going to pull the dash-maybe just enough to remove the rest of the sound deadener. Wife says under the dash smells like R. Kelly's sheets- pissssss. (funny song reference)
Anyway, we'll clean all that and put some new sound material and while we're down there probably take a look at the heater core. While I don't think it was leaking, there seemed to be some dampness on the pass/firewall sound material which I think could be coming from the fender area- I had an 85 Camaro in the 90's and I recall the dealer putting a bunch of silicone somewhere around the antenna area to stop some leak I kept getting on the floor. Anyway, it's worth a look while I'm there.

Also, just ordered the Odometer gear repair kit as the odo stopped at 121k and this car has much more than that.
Interestingly, I discovered (after looking at the supplied paperwork that the engine was replaced in 2005 with the car having only 97k on it. This seems like a car someone was just using as a fun car on the weekends (around 5400 miles a year) so, if that was the case and they continued in that pattern the "new" engine would have something like 113k. The body like 210k. But for living its whole life in Ohio, there's not as much rust as one would expect from such high miles, so it is likely much less... Just trying to get an idea of what I'm working with.

 

MODS: Looks like I've posted this thread in the wrong area. Can you please move this to the proper location? Thanks.

 

Does not look near as bad as one would think being in that region. Glad you were able to ****** it up.

 

Yea, I thought it was decent for being an Ohio car for some 40 years. I really expected more rust. I talked to my body guy but to fix all the small issues here and there will kill me in labor costs so I think I will do a cheapie fix so I can put the car back on the road asap and just enjoy it until I decide on a full resto.

 

Great project Boostmaster. I love that color combo. Congrats on the purchase.

 

Thanks. It's not going to be a restoration but rather rehab in order to make it a regular driver. I have other cars that are so nice I CAN'T drive them so this one needs to stay a little rough so we can enjoy it.

Speaking of which- DynoDave, I stumbled upon your thread and got lost for 26 pages! Lots of great content.

 

So, today I managed to remove the fuel tank vent valve. Had to cut the line. It was a mess. I have a new one to install maybe tomorrow. Also, removed the leaking trans tail shaft seal and installed a new one. What a PITA that torque arm is! I'm still fighting with it as I'm on jack stands and everything is a bit greasy-might jump under there tomorrow with degreaser and try to clean it up a bit before doing anything else...

Also, discovered the ECM has stock chip. No one has hacked any wiring or modded anything from what I can see. Once I get all the basics handled, this could be a blank slate...