Hi there! Must be blind but I didn't see a place for intros or even a general discussion, so I will hit you right away with my questions.

I don't really know a whole lot about cars/engines/working on them. I want to change that. I'm smart, I taught myself for 4 years online so I figure I can do this.

I want to buy some textbooks and a project car and just go to town. I have no time limit, and when I get started I will have a decent budget. I want a car that I can pick over and dissect and learn from etc. I already have a very nice daily, so I will have plenty of time to just comb over and learn and fix and then improve on the car. I want something mean and a car that I can be proud that I built. I'd also like to stay loyal to the bowtie, so here I am, looking at 3rd gen Camaros!

My thoughts are to find one that may not even be in running order, but has a solid body, or vice versa. Get the foundation for cheap, basically. Then work my way through learning to identify things, diagnose, and then repair and replace as needed.

My questions are: I know it will be according to what's available, but what combo would you recommend looking for for the foundation? Do you think I've chosen a good platform for my "classroom"? And what should I look for/steer clear of when looking for my foundation car? I know this is discussed in many facets throughout any car forum, but specific to my case, where I am looking to buy a dirt cheap car that may or may not run.

Ideally I'd like to build a drag car that I can still drive anytime on the street. Eventually.

 

If i had no hands on experience with mechanics or body work I'd pick a happy median between needing severe body work and needing drivetrain work. To really do either you'll need some descent tools and the cost of that adds up fast so start on one thing first. To be brutally honest with you, we are glad you are trying to learn but in reality your body work will probably come out poor if you have no experience and I would not sink a lot of money into building a motor (start by learning the basics. We'd hate to see you sink your piggy bank into a motor that grenades because you didn't know to do something during assembly or installation).
With that being said, we have all learned somewhere. I'd assume the bulk of us learned from other people (watching/assisting). Body work seems to be one of thise things you ate half way deacent at doing at first or you just suck and dont get much better; it truely takes a lot of patience, a certain feel and a good eye to do properly. My body work after 8 years of screwin around here and there has gotten to the point where to the normal person it looks factory. Cheapest way to do this believe it or not is probably buy a running car in descent shape or if you are feeling brave and have the tools a roller with no motor and search for a 350. The bulk of my basic mechanics (switching parts) was learned on an 1987 Iroc with a 305 that I later carbed, then cammed and did an intake manifold and then was replaced by a beefed up 454.

 

God I hate my phone lol.

 

First off, thanks for the reply! After 90-odd views and no responses I was wondering what I did wrong.

I may have come across wrong. When I said the body might not need to be so great, I didn't mean like....EXTENSIVE. Easy things that I can replace with another bit from the junkyard, and then paint/have painted eventually is the general idea there.

I do not have a time line on this project. I suppose it needs to be roadworthy sometime in the next 4 years as I am moving then and don't want to trailer it clear to CO, however that's the only time constraint. I'm not looking to swap or build the engine right away, just want to find one that has an engine in it, running or not, that I can get cozy with, tear it apart and look at every bit and learn how it works as I go. I don't really want to take a fully-functional $2-$5k car and tear it apart. I want to take every part off the car eventually, doing the same thing, through the transmission, suspension, steering, brakes, etc..fix/replace as I go...slowly. I fully expect just the dissection/education to take upwards of a year or more, partly because of the expense of adding the tools as I need them. I plan to have a long career in building and modifying my own vehicles (dreaming of a 69 Nova) so the tools are an investment.

I added the part about building a drag car because I thought maybe it would help in the suggestions on what I should drag out of the junkyard NOW to promote that future LATER.. way later.

I can be patient because in general my daily gives me a healthy dose of driving excitement and I am lightly modifying it as I go, but she's got a warranty and a payment, so there's no way I'm tearing her apart.

Also, thanks for your brutal honesty. I don't want anyone being an azz, but I want things given to me straight.. I AM kinda starry-eyed and glitterfied about this even though I know it's going to be a long, expensive journey.

 

I'd just buy something cheap that runs, with a fairly decent body and drivetrain. Any cheap car of this age will have plenty of problems to cut your teeth on, and you won't remain 'starry-eyed' for long.

Once you've got that one sorted out, sell it and step up to something worse

 

Truthfully find one that is close to stock. Buying a "worked" used car is difficult to know what you are looking at when you buy (might be a giant rig of crap) while at least if you buy something closet to stock you can have more help diagnosing things.

 

Until you mentioned drag car, I was thinking a 1985-92 V6 thirdgen. 1985 is when they started using MPFI, prior to that they're carbureted.
V6 cars are less expensive than the V8s, probably not as likely to be hacked up, and they're the easiest to work on. However, if you're looking at cars that don't even run, then even a V8 should be cheap.
I'd say it's far better to get a car that runs badly, but is near-term stable, rather than one that doesn't run at all or needs immediate rebuilding. You'd want to start out fixing lesser problems before worrying about an engine overhaul.
If it's an automatic then make sure the transmission is good, or plan to swap it out as a unit. Rebuilding an auto trans is about the most advanced project you can get into.

Whatever the engine, the basic priority should be a car that's complete and has a good frame.

You want it to be stock, so you know what you're dealing with and how it's supposed to behave. You'll also be able to find accurate documentation for it and get help with it. Dealing with somebody else's homemade mystery machine will just be a headache and make it harder for anyone to help you.