Alrighty well here we go. Back story some- 1989 Chevy Camaro Iroc-Z28. L98 350, 700R4, etc etc etc you already know lol. What you don't know though is that the car has been sitting for eight years. Hasn't budged since 2010! It was my Dad's, broke down in the middle of nowhere Louisiana on the way home to Georgia. Parked and wasn't touched till I got it outta storage. Me? I'm eighteen, senior in high school and enlisted in the National Guard. I know slightly more than the average bear my age but this is still a completely new experience for bringing a son of a gun back to life no matter if she's kicking or screaming. From what I understand, it might be a blown head gasket. It happened so long ago that I have no clue as to exactly what had happened and neither does my Dad at this point. Been dreaming of it for quite some time though... And here's where the story- well here's where the helpful input from yall begins!


Loading her up on the trailer for the first time.


Nice to see^^^


Parked at the school. Struck a deal with the auto teacher to let us (me) fix her up and get it movin again.


Eh.


Eh again.


The squirrels for the past ten years have made themselves right at home in the engine bay. Nuts a leaves and Lord knows what else is in there.


Needs a lot of lovin.


This one doesn't show it but the others had a nice layer of moss growing on them.

Now for the initial inspect. Popped in a battery, changed the terminals to top post since that's the only spare battery I had and turned her over. What do ya know the old girl turns over after a groan or two! That was the first step. Got a friend or two and helped me try and start it. Intake off and a squirt or two of starter fluid and SHE FIRES! Grumble grumble and then she dies. Of course no surprise. So here we are today with a future for the car and I need some help.

Pretty sure I have no fuel pressure so that's the first step to come around. It was great cause when I took the cap off and pushed down the little plunger on the fuel rail, never knew that gas could turn oil YELLOW! It smelled just as bad as it looked. So I'm guessing fuel pump is shot, flush the lines and go from there. This is gonna be a process and I gotta wait on the darn Ford Falcon to get off my lift so the Camaro can go on! I'll update ya as the work goes on. Defiantly needs a lot of work and any input, suggestions or smart aleck comments are totally welcome. Btw idk how this is gonna turn out if it has the pictures or now so if it doesn't I'm sorry. Gotta get used to the sight and using mobile. Thanks in advance and I hope to get this bad girl running like she used to once more!

 

Congrats! Following!

 

Ditto!

 

Looks like a promising start. I'll be surprised if any of the rubber belts and hoses are salvageable though, especially if squirrels have been in there

 

No fuel pressure as I figured. Hooked up a pressure gauge to the port on the fuel rail and turned it over once more. Nothing, nada, zip- nill. So fuel pump, filter and a flush. Depending on how the fuel tank looks, that also that might be needed. Now the fun part. Hoping to get the Falcon off the lift within the next week or two. That's me hoping but you know how that goes. Done a little looking now and it seems I have two options. Drop the rear end and muffler to get to the tank or cut through the back. Don't feel like cutting to much just yet but that may be in the future. Probably not gonna happen till the dang Ford moves and we all know they aren't very good at that�� Belt is defiantly dead and hoses are most likely shot but it'll work for now. Still worried about what actually caused the break down in the first place. Won't know till I can get through this. Wish me luck.

 

You might want to check the fuel pump relay and see if that has shorted instead of replacing the pump.

 

Sitting for 8 years, the tank needs to come out. You can bank on the old gas needing to be scrubbed out.