New project car!!!

[DOTC]

I saw a RS at junk yard the other day.. me and my wife went there today and the guy only wanted $250 for the car. Its in great shape for the year, but its missing the whole back suspension. Ill post pics of the car when I pick it up next weekend. Planned on replacing the V6 with a 350 small block (290hp).

Any thoughts on what to look for in a "older" car? This will be my first project car..

98 RS Camaro PICS

These pics are from the first day we got it. Weve cleaned it up since just to feel a little better about it So far the worst rust is the battery compartment and one of the support brackets for the left lights.

We got it moved further into the garage by putting down some MDF (we had it laying around) setting the car on blocks and pushing it forward with the suburban.. worked great!

8.24.09

I got a rear end off of a 92 Z28 at pick-a-part. Buying a LT1 with a 6speed from a 93 SS sometime next week for $500. Done plenty of research on this.. seems I will need a new K-member and tranny support (along with tons of other mods) I will update with pics once I get the rear end cleaned up.

I'll be replacing the axles, rotors, calipers, brake lines.. etc etc. Been fun so far!

 

[thedarkwolf]

a rear suspension is usually something I look for

 

[DOTC]

Well.. it is a project car I found all the stock rims at least..

*Edit* yeah.. nevermind. lol. Suspension is first.

 

[Arkaign]

One nice thing you can do : strip out and replace the stock carpet, and there are also aftermarket dash / door panel kits that are spartan but solid. GM Interior circa '89 = probably about toast.

There is a TON you can do with that car, just takes time and $ But the stuff is all out there, and easy to find.

You should see 500+whp for less than 10k total, if power is your wish.

 

[Gillbot]

rust, look in the floor pans, trunk area, pillars and cowl.

knock on the panels and see if they feel solid. If they thump, they may have excess putty. Look for any other signs of a wreck. Even though it's cheap and a "project", I've seen many people waste too much effort on trying to fix a wreck.

 

[herm0016]

woot! I have an 85 trans am project car, thought it has been my daily driver for the past 3 weeks or so. you should look at putting in a fuel injected 350 from gm performance parts. also, you should check out thirdgen.org its a forum with lots of info about 3rd gen camaros/ firebirds. check out the vender info pages, lots of great reviews and such. let me know if you have any questions about the car. these are great cars and are getting harder to find nice bodies, they will only go up in value as time passes, they are the collector cars of the 80s.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Originally posted by: Gillbot
rust, look in the floor pans, trunk area, pillars and cowl.

knock on the panels and see if they feel solid. If they thump, they may have excess putty. Look for any other signs of a wreck. Even though it's cheap and a "project", I've seen many people waste too much effort on trying to fix a wreck.

Yep.

If you're not scared to try new things and get your hands dirty, it can be a fun project. If you're expecting to slap it all together and tear up the roads in a month or two, you may find yourself frustrated and looking for a way to dump the car.

Do yourself a HUGE favor:

- DO NOT buy expensive items to be used in the future. For example, don't go out and buy a crate engine or transmission because you're planning on dropping it in when it's done. Wait until you're almost ready to drop it on. That way, if the car ends up being too much of a project, you're not out $2k+.
- Go through the car as extensively as you can. I know it's only $250, but if major parts are rotted, bent, or twisted beyond repair (frame rails, etc.), you might be better off saving your cash.
- Don't make it a chore. Only work on it when you have spare time and nothing better to do. If you force yourself to repair as much as possible, you'll get sick of it and end up hating the car.
- Be prepared for the worst. You bought the car from a junk yard, it's an '89, and it was likely beat on before it was finally retired to rust in place. Rusty floors that need to be cut out aren't all that bad, really.

On my '66 Mustang, we had to replace the floors, cowls, sections of the front frame rails, seconds of the rear frame rails, patch the seat risers, patch the transmission tunnel, patch the doors, patch both fenders, patch the bottoms of both quarter panels, patch all four wheel wells, replace an inner fender / battery box, patch the shock towers, etc. The list goes on. It looked like a pretty solid car when we started, but the more we took apart, the more that we found that shouldn't be ignored. It's been a long time in the running, but man, that car is starting to look impressive. Good luck with yours, I hope you have the same motivation and luck!

Edit:

Sometimes finding good deals on parts you need also makes the project that much more enjoyable. So far I've snagged a decently built 289 (domed pistons, ported heads, Edelbroke RPM intake, Holley 4160 carb, semi-radical cam), a 4-speed toploader, and a used, full 2.5" exhaust setup off of a '66 GT350 (minor surface rust, still shiny!) for pennies compared to what the usual prices are. All of them came from different people, and finding them was just blind luck. Now I just need to find a complete 9" LSD rear end to replace the stock 8".

 

[DOTC]

Thanks for the advice! The floor panels do seem very solid.. I stomped on them with my foot a couple of times. The pan that held the battery is completly rusted out. The car seems like it was taken care of very well. Only some very minor body damage on the drivers side. Glass is perfect and minor rust on the outside of the car where it was hit. Interior is still there, the dash is gone though. The odometer read 31,141.. cant be real mileage but you never know. I think this will take me about 4 years to complete, so yeah Im not rushing anything.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Don't buy something just because its cheap. If you are going to spend 4 years working on something you better really like it because you aren't going to make any money off it. Going to loose a good bit.

 

[DOTC]

We didnt buy it just cause it was cheap. The wife and I had been talking about a project car for some time. We really wanted a IROC-Z 82-84, but these cars are VERY hard to find in houston for some reason. If you do find them people want 3-4k for them barely running. It'll be a fun toy when shes done..

 

[SparkyJJO]

Make sure you get some subframe connectors and stiffen the chassis if you plan on pumping out some torque and horsepower. The third gens didn't have a very rigid chassis from the factory but thankfully it isn't too hard to stiffen them up.

 

[DOTC]

Will do! I think we are shooting for 350hp. Its just going to be a fun weekend car to drive around, nothing serious.

Anyone know how the heck to get this thing in my garage with no back axle or suspension? I've been trying to come up with some idea's.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Could put some sort of wheels on a wood frame and stick that under the subframe rails to allow it to roll.

Depending on the engine you want to put in, check out LS1tech.com for some info. There are guys on there in the conversions who have put the LS1 5.7L V8 from the C5 corvette and later 4th gen Camaro in a third gen. Lots of good info there about the LS series engines, conversions, and suspension upgrades and all that fun stuff.

 

[alkemyst]

You can just get a couple 2x4's and make it into a rickshaw.

 

[herm0016]

2 furnature dollies or something similar would probably work. otherwise a wood frame w/ wheels. you could also just stick some 6x6s on the ground, up to the trailer and drag it across those, this would probably be the easy solution for getting it onto a trailer.

 

[DOTC]

Thanks for all the replies. We found some furn dollies we are going to use. Found a wrecker with a flat bed thatll get it to my garage for $60. Lookin good so far This weekend cant come fast enough

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

www.thirdgen.org will answer all your questions.
I had a 91 Trans Am GTA and had fun fixing it up.

Something you will have to replace on a semi-often basis. Rear trunk pull down latch (if you have the motorized kind) and window motors. Me and my buddy went through these things like mad on our 2 3rd gens.

if you are going to go for 350HP i nthe car, you're going to need a new trans or have the current one built stronger. If I were you I'd get an L98 and be done with it. It's not super powerfull, 230-240hp, 340-360 tq. For a weekend driver that's plenty.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Is this a video of it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbp5zPw38aI

 

[DOTC]

LOL.. That video is awesome!

The car is now in my garage Tow truck driver moved it in there for us.. not bad for $60.

Ill update with pics when I get home

 

[TehMac]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
You can just get a couple 2x4's and make it into a rickshaw.

I was thinking this.

We had to lift a 1200 lbs crate out from the back of a tow cart from Uhaul. The 1400 hp V12 inside was around 350 lbs, but the protecting crate was incredibly heavy. We ended up using a lot of muscle and 2x4s.

 

[MovingTarget]

I know it is kindof an afterthought, but how is the weatherstripping? Having good door/window seals do way more than keep water out...they really do cut down on excessive wind/road noise.

:thumbsup: for the project though. Pics when you get a chance!

 

[JulesMaximus]

The chassis in those cars was weak as hell and they really could use some reinforcement. I'd check all the suspension pickup points and strut towers along with the subframe. Weld in some good quality subframe connectors, this will help quite a bit.

I'd definitely check for frame damage before you start anything though. Rust probably isn't likely being that it's a Texas car (assuming by your location).

 

[daw123]

I would love to do a project like this, although my dream project car would be a Jag E-Type (very expensive though).

Good luck with your project and post some updates on progress; I would be interested to see how it goes.

 

[DOTC]

The weather stripping is actually in good shape.. I was up till 2am with the wife cleaning the car out and checking for rust under all the carpet. The crap muffler and piping came off really easy, but we are still having a hell of a time moving the damn thing further into the garage. Going to home depot after work for some 2x4's the frame does flex pretty damn easy though. Panel movementis noticeable when jacking the car up from different ends. It doesn't appear to be bent.. Everything is solid and straight under the car.

 

[DOTC]

*Updated with pics*