Camaros *Now Camaro*

[TerryD]

All the cars except the blue 1989 RS T-Top L03 car have been sold off.

Well, we've got a small crop of 3rd and 4th gen Camaros. Thought I'd share a little about each one as I get to it. I'll start with the first one that came along, my 1984 SC.

Got it for free from a friend of mine. He needed it hauled off and I had a truck and trailer I wasn't using at the moment. Car has some damage, but it's a beater/rod. Dad calls it the rat rod because of how it looks.

Here's a shot of it as I was starting to put it together.

I added a different front end from a 83 parts car I picked up and a reproduction passenger side fender. Used the rear bumper from the 83 as well.

This is how it sits now:

Some quick specs:
76 350 2bm decked to .034 over the pistons
Ported/polished 882 heads with 1.60 exhaust valves
Comp Xtreme Energy XE274H full cam kit
Four valve relief flat top pistons
Edelbrock Torker II intake
Holley 3310 750cfm carb
Accel blueprinted HEI distributor
Hooker shorty headers

TH700R4
Trans-go shift kit and hard pump ring kit
Beast Sun Shell
4.3L S-10 converter (for now~2300RPM stall)
B&M third-gen Console Mega-Shifter

Stock 10b
3.73 gears with mini-spool

Spohn torque arm
Edelbrock track bar
Z28 chassis braces at the cross member
4" lift off cowl induction hood (wanting to change out for a 2" or flat)

Little video of the motor through open headers:

 

[63chevyll]

Nice, I still have a soft spot for those years. Is like to someday have a 91, 2 Iroc, or RS.

I do have a 83 Z28 I can pick up from Wisconsin whenever I need too.

 

[lectric80]

Well, we've got a small crop of 3rd and 4th gen Camaros. Thought I'd share a little about each one as I get to it. I'll start with the first one that came along, my 1984 SC.

Got it for free from a friend of mine. He needed it hauled off and I had a truck and trailer I wasn't using at the moment. Car has some damage, but it's a beater/rod. Dad calls it the rat rod because of how it looks.

Here's a shot of it as I was starting to put it together.

I added a different front end from a 83 parts car I picked up and a reproduction passenger side fender. Used the rear bumper from the 83 as well.

This is how it sits now:

Some quick specs:
76 350 2bm decked to .034 over the pistons
Ported/polished 882 heads with 1.60 exhaust valves
Comp Xtreme Energy full cam kit
Four valve relief flat top pistons
Edelbrock Torker II intake
Holley 3310 750cfm carb
Accel blueprinted HEI distributor
Hooker shorty headers

TH700R4
Trans-go shift kit and hard pump ring kit
Beast Sun Shell
4.3L S-10 converter (for now~2300RPM stall)
B&M third-gen Console Mega-Shifter

Stock 10b
3.73 gears with mini-spool

Spohn torque arm
Edelbrock track bar
Z28 chassis braces at the cross member
4" lift off cowl induction hood (wanting to change out for a 2" or flat)

Little video of the motor through open headers:

I like it but something about that nose doesn't look right. The turn signal openings seem like they are too small, but it may just be because it is a sport coupe not a Z or Berlinetta. Still a nice looking car, and I prefer the early 82-84 nose over the later version, just looks better to me.

Nice, I still have a soft spot for those years. Is like to someday have a 91, 2 Iroc, or RS.

I do have a 83 Z28 I can pick up from Wisconsin whenever I need too.

Ok, go pick it up, get me the front bumper cover, bumper reinforcement, and maybe a few other parts.

 

[TerryD]

I like it but something about that nose doesn't look right. The turn signal openings seem like they are too small, but it may just be because it is a sport coupe not a Z or Berlinetta. Still a nice looking car, and I prefer the early 82-84 nose over the later version, just looks better to me.

The Z didn't have the three openings between the head lights and more scoop looking openings for the radiator.

 

[Deuling]

That puppy sounds mean!!

Please paint it

 

[lectric80]

No, I know about those differences, as mine is a Z28, but all the 82-84's I have seen had larger turn signals with clear lenses. They had a center plastic divider, and they seem to be larger. I will have to wait until my new parts come in to show you, but that doesn't look right. However, I haven't paid a lot of attention to the sport coupe's from those years, so they could be different from the Berlinetta which still has the 3 nostrils but turn signals that are identical to the Z28. Either way, it is a sweet car and kind of shows me why mine will never be a sleeper, I would have to have that car be one color. Mine will eventually be Synergy Green with flat black accents, so no real sleeper there.

 

[TerryD]

That puppy sounds mean!!

Please paint it

There's paint all over it! Eventually, when I'm done driving it like a crazy person, I'd like to have it painted the original color, which isn't any of the colors you can see now from the outside. It's the lighter color on the inside of the wheel wells in the engine bay pic. But right now, I like the unassuming "calico" look as my buddy termed it.

No, I know about those differences, as mine is a Z28, but all the 82-84's I have seen had larger turn signals with clear lenses. They had a center plastic divider, and they seem to be larger. I will have to wait until my new parts come in to show you, but that doesn't look right. However, I haven't paid a lot of attention to the sport coupe's from those years, so they could be different from the Berlinetta which still has the 3 nostrils but turn signals that are identical to the Z28. Either way, it is a sweet car and kind of shows me why mine will never be a sleeper, I would have to have that car be one color. Mine will eventually be Synergy Green with flat black accents, so no real sleeper there.

I had the chance to do the Z clone thing, but I'm a fan of the sleeper look. When I started this, my choices were either this SC body or a four door 80's vintage Malibu, Cutlass or Grand Prix. I had the Camaro body, so that saved $$ right off the bat.

 

[lectric80]

Yeah, I am not a fan of clones and there are a bunch around here. They always seem to miss some little detail, whether it is the taillights or the nose or some other minor detail.

Mine is a true Z28 so I want it to be pretty, as well as being fast. Right now my only focus on it is getting it on the road so Krusty can be torn to the frame and completed. If only I could afford a much bigger garage, and had a huge amount of cash, I could afford to do all I want with mine. Of course all I want includes a 6 speed, LSx 454, a turbo, and a few other goodies.

 

[TerryD]

Found a couple more pictures of it in my PB account.

Frontal shot on stands before engine install:

Headers installed:

The middle two hood zeus clips mounting brackets. It's surprising how much you can actually do with aviation shears, c-clamps, a piece of angle iron and a trailer front brace. I removed the hood latch assembly and covered that hole with a piece of aluminum sheet. I added the uprights and front two fasteners after it's first trip down the road with the hood on. The front of the hood lifted up till you could drive looking down through the scoop.

TH700R4's are not overly fond of 6800RPM. I was taking a friend for a ride and during the 1-2 shift, the front pump bushing pushed out of the pump housing, opening up the seal and dumping a couple quarts of ATF on the RT11 bridge in Radford.

I don't have any pictures of the fix, but three holes were drilled on the inside of the housing and a punch used to peen the bushing out into these holes. It's worked great so far. The transmission guru from around home showed us the trick for a nominal $80 fee. I thought it was well worth it.

And another gratuitous burnout video:





Dad had the exhaust put on it yesterday. We used a new shop, but Dad's really impressed with their work. He's supposed to bring it up next weekend while they are here for our middle daughter's 2nd birthday party. I'll post pictures of how I had it done and more specs on it then.

 

[TerryD]

Nice, I still have a soft spot for those years. Is like to someday have a 91, 2 Iroc, or RS.

Gonna update this and saw you posted this. Just a quick FYI for ya, they didn't make an IROC in 91 or 92. In 90 I think, GM lost the IROC cars to Dodge's Daytona. In 91 and 92, they were back to the Z28 designation only.



As for the car, Dad brought it up this weekend, but I had forgotten to go by DMV and get tags on it Friday, so it's sitting in the garage. New exhaust is nice and quiet at an idle, but I haven't had it wound up in a pull to know how it sounds beyond that.

Kaylee (middle girl) and I went out this evening and trouble shot the heater fan problems it has. Pulled the relay and crossed out the power terminals and the fan started up. Moved the Camaro's relay to the K5 and it ran for a second and popped the fuse in the K5. Checked resistance across the coil terminals of the relay and it was 0. IIRC, any relay could should have SOME resistance to it, at least a DC relay, so I ordered one from Advance Auto and it should be here at 2pm tomorrow. I'll swing by after work and grab it.

Also replaced a rivet on the zeuss spring on the DS rear hood hold down. It had begun popping off the rivet last year, but I never took the 2 min it took to repair it. Put a washer on it this time, should solve that problem permanently.

To Do's before Pigeon Forge trip in April:

Get radio installed (radio got left at Dad's )
Swap intake over to Torker II
Oil change
Install TCI TCC lockup kit
Support struts on the rear hatch
Try to seal off cowl to prevent hot air from engine bay from entering cabin

I've got about three weeks to do this all, so I guess we'll see how it goes. I can still do 90% of the radio install (can't drive 6hrs w/o a radio ) and the TCC lockup kit is already done on the inside of the 700R4 from when it was in my V8 S-10 in high school, I just have to add the wiring for the car end of things to the Camaro and setup the vacuum switch for this motor.

I'm going to try to get it on stands tomorrow for the oil change and I'll snap pics of the exhaust. I'm really tickled with how it's run, but I'm not sure about how it'll sound yet. I used a Dynomax Ultra-Flo 3" muffler on it which is basically a glass pack in a oval muffler case. Car's more about performance than appearance, so I may learn to live with it, but we'll have to see after a few hours on the interstate at speed and driving around town.

 

[TerryD]

Well, FINALLY got my new relay, but that didn't help. Turns out 1/2 of the switch that mounts on top of the HVAC selector switch is GONE. So, gotta fine a parts car to rob the controls out of. I've got 5 at home, but that's a 6hr round trip.

Got the oil changed today and was going to start working on the TCC lockup wiring, but the girls came outside and we played the rest of the evening.

Here's the pics of the new pipes, at least to the axle. I'll get behind the axle pics after I get the front down off the stands.

From the head pipes around under the floor board.

Head pipes to the Y

And from there back to the axle. You can see my Spohn torque arm with drive shaft loop here:

I cleaned up the battery tray and put a coat of paint on it. I'm going to have to spend a few days under it with brushes, scrapers, and semi-gloss black. I've just never had the motivation to do so. One of those "the worse it looks, the more fun it is" cars.

 

[rdn2blazer]

That puppy sounds mean!!

Please paint it

I see no video, where is it?

 

[TerryD]

Little video of the motor through open headers:

And another gratuitous burnout video:

I see no video, where is it?

Click the pictures.

 

[lectric80]

I finally figured it out, but it took me some time. The signals look different because the SC's used a specific turn signal that was different from the Berlinetta and Z28. It is an orange lens, and the bumper is shaped different. The Z has a more rounded entry to the turn signals, where the SC and Berlinetta have the more squared off openings.

Now if only I could get video of mine on the road.

 

[TerryD]

So I was working on putting in the TCC wiring yesterday and went looking for places to mount my switches. I began thinking about wanting my fuel pump on a switch as well so emptying the fuel bowls for storage would be easier. The power to it would still be switched by the ignition switch so safety would not be affected nor could it be left running after shutdown.

I was wondering what style switch you guys would use. I'm making a panel to replace the shift indicator bezel and ashtray plate out of 1/8" aluminum. The switches will be going where the ashtray is and possibly be hinged to put a fuse panel underneath. I was thinking about the contura style switches like ARB uses. A little pricey but they look nice and are available in quite a few styles and lens colors. Maybe the style of the car merits old metal toggles and leds in the panel for indication. I'm not sure which way to go, any thoughts?

 

[TerryD]

New shifter bezel with solid plate over the ashtray space to mount switches.

Got to hit it with a wire brush and get the holes drilled. The large space is already cut out, I just didn't get a picture yet. I'm going back and forth on painting it satin black or just brushing it. Still have not decided on what type of switches to use either, but leaning towards the contura.

 

[lectric80]

The TCC can go directly through a switch, but I would have your pump on a relay not directly powered through the switch. I like the contura switches and they are well worth the money. With the custom bezel I think they would look good, and much better than old school toggles.

 

[TerryD]

Got the panel test fit tonight, along with starting work on rear speaker replacement and sealing the TCC connector at the transmission end with RTV. Payday is this weekend so I'm going to work up an order for my Contura switches, connectors, and the other stuff I'm going to need to get the wiring in.

I'm going Sunday to look at trading my XJ for a 1998 K2500. While I'm down that close to home to see the truck, I'm going to run on down to my parents house to get some parts for the heater system and stereo.

 

[TerryD]

Went and looked at the truck today, it's a wash. Rusty, brake hoses rotten, A/C doesn't work, driver's side of front seat broken down, ABS light on and the guy asked me for $1500 AND my Jeep. Yeah right.

As for the Camaro, I was working on getting the wiring in for the fuel pump and TCC circuits yesterday and heard this tearing sound. I looked up, and Julie was stripping the old cloth off the headliner. Said she was tire of it looking like ****. I just shrugged and she said she'd be back in a few minutes. She comes back with a can of black paint and some brushes. Here's her results:

Doesn't look too shabby! The grey visors and speaker sail panels came from a parts car. I picked them, the radio and some other stuff up while I was at Dad's. I also grabbed a slightly larger RS rear swaybar for it instead of the pencil thin one that's on there now.

Hopefully my switches will come tomorrow or Tuesday and I can get this thing going before we leave Thursday evening.

 

[4xcrazy]

Seeing this thread, makes me miss mine, sometimes wish I had never traded it off for the Burb, but then I wouldn't be here or have certain friends that I have today...

I'll get another, just a matter of finding one that hasn't been hacked, wrecked or rusted out.