hi all,

I hav a 68 camaro that I've had for years and i feel the time has come to restore it...the car looks decent enough but I am afraid looks can be deceiving. I have very little knowledge of about restoring this car and the project seems overwhelming so I just trying to get some starting points on where to begin...

I would like to turn the car into a daily driver.


any insights would be great, thanks

 

i would start by going through the mechanicals of the car. get it the motor running good. that might involve rebuilding it, make sure the trannys good. check the suspension for bad ball joints, bushings, worn springs and shocks. replace or rebuild what worn out and the lube it up to keep it in good shape. then i would worry about the body and interior. to me i would rather have something that runs smooth and is reliable than look really good and i cant trust it to drive to the other side of town.

 

Buy this book and read it cover to cover: Camaro Restoration Guide, 1967-1969 - Google Books
All too many projects have been started and never finished because the owner really didn't realize what they were getting into, both financially and labor wise. You need to determine how far you want to take the project, and what you want to end up with. You also need to know what you're starting with, as far as how restorable the car really is. Then, sit down and carefully add up all the costs of what you figure it would be, then add at least 50% to that number. Same goes with the time frame. Estimate how long you think it will take to restore the car, and at least double or triple that. If you're not realistic going into the project, you're going to get discouraged right quick.

 

Don't get nuts when you start this project. I've seen a number of project cars sold as a pile of parts because some owner thought he'd tear it into a million pieces and then realised it was just more than he could take on. After getting overwhelmed by the size of the project they simply walked away and gave up.
Take it one piece at a time. Start with the engine/trans, move on to suspension, then maybe body, and leave paint and interior for the last step. It might take years, but you'll be able to drive it occaionally in that time, and it wont end up being discouraging and sell it off. You can learn as you go along too.
And lastly, don't set unrealistic goals or time frames. Just let it happen as it goes. I've seen guys say, "I'm gonna finish this by X date", and when they miss that they get down about it. Just keep pecking away at it.

 

HERE HERE, A Good Example, owned since 78, no time or money to work on YET, Well had the money, just went to other things. Drove car in HS and till 87 when it broke. will put together some day.

 

thanks for replys,

i like the idea of doing it sections at a time...only I was hoping to get everything sandblasted (my buddy has a shop, I just have to get the car there). The car was given to me about 10 years ago and it had a fresh body job and paint...it looks like the front end had already been restored but the trunk was full of rust. Through the grapevine, I heard that the car is full of bondo and only made to look nice not actually done properly. I've noticed some paint bubbles happening the last time I looked at the car (its currently in storage)....anyways wanted to get the whole thing blasted because it would basically be free same with paint, well maybe cost me a few cases of beer.

I hope to get some pictures up this weekend.

cheers

 

for some reason I cant view the photo, says my account doesn't have access?

 

I already have "The Camaro Restoration Handbook" by Tom Currao. Would you recommend that I also purchase the other one? Any other suggestions?


thanks