i recently picked up a 78 camaro for 500 buckoroos. original motor and tranny, original rims with covers, all i had to do was put it back together. the car was sitting in a guys garage since 1984. almost no rust on this old girl, only rust i have found so far is a quarter sized hole on the rocker panel and some surface rust on the drivers side quarter, right in front of the wheel well. which for being a 31 year old car i dont think is to bad. the old girl only has 62k miles on her, again for a 31 year old car not bad. the original tranny was rebuilt about 2500 miles ago. and the original engine has a spun rod bearing, so on to the ideas, you tell me if you approve or not

body::
full fiberglass front end
4'' cowl race weight hood i was debating on going with a L88 hood but thought that it wouldnt go with the style i was going for.
fenders (dont know if i should go z28 fenders or regular ones)
fiberglass doors with lexan windows all around.
fiberglass trunklid

engine and drivetrain
i have narrowed it down to a 383 stroker (500hp 500tq) or i can get a 400 sb (700+hp 675+tq) from a friend of mine that had it in a circle track car with 2 hot lap sessions on it.
i was debating on taking out the old 10 bolt and switching in a 9'' with 4:56 gears (maybe higher if i feel the need) and mini spool. and new fuel cell, headers into race bullets

suspension::
i was think full drag suspension
moroso trick front springs with comp engineering race shocks
global west tlc drag upper and lower control arms
newer 2'' drop spindles
global west leaf springs (1'' drop) or calvert racing mono leaf spring havent desided on that yet
sub frame connectors
i was thinking of putting some leaf blocks on the rear to lift that *** end up a little bit, nothing lifted truck style

as for the interior im leaving it all open, 8 point cage, kirkey seats, no radio none of that junk, id rather hear the motor

as for paint im debating on going flat black with red pin stripe and my cool badass duck smoking a cigar hood ornament (think the hood ornament from death proof on the nova)

i dont think i wanna tub it out. i wanna leave it somewhat stock looking.
im kinda old school on that. im thinking some weld rims nothing to shiney, maybe get the powder coated flat black and some micky drag radials on the rear with the skinnys on the front. i wanna keep the engine bay simple and functional, no ac, no power steering, i already fabbed up a heater block off plate, im also not a HUGE fan of chrome, some is ok but im not trying to go show car status on her, more of like a pro streeter without the pro street look, the ricers out here like to talk alot of smack to the muscle car guys. and i think its time to lay some smack down and make some chicken and RICER soup lol. also alot of mustang guys so yea gotta make them quiet too.

so im curious what your guys opinions are on this build, both negative and positive. any thing that i should change or do different?

 

i gess that is realy up to you and what you like and can aford

 

cool fid lets see some pics

 

Well if you're going for the "barely street legal" look, then I'd say it sounds great. I kinda like the look of a race car, but with some amenities that make things comfortable and driveable.
After years of racing my 71 Camaro I returned it to street legal. I left the rollcage, but covered every interior panel with sound deadener and installed a new carpet set. I then recovered and replaced the seat covers and door panels, plus headliner. Left the back seat out, but built panels to make it all look finished.
I detuned the .040" over 427 a bit by going back to 9.5:1 forged pistons, and a shorter duration cam, with lots of lift. I'm running fairly wide front tires, so it can do more than go straight, and MT N-50's in the rear. It's nice to be comfortable when I go for a drive, and still hook them up when I want a little rush.
For wheels I had the earlier 1st gen rally sport rims widened to 10" in the rear, and 8" in the front. They are just painted with Hammerite silver gray, and have stainless steel narrow rings, with small flat stainless center caps with the Chevy logo. Gives a more stock look, with a custom touch to them.

 

money isnt a problem for me. so i can drop money into if need be.

i do like the pro street look, but when you pull up to a white kid in a turbo eclipse or a turboed civic and they see a race car they kinda dont like putting up their money at the track. thats why i kinda wanna keep it stock looking (within reason)

i do like to have a plush ride, but thats why i got my el camino for. el camino=plushy and comfort, camaro=basic necessities

im curious tho, how hard is it to tub out a 2nd gen? im assuming that id switch out the leaf springs and go with a ladder bar or a 4 link. would i have to cut the rear frame at all? id have to cut some of the trunk and interior to fit the tubs in. any ideas?

 

Well it sounds like your biggest obstacle is overcome; money.
Tubbing a 2nd gen will require you to eliminate the back seat. It will also require the frame rails to be narrowed, or new ones built inward. The springs don't have to go, but they do need to move, so how you do the job depends on how much of all that money you want to spend!
If you go with a 4 link you'll need to start from scratch if you're tubbing, as the kits are usually setup for stock frames. If you drop your rear subframe you can simply narrow the subframe, square it all up, then weld it back, and add any bracing you want. Then cut your floor pan out, install the subframe back under the car, and build a new floor pan around the modified subframe. Of course you';ll be adding connectors, but wont be able to use factory built connectors with the narrowed subframe, so I'd build a frame between the two subframes and weld everything together to make it really ridgid.
It's going to be very hard to make a Camaro look "stock" with a tubbed rear. Better not let those rice rockets come up on you from behind, or they'll immediately know something is up!

 

it was just an idea i had floating around in my head, if i do tub it i might go mini tub. not full blown tubbed out. that way it would keep it stockish looking. only thing i think would throw the stock look off is the cowl hood. anyone hear about carbon fiber hoods and trunk lids? any opinions on those?

 

well my car isnt tubed and it runs 9s with the nos it has been at the detroit auto rama,and i cant even get another race car to run me on the street why waste your money and i will tell you first off i have over 50,000 in my car how it looks dont make it go faster i saw a stock duster with a willie bar and i was jocking about it all the way home and if you tube it you better have one hell of a motor to spin thoughs big *** wheels

 

I think Detroit Speed makes a tub system that allows you to keep your backseat AND frame setup. You can also use those bolt-in ladder bars from Lakewood from what I remember. I can't remember if it was Detroit Speed 100% or if it was another vendor but I think I read it in one of the Camaro Performer mags.

There's a company doing carbon fiber hoods for 2nd Gen Camaros now. The only one I think I saw was in an L-88 styling though and it ran 800 bucks IIRC. I think I have the link at home and if I do I will post it later.

 

Found this link really quick looking to see if I had it here at work..