Hey guys, I'm new to the scene of the 2nd gen Camaro. I'm starting a project that my dad has been putting off for ages, it's a 1976 Camaro. It has the 305 and 4 speed manual transmission. Mods are (to the best of my knowledge) Holley 4 barrel carb, Edelbrock intake, valve covers are not stock, not sure of the heads. It doeshave a cam.It has a full exhaust, I think the mufflers are flows. Also not sure, I think it has gears but I've not had a chance to jack it up and check. It is a posi rear. Anyways, my main questions are-

What are the common problems on these cars?

What kind of transmission do I have, and roughly how much power will it hold?

What's the best place to find a nice engine for it? Or should I just stick with the 305 and build that up... I'm really leaning toward a built 383 with either some juice or just high compression. I'd like to get 400ish wheel out of it.

I've heard that GM rear ends are crap. True?

Any other information you feel is pertinant would be great. I'm still cruising the site and reading up, I'd like to learn as much about this car as possible before I really dig in. Today, I pulled it out of the garage, under it's own power. An hour later, I came back and it wouldn't start. Took the carb off, cleaned all the 25 year old gunk out of it, and put it back on, still won't start. (I'm kind of a carb noob too). The only thing I really messed with is the idle speed, because when I pulled it out the first time it was running really rough and was close to stalling. I turned it up a bit. Any quick fix for that?

Thanks guys. Pics up.







Clickhere for more detailed pics.

 

ok here is my take on all this. if you really want to be in the 400 hp range you gotta ditch the 305. yes its a good motor but more reliable than a power house. you can go with a 350 and get gread power. and if you want to do a 383 stroker you gotta use a 400 crank. so if your new with cars the best bet might be to get the 300 hp 350 from jegs. its like 1500 bucks or something in that range. good bang for the buck.

the stock tranny in these cars was a turbo hydromatic 350. its a good tranny. again more reliable than a power house. but it can handle some hp thrown at it. you might want to get a th 400. much better unit all together.

gm rear ends are not crap by any means. who ever told you that does not know what they are talking about and heardt the term 9" from a ford guy. yes the 9" is a great rear end. but gm rears are far from crap.

the rust is the real major problems with these cars the rear frame rails are usually the most common on these cars. and the usual chevrolet rust like the around the windows the quaters and bottom of the fenders. the drive train on these cars were great so thats never really a problem. just that damn rust.


and for your car not starting. id change your plugs and wires. if they have been sitting that long they are prolly all gumed upa s well. so just give it a nice tune up. and air filter/ fuel filter/ some fresh gas in the tank and i think you will be good to go. good luck with it man and get some pictures up.

 

The transmission is a manual, isn't the turbo hydromatic 350 an auto? I want to stay with a manual transmission.

And I am a Ford guy, that's probably why I heard that GM rears are junk.

The car has the usualrust around all of the windows, but the frame is pretty solid.

A friend of mine is coming over on sunday, we're going to take the motor apart and replace all of the gaskets, plugs, wires, filters, and fluids. When it was running yesterday, it was alternating between blowing white and black smoke. There was also antifreeze on top of the intake manifold, and I had to add a quart of oil, so I'm pretty sure that the gaskets need replacing. I just hope I don't have to replace the rings.

 

a 305 and a four speed are a rare combo. sorry i just forgot to mention it because its such a common thing for these cars to be auto.

 

Gotcha. Thanks for the help. Anything else I should check on this car? I remember hearing about some wiring problem that would cause the reverse lights to come on at random, no matter what gear the transmission was in. Any truth to that?

 

Pics are up.

 

hey your like me. i have an 04 mustang and the 78 camaro. thats pretty cool....even though its kinda odd having both ford an chevy...

 

Not that odd, I like cool cars. More of a Ford guy, but as long as it's american it's cool.

 

If you are looking for 300 HP your should ditch the 305. They have weak bottom ends. The casting itself is a problem. GM lightened it up as much as they could to reduce weight and the original heads flow like crap. GM also had a problem with soft camshaft and front main brearing in the first gen 305's. Most likly the cam has aready been replaced. The main bearing issue was only on cars with AC. I would guess you have a saginaw 4 speed. Again I would use a 300 HP limit. The last year for the muncie was the 74 Z28. That tranny would hold up to 500 HP. A stock limited slip 10 bolt was designed for the torque that engine output. If you go over 300 hp you could have issues. The rear housing can be kept and a new gear set and diff can handle 500 hp with no problem.

You want to look at it this way. If you keep it about 275HP max you will have a fun car that not supper fast. Much more then that you need a new drive line. On the plus side it will not take a bunch of money to get to the 275 hp.

Body mounts should be replaced if you see any dry rot or play. They will allow the car to flex and this will crack the windshield. The windshield will crack in a arc from the top of the windshield post to the bottom on both sides.

Floor board rust at driver and passangers feet and the pannel right under the rear bumper are prime for rust. Door sag due to hindges (they have a repair kit). You want to make sure you lube the cross shaft for the clutch. This gets missed allot. Double check your motor mounts. If that cluch linkage is not lubed or the engine moves to much it will break off the pivot stud in the side of the block. You will have to pull the engine to fix it. Look under the hood while someone pushs the clutch you will see what I am talking about.

All in all the 76 Camaro is a very dependable car. The design is not as valued as the 70-73 or the 78-81 due to the Goverment required bumpers. I have seen a couple guys trim and fit those bumpers so they look a lot better. If I where you I would not cut the cherry ones you have but get some second hand ones to play with.IMO that is one very nice looking car as it sits.

Good luck

 

Thanks. I'm probably going to leave it as is for now, all I really want to do is get it running right and then I'll think about mods. On sunday me and a friend are pulling the motor, we're going to replace all the gaskets, filters, the thermostat, plugs, wires, etc. Hopefully that will get it to the point that it will pass inspection, and I can start on the paint and interior. Another question, the rear shocks right now are air shocks, I'm presuming they're stock. Is there any way to convert the rear shocks and springs to a coil/self contained shock setup? Or at least get those shocks out of there?

Edit: And the transmission- You can see the shift pattern in the pics, and there's no lift for reverse. You just push it over past a detent and go up. If these cars came stock with the saginaw then I'm almost sure that's what it is.

And what do you guys think about Ebay engines?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-C...em160225193179