Alright, so don't expect this to be a fast paced build of my '72. I'm not the highest on funds, and the majoity of the work will be done in my garage under my apartment, or at my dad's house (the previous owner).

What it has in it: Mildly built 350 with double camel 194 heads. I'll have to check on the Edelbrock carb and such.
Turbo 400 with stage 3 shift kit
Herst Pro Matic shifter
Grant wheel
American Racing rims
fiberglass cowel induction hood
bumperettes
'81 Z28 suspension and rear end (non locking) with poly bushings throughout
Plenty of ectra parts (seats, fenders, front clip, bumpers, etc.)

The bad:
Rust. It is a Washington State car. The floorboards on the drivers side consist of cooling racks for cookies and carpet.
She has been sitting for a few years.
the interior is warped and split and musty in many places.

And here's the pictures I took the other day:













I have to start my new, higher paying job here shortly, then it's time to tear into her!

Any suggestions/info is appreciated. Recommendations as to where to start? Interior, exterior, engine, new floorboards? Lmao.

Thanks for looking!

Oh, and the shiny paint is acyually water from where I sprayed her off. The color under the crappy flat black is blue with silver stripes.

 

Welcome aboard, nice project you have there I love those early 2nd gens. I would start by ripping the carpet out if it has moisture but whatever you can do with the money you have is where i would start. The floors are a good place to start, the engine/tranny and all machanics, brakes, bushings and mounts, body panels, interior then paint. But if you want you can check out my 80 Z28 project and see where i started from but everyone starts in diff places, lots of knowledge here and some great projects goin on. Just do a bit of searching and before you know it you'll have a game plan.

Joe

 

slow and steady wins the race... ive been doing my car for a year and a half now. let me tell you. there is nothing better than when you put new parts in the car and you can see it start to take shape. thats an awesome camaro. just take your time with it and your gunna have a sick car.

start with the mechanical first. rule of thumb is you do that first so you dont mess up your body work while doing the mechanical. what i did with my car was i took the fenders off and the wheel wells while i did everything up front. door are a pain in the neck but manageable. keep us updated

 

Welcome. No money, low budget, slow build. Yup your cool. I might sell a kidney for my transmission. I'm with Joe, previous experiance says that wet carpet will kill whats left of the floor.Then figure out where the water came from and fit that. Judging from the under hood pics it sat on dirt or grass for along time. Mosture evaporates out of the ground and gets caught under the hood. Rusting all the chrome and killing floor boards. I like the wheels. Whats up with all the Washington state owners in here?

 

Whereabouts in Wa. are you? I'm across the river in Oregon.
Looks like your 2nd gen has lots of potential, and lack of space is a pain, but not unsurmountable! Heck, I did mine mostly in the driveway, and rolled it into the single garage each night.
Definitely start by removing all the interior and storing what's good, then toss the bad. Then you can examine the metal to see how much can be saved or replaced. You'll need to remove the running gear too, at the least engine and trans. Then you can clean and redo all the mechanicals before starting on the body or the running gear rebuild.

 

The water entry is easy to find. There has been a gap between both door windows and the rear side of the door frame since I can remember.

So it sounds like I'm going to pull out the interior before I do anything, to hopefully save any part of the floorboards that I can from more rust. After that is out, time to spruce up the engine/tranny/driveline. Like I said before, it has 1981 Z28 suspension all around, as well as the rear end. Should I go for anything better? Or should I leave the leaf springs and such in, rather than swapping out for one of the rear end deals with coilovers and such that I see in the Chevy mag's in stores? Opinions?

She has sat right where those pictures were taken since she had a small electrical fire in the engine bay. It wasn't too bad, but bad enough that I want to tear the engine all the way down and have it all redone. Gaskets, a rebuild if needed, new wires, etc.

The wheels are American Racing, and they were really popular a few years back. My dad put them on before they really caught on. There's also another set on the side of the garage that has a big "A" in cursive for the center caps. I'm thinking more American racing, but I'm not sure.

I'm out on the Kitsap Peninsula, Port Orchard to be exact.

I had been planning on dropping a 350 SBC into my Datsun 280ZX, but now it looks like the Datsun will be my daily driver instead. Guess I should sell the 350/350 combo I have down in the garage to help fund this project.

The Z:

 

If you're on a budget I'd stick with the stock suspension in one form or another. They handle well, and although a 4 link is neat, they wont fit into a budget build.

 

Yeah, after I posted that I looked...ouch. 7kish for just the front.

I'm not planning on making her a race car or anything, but I'd love to hit that 400hp mark and leave her fairly streetable.

 

Oh man if that Datsun were anywhere near my driveway it would have a V8 in a mater of days. I've been wanting to do that for years.

The front ends are way to pricey. Our cars are very good handlers on their own. Check out the place in my sig, they build stuff for serious cornering at half the price.

 

Looks like you have a nice project ahead of you!! Good luck!