I was looking for some advice about buying/semi restoring a camaro. I am new to the car world and really know very little. When i say restoring I dont mean fully and to original standards. I am interested in just building a fun and respectfully fast car with an interior i could live with. I was thinking a 1976 or 1977. Im not sure what i should be looking for as i search, as my skills and tools are limited i dont want to get something way over my head. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

Why a 76 or 77? Those were some pretty bad years for HP ratings.

 

I like the body on those years, and figured because of their bad HP ratings I could find one on the cheaper side. Also I figure that the engine will need redone anyway so why would it matter about the original HP ratings?

 

Well, you say your skills and tools are limited so I would assume you wouldn't want a lot of work in the engine and drive train department. Tackling an engine swap by yourself with limited tools can be a pretty daunting challenge. While it takes basic tools (besides and engine lift and preferably an engine stand) to do it it's still something that I wouldn't recommend to someone starting out.

Rebuilding an engine is even more complicated unless you're going to pay someone to do it. To build it to make it strong isn't going to be a few hundred bucks either especially if you're going to pay someone else to do it. Just boring and honing the block is going to be a few hundred and that's if you bring it to them disassembled and cleaned already. An o.k. rotating assembly for the refreshed block will run 400 - 500 on the cheap side. Then there's head work to help it breath better, new cam, timing chain, etc., etc. It quickly becomes expensive to build an engine and that's why a lot of people opt to do the crate engines. If you have a matching numbers block and car then you will probably devalue it by replacing the engine.

That's my opinion though.