Hi all, great forum. I've been following with interest some of the restoration projects going on here. You guys do good work.

Now I'd like to add my own. Just got her pushed into the shop today and will start with dissassembly tomorrow. It's actually my wife's car. She got it from her sister who bought it in 1980 so it's pretty much 100% stock. Problem is it hasn't been run in 12 twelve years and at least half of those it set outside.

The elements have been brutal. The interior is rotted away. The dash is kaput. The trunk has water in it so I'm expecting to find some rust once I get everything out of there. And there is a rabbit living atop the catalytic converter. According to my brother-in-law it was burning oil last time it ran so I'm planning on a complete engine overhaul as well.

Still, I'm looking foward to this project and hope it turns out as nice as some of the rides I've seen here.

Here's a few photos I took today.

Curt

 

welcome nice camaro,looks like a good project,love the big bumper cars.keep us updayed and post more pictures,cant wait to watch this project unfold.

 

Fixed your pic links.
Looks like you have a little work on your hands. Body seems to be fairly solid though.

 

Thanks for fixing the pics.

Yeah, except for the trunk and some surface oxidation I'm crossing my fingers and hoping to get lucky with the body. It doesn't show up in the pictures but the panel alignment is nearly perfect. Nice even seams all the way around.

And that rabbit must have rode the cat into the shop because I saw him scamper behind my welder. Great, now I have to clean up rabbit droppings.

 

Woot! 1 more for the big bumper club. lol
Glad to have you here. I also cant wait to see her progress.

 

Nice score, that body looks very solid. Lots of interior work though, looks like a nice project. keep the pics commin.

Joe

 

OH yeah... Nice job on the Camaro find... What motor is in there? Looks likie you have a front seal leak and I would bet that the A/C is shot too... With luck the truck will not be to bad with as hot as it gets there...

Welcome to the forum!

 

Thanks for the words of encouragement. The motor is a 305 according to the VIN. I haven't yet cleared off all the cobwebs to verify it.

Went over the body today with a fine tooth comb and except for the obvious clear coat failure it is nearly perfect. I don't see a single ding or patch repair I'll have to make. Since I'll be sanding it to bare metal the little surface oxidation that is there will be removed in the process. The floor pans, even the trunk (which had standing water in it) are all solid.

Of course every rubber seal on the vehicle is shot and the interior speaks for itself. Mechanicals are the big question mark at this point. My sister-in-law says the AT shifted fine as far as she can remember. Is there any way to guage the condition of an AT while it's out of of the vehicle? I don't want to overhaul it if it doesn't need it, but I don't want to have to pull it back out at the end of the project because it isn't working right.

Also started getting the engine ready to be pulled. Do you find it easier to remove the fenders and nose before pulling the motor?

And I finally got that wascal wabbit out of my shop. My wife thought it was cute and didn't want me to hurt it. I told her it won't look so cute when she sees the price of a new wiring harness. LOL.

 

it is easier to get at the motor with the fenders and nose off but i've done it a bunch of times with them on and it was pretty easy as well. if its all comming off anyways then why not?

 

Well I've got a good start on dissassembly. Both bumpers are off (man that front bumper is heavy, no wonder they call it a battering ram) and the interior is stripped except for the dash. I found 2 build sheets. The one under the rear seat bottom was mostly disinigrated. The one behind the back seat, with some careful reconstructing, is legible. Is there a resource that will decode each box on the build sheet? I've looked around but all I find are VIN and body plate decoding info.

We've got some rust in the trunk and the passenger floor pan. At first glance it doesn't look like it went through but I'll have to take a wire wheel to it to be sure.