Saved this Camaro before it went a winter without a garage. It's now in my garage and I'm not sure what to do with it. I'm seeking guidance from the Camaro loving community. Please let me know your opinion.
I don't have much information on the car, or knowledge of Camaros in general.






This 1982 Camaro Berlinetta has just over 28k miles on its body and probably original 2.8l v6 with Rochester 2-barrel. The exterior is in fair condition with some chipped paint and clearcoat, I haven't washed it yet so unsure. The interior is fresh showing its 28k miles. Military owned and taken care of, I purchased the car from the original owners granddaughter.

I want to update steering, suspension, and brake components that are worn due to age or are of poor design. Vortec heads, an EFI, and maybe a turbo down the road. Drive it on dry weekends, take it to the track once it's HP isn't embarrassing, and feel cool while I tack on the miles.

What would you do with this car?

 

If it were me I'd Mostly just drive and enjoy it.
These early 3rd gen six banger cars don't carry a lot of value, even low mile examples like this car so I wouldn't invest too much into it especially anything like a turbocharger.
If you want more power fix it up with a nice detail job and sell it then add some cash and find a v-8 car.
You can see some modest gains with an exhaust system upgrade (headers) and cold air intake but that alone will cost a fair amount of money.
If you want a nice little daily driver summer car that's fairly easy on gas and looks great I'd buff and wax that puppy and maybe do a tire and wheel upgrade.
There's plenty of parts available for better handling but again you can spend a lot of money there and still not have anything that really handles great by today's standards.
I'd suggest a good set of shocks and a pair of better sway bars along with a tire upgrade,that would go a long way towards making you smile in the corners without braking the bank and getting you too upside down value wise on the car.
If this was a Z28 not a six you would be a little better off,at least then you'd have a V-8 to work with but they only came with a 305" (5.0) turd of a V-8 making all of 145 hp.
At least you could swap in a 350 with ease and have some power and a Z is worth a bit more but it would almost be a shame to molest a low mile original car.
Maybe you can find a 3rd gen Z28 parting out for some steering and suspension parts to upgrade your car on the cheap and there's always used parts on ebay and the like,craigslist etc.
Sure is a nice clean little 3rd gen,I'd love to have it just for a summer daily driver,enjoy your find and let us know what you do with her.
Happy New Year

 

I was a GM master tech in the 80's and I had 2 (1982, 1984) 2.8. There was a version of the 2.8 that was an 2.8 HO. This came in the X11 Chevy Citation. It had a little more compression and a bigger cam The FWD and RWD engines are not interchangeable but the parts are.
If I remember right the 1986 MPFI 2.8 had the same specs as the 2.8HO. I did a conversion on my 82 and installed a new 86 2.8 using my carburetor, it took some custom work on the oil pan and the intake. Nothing major.

Don't get too excited this only gains you about 20 HP. From 102 to 122 HP.

There are 2 main draw backs with the 2.8

1.) The heads, The heads are designed to flow to a certain level and they are not designed to support other designs like a small block is. For that reason the heads can not really be ported. the current "choke" point can only be polished. The exhaust is just as bad as the intake. That means even if you got a turbo to fill the cylinder it would not be able to empty, This would be the same issue with NOS.

2.) If you did figure out how to get power the bottom end would give up pretty quick. At 102 HP the 2.8 is pretty solid motor but when the factory upped the HP in 86 with the upgrades we started seeing a lot of spun bearing. At first it seemed just to me the 5 speeds camaros but before long the blazer started showing up and by the time the 87s came out even the FWDs where spinning rod bearings.under warranty. GM addressed this I think in 1989 with the 3.1. The 3.1 was a 2.8 redesign that addressed the weak bottom end but not the head issue.

If that car was mine and I got a good deal on it I would drive it for awhile then take advantage of that rust free body and build it into a car I would want. (Most likely a LS swap) Until then I may put it up for sale at twice what I paid for it just to see if you can find a collector or a rich guy that drove one in high school. .

 

Thanks for the advice! Junk yard swapping was the plan.First step is get it road worthy, replace the 35 year old tires and all fluids synthetic. I've got a couple months of snow and no funds so it's enjoying the garage for now.
Gotta keep them gold Berlinettas though.

Thanks again!

 

Thanks for the much needed information. I was considering swapping an LS once I'm capable, especially knowing the 2.8 can't handle much boost. Maybe a collector will get it before I put too many miles on it and do the swap.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.

 

hello,

I’m not sure what state you are in but I’m looking for a car similar to this. If ur interested in selling, could you send more pictures of interior condition, etc.

thank you!

Lisa R

 

Lisa,
I wish you luck in your search but this is a 3 year old post and the account has not been log into since may 2020. My guess would be that he has already sold or heavily modified it.

BTW are you looking for an 82 v6? Had one when you where younger? I say this because the 86 V6 is such a better car. The 82 V6 has less HP than many modern 750cc motorcycle. The emission system is a nightmare to maintain and good like finding someone that can work on it under the age of 60. The top of the engine just looks like someone poured a large bucket of hoses on top for an engine. Each hose a possible check engine light. The 86 is the first year with fuel injection on the V6. This ECM based EFI was about the same thru 1993.