First Camaro
 

Newbie looking at his first Camaro. It's a 98 Z28 but i have a concern over the pics sent to me. my concern is the panel fit (or lack of it) on the rhs wing. I have looked at countless images of Z28's but all the images don't show a gap in the wing down at the sill area. Owner not aware of any accident history. Appreciate any responses/thoughts on this. Thanks.

welcome to the forum ,the fender being fiberglass can get out of wack an the door to being fiberglass ,the are some adujustments that can be made ,I have heard of this before ,an it could be true no accidents ,my 99 has a separation near the drivers door ,its from heat an time ,someone else can also chime in to better explain ,its 12 years old ,sometimes they move because heat gets to them to close to the door couseing the gap, my 95 has them to,but there are adjustments that can be made to fix it,but I would work it out of the price ,if you need to take to someone,i sould say to hot an cold couses these parts to move over time ,

Thanks for the info, I will have a look underneath the sill area at the bottom of the fender. It is definitely hot here in Dubai coupled with the engine bay heat this could well be the issue. I will post when I see next week. Unfortunately the a/c compressor went yesterday so it'll be a few days in the shop being repaired. Maybe the automotive gods are trying to tell me something? But I guess a couple of hundred $$$ isn't so bad. Thanks again for the swift response, it is appreciated.

now that's not to bad about the same as hear ,if there a leak ,the one thing about AC units is the compressor that is does not leak ,l with Ac they can last a year or a week on a recharge ,some guys do the auto store kits I think its 132 ,but yes there in the heat that's not bad if you can get a few more years out of well worth it I am sure ,I said what I said about the compressor couse I had my 95 charged to find out it was the compressor ,hope your good

There's spot at the bottom of the fender that bolts to unibody that holds that piece in nice and tight. There's a good chance it's bent underneath. You'll have to take some vice grips and pull it back into shape if it is. You'll probably end up needing new bolts to hold it in.

The problem has nothing to do with heat. The problem is people think it's a jacking point and well.....you can guess what happens. Worse case is you may need a new fender if the mounting holes broke off the fender. Been down this road when I re-repainted my car.

Thanks for the post MKC, after looking at tons of stuff on the web i tend to agree on the mounting points. When it gets out of the shop with the a/c problem I will be straight under the fender for a gander at what's going on. I'm hoping for the best and just a couple of loose bolts down there as I'm not too keen about replacing fenders with the limited supply of skilled labour here in the middle east. It is out there but hiding amongst a whole lot of 'of course we can sir' kind of service shops that I've had the misfortune of using before ;) I will post again, with some pics, with what I find and thanks again for the input.

Bargain maybe? Time will tell.
 

For a little shy of $2500 I'm hoping I got a bargain. Apart from the a/c compressor giving up the ghost (but before i parted with any cash thankfully) the car looks in pretty good shape. Only 3 owners from new and all pilots with Emirates Airlines. Low Kms and a fair amount of history but does that mean good or bad history ??? :) Planning on using it as a daily driver at first before any mods start, which will be the usual stuff filter, exhaust, brake cylinder and lines, brake rotors and pad upgrade blah blah blah. Exciting times ahead one hopes or plenty of Advill :D

weather can play a role as well age an driving the car over time things move pot holes ,the car would be torn up there if they jacked it at the wrong spot to much ,price seems right ,I only had one spot on my car wear that happened an it was no where near my front fender it was near the rear an there was some chipped paint on one spot at the rocker panal , so say the law physics plays a role things move with time,if they did jack it in the wrong spot ,then its to hope they stopped then put it in the right place ,yes I think both can happen not just wrong jack point ,so it comes down to this we can all be right ,an no one has to be wrong,if there is some sort of damage there ,then you might say jacking it in the wrong spot is it,but its 13 14 year old car,/again fiberglass not steel ,an is prone to move with time ,could be the bolts just came loose with time too .oh with the zr1 wheels,an tires are 1200,00 right there I would say you did better then average ? whats the miles ,an leather too great deal sounds like. looks great the car does ,I been checking these cars out all year long ,an seen some great deals ,not for 98 though,average was $5000 for a car with 75.000 miles ,though I seen one for 2700.00 with 74.000 was a 96

Thanks, the car is in very good condition but the weather here helps with almost zero rainfall per year and definitely no salt on the roads, ever! :D The heat is the biggest issue as it causes accelerated wear issues with hoses and rubber bushes etc. After 17 years of 48 degree summers (and that's Celsius btw :D)there is a crack in the dashboard but I'm told this is an inexpensive fix so a bit of research required there. Only has 105,000 km on or 66,000 miles if you prefer. Time will tell if I've bought a bargain or i have to burn it like a witch at the stake!!!! Hopefully it'll turn into a love affair and I spend the $$$ in the right areas and then who knows where that will lead (probably to the divorce courts if the wife find the receipts ;))

The fender gap isn't a worry, one of mine was like that too. As Coconuts said, the lower attaching bracket gets bent out and bows the soft plastic (not fiberglass) fender. Some fine tuning on the bracket will pull the fender back in.