I have always been a fan of second generation Camaro's and finally decided it was time to get one. I searched around for the right project for my slightly less than intermediate skill level. During my research I came across a guy that was looking to trade a 2nd Gen for a Harley. As it turned out, I had a Harley I was looking to get rid of. After some research and several conversations I determined the guy was legitimate and went through with the trade. My family and friends were skeptical and feared I would be trading down. I didn't think so.
About the car... She is all original except the motor and radio. The car had 21,500 original miles at the time of the trade. The motor was a built 383 stroker. The transmission is the original but had been rebuilt. The interior looked decent, correctly worn for a 31 year old car. The body was relatively solid. There was an obvious spot on the right rocker panel where the paint was bubbling. Since I was looking for a car to drive and not to trailer this turned out to be a great deal. My skeptics all agreed once they saw her.
The red flags... The red flags were not as bad as they could have been. The trunk had felt carpet glued in. The carpet liner was surrounded by a poorly done undercoat spray job. That made me a little nervous because who knows what lies under that? I have always heard that undercoat can trap moisture and facilitate rust. The head liner was missing and the wiring harness was a mess. The seller was up front with me about the headliner. At the end of the day I have a solid car I am very happy with.
The plans...I'm probably doing this backward but I'm working from the inside out. The weather strips were all shot. I've taken the inside completely down to the bare metal. All the hard parts that are re-usable will be cleaned and re-dyed to factory original. There are a couple of pieces that were brittle and cracked during deconstruction and they will be replaced. The plan is for everything to be as factory correct as possible except for the radio. I will post pics of the deconstruction soon. For now, here are a few of the car before I got started.
Thanks for looking, Thomas
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