'79 Camaro 4-speed in Florida

[79stickshift]

Been lurking around here for a while now so guess it's time to start a thread for my car.

Story goes like this...Loved these cars for years. Many years ago had a low mile garage kept '81 Z28 4-speed car but ended up selling the car to get my wife and I's first place. Have wanted another 4-speed Camaro ever since but ended up getting hooked on the Gbody Malibu cars. Have had over 20 of them over the years. Was in the middle of another Gbody Malibu drag car project and ran across this 4-speed Camaro on craigslist, called about the car but the owner wanted $3000 for it and seemed very firm. Well kept on with my Malibu project but still watched the Camaro ad on craigslist and the price finally came down some, so went and looked at the car, was in overall good shape other than some rust in the lower rear quarters. The floors, trunk, and doors in very good shape, and although the interior is not in perfect shape,iit is all still there. Best thing was it was mechanically untouched and original. Still had the 305 and 4-speed trans, factory A/C delete, only options were power steering and brakes, and posi rear end. Well I spoke back and forth with the owner for a few weeks and finally agreed on $1400 for the car, so went and picked it up, drove it 80 miles home without any problems.


These were the pics the owner sent me before I went and looked the first time .


By malibulvr at 2011-12-20

By malibulvr at 2011-12-20

By malibulvr at 2011-12-20


I Started digging into the car the next day after gettin it home. Tuned up the engine first. Then decided I was going to put on new headers and exhaust and drive it for a while. Well started trying to install the headers and had to pull the car so far apart just to get the headers in, that I just decided to go ahead and put my other engine in the car. Pulled the engine and trans together. Since the original 305 engine was an older style 2pc rear seal engine, and the engine going back in was built with a later style 1pc rear seal block and crank, I had to replace the flywheel. I went ahead and installed a new 168 tooth flywheel and stepped up to a new 11" inch clutch set up instead of the factory 10.4" clutch set up. Sprayed the cradle area with with satin black, laid the new headers in, and installed the engine and transmission in the car. Cranked it up and made sure all was ok. Tried to make the factory Z28 hood that was on the car fit, but even with a 3" filter in the drop base air cleaner it still hit the hood. A friend of mine happened to have a new in the box Goodmark steel cowl hood, so I bought it and installed it. I plan on installing a 4" cowl hood later on, but this will work for now! A few days later I drove it with open headers(that was fun!) to a friends muffler shop and had new 2.5" exhaust installed with 2 chamber Flowmaster mufflers, and 2.5" tailpipes. Sounds nice a little louder than I was hoping for, but much quieter than it was in my Malibu without tailpipes.

It's kinda funny driving this thing around with the tiny factory rally wheels cause nobody pays it any mind, until they realize that the wicked sounding engine sound is coming from this car. I can't wait to put on some different wheels and tires that will "hook up". Gets a little crazy when you mash on it hard with the small tires. I'm torn between installing my set of 15x7 Z28 5 spoke steel wheels, or a set of 15 x 8 Centerline copys that I have. I'll make up my mind in the next week or so which way I am going to go for the time being.

Here is a few crappy cell phone pics of the engine, exhaust, and hood right after they were installed.


By malibulvr at 2012-01-10

By malibulvr at 2012-01-10

By malibulvr at 2012-01-10

By malibulvr at 2012-01-10

Ended up installing a set of air shocks to temporarily cure the sagging rear springs until I can figure out which rear springs I want to order. Have driven it a few times in the last week or so, but mostly been collecting parts. Found a good set of headlight and turn signal bezels, and nice dash pad, really nice instrumant panel bezel, and a few other parts. Planning on getting the new tach and gauges installed in the next week, along with finding a better set of front seats. I'll try to update soon and maybe have better pics and a video then. Thanks for reading.

[ctchap70]

Welcome aboard. Lots of info here. I bought the standard 5 leaf rear springs from Tamraz on ebay and I love em. Got the fenders off my 275/60's. Pics in my progress thread. Charlton

[5spd540]

Welcome to the site I love cAMAROS but that is a sharp looking malibu

[JCSilver80]

Hey Stick, that's funny, my son and I went and looked at that same car when it was for sale over in Ft Walton. You got a good deal on it, I couldn't even talk them down to $2500 at the time. It was probably a blessing in disguise looking back now. Teaching a teenager to drive his first car would have been even tougher if I had to include operating a manual trans on top off it all. Still running the Texas plate on the front?

[FatnLow]

Looks like a great deal. Welcome back to 2nd gen Camaro's.

[79stickshift]

Originally Posted by JCSilver80

Hey Stick, that's funny, my son and I went and looked at that same car when it was for sale over in Ft Walton. You got a good deal on it, I couldn't even talk them down to $2500 at the time. It was probably a blessing in disguise looking back now. Teaching a teenager to drive his first car would have been even tougher if I had to include operating a manual trans on top off it all. Still running the Texas plate on the front?

Not running the Texas plate, LOL!!! That pic was taken right after I had put the engine in and bolted on the hood. The Texas tag is now long gone.

Was a nice young couple that owned it. After much discussion with the wife , I found out she was being a hard ass about the price because a few men had come and looked at the car and low balled her like $700-$800 and she felt like they were trying to take advantage of her so she was telling everybody she was firm on the price thinking someone would bite. I just simply told her that I would not insult her with a crazy offer like that, but that I was not willing to pay what she was asking because her car was not worth what she was asking. After a few weeks ended up she was moving and needed $1400 for the moving truck so I agreed to pay that for the car. I think it worked out ok.

I bought the car specifically because it was a factory stick shift and a near option delete car. I have just never cared for driving these cars with the auto trans, but the stick shift version is a totally different experience. That and i don't have to worry about the wife wanting to drive it. Now my son that is another story, LOL!!!

[79stickshift]

Originally Posted by 1973bigblock4sp

Welcome to the site I love cAMAROS but that is a sharp looking malibu

Thanks...it was really hard letting it go, but it was a decision I made for my kids. My son loved the car but it would only hold 2 people so I could not take both kids with me. I had worked on the car off and on for over 4 years. The car was max notched, mini-tubbed, and cage, so no rear seat for the kids. Not to mention it had a 4.56 pro gear with a lightweight spool and fully adjustable rear suspension that just doesn't work well on the street. Really bad thing is it now only lives a few miles away from me so I will have to see it on a fairly regular basis.

This is a video a few weeks before I took it apart was letting my 13yr old son play around a bit. This is the engine I just installed in the Camaro:

http://www.streetfire.net/video/jere...od_2317552.htm

[JCSilver80]

I measured the headroom for those third gen seats, between 5.5" and 6" from the top of my head to the metal roof, there is no headliner in this car.

[79stickshift]

Thought I would post an update with a few pics and a video. I bought a nice set of Weld wheels with new tires for the car and put them on today. Not my first choice for the car, but couldn't pass them up for the price with new tires and everything ready to bolt on. They will do until I order my new 17" wheels, which hopefully will be soon. By the way these are for sale if anybody is in my area and interested.

For those who are wondering the sizes they are:

Front 15 x 7 w/3.5 bs and 235/60-15 tires.

Rear 18 x 8 w/3.5 bs and 295/50-15 tires.

A few before and after pics:

Before

By malibulvr at 2012-01-29


After

By malibulvr at 2012-02-11

A little bit clearer pic of the engine. I really need to clean it up because the valve covers were leaking just haven't had the time. Hopefully I will get the Griffin aluminum radiator and the aluminum water pump installed this coming Tuesday, but I never now with my job.


By malibulvr at 2012-01-29


My son took this video as I was going for a test drive. Let me know what you guys think.

http://www.streetfire.net/video/79-c...ct_2367827.htm

Thats all I have for now. Check back in later as I am trying my best to work on the car little by little. Hopefully next month my body guy will start on the rust repair in the lower quarter panels. Thanks for reading.

[JCSilver80]

What a huge difference wheels and tires make, looks excellent and that new motor/exhaust sounds awesome!!

[79stickshift]

Thanks!!! It doesn't look like it, but have put an awfull lot of work into her so far. I spoke with my buddy that has the parts car and I am supposed to go over there and check for all of the parts you are looking for, and will let you know.

[79stickshift]

Sorry haven't updated in a while but been very busy with work and haven't really done much with the car. Have at least been driving the car here and there.

Sold the Weld wheels and bought a new set of wheels for the car made it drive much better. I put on REV100 wheels in 17x8 and 17x9, with a 255/45 in front and a 285/40 in the rear. Only real problems I am having are the front tires occasionly scrubbing the front fenders when I hit a speed bump or get on the brakes really hard, as long as I am carefull it does ok. I am hoping to swap out the 3.08 rear soon and put in either my 3.73 or 4.10 rear but do think I will have traction problems when I do. I also swapped out the Goodmark hood for a Harwood bolt on and don't give me too much grief as it still needs a decent coat of paint.

I've added a few pics sorry they arent the best quality.


By malibulvr at 2012-06-07


By malibulvr at 2012-06-07


By malibulvr at 2012-06-07

[79stickshift]

Decided to put this video in a seperate post.

This is the video it's a little shakey but my son took it with my Iphone while hanging on. It's a little long about 7-8 min. but I do finally get to wind it up a little at about the 6:45 mark. I only turn it to about 6,000 rpm right now cause of the tall gear, but can't wait till I swap out to the 4.10's so I can really wind it up hard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqKl1...&feature=g-upl

[79stickshift]

Decided to get off of my lazy butt today and finally install my new aluminum radiator. My old radiator has been leaking from the overflow tube on the neck and even though I don't get to drive it much has made a bit of a mess.

This is the old three core radiator that I pulled out was leaking.


By malibulvr at 2012-06-26



From what I can tell most of the staining on the engine and accesories will clean up with some mild cleaner and some elbow grease, but that will have to wait a few weeks until I get time to install the new aluminum water pump...


By malibulvr at 2012-06-26


By malibulvr at 2012-06-26


Here's the new aluminum radiator. I didn't feel like cleaning up the elec fan from the other radiator, so decided to try a Perma-Cool elec flex fan that had laying around from another project. It's supposed to flow 2950 cfm so guess we'll see how it works. I am planning on making a new top plate and shroud soon and mounting twin 14" elec fans.


By malibulvr at 2012-06-26


And then got it all installed, filled with coolant, and checked for leaks.


By malibulvr at 2012-06-26


By malibulvr at 2012-06-26

[Blu-By-U 79Z]

lookin good. Sounds great too. Keep up the work.