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10-05-2011, 04:27:40 PM
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#1
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Lifetime Gold Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: New Orleans, LA
Posts: 522
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Tiny's 1980 Z28 Project
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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10-05-2011, 04:53:05 PM
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#2
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Lifetime Gold Member
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Northeast CT
Posts: 1,384
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Congrats on your purchase of a very clean car! Enjoy it.
Got engine pics?
__________________
'77 Type LT - 86K, White/Blue, 357, 9:1, 260H, Performer, SMI Qjet, ST-10, 3.55 12-bolt, 80Z springs, F-41 bars, Bilsteins. Project Progress
'80 Z28 - Future P-T project for Mike - RIP bro
'07 Aprilia RSV1000R - Black/Red/Grey, Rotax V-twin, Öhlins, Brembo, Leo Vince
'03 Olds Alero GL - Silver/Grey, 3.4
'05 Tahoe Z71 4x4, Black/Tan, 5.3, K&N, Grabber AT2's, Bilsteins
R[̲̅ə̲̅٨̲̅٥̲̅٦̲̅]ution
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10-05-2011, 05:03:02 PM
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#3
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L. G. M. / Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Bloomtown, MN
Posts: 21,411
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VERY solid looking, low mile car! 
(I've put that many miles on mine in THREE years.  )
I don't see anything the exterior needs at all!
(Exept... Turn signal "crosshairs".)
You've saved yourself a lot of time and money by starting a project with a solid body and decent paint job.
The interior is what I would do first, too, if the body of my car had looked this good when I got it.
Post up questions in the Body topic about any rust you find.
Good luck!!! |
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10-05-2011, 05:57:53 PM
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#4
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Lifetime Gold Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: New Orleans, LA
Posts: 522
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by V8TEC
Congrats on your purchase of a very clean car! Enjoy it.
Got engine pics?
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I will get them up soon. It's having issues cranking after it is warmed up. Based on what I have read I believe it could be a combo of vacuum and timing issue. I'm going to get the mechanical squared away once I finish up the interior... I hope...
__________________
1980 Z28
My Dad used to say, "If it ain't broke don't fix it, but Son I know you are going to fix it anyway so you might as well do it right the first time."
My project progress
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10-05-2011, 06:00:42 PM
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#5
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Lifetime Gold Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: New Orleans, LA
Posts: 522
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Twisted_Metal
VERY solid looking, low mile car!
(I've put that many miles on mine in THREE years. )
I don't see anything the exterior needs at all!
(Exept... Turn signal "crosshairs".)
You've saved yourself a lot of time and money by starting a project with a solid body and decent paint job.
The interior is what I would do first, too, if the body of my car had looked this good when I got it.
Post up questions in the Body topic about any rust you find.
Good luck!!! |
Thanks! Forgive my ignorance, but what are turn signal crosshairs? 
__________________
1980 Z28
My Dad used to say, "If it ain't broke don't fix it, but Son I know you are going to fix it anyway so you might as well do it right the first time."
My project progress
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10-05-2011, 11:31:50 PM
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#6
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 286
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Nice looking car. I thought mine was in good shape all I can say of yours is WOW!
Here is a set of signal cross hairs on eBay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Camar...item2a1497ee96
Last edited by 81forme : 10-05-2011 at 11:34:05 PM.
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10-06-2011, 12:48:21 AM
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#7
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Central Valley California
Posts: 311
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Congratulations. Nice car. Maybe safer than a Harley too!  |
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10-06-2011, 02:17:30 AM
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#8
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Lifetime Gold Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: New Orleans, LA
Posts: 522
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by 81forme
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Thanks for the kind words. I just checked out your thread, great job. I will definitely follow your progress. 
__________________
1980 Z28
My Dad used to say, "If it ain't broke don't fix it, but Son I know you are going to fix it anyway so you might as well do it right the first time."
My project progress
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10-06-2011, 02:20:39 AM
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#9
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Lifetime Gold Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: New Orleans, LA
Posts: 522
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by 3504SPD
Congratulations. Nice car. Maybe safer than a Harley too! |
Thanks! That was the general idea, get rid of the bikes for a safer hobby the family could enjoy. 
__________________
1980 Z28
My Dad used to say, "If it ain't broke don't fix it, but Son I know you are going to fix it anyway so you might as well do it right the first time."
My project progress
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10-06-2011, 03:14:00 AM
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#10
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Norfolk, UK
Posts: 515
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Looks like a nice one. Best colour too |
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10-06-2011, 10:04:03 AM
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#11
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Gold Member
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Fort Necessity, Louisiana
Posts: 1,037
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Welcome to the site! Beautiful car! Some more Louisiana folk! Charlton
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10-06-2011, 11:07:35 AM
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#12
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Lifetime Gold Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: New Orleans, LA
Posts: 522
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Thanks for the feedback. I will get pics up soon. I didn't think about the size of the photos when I started taking pics so I have to crunch them before I can get them on here.
I have taken everything out of the interior except for the dash. That will be next. I was pleasantly surprised. There is a small amount of rust under the heater core and in the same spot under the pedals. There is a small hole in the floor behind the driver seat. It looks like a puncture though and not a rust through. I think someone tried to jack the car up by the floor pan> 
There is also a small amount of surface rust around the seat brackets in the back seat area and at the base of the package tray.
Rust remediation should be fairly straight forward. Once I treat the rust I will weld in a patch panel to fix the hole.
The trunk was sprayed with undercoat so that will be a challenge to remove. So far there are a couple of spots of surface rust but the pan feels solid.
I think I lucked out with this car. It seems to have lived inside most of it's life.
__________________
1980 Z28
My Dad used to say, "If it ain't broke don't fix it, but Son I know you are going to fix it anyway so you might as well do it right the first time."
My project progress
Last edited by Caveman Tiny : 10-06-2011 at 11:10:55 AM.
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10-06-2011, 03:24:37 PM
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#13
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Lifetime Gold Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: New Orleans, LA
Posts: 522
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__________________
1980 Z28
My Dad used to say, "If it ain't broke don't fix it, but Son I know you are going to fix it anyway so you might as well do it right the first time."
My project progress
Last edited by Caveman Tiny : 10-06-2011 at 08:04:26 PM.
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10-06-2011, 03:31:06 PM
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#14
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Lifetime Gold Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: New Orleans, LA
Posts: 522
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__________________
1980 Z28
My Dad used to say, "If it ain't broke don't fix it, but Son I know you are going to fix it anyway so you might as well do it right the first time."
My project progress
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10-06-2011, 04:31:17 PM
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#15
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: ILL
Posts: 473
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Nice car! Looks identical to mine when I put my original wheels on it. Cept I got the leaky t-tops.
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progress thread 
