My 79 nightmare

[serpent710]

Hello,
Been on here for awhile now and decided I wanted to start another project. What I wasn't expecting was to end up with the car I got. I saw it going a little different in my mind and for that I didn't due my due diligence when I looked over the car. My mistake was assuming everyone with a Camaro was like everyone on this site. I can not say anything bad about the person I bought it from because if I had just payed attention I would have seen all the red flags. Instead I went in head first and this is what I ended up with.
To start I was told it was a numbers matching car. All the body work was done and it had 1 coat of paint on it to cut in everything in and then scuffed to protect the body from rust while he worked on it. All the interior was wrapped up in bubble wrap and dyed or painted. He showed me by taking out a few pieces out of the boxes he had up in the loft and I just said "Great". I questioned him about the stance of the car and he said it sat high because it had no shocks in it (another red flag). As I go I will detail all my findings.
What I plan on doing, Since the car has A/C, cruise, rear defog, P/W, power door locks, delayed wipers and the cloth interior. Most of which my other car does not have ( no A/C is why the wife won't ride in it). I want to bring it back to stock.

And so my journey Begins............

 

[besserspat]

fun fun fun! enjoy the ride ,dont focus on the destination , make the journey fun and baby steps will spare you most frustrations...

Peter

 

[CorkyE]

That actually doesn't look like a bad starting project. Do you have the glass tops? As for the wife ridding along, I re-installed my a/c just for that. Good luck, enjoy the build, and post pictures and questions as you go.

 

[BillyDean7173]

Looks like a good project to me with some great options.

 

[73Z L92]

Looking good. I'm a sucker for taking on unfinished projects. The really good news is that a good part of the paint is done. Did you get the paint details? Primer, sealer, base and clear coat manufacturer? Makes so much easier to match.

 

[serpent710]

That actually doesn't look like a bad starting project. Do you have the glass tops? As for the wife ridding along, I re-installed my a/c just for that. Good luck, enjoy the build, and post pictures and questions as you go.

Actually came with 2 sets of tops

 

[serpent710]

Looking good. I'm a sucker for taking on unfinished projects. The really good news is that a good part of the paint is done. Did you get the paint details? Primer, sealer, base and clear coat manufacturer? Makes so much easier to match.

That was the initial reason I took the project on. Unlike my 1st build were I had access to a Body Shop, this time I don't. So I was looking for a project that didn't need much body work. Good news is the floors are solid, appears to have new fenders. I was told that it was cut-in already and the body had 1 coat of paint and then scuffed. The real truth was it was scuffed so my dumb ass didnt see all the dents and dings in it lol. So as of now I am waiting on the estimate from a painter and doing small things. Here is what the body looks like so far. I removed the front spoiler and the bumper is in terrible shape so I will have to look for another one. She is smoking and runs ok but, Smokes severely. Will be looking into that today.

 

[serpent710]

Well got into it last night and had a good and bad time. Turns out the smoke was from the 5 quarts of extra oil that was in the engine. I drained the oil and put in new spark plugs and instantly the smoke stopped looking like I was fogging mosquito's . I will only have to assume that the remaining oil in the pipes has to be burned off to quit from smoking entirely.

Once I got that straightened out I figure I could install the new hood latch since mine was missing. Surprisingly that went on and adjusted without any problems.

After that I was feeling good so I decided to do another easy project and put the correct fan shroud on since the one he left in the trunk I found out was only half a shroud (didn't bother to look at that at the time either). Ordered the correct one and for some reason it sat to low. I figured that the Rad didn't look right so I went and ordered another one and while doing so I would get a fan clutch in the process to do it all at once. Well, that was about were my luck ran out and she started to fight back again. Pulled fan clutch which was half held on , installed new clutch on fan after cleaning it up. Removed radiator which looked wrong and was filthy. Put radiator on rubber mounts at the bottom and mounted the metal cover at the top. Went to install the fan shroud and it sits to low. Nothing I do is making the shroud match up with the clips on the bottom and the cover on top with the screws. I have even trim the lower rubber mounts and that doesn't seem to work. Will post in the engine section and see if anyone has had the same problem. Tried to do a search but nothing came up.

 

[COPO]

My wife likes the heat and doesn’t complain about it with the windows rolled down in my 70 Z28. That’s our A/C. I would say suck it up or stay home.

 

[thesalboy]

Instead I went in head first and this is what I ended up with.

Welcome to the club!

Those quarter panels look...nasty! Will a magnet stick?