matts86cam

iTrader: (1)

Hello everyone,
I just crashed my 86 z last week. I have way too much in this thing to scrap it. I dont know if the frame is bent for sure but I am assuming it is ok. Most of the damage is windshield T-tops and the rear section including the back hatch. The rest can be salvaged and work for now.

I am just wondering if I need another 86 to transplant the middle of the car in or if I can use different years? Any advice appreciated, and I am not geting another car, I am fixing mine even if its harder to do. Thanks, Matt-


http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...rcamaro006.jpg

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...rcamaro004.jpg

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...rcamaro005.jpg

'87IROCZOWNER69

iTrader: (1)

Can't see the pics

matts86cam

iTrader: (1)

just fixed them

90 camaro cj

ANY 82-89 camaro will accept Basically everything, 90-92 have a different style gauges but i THINK yours will fit in

matts86cam

iTrader: (1)

The driver side top of the car was smashed in about an inch

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...rcamaro008.jpg

//<86TA>\\

iTrader: (14)

transplanting your good parts into a difference chassis would be the way to go, probably a lot cheap in the long run too.

'87IROCZOWNER69

iTrader: (1)

Repairing this one would be very tedious and expensive repair. I think you could fix it (unless of course there is hidden damage, for instance the back end looks to be sloped downward a bit.) but it would be a lot of work and take very careful measuring and cutting.
Good luck!

matts86cam

iTrader: (1)

I have replaced nearly everything from the ground up in this car, suspension, fuel, brakes exhaust etc. I just think it would be easier to drop a new body on it but I have never undertaken anything of this magnitude so I am unsure.

rob2000gt

iTrader: (1)

How the hell did you roll it? Save what you can start with a fresh body. Im from Madison Wi my car lived most of its life up there my floorpans are bad and mine didnt see much salt. Check you floor pans I seen a 91 convert that was driven all year you could see through the frame. floorpans were gone I was afraid to sit in the car but the body was near perfect.

matts86cam

iTrader: (1)

Just replaced the carpet and had it stripped down to nothing inside. There is no rust anywhere on the car. It originally came from Georgia.

rob2000gt

iTrader: (1)

Im getting a number for you right now for a guy he strips 3rd gens and sells the parts his prices are really good he might be able to help you with a body

matts86cam

iTrader: (1)

Thats awesome man. my email is mattsemail@charter.net

rob2000gt

iTrader: (1)

call me 8507288056

theNMBR27

Matt my buddy in chicago strips car, since thats much much closer than florida pm and I'll set you up with whatever you need.

rob2000gt

iTrader: (1)

I get parts from Robert in chicago it must be the same guy I am from Madison wi I moved to fl less than a year ago

rob2000gt

iTrader: (1)

773-251-5292 Robert
He is in Chicago really good guy and he know 3rd gen really well last summer he had a couple Notchback GTA's

theNMBR27

Same guy. Either Robert or Louie will help you out. Just tell Robert Scott told you to call. Small world though huh?

rob2000gt

iTrader: (1)

Yes it is but this guy has it all. I got my GTA wheels from him (some fool put Camaro rims on my GTA) I got a perfect nose from him he has hoods perfect dashes. It is unbelievable what he has.

rob2000gt

iTrader: (1)

I just called him he has one for you he said to call him and see what you are looking for

rob2000gt

iTrader: (1)

he said he has an 87 iroc but call him in 2 days so he can double check

theNMBR27

I'll talk to him about it when I see him in the next few days.

matts86cam

iTrader: (1)

thanks fellas I appreciate it. I will give him a call thursday or friday. I have also been looking through the classifieds for a donor car. I asked about one thats up there for 300 bucks. All I need is a shell.

Can you just chop off the back section above the wheels and weld that part in?

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

What were you doing causing you to roll the vehicle?

Shadow Z

iTrader: (2)

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say that he was driving.

Shadow Z

iTrader: (2)

Oh, and hello to another fellow member who owns both a third gen, and a Mustang.

matts86cam

iTrader: (1)

LOL, nothing gets by you Shadow, lol.

I am not sure what happened yet but the throttle stuck and it went wide open on me. I was fighting a fishtail then went off the road and the rear tire buried in the mud and rolled me. No one but me was injured thankfully. I got a concussion from it and beat up a little bit I am ok. This has happened to me twice before, once in another vehicle, and I was able to throw it in neutral and kill it before but I had no time this time around. It happened at the worst possible time when I was turning.

TG Goose

my throttle always gets stuck too! It usually happens when the light goes from red to green for some reason....

matts86cam

iTrader: (1)

Once in an olds Alero the frozen, stiff floor mat was looped over the gas and under the brake. I pushed the brake and the rug shoved the gas pedal down. I let off the brake and then stomped it. It happened again so I threw it in neutral and killed the engine. Another time in the camaro I had just fabbed up a y-pipe after an engine swap and took the car in to an exhaust shop to have the pipes welded. When I picked the car up the next day I pulled out of the parking lot and gave it some gas and then immediately came to a stop sign but the accelerator didnt come back up. I tried to pump it (bad idea) and it hit the floor so I threw it in neutral and killed it. I popped the hood and found that the throttle spring was gone. I must have searched for 2 hours until I finally called a friend for a ride to the parts store.
It seemed like the same thing this time, the pedal went down and didnt come back up. The engine was cold too and there is no choke so you have to pump it to get it goin. I pumped it a few times, started it and pulled away from the gas station. I drove about 200 feet and hit the brake to turn left and it didnt stop. The wheels started spinning.

Anyway, has anyone ever replaced the top of a car on one of these before? I see it done on other vehicles by Foose and Barry all the time.

nosajwols

iTrader: (1)

I would be concerned that the chassis is also bent. It was a roll over (not something dropped on the car) so the damage will likely be more than just the roof. I would strip it and look for another chassis, if you do try and fix it make sure the chassis is straight before putting any effort into it.

I have replaced a roof or two before (mostly due to rust from a vinyl roof), not a big deal if you have the skills, all about alignment, proper welding and then hiding the seems.

Stuck throttles are quite common on old throttle cable cars--does 86 still have a cable?? (broken throttle springs, kinked cable, rust in cable). Sounds like you more or less walked away, this is good. It is a good thing to check over for everyone due to the age of our cars.

camaronewbie

You cannot "drop" a new body on it. These are not trucks, they are unibody cars, the body IS the chassis, the two do not seperate. Bad body = bad chassis, and with that damage you have a bad chassis.

Your only option is to yank all your goodies off and put on another car, call the rest a loss, and move on.

sailtexas186548

iTrader: (2)

+100000000

Dartht33bagger

Or he could straighten out the frame if needed, cut the top of another car off, and weld in onto his body.

Arizona IROC

iTrader: (4)

I have a '85 Z body but you would have to tow from AZ.......

sailtexas186548

iTrader: (2)

in the process of doing this EVERYTHING would have to come out of the car, and then get put back in, so why not just get a new shell? plus you wont have a severely wrecked car that was fixed which will NEVER exactly like it was. and a new shell will be cheaper

Dartht33bagger

Because you could get a top off of a car that is rusted to hell and save a car that is 100% clean. It's not always just about cost and how easy something is, keeping as many as these cars around as possible is important too.

I'm probably preaching to the choir though.

sailtexas186548

iTrader: (2)

yep

Dartht33bagger

Nothing I wouldn't expect from this site.

burn0ut305

you sir, need a another car... you are not Foose or Barry, i think your underestimating the difficulty of swamping the roof off of another car...

sleepsinshed

iTrader: (10)

Honestly, these are the kind of comments that drive me crazy on this site. Who knows what his abilities are, or might become. Let him fix the car if he wants to, that's what this hobby is all about- keeping cars around. Anything can be fixed, all it takes is motivation, time and of course money.

Go for it!

Dartht33bagger

sailtexas186548

iTrader: (2)

Do either of you two know what it takes to fix a car like this one?

And we are just trying to help the guy out, because fixing this car is not worth it unless you like to waste money

sleepsinshed

iTrader: (10)

Well, since you asked, yes I do know what it takes to fix a car like this, but you're not listening to the OP. He wants to fix the car because it means a lot to him. I still have the 1968 Camaro that I restored more than 20 years ago. I'm still upside-down on it but who cares. I love the car and it's worth it to me. Follow your dream!

matts86cam

iTrader: (1)

Well said! The whole point is not to save money or time, its to save the car. I don't know how to do it yet but two years ago I could barely change a tire. Everyone here has helped me accomplish more than I ever thought I could. I know this wont be easy but I will work through it.

So how do you check the frame? Sand blast it first then check it for cracks or damage I suppose. Hopefully the frame ties I put on there kept it from twisting. Anyone have any tricks to check for twist or warped frames?

Mark_Hardware

Whether or not it's "worth it" is purely subjective. Plenty of people would easily say it's not worth it and junk the car. (Which is why we are able to score sweet parts in boneyards) while other people would literally do whatever it takes to keep a prized, treasured posession. The same could be said for anything really, not just a car.
Obviously I don't know this mechanical skills, or limitations for that matter. But, I am going to go out on a limb here and assume he's not completely retarded, and he's knows it's a crazy amount of work.
Obviously it's worth it to him.

And dude, glad you're ok

sailtexas186548

iTrader: (2)

@ the amount of fail in this thread.

one guy saying to fix it even if you'll still be trying to pay for it 20 years later


you could:
take it to a place with a frame rack, and after they tell you to get a new car/shell pay them to put it on the rack anyways and see how bad it is, maybe they can fix it. Then go pay for a donor car/roof gut your car's interior, drill/break all of the spot welds on both cars, try to line up the new roof with the old car, weld it all back up, braze the roof lines back together, do the rest of the body work, get new paint job, put the interior back in, new glass, t-tops. then hope your car is ok otherwise even though it was running and UPSIDE DOWN, oil starvation maybe? I'm sure there is a ton of other broken things I didn't mention after a roll over.

or spend 3k or less on a decent car, swap your mods over and have a car that will be straight, and not a salvage title

I don't like seeing third gens destroyed and go off to the crusher, but I maintain this car will never be fixed properly, it will always be tweaked and have funny rattles. You can say "oh the car means a lot" or "he wants to fix it, so let him!" all you want but it's not gonna happen. Sorry man, just get a new car/shell

Dartht33bagger

Might as well just get it up on the frame machine and see. You never know until you try.

sleepsinshed

iTrader: (10)

There is no frame per se on these cars. Instead there are two integral sub-frames, one in the back and one in the front. Being unibody, there's nothing connecting the front sub-frame from the back one unless you installed sub-frame connectors, which it sounds like you did. If you can't see any obvious twisting under the car, then try measuring it from corner to corner, like you would do to square off a deck. Also measure to see if the rear end has shifted.

matts86cam

iTrader: (1)

Could you be more specific please? I thought I read something about factory measuring points in another post but it didnt specify. I will measure the frame rails at the front, middle and back to make sure they are straight and square but how about the rear end? Where should I measure to see if it is ok?

I hope by this weekend I will feel up to crawling around under there and checking. I am still in the recovery process. A little stiff in some places.

Skyset

GODDAMN sorry to hear about the accident. But holy *****, I admire your love for your car if you're going to repair it.

sleepsinshed

iTrader: (10)

If the rear end has shifted it's usually noticeable to the naked eye. There would also most likely be damage to the lca's or the mount points for them. A quick check would be to use a level and measure from the center of each rear hub to the edge of the wheelwell.