Project 3.4 Camaro

Nearly 2 years ago, finally bought my first car(not the first car I had, but the first one I bought and paid for with my own money, titled in my own name)

She's a 1985 Sport Coupe Camaro that had seen better days, picked it up for $750, which in retrospect was too much, as the car's needs quickly snowballed beyond my initial expectations.
The engine and trans weren't my first choice, being a tired old 2.8(I wanted a 350 tpi) and auto(yes I know the 350s couldn't have autos, but in lieu of not having the 350 a manual at least would've been preferable) but I figured the car would've gotten beat on less, and that at 116k miles it would be in decent order, boy was I ever wrong.

Other than the engine and transmission though she was optioned almost exactly how I wanted her to be:
Non power windows(less to go wrong, and less weight)
Non power locks(same as above)
non cruise control(same reasoning)
t-tops
3 piece spoiler(these cars look funny to me without a spoiler)
tilt wheel(is that an option or standard?)
and AC which I did not want

At the time, the things that I believed were what it needed to be back on the street were:
*windshield(cracked pretty bad, I think it might have hit an animal, since the seller gave me a fender off another car as well(had no fender on driver side)
*exhaust, was pretty clearly rusted out, but I would expect that of any old car that's been sitting and not driven for a while
*paint, was faded pretty bad, lot of primer showing through in areas, a few minor surface rust spots
*head gaskets
*tires
*matching $@%^ lugnuts(I swear whoever put them on this car must have gone to some sort of lugnut pick'n mix
And that was pretty much it, so I figured for $500-1500 I could have her on the road again. There were some TLC things it needed, but the above was the necessities.

Project 3.4 Camaro

More body pics of how it was when I got it, my DD of the time is the blue buick century in the background, unfortunately it may crop up to uglify a few other pics, but hey it makes the camaro look good, rofl.

Project 3.4 Camaro

Windshield, and interior.

Project 3.4 Camaro

Engine tear down/rebuild #1, to replace the bad head gaskets, while I was at it, I took the initiative to do some mods, delta 260 cam, ported heads, new stem seals, ported manifolds, MSD ignition coil, cap and rotor, taylor spark plug wires, AC rapidfire plugs, gutted airbox with K&N filters, 170* thermostat, all new heater hoses, new PCV valve AC delete, just the compressor at first, but later on I pulled the AC rad, and yet even later on pulled the accumulator, also pulled the EGR some time after the 3.4 swap, and have omitted all but the bare minimum vac lines and replaced the ones I kept; brake booster, FPR, PCV and the one from the pass side VC to the MAF intake pipe.

Project 3.4 Camaro

More pics of the teardown.

Project 3.4 Camaro

Freshened up heads installed, then nearly complete, then a really bad friggin day as I discovered the problem was in fact not the head gaskets but a 2-4" crack in the block, I attempted to seal it with JB weld to limp it to a shop and have it welded, but while preliminary testing showed that while the JB weld held enough that it could limp to the shop, I discovered that even with the crack sealed coolant was still finding a way into the oil...

Project 3.4 Camaro

Here are some of the non engine mods I did around the time I was redoing the 2.8:
*Complete aftermarket exhaust, consisting of pacesetter headers+y-pipe, magnaflow cat, and dynomax catback, it wasn't till the 3.4 was in that I had the catback and cat installed however, I don't have any pics with me atm of the exhaust, but might add some.
*sony headunit installed to replace factory radio(damn thing didn't even have a casette player to plug my ipod tape converter into), headunit was "donated" from my buick which came with it already in it, lol, for some reason whoever put it in didn't bother to upgrade the crap stock speakers it had
*pioneer 6x9s
*IROC-Z 16" rims to replace my rusting and non color matching 14" steel rims, got the 16" rims for $100 with practically brand new tires out back, front ones needed replaced(got some used fuzions for $60 for them, wasn't going to buy new tires due to cost, and not wanting to replace the rears when they didn't need it, but also not wanting to put high end tires on the front with average tires in the back) but for $100 it was a helluva bargain.
*seat covers, I know its uber rice, but my seats need reupholstered badly, and are fairly stained, I am actually just going to replace them completely
*new gauge cluster with real gauges and tach, tach needs recalibrated for the v6 still since the ebay seller was either a liar or an idiot, insisted it was from a v6 car, when its very clearly from a v8 car, as indicated by the oil pressure #s and redline. Also going to replace that 85 mph speedo...my 3.4 can probably pull it to the limit of the 700r4's 3rd gear, which is around 120 or 130 if memory serves
*new headlights

Project 3.4 Camaro

More interior mods.

Project 3.4 Camaro

While sitting the car somehow managed to break the rear left spring, so I went ahead and replaced those, the shocks were replaced later after the 3.4 swap and preliminary inspection showed they needed it. Also when swapping the IROC-Z rims I found a broken wheel stud or 2 on the rear right wheel, and broke 1 or 2 myself getting the lugs off, so I replaced all the wheel studs on that wheel. I don't have pics, but when the shocks were done, the front rotors and pads got replaced as well.

Project 3.4 Camaro

After getting some money together I hunted down a used 3.4, donated from a 94 Camaro that met its end on a telephone pole at the merciless hands of a teenage driver. Got the complete engine for $250, even got the torque converter, manifolds, accessories, everything but the harness and ECM really, though technically I got what was left of the harness, the guy used the reciprocating saw removal method, lol. Engine was in good shape other than the missing idler and broken belt(guessing it was accident damage, 2 pieces of the ilder bracket were still clinging on by the bolts. Initially I swapped in the 3.4 using my 2.8 heads(same heads as were on it, but mine were ported and had new seals), my intake manifolds, and my 260 grind delta cam and my new lifters and timing chain+gear. I used the 3.4s TC as it appeared to be in much better shape than mine, my 2.8 TC was completely covered in rust, whereas the 3.4 still had the paint pretty much completely in tact, and while it had more mileage on it, it was a decade younger and had seen daily use(both of which I am finding matter more than mileage when it comes to reliability) I did switch to the 3.4's accessory system, as my oil pan had some rust, no paint, and a nasty dent, whereas the 3.4 one looked like it just rolled out of the factory after I cleaned it up a bit. Using the 3.4 oil pan required me to use the 3.4 timing cover, which required me to use the 3.4 water pump, and those the rest of its accessories, but I wanted serp system anyways so it worked out well.

Project 3.4 Camaro

3.4 shortblock installed+my new hood, was watching clist a while for a cheap IROC-Z hood when I happened across a dirt cheap modified(the recessed triangles on it were added aftermarket) daytona, which I snagged up.
It had a crack on the front left corner, was a while before I actually put the hood on the car, but I patched the crack up good with some resin and mat(still need to make it all flush and tidy, but it is structurally repaired) The hood was originally a bolt on, but because it was missing the steel inserts for the bolts, and the latch area was farily damaged, and there was 10 lbs or so of what I think was mud trapped in the substructure, I gutted the substructure from the hood and utilized it in full pin on mode. The pins I got turned out to be really cheap POSs, rusting in areas that don't even contact other metal, and I plan to replace them soon, also going to align the hood a bit better, it needs to come back about 1/4" and be lined up with the fenders a tad better.
Hood pics are before I patched up the damgae on the left corner

Project 3.4 Camaro

Around the time I put the new hood on I had a new windshield put in, as well as the rest of the exhaust, I had the car on the road for about 2 weeks and then it broke down, the fuel pump and or a broken valve spring were the culprit. I have since replaced the valve spring, also I had discovered my 2.8 manifolds had microfractures, in retrospect I should have expected it, since the car overheated enough to crack the cast iron block...in light of the cracked manifolds I decided to utilize the 3.4 ones I already had instead of getting new ones, I planned to eventually go DIS anyways to go hybrid, so why not, I do now have the 3.4 nearly fully integrated, top end is completely together, though i still need to work out the throttle and TV cable, and I am having difficulty with the DIS and ECM conversion, I pretty much gave up on figuring it out, it MIGHT be a bad ICM, I am going to try replacing that, and if that doesn't fix it, then it is scheduled to go into a specialty shop for auto electronics in about a month. This is where the car stands now, in roughly a month I start automotive school, and am aiming to have it on the road by then, I am also about to paint it, and have removed the nose and fenders to necessitate the proper paint prep and body work(some light rust on the inner sides of fenders, one needs patched on the corner.
Here are some pics of the 255 lph fuel pump swap(as well as hole for an access panel, going to install a moroso panel), 3.4 pics as it is now to follow, as well as the naked front end, tomorrow I plan to remove the doors, and start stripping the paint and rust off the fenders and nose, may or may not get to spraying some primer, though I do not think I will.

Project 3.4 Camaro

My rusted out driverside floorpan, after stripping my interior I discovered the patch the shop did was not nearly an adequate fix, I intend to replace the pan once I start school, I will also be replacing some other items as preventative maintenance, such as brake lines(one section is new already as it sprung a leak when I had it on the road), fuel lines, rebuilt calipers, rebuild the drums, new master cylinder.
Also while stripping the interior I bumped the plastic shift rod in half with my elbow.....and said hell no to replacing that flimsyass POS and took the opportunity to swap in a B&M megashifter, its almost fully installed, the bolt holes and cable are worked out, but I still need to get screws for the microswitches, and work out the other cable, eventually I will get the short throw stick/handle, this one appears to not have been a console version. I also put a switch in the center console for TCC lockout since the megashifter doesn't have provisions for it, my car idles right above stalling out as is so I didn't want to chance it, plus it will be nice to be able to lock out the TCC for race days and such.

scottmoyer

Moving this to Member's Camaros under the Appearance board. The changes made are not considered restoration and fall more under modification.

Project 3.4 Camaro

Paint is on hold, found out the "compressor" I was going to borrow from my grandmother's paint sprayer was actually a pump, which meant I needed to buy a compressor, between that and finding out that she got me a beater car for school(means I will now be able to have the camaro down for a week or 2 to paint during school, also I will be able to get a compressor for half off there probably), so paint is on hold for the moment.
The plan is to still put her back on the road though, but at least now I have a backup for when shes out of commission(its spent more time out of commission than in so far....) which she almost certainly will be when I start school, because I have to wait till right about when I start to get her into an automotive electronics specialist to figure out what went wrong in my DIS and ECU swap. So I guess I will update when I get home to my pictures of some of the newer work, and then not update again till I get her into the shop and find out whats wrong =/

sleepsinshed

iTrader: (10)

You're doing a nice job, the car has come a long way. My old eyes need some bigger pictures, though!

Project 3.4 Camaro

Thanks, they SHOULD be bigger, if they aren't its the way the site manages them =/ Even when I used my mother's dinosaur cam i still took 3 something megapixel pics, and mine is like 7.2, not quite sure why they don't expand to full size =/
And yeah, it really has come a long way, still has a long way to go though, anyone else would have given up, my mom's neighbors(car is at her place) are always offering comments of encouragement and surprised I haven't given up. I have a lot of half finished things on the car which drives me nuts, but I know eventually I'll have it all done and it will be a really nice car.

Project 3.4 Camaro

Update, apparently my grandmother got me a 96 corsica to use for school till the camaro runs, and once it inevitably stops running after that, lol. Long story short, they share the same ICM, so I am going to swap the maro one into the corsica, which is great, now I can still test my theory, but without biting the bullet on a $90 part, that I only THINK is the problem. Will update again once I get over to the maro and see whats what. Corsica is stalling when cold, so might actually shed some light on that problem too.(Shop she had the car in thinks ignition system, I am inclined to agree as it only happens when the car is started cold, and only goes on for about 1 minute.)