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Hi All - I finally wanted to join the ThirdGen Community after years of lurking and researching.
My story started in the mid 80s', hair metal was king, I had long hair, and every high school parking lot was full of either third gens or fox body Mustangs.
Being raised in a GM household, and my older brother (always a big influence on a sibling) had a Camaro; I set my sites on one for myself.
With the help of my Dad and a part time job I scored a 1983 Sport Coupe LG4/Automatic. I was in Rock and Roll Heaven (or Hell). I slowly did the usual customizations of the 80's (Chrome wheels, Fatter Tires, Cheap Tint, Chrome tips) with the help of Sears and Western Auto Parts (remember them)? I admit to seriously flogging the crap out of that poor car! Sad I know since when I bought it (wrecked in the front) it had maybe 41K miles on the clock! But the GM build quality showed even for a 4-year-old car when I bought it. This car served me well until the end of high school (lots of fun/memories/girls). When I got to community college and had some more cash, I bought a used 1985 Z28 with the LB9 TPI engine. Needless to say I started the usual hop ups of the time; flowmaster, under drive pulleys, chip, and what not.. Still got spanked by every 5.0 Mustang at every light! (Don't street race! Not safe; but I did).. The Z28 got sold after a few years for a 1988 SWB Chevy Truck.
Hit the FastForward button (remember that on the cassette players?) and I got older, hair got shorter, and the third gens were just old used cars..
I didn't give much thought to them until 10 years ago (we get old and we riminess). So I started trolling Craigslist for third gens, for fun first, then later sort of seriously.
About 5 years ago, sitting at the kitchen table eating lunch, I spotted a 1983 Camaro Z28 for $1800? Click! It was relatively close, supposedly a single-family car (haven't confirmed it yet), looked clean in the pictures (they all lie!) and not running. I called the kid (early 30s) and we chatted. It was his Dad's/Brother's now his. He was born in 1983 and thought it was cool to have a car his own age (didn't want to tell him I have a leather jacket older than him). It was not running for the reason the "fuel injection died", and he was trying to covert it to carb. I made arrangements to see if (short drive) and was surpised it was in "decent" shape.. Dirty yes! Rotted Interior (all the plastic rots in the sun), but all there. Solid body with no dents, nor noticeable rust (plus for no primer). The seller (the Kid) worked at a Mini Cooper Dealer as a technician. He had purchased a Summit Racing Carb Kit (intake, HEI, and knock off Holley Carb). He was able to get the new intake installed, and the carb slapped on top of it, but could not figure out how to hook up the fuel lines (it was a Cross Fire setup).
All the stuff he took off was in the hatch.. I decided to make him an offer of $1500 and he accepted. Since it was running, I got a flatbed to drag it home.. ($218 for 10 miles?)
And that is the beginning of this story.
After a few months and hunderds of bucks later I got it back on the road... (Rockauto, Amazon, etc.)
After going through all the systems (many thanks to these forums). brakes, cooling, exhaust, suspension, electrical, HVAC, I had a decent but aged driver.. Performance? My stepdaughters Sentra has more HP! But there's nothing like the feeling of driving it around.
I got tired of the crappy enamel paint (Earl Shibe?) and surface rust around the T-tops, rotted interior a year ago (going on 2), and started an unintentional restoration.
I have made progress and happy with my amateur results so far.. Check out my Photo Album for some pictures of the different work so far..
Made some more progress on my paint prep today. Both fenders are now have three coats of high build primer, after hours of body work it seems!
I had to clear out the driveway (rotate all the cars to the front of the house), got two coats on and I was waiting the prescribed 10 minutes for the third coat and the stepdaughter rolls into the driveway. Every time I am in prime stage someone shows up! But they are now primed. Full dry time is 3 hours and then I will move them into the garage..
05-25-2023, 12:57 PM
