firebird904

It was my mothers car back in the day been sitting in the backyard only started once every few months for the past 8 years only has 60k original miles but the engine was replaced by gm when they did an oil change and forgot to put the drain plug back on so the engine only has 25k im going to be restoring it i already ordered tires for it and i havethe original 5 spoke rims going to do a full tune up change out all fluids and what not and then work on getting the interior finished up its tan interior but im putting in black carpet, headliner , and arm rests need to get a dash and hopefully some 4th gen ebony seats then what will be left to do is paint and windshield being it has this defective bubbles in the glass that decided to come up just after the car went out of warranty hope to get this v6 back to its glory lol

AM91Camaro_RS

Cool. good luck with it!

I see you're in FL, also... if you need your wheels powder coated or anything, let me know.

jensen73110

iTrader: (4)

Aw man, looks sad. Post pics of the progress.

firebird904

yeah the car has had quite a life lol it was stolen 4 times out of our backyard back in new jersey and it always turned up the last time it was stolen before we moved to florida it took 2 years for the car to show up and it was located out in the middle of the woods with no seats or tires lol i was like 5 when all that happened

firebird904

.

AM91Camaro_RS

If its a single color, $50 each wheel.

FireInMe17

What year is that puppy? I can tell its an RS, so its 88-90, and not a 91/92 because it doesnt have the updated ground effects, without seeing the dash, im gonna take a wild guess and say 89? Lol

vette gator

I was kind of wondering about that. Given the low miles and it being your mother's car, I was surprised at the shape it was in. Now that I know this part, it makes sense. Sorry to hear about dirtbags getting their hands on it. My in-laws had their Honda Accord stolen right out of their driveway in Irvington one night. Fortunately, it was recovered without too much damage.

It doesn't look like the car has any real rust. It should be a good place to start whatever kind of build you want. Have fun with it.

vette gator

accidental double post

firstfirebird

iTrader: (3)

Cheaper than me

Where exactly in FL are you guys? I'm just outside FtLauderdale.

AM91Camaro_RS

I'm in Tampa (or Brandon, actually).

firstfirebird

iTrader: (3)

Cool. I know that area since I've only moved to South Florida in '03 from Bradenton.

firebird904

close its an 88 lol i think its a sport coupe being the ground effects just say camaro on them

firebird904

the car has only very minor surface rust funny thing is the last time it was stolen it was an employee from the gm dealership it was purchased at the car used to look incredible with the gold ground effects and gold rims tan interior i know its not a powerhouse but i want to keep it in the family being my family has kept it for so long.

firebird904

forgot to mention i just did a full tune up on the car and im not sure if its a bad sensor or what but i started it up and in order for it to stay on i had to keep tapping the gas petal and then it stopped doing that and would idle but if i reved it up it would sputter a little bit thinking it may have just been needing a tune up i did that and its still doing it so im thinking it might be the IAC valve or something I also got tires for it today i decided for now im just going to sand and paint the rims because later down the road i want to get a nicer set of rims

firebird904

got the car to run smooth as ever once it warmed up so im thinking its probably the iac valve took it out for a drive with dry rotted tires and a donut and got more looks than i would with a good looking paint job a cop pulled up and i had no tag but i was lucky enough that it was my neighbor so he just told me to get it home and keep it there till its tagged so i lucked out

firebird904

well i got a new iac valve on there today and didnt help at all so next thing im going to check is for a vacuum leak being most of the rubber hoses are all dry rotted also it does a weird popping from the throttle body and it sputters a little when given throttle could it be the injectors are dirty? anyways my plan is to have it running good so i can drive it daily get the tires mounted and get the brakes put on it and look for a job lol i sold my firebird to fix this thing up being my firebird was nickle dimeing me to death lol it seemed like every time id start the damn thing something else would go bad well come to find out someone was putting sugar in the cars gas tanks in the neighborhood so the car was still in top condition but the fuel system needed to be cleaned out but oh well im going to have alot more fun getting this car fixed up being its ive been around it all my life and its finally mine ive got lots of plans for it mostly cosmetic because i want to keep the drive train completely stock just want to custom build some speaker panels and such and some custom interior work and get paint on it should have it all done by the end of the year once i get a job its gonna be looking good

FireInMe17

Oh **** I didnt catch that, I didnt look close enough, lol I knew I was close!

firebird904

It's getting closer to being ready for paint I have done rust repair and just have 3 minor dents to fill in so far I've got the engine 60% finished up still need to put a new distributor,coil,gaskets, and water pump but I got it running great just want to replace that being I'll be taking it for constant 400 mile trips. I converted the whole interior from tan to black and the paint is probably going to be arctic white or a gunmetal gray. Here's pics of the interior and it sitting on a new set of tires.


Interior before (z28 badge was my dad but for what reason i have no clue its gone now)


Interior After still have to get a pic with the headliner up.


Hatch area is kinda dirty after leaving the hatch open. Seats are going to be replaced with 4th gen seats.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Looks good for its age and the fact that it's been repeatedly stolen. If I were you, I'd get at least an alarm in that car ASAP (an immobilizer would be best). Especially because the way you have the subs and amp set up in the hatch area is a break-in waiting to happen with all of those wires just hanging loose like that. I would also put those subs in the box the way they are supposed to be (magnets in) just in case something like a huge bump comes along... You don't want one of those magnets going through the hatch, do you?

Oh, and run a full can of SeaFoam through the gas tank and half of one through a vacuum line. Also, check the gas and fuel lines underneath to make sure they haven't rusted up too bad (I know you're in Florida but there is all of that salt spray in the air in places and the car HAS been sitting for years in a moist climate). The LAST thing you want is the brake line running to the rearend popping...

Gumby

Should be Vats and un-steable right???

Why I took the hatch 3rd brake light off mine soon as I got it, it was the clue in that its a non Vats car to the theifs.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

89 was the first year for VATS... Unless, of course, you put it in yourself .

:edit: Posted wrong info... The base V6 had it in 89 with a modified version of the 302 ECM called the 1227370 (I think... have to look that one up).

firebird904

Yeah its getting an alarm for sure, and probably a hidden toggle switch for the ignition. The reason I have the speakers like that was because the plastic on one of them rattles when put the other way in but It's being switched back soon I'm going to be running seafoam through it after I'm done with my F1ZE injector swap. The hatch glass is going to be tinted to 15% and I have one of those retractable shades on the way. For the most part the car is in pretty good condition underneath there's a fair amount of surface rust on the cross member though.... I'm so anxious to take it for a spin with the new injectors when I pulled the old ones off all but 2 were full of gunk on the inlet and the car still ran decent.

Stangski09

iTrader: (10)

Any plans for the 2.8 once the interior and paint is complete? Maybe swap a 4th gen v6 in her and turbo? That would be one hell of a v8 killer!
Good save bud! Keep us posted.

firebird904

No plans for the 2.8 for now once the engine decides to die on me then most likely a 3.4 swap with turbo or a ls1 conversion but that will be way down the road, the engine only has around 25xxx on it.

Gumby

Mine is nearing 230,000 miles and still running strong

you got time

firebird904

Well I don't have much to update but want to keep this thread current anyways I haven't been able to work on the Camaro that much but I did manage to gather all the sensors I need and a new distributor. I was saving up to get the rest of the car finished up and just as I was near having most of what I need to finish it up my dog had to be rushed to the emergency vet because she was chasing a cat and the back of her leg got caught up on something and slit open a little more and her tendon would have been severed. The vet is charging 1,000 to get that mishap fixed so now the car must wait for longer but at least my buddy will be okay . I had to call 3 different places as soon as they heard she was a Pitbull they didn't want to see her I hate how these dog's get such a bad rep it's the owner's not the dog's...

firebird904

Again not much to update but want to keep my thread current. Today I rebuilt a newer style distributor for the car so now that's one less thing I have to buy later on. I was having issues with the MAF and after being told oreilly's couldn't take it I talked to the manager and got lucky and he decided to do the return for me so I should have a new MAF by the end of the week getting closer to getting her road worthy I should have some cash late November so hopefully I'll get her in some paint. I'm going to be painting it with this method https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...paint-job.html Not too worried as to how long it'll last If I can get a few years out of it I'm happy as this is going to be a daily driver and I'm not going to blow big bucks on paint that will more than likely get scratched and always be exposed to the elements. The engine is coming out of the car for gasket and seal replacement's I figure it'll be easier to remove the engine than the tranny being I have to replace the front pump seal on it aswell. This car is taking me forever to finish but it'll be so worth it in the end. I'll be able to say that I did every inch of work on the car on my own and hopefully when I have kid's they'll get to enjoy it as much as I will unless this car get's totaled it's never leaving my family been in the family since new will keep being passed down till there's nothing left of it.

FireInMe17

Thats how I want to paint my car lol

Keep up the good work!

firebird904

I placed an order the other day with third gen ranch for some charcoal seat belts, Tail light black out cover's and a spare MAF sensor. Next week I'm probably ordering some vinyl to redo the dash board in my car, I'm going to put either 5 1/4 inch speakers in the dash or 6 1/2 component's. I'll have pic's of the ordered goodies as soon as they arrive

firebird904

Part's are here


MAF which fixed the problem's I was having with the car, I put it in today and it runs like new


Tail light covers




Seat belts


Got a black headliner plate on the way that I got off a member on this board also.

firebird904

Oh yeah and the best car alarm ever.

zraffz

My car alarm is better:


... just kidding I don't even have that dog anymore. F**king ex-girlfriend took her when we broke up. Glad I wasted so much time training it. And no need to hate on the little *** dog, I swear I could have gotten in any chick's pants with it!

firebird904

Those little dog's can be mean as F**K I have a little chihuahua and she is meaner than my pitbull lol Sucks your ex had to take her, I kinda know how that is I had a 2 year old American bulldog that was poisoned while I was at school . Could never find out who did it...

zraffz

That sucks man. This dog was really cool around people but for some reason when me and my ex were sleeping or sitting on the couch it would wake me up by biting my face... when I was alone or with anybody else it loved me; makes me wonder if somebody had a voodoo doll of me

firebird904

This week I'll be ordering the engine's parts then I move onto the shocks and struts but I'm still unsure on which I should get, the car isn't going to be raced or anything, I just want a comfortable ride. Anyways I redid my stereo with speakers from third gen ranch ( love that place), I got mb quart 6x9's in the sail panels, cerwin vega plates in the dash and mb quart components in the doors





excuse the good for nothing capacitor and the blue cable going to the subs capacitor is gone and the cable has been hidden, the distribution block is hidden now as well.

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

What parts of Florida?

Looks like a great start man!

AM91Camaro_RS

I'm just outside of Tampa

Gumby

MacPherson has been the king of struts for years , might as well get shocks to match.

firebird904

I just started tearing down the engine to get it out of the car Pretty much all I'm doing to it is putting all new gaskets a melling mtc-5 cam and lifters and while I have the heads off to do the valve stem seals I'm gonna get some valve lapping compound and clean the valves up some. I inspected my shocks/struts and they seem to be fine went out on the road and did some hard acceleration and hard braking, taking sharp turns..etc and they are still good for now. Should be done with this by next week then I can order weather stripping and paint. I'm putting 4th gen window sweeps in after seeing how they look and there are quite a few 4th gens at the junk yards here. I'm also thinking about replacing my own windshield as mine is defective and was wondering if this is something I should let someone else do or if I should do it?

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

If you're going as far as replacing all of the gaskets and the camshaft and lifters, might as well throw some lower end bearings in there along with an oil pump screen as well (since the pan is going to be off, I'm assuming, for a new gasket). Reminds me I should go and get some valve lapping compound (only if I ever get the right main bearings in the lower end!).

Get new shocks and struts... I thought mine were fine as well... Pulled both front and rear suspension and found out they were shot (they're supposed to rebound on their own and NOT be compressible by hand).

I'd let someone else replace the windshield that knows what they are doing. However, if there aren't any cracks in the one you have now, leave it alone (unless it has a BIG chip, in which case I would get someone to fill it). The reason mine's getting done is because it WAS cracked in the lower driver's side corner and I cracked it worse trying to pull the surrounding trim off for paint.

firebird904

I was just thinking I should replace the bearings since the cover is going to be off anyways,I'm also going to do the freeze plugs to. I'll probably get around to doing the shocks too since I found them at a pretty affordable price on rock auto. The reason I'm needing to replace the windshield is because there are these big bubbles in the glass that make the car a pain to drive, from what I was told it was a manufacturer defect.

firebird904

Whats a good brand for bearings?

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Just about any... I think I'm getting Clevites this time, and hopefully they're the right size.

firebird904

After 3 days of working on it off and on it's all loose and waiting on the engine lift but I got to fix a power steering pump hose on a 92 cadillac hearse that a friend is having me fix then I'll be able to yank the motor out of my car . My tranny mount is shot and it was a bit of a pain to get to the passenger side top exhaust manifold flange bolt but I managed to get all 4 of those out without breaking em. Now here's the funny thing it looks like the mechanics at the chevy dealership in New Jersey were quite lazy as they only put 4 of the 6 tranny bolts in and of those 4 only 2 were tight and the other two were just tightened to where I got them loose with my fingers also found they fixed a lot of wires they broke in the process of putting the new engine in yet another reason why I will do all the work to my car before it will see a shop. So far things are going smoothly so by the looks of it I should have it in and riding down the road by next week

Blue1990camaro

iTrader: (1)

i may be mistaken, but u stated its a v6?? from the looks of it its a z28, from the gfx to the logo in the dash, can we get some under hood pics??

firebird904

Yep no doubt about it it's a v6 my dad thought he was all cool driving it around with the z28 badge on the dash when it was my moms car but I replaced it with a camaro emblem. Other than that that's how the car came from factory with those gfx. A lot of my friends think it's a Z till I show them under the hood.

firebird904

Well I took the old 2.8 apart and found scored cylinder walls and #1 rod bearing was on it's way out I found this to be quite unusual for a low mileage engine but then again who knows how it was driven when it was stolen. Anyways I have a complete 3.1 waiting to be checked out that has under 70k that was swapped out for a v8 and I got it for free so if all is well in there I'm gonna put some new rod bearings, piston rings, and a new oil pump and be done with it. I'm about to order new valve springs to match my cam and tomorrow I'll probably get around to checking the other engine for any signs of wear and I shall report back. If this other engine isn't any good then I'll just sell my fiero and get me 3.4.

firebird904

I took the 3.1 apart and it looks okay needs a crank kit due to poor oil changes but I got a killer deal on one. Same guy has some .30 over silvolite 12cc dished pistons for 40 bucks for the 3.1 but I'm not wanting to bore it out right now otherwise I would jump on it.

Blue1990camaro

iTrader: (1)

hell ill take those pistons