1974 Camaro Z28
Discussion
Mr lestat said:
How much would you have to throw at that to make it a driving vehicle which looked ok ish ?
£20k ?
Looking at the state of a lot of those parts I suspect you could easily double that by the time you've got the parts over here.£20k ?
Even at the 3k he actually wants I wouldnt fancy taking that on, there's not even anything I'd seriously consider taking as spares. I hope someone does though!
seiben said:
While I've popped in, just wanted to say how much I enjoy this thread. OP's IG page (linked a while back I think) has some stunning photos on as well 
Really appreciate that, thank you! (IG is @rogue86photog) - unfortunately it's becoming more of a car and dog page as the commercial photography I get paid the most for these days is boring! I still try and tease the odd bit of aviation through though and the automotive stuff is picking back up.Bit more cosmetic work this week...
The last set of images didn't quite tell the full story of the spoiler. I bought it used from a chap in Lincoln, whose dad used to keep old Camaros - it was fibreglass and missing some quite considerable chunks along the leading edges. When I first visited the bodyshop, I wasn't able to leave the car with them so it was repaired on the assumption that it was straight, which we found wasn't the case when it was fitted. It seems to have warped (probably through years of storage) and on the drivers side there was a gap big enough to get your finger in!
It's not quite visible in the pic, but the last owner had also painted the car with the spoiler on, so when it was swapped there was an inch-thick line of old paint now visible. We talked through some options with the bodyshop and decided that the best way to move forward was to address the boot-lid itself rather than undo the work on the spoiler - largely in part as the bootlid had some imperfections and itself wasn't level. Not damaged, just clearly made on a Friday afternoon!
The finished article, now with improved panel gaps and a spoiler that actually sits evenly.
It was funny to hear the bodyshop had been inundated with visitors since I dropped the car off too. Word had got out about the car around all the other units locally and guys were apparently turning up in droves to have their photo taken next to it!
In between rain showers yesterday I though I'd try and bodge that cover onto the steering wheel. I wasn't able to simply screw it on as a poster suggested above as unfortunately the recess the cover sits in is too large. I found that a rattle-can lid fits perfectly around the steel hardware surrounding the nut on the steering wheel, so I managed to get some self-tappers into that through into the cover. Then I padded the lid out with some number-plate sticky foam pads and covered it in black fabric tape.
The result actually isn't bad, there's no movement in it and it's easy to remove for when I come to upgrade. It does mean there is a small gap behind it but unless you know these cars intimately you probably wouldn't know it shouldn't sit like that.
I've ordered an inline metal fuel filter and some new hoses so that will probably be the next job, along with taking the wheels off and checking to see what the noise coming from the brakes is.
The last set of images didn't quite tell the full story of the spoiler. I bought it used from a chap in Lincoln, whose dad used to keep old Camaros - it was fibreglass and missing some quite considerable chunks along the leading edges. When I first visited the bodyshop, I wasn't able to leave the car with them so it was repaired on the assumption that it was straight, which we found wasn't the case when it was fitted. It seems to have warped (probably through years of storage) and on the drivers side there was a gap big enough to get your finger in!
It's not quite visible in the pic, but the last owner had also painted the car with the spoiler on, so when it was swapped there was an inch-thick line of old paint now visible. We talked through some options with the bodyshop and decided that the best way to move forward was to address the boot-lid itself rather than undo the work on the spoiler - largely in part as the bootlid had some imperfections and itself wasn't level. Not damaged, just clearly made on a Friday afternoon!
The finished article, now with improved panel gaps and a spoiler that actually sits evenly.
It was funny to hear the bodyshop had been inundated with visitors since I dropped the car off too. Word had got out about the car around all the other units locally and guys were apparently turning up in droves to have their photo taken next to it!
In between rain showers yesterday I though I'd try and bodge that cover onto the steering wheel. I wasn't able to simply screw it on as a poster suggested above as unfortunately the recess the cover sits in is too large. I found that a rattle-can lid fits perfectly around the steel hardware surrounding the nut on the steering wheel, so I managed to get some self-tappers into that through into the cover. Then I padded the lid out with some number-plate sticky foam pads and covered it in black fabric tape.
The result actually isn't bad, there's no movement in it and it's easy to remove for when I come to upgrade. It does mean there is a small gap behind it but unless you know these cars intimately you probably wouldn't know it shouldn't sit like that.
I've ordered an inline metal fuel filter and some new hoses so that will probably be the next job, along with taking the wheels off and checking to see what the noise coming from the brakes is.
Cheers guys - got to agree, the little touches like that make all the difference to the inside of the car - it's a much nicer place to be already.
I decided to tackle a few smaller jobs last night - rerouting the fuel lines over the engine (and replacing the lines themselves) along with the filter as they've all seen better days and I'm a little worried about the thing catching fire! I also needed a coolant overflow bottle as at the moment it simple sprays all over the lower arm.
So I grabbed an old Tequila bottle I had laying around in the kitchen, stole the brackets from the metal fuel filter and got it mounted.
The state of the old filter which had been resting on the valve cover - for some reason the previous owner routed the lines under the coolant hoses so that they were sat on the engine itself. You can see a scorch mark where they touched and the filter itself breaking down.
The new routing - metal filter just above the pump, new lines from the pump to the carb and to the tank, with the lines now above the coolant hoses. Much safer!
I decided to tackle a few smaller jobs last night - rerouting the fuel lines over the engine (and replacing the lines themselves) along with the filter as they've all seen better days and I'm a little worried about the thing catching fire! I also needed a coolant overflow bottle as at the moment it simple sprays all over the lower arm.
So I grabbed an old Tequila bottle I had laying around in the kitchen, stole the brackets from the metal fuel filter and got it mounted.
The state of the old filter which had been resting on the valve cover - for some reason the previous owner routed the lines under the coolant hoses so that they were sat on the engine itself. You can see a scorch mark where they touched and the filter itself breaking down.
The new routing - metal filter just above the pump, new lines from the pump to the carb and to the tank, with the lines now above the coolant hoses. Much safer!
Wow, 33k is mental! Reassuring to see though, but Id like to think I'll be hanging on to mine got a while yet.
Got some new brake pads ordered from the US but I've spent the last couple of days polishing overspray off the body from when the spoiler was fitted. Don't think I'll be using that bodyshop again!
Got some new brake pads ordered from the US but I've spent the last couple of days polishing overspray off the body from when the spoiler was fitted. Don't think I'll be using that bodyshop again!
The pads have turned up - one thing that struck me about buying these is how cheap they are. They're about as expensive as I could find in the US and they were £40. For comparison sake, the last set of carbon-ceramic pads I bought were for my RX7 and they were £345. Oddly though, if I go for something like EBC in the UK they're £80 even for yellow stuffs.
Started the day by tidying up some engine bits - mainly getting rid of all the hoses, bottles etc that are no longer connected to anything. I've got a long way to go with getting the engine bay looking presentable, but I do feel at least like I've laid the foundations for the work by making it cleaner.
Next job was getting the pads out - as you can see, they were definitely ready! Even with almost nothing left on them, they still lock the wheels up really easily so I think it's about time the tyres went too.
Old-school wear indicator - made out of the noisiest metal known to man.
While everything was apart, it made sense to clean up the suspension arms, calipers and chassis legs.
Before:
After:
With that job done, we decided to head out for a quick test drive and to grab some beer from the shops. Josh decided he wanted a go at some phone-photography while I nipped in, so I parked the car in an empty unit and left him like this:
I've got to admit, the car looks straight up evil at night with the parking lights on. I couldn't help stare at it while walking away! When I came out of the shop, a small crowd had gathered around the car. This happens quite a lot but it's the first time anyone has actually been on-hand to grab a photo of it. It's one of my favourite things about the car - its a conversation starter no matter where you go and you get talking to people you otherwise probably wouldn't, although it's not always convenient. This is me in my oil-stained clothes (probably stinking) showing a family round the car. Apparently they'd heard me going the other way and turned round to see what the noise was!
Back to base then to price up some engine-dress up parts while Josh sent me over a couple of shots from his phone which do a pretty good job of showing how menacing it looks. We've also made a pledge to get out and shoot it properly - I've got no excuse really, shooting cars is literally my day job but I rarely get the camera out with this one. I need to fix that so I can get a print for the garage wall!
Next job was getting the pads out - as you can see, they were definitely ready! Even with almost nothing left on them, they still lock the wheels up really easily so I think it's about time the tyres went too.
Old-school wear indicator - made out of the noisiest metal known to man.
While everything was apart, it made sense to clean up the suspension arms, calipers and chassis legs.
Before:
After:
With that job done, we decided to head out for a quick test drive and to grab some beer from the shops. Josh decided he wanted a go at some phone-photography while I nipped in, so I parked the car in an empty unit and left him like this:
I've got to admit, the car looks straight up evil at night with the parking lights on. I couldn't help stare at it while walking away! When I came out of the shop, a small crowd had gathered around the car. This happens quite a lot but it's the first time anyone has actually been on-hand to grab a photo of it. It's one of my favourite things about the car - its a conversation starter no matter where you go and you get talking to people you otherwise probably wouldn't, although it's not always convenient
. This is me in my oil-stained clothes (probably stinking) showing a family round the car. Apparently they'd heard me going the other way and turned round to see what the noise was!Back to base then to price up some engine-dress up parts while Josh sent me over a couple of shots from his phone which do a pretty good job of showing how menacing it looks. We've also made a pledge to get out and shoot it properly - I've got no excuse really, shooting cars is literally my day job but I rarely get the camera out with this one. I need to fix that so I can get a print for the garage wall!
Thanks!
Decided to sort the last bits of the interior out, the hole in the dash and the gearbox is really getting to me lately! Just to go over things, the retainer plate doesn't fit the shifter because it needs a larger piece of trim (a tunnel) to fit into, which itself won't fit because of the Hurst shifter with lockout. So I started by cutting the retainer plate into sections.
I ordered some squares of fabric from ebay. Maybe a little cheesy for some, but I am trying to embrace the mullet-sporting heritage of the car. Afterall this is a Camaro, not a Triumph.
A quick test fit of the sections.
Some small fettling later!
Decided to sort the last bits of the interior out, the hole in the dash and the gearbox is really getting to me lately! Just to go over things, the retainer plate doesn't fit the shifter because it needs a larger piece of trim (a tunnel) to fit into, which itself won't fit because of the Hurst shifter with lockout. So I started by cutting the retainer plate into sections.
I ordered some squares of fabric from ebay. Maybe a little cheesy for some, but I am trying to embrace the mullet-sporting heritage of the car. Afterall this is a Camaro, not a Triumph.
A quick test fit of the sections.
Some small fettling later!
Thanks for the video links, gives me something new to watch in the studio!
With the new rules coming in to effect on Monday, I thought I'd have one lost sociable ride out for the Leeds cruise; a hot rod and classic car meet that has been going for around 40 years. Unfortunately I didn't make it very far, only a few miles away from the house on the inside lane of the motorway I lost all power and the car chugged itself to a stop absolutely stinking of fuel.
My friend Steve pulled over, but it was obvious fairly quickly that there was nothing he could do to help so with his safety in mind I sent him on his way and called the RAC.
Rare photo of me with full chimp mode engaged.
While alone with the car I tried to do some fault finding, I was getting no electrical power at all and the smell of fuel confirms that something electrical gave up while the engine was still getting fuel/air. Without a multimeter in the car though it was impossible to do anything further other than to trace some wires ready for the RAC man to look at. I changed a few fuses out just in case but no luck. So I got to sit in the Sun and look at how pretty it is!
After lots of horn beeps and thumbs up from passers by later (which I suspect were not all friendly!) the RAC turned up, although he was a little concerned that he'd never worked on something this old before. We got 12V from the battery which was a good sign as I thought it might be an alternator failure. We traced back through the simple wiring and found the neutral coming from the fuse box had two burn marks where it's clearly been arcing and eventually broken. With a bit of piggyback wire we managed to bodge it enough that I could get it started and limp it home.
The breakdown turned out to be a good thing - the Police turned up en masse and for the first time since the cruises existence, branded everyone being there as illegal, locked everyone in and handed out anti-social orders. Bear in mind most of these guys are in their 50s and driving cars just as old, I think it must have been a shock to them to be treated like 18 year olds in Corsas! Also a few forced to tear off tints in the car park and handed fines.
With the new rules coming in to effect on Monday, I thought I'd have one lost sociable ride out for the Leeds cruise; a hot rod and classic car meet that has been going for around 40 years. Unfortunately I didn't make it very far, only a few miles away from the house on the inside lane of the motorway I lost all power and the car chugged itself to a stop absolutely stinking of fuel.
My friend Steve pulled over, but it was obvious fairly quickly that there was nothing he could do to help so with his safety in mind I sent him on his way and called the RAC.
Rare photo of me with full chimp mode engaged.
While alone with the car I tried to do some fault finding, I was getting no electrical power at all and the smell of fuel confirms that something electrical gave up while the engine was still getting fuel/air. Without a multimeter in the car though it was impossible to do anything further other than to trace some wires ready for the RAC man to look at. I changed a few fuses out just in case but no luck. So I got to sit in the Sun and look at how pretty it is!
After lots of horn beeps and thumbs up from passers by later (which I suspect were not all friendly!) the RAC turned up, although he was a little concerned that he'd never worked on something this old before. We got 12V from the battery which was a good sign as I thought it might be an alternator failure. We traced back through the simple wiring and found the neutral coming from the fuse box had two burn marks where it's clearly been arcing and eventually broken. With a bit of piggyback wire we managed to bodge it enough that I could get it started and limp it home.
The breakdown turned out to be a good thing - the Police turned up en masse and for the first time since the cruises existence, branded everyone being there as illegal, locked everyone in and handed out anti-social orders. Bear in mind most of these guys are in their 50s and driving cars just as old, I think it must have been a shock to them to be treated like 18 year olds in Corsas! Also a few forced to tear off tints in the car park and handed fines.
In the rush to get the car off the motorway, the chap accidentally broke the battery terminal connector, so I picked some up along with some wire to properly fix the issue. I also grabbed 2m worth of cable ready for when my battery kill switch arrives.
What was left of the wire just disintegrated upon removal.
Unfortunately the main terminal for the neutral broke upon removal too. This was bad news mainly because its impossible to find a part number and its slightly larger than the series 56 stuff that the rest of the fusebox is filled with. Even for those, I was coming up with 53 week lead times to order a new one!
I figured the best option was to go buy a soldering iron and revisit some memories of being a 16 year old in design technology. Turns out soldering is easier than I remembered!
With the new battery terminal on, we got everything wired back up (while replacing some of the other wires in that loom) and she fired up straight away!
With the work done, I thought I'd familiarise the pup with the Chevy for the first time before I take her out in it. I think she likes it!
What was left of the wire just disintegrated upon removal.
Unfortunately the main terminal for the neutral broke upon removal too. This was bad news mainly because its impossible to find a part number and its slightly larger than the series 56 stuff that the rest of the fusebox is filled with. Even for those, I was coming up with 53 week lead times to order a new one!
I figured the best option was to go buy a soldering iron and revisit some memories of being a 16 year old in design technology. Turns out soldering is easier than I remembered!
With the new battery terminal on, we got everything wired back up (while replacing some of the other wires in that loom) and she fired up straight away!
With the work done, I thought I'd familiarise the pup with the Chevy for the first time before I take her out in it. I think she likes it!
Thanks folks - it is indeed Holbeck, although I ended up there by accident thanks to Leeds' unforgiving roadworks/one-way systems at the moment! I did think it was a pity I couldn't get somewhere slightly more picturesque while that Sunset was blazing, but more than a few people have likened it to downtown Detroit which I think is a suitable setting for the car. Maybe I'll go back and do something a little more intentional!
Also small update - battery kill switch is finally back in my hands.
I did think it was a pity I couldn't get somewhere slightly more picturesque while that Sunset was blazing, but more than a few people have likened it to downtown Detroit which I think is a suitable setting for the car. Maybe I'll go back and do something a little more intentional!Also small update - battery kill switch is finally back in my hands.
I didn't make it out for the rest of the lasers as the weather didn't play ball. Halloween though...
I genuinely made two separate groups of women scream last night driving through Wakefield (dont worry they laughed afterwards ). Afterall, what's the point of having a car look this evil if you can't have some fun with once a year!
I genuinely made two separate groups of women scream last night driving through Wakefield (dont worry they laughed afterwards
). Afterall, what's the point of having a car look this evil if you can't have some fun with once a year!
Took the day off yesterday and decided to get my tyres finally changed over. The Nankangs are laughably poor and definitely dont look the part! Finding anywhere that will fit supplied tyres has become near-impossible these days, but thankfully there are still some old-school garages left in the wild.
Quick shot to show the tyre mounted, as well as the Rally-wheel trim cover on the bench that pops on and off. That took us some very gentle tapping and prying to figure out how to get that off without breaking it!
Unfortunately, in what might be the most appropriate 2020 thing to happen, the nearly new tyre had a hole in it.
Fortunately it was in the meat and after a quick patch I was on my way. The writing on the sidewalls has faded, so out with the trusty tyre pen... If you've never done this before, it's an infuriating way to spend half a day, even more so in cold weather!
I've got to say though, the results are worth it.
Although I might not be saying that by the time I've put a second coat on and started the other side...
Quick shot to show the tyre mounted, as well as the Rally-wheel trim cover on the bench that pops on and off. That took us some very gentle tapping and prying to figure out how to get that off without breaking it!
Unfortunately, in what might be the most appropriate 2020 thing to happen, the nearly new tyre had a hole in it.
Fortunately it was in the meat and after a quick patch I was on my way. The writing on the sidewalls has faded, so out with the trusty tyre pen... If you've never done this before, it's an infuriating way to spend half a day, even more so in cold weather!
I've got to say though, the results are worth it.
Although I might not be saying that by the time I've put a second coat on and started the other side...
That's a refreshingly thoughtful and complimentary post to make, I genuinely enjoyed the positivity there so thank you!
You're right, the smog-era 2nd gens have always been overlooked so I'm happy to be making mine more suited to the Camaro name. I took the car out for its first drive on the new tyres and I can't believe the transformation to how the car looks. I think it's finally starting to look like a muscle car!
You're right, the smog-era 2nd gens have always been overlooked so I'm happy to be making mine more suited to the Camaro name. I took the car out for its first drive on the new tyres and I can't believe the transformation to how the car looks. I think it's finally starting to look like a muscle car!
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