my 83 camaro progress - updated 5-30-08 - *FINISHED*

[Triple-X08]

well guys, finally it has come to this, it has been a long time since i started this project, about a year or so, to be exact. alot of time and money has been put into this car. but it was all worth it, it turned out better than what i expected it to.

about a few days back i finally got all the suspension back together, and last night i bled the brakes. we took it out around the block and it runs and drives excellent.

ran into a hard time with the front coil springs on it, used about 5 different spring compressor tools, and finally came up with the right combination to get the front springs back in it. word of advice to anyone attempting to rebuild a 3rd gen camaro, do not remove the front springs, unless you plan on paying someone to put them back in. they are terrible, it took me about 5-6 hours to get the springs in it. thats time compressed over a few days. when you have that hard of a time of it, you tend to get bored of it quickly and put it aside until the next day.
anyone thats ever used coil spring compressors knows that they are death traps.

anyways, bled the brakes and found i had a couple fittings loose, so i went around and tightened all fittings back up, and everything is ok now.

found i had a coolant leak yesterday as well, coming from the radiator inlet neck. loose internally to the radiator, will need new radiator. but for now its ok.

fuel leak is fixed for now. put some pipe thread dope on all the AN fittings at the regulator, so for now they arent leaking, but time will tell.

all electrical devices work, still need to hook up my tach, wont be too much work, just need to trace the wiring. other than that the car is ready to get on the road.

also replaced the rear hatch struts on it, as those finally decided to die on me, like all camaros do, Thank you GM for incorporating a metric ton rear hatch on to the car.

next week im taking it in to my shop and im going to do the alignment on it.



here are the pics of the car in its completed form.

















pictures of me driving it

[E. Haskell]

DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's perfect.

[big swede]

Congratulations on a lot of hard work coming to fruition. That looks like a lot of fun just in time for the summer cruise season. Let us know how it does at the track. I really like the 3 car garage with the extra space between the single and double doors. I wish I would have done mine like that.

[likearock00]

Wow! Simply amazing!! I haven't been keeping up with your progress, but the final product looks absolutely stunning. Congrats!

[ZR1-S10]

Damn good! Congrats on the keep up and of doing a 3rd gen right!

[Mischief007]

Care to explain why you had such a hard time with the front suspension? I would like to rebuild a third gen one of these days to my liking. One thing that will pretty much be replaced is the suspension in my future third gen, so I'm looking at as much info as possible.

The car looks great. Been following it for a while myself.

[Hitman1970]

That is AWESOME!!!!

[Triple-X08]

Originally Posted by Mischief007

Care to explain why you had such a hard time with the front suspension? I would like to rebuild a third gen one of these days to my liking. One thing that will pretty much be replaced is the suspension in my future third gen, so I'm looking at as much info as possible.

The car looks great. Been following it for a while myself.

you know, it wasnt horrible, but i took the entire front k member out of it and re did the whole front end. everything was powder coated, and i had new polyurethane bushings in everything, and new ball joints, which i had the shop down the road install, .020 over sized and powder coated a arms dont match, and i figured i would let them take the blame for it if it gets messed up.

but the whole thing was, the front coil springs, everything went ok, until i had to put those on. i had several sets of compressors and finally i came up with a combination that worked. i couldnt imagine being a tech having to work on these cars back in the day, especially for warranty suspension problems.

i had 2 external compressors on the springs that had 1 jaw, so i had to install them to the inside of the spring because they would hit the frame and control arm if they were on the outside. so i installed them on the inside of the spring because the threaded rod of the compressor was hitting the frame and arm. so i put it in the car top first into the pocket of the body, and i had to use my floor jack to jack up the arm while i held the spring in place, and then when it was secure i could use the floor jack to guide it into the pocket. and then i had to remove the internal compressors because they would hit the arm if the spring would compress too far when installing them, so for this i removed 1 then installed an external 2 jaw compressor and them removed the other internal one and then used the floor jack to take it up the rest of the way. and then i could remove the other external compressor.

total its wasnt horrible but it was time consuming and back breaking because you were always on the ground and trying to come up with a different combo, and it was trial and error basically, i have never had that much trouble with front end work before.

i dont know if someone has a better way, but man it was brutal.

only other way i could think of was to cut down the threaded rods on the compressor tools. i didnt want to do that because i rented a set from auto value and borrowed a couple from a friend of mine.

[PA Dweller]

Wow that car looks beyond good, I can't believe its an 83, it looks like it just rolled out of the factory. I wish I had that kind of talent, would of loved to restore a car like that. Just curious does your Camaro have a Stereo and Air Conditioner?

[rmodys]

Congratulations man, the car looks terrific! It's always great to finally get a project done. Enjoy it!

[Triple-X08]

Originally Posted by PA Dweller

Wow that car looks beyond good, I can't believe its an 83, it looks like it just rolled out of the factory. I wish I had that kind of talent, would of loved to restore a car like that. Just curious does your Camaro have a Stereo and Air Conditioner?

no, the car doesnt have a radio or a/c in it. took the radio out, installed the switch panel in its place, and same for the a/c control head, removed and installed a block out plate. a/c duct work and all hoses and other hvac equipment have been removed, all thats left is wiring. a piece of sheet metal has been installed on the firewall in place of the HVAC box.

i have all the original stuff like heater core and all the HVAC items, but they were removed for weight purposes.

[tom3]

Best bet for the springs is the compressor with the hooks at the top and a bar/shoe thing at the bottom. Use some spacers under the shoe so the threaded rod with be the right length. If reusing the old springs put as much weight on the car as possible to compress the springs so you don't have to do it with the tool and just leave the tool on if doing one side. Takes some time to get everything figured out and oriented so the spring goes in just right.

Good looking machine, and the detail work in the interior and under the hood is really nice. I don't really like that much cowl on the hood on a third gen but to each his own.

[PA Dweller]

Originally Posted by Triple-X08

no, the car doesnt have a radio or a/c in it. took the radio out, installed the switch panel in its place, and same for the a/c control head, removed and installed a block out plate. a/c duct work and all hoses and other hvac equipment have been removed, all thats left is wiring. a piece of sheet metal has been installed on the firewall in place of the HVAC box.

i have all the original stuff like heater core and all the HVAC items, but they were removed for weight purposes.

Oh, do you plan on racing it?

[Triple-X08]

Originally Posted by PA Dweller

Oh, do you plan on racing it?

yes, it is a street/strip car.

basically i wanted something that looks good and performs good.

and also i would like to get into some car shows, i think it would be fun.

[PA Dweller]

Originally Posted by Triple-X08

yes, it is a street/strip car.

basically i wanted something that looks good and performs good.

and also i would like to get into some car shows, i think it would be fun.

That sounds cool, enjoy. Tell us how the races/shows turn out when you get to that point.