My 1978 Z28 Camaro (I Know Not A Firebird)

[70formula]

So, good news for my wife me and the camaro. We signed a lease for a new house....with a deep 2 car garage and a workbench. We get keys wednesday. so my camaro will no longer have to be worked on in the driveway...

My wife also agree - once I finish the body work and paint, I can buy myself a new motor, either a blueprint crate motor, or if we can find an ls, once the Camaro is "wife approved" looking I can spend the money to either get an ls holley setup and computer and t56 setup. My brother in law is going to start looking for a motor from his work, aiming for a Lq9 or a 6.2 or if he can find an alumin 5.3. Ill have to buy a t56, as he rarely sees those at his scrap yard, but he thinks a 6.2 escalade is fairly common, he just pulled one for his boss. If we dont find a good one, then a blueprint 383 is in order.

So once we get the camaro moved over, its full step ahead on stripping it to bare metal, and getting the body work handled, expoxy, and then my brother and I will spray it together at his shop.

 

[Knightrider189]

So, good news for my wife me and the camaro. We signed a lease for a new house....with a deep 2 car garage and a workbench. We get keys wednesday. so my camaro will no longer have to be worked on in the driveway...

My wife also agree - once I finish the body work and paint, I can buy myself a new motor, either a blueprint crate motor, or if we can find an ls, once the Camaro is "wife approved" looking I can spend the money to either get an ls holley setup and computer and t56 setup. My brother in law is going to start looking for a motor from his work, aiming for a Lq9 or a 6.2 or if he can find an alumin 5.3. Ill have to buy a t56, as he rarely sees those at his scrap yard, but he thinks a 6.2 escalade is fairly common, he just pulled one for his boss. If we dont find a good one, then a blueprint 383 is in order.

So once we get the camaro moved over, its full step ahead on stripping it to bare metal, and getting the body work handled, expoxy, and then my brother and I will spray it together at his shop.

Congratulations on getting a house with a garage. Looking forward to seeing the rebuild.


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[70formula]

Milestone in life and for the camaro...will unlock a new ability to really take this car to a new level. Cant wait to really dive in now!

 

[70formula]

Been a rough week. I was middle of running a load up from the old house to the new house and during heavy traffic and rain on I-5, a truck in front of me lost a post covered in concrete, and my options were hit it or hit a semi next to me. It struck my right driver side and broke the tires strut mounting and steering. I was going 70 and hydro planned thru the interstate, crossed a lane, hit the center metal fence and was flung back into both lanes. At one point in the spin i was looking right under a big rig expecting to go under it, but somehow managed to avoid it. I came to rest in 2 lanes on the highway and my Nissan couldn't / wouldn't move forward, but I was able to reverse to get outta traffic atleast. By some miracle no one hit me, and I walked away just feeling like I insulted mike tysons mom in front of him. Nissan murano definitely saved my life, but its likely totaled. Luckily we have full coverage and gap and I was unharmed...

Talk about a rough month for vehicles...

 

[chuckitall]

Bummer, but I'm glad you're ok. I'm with ya, when it rains it pours, it always seems to work that way. I'll bet a lot of folks here (on the forum) have been thru periods in their lives like this. Hope everything works out ok.

 

[Munkyslut]

You were certainly lucky to escape injury from that one!

 

[70formula]

So quick update...the Nissan was officially totaled and gieco got it paid off, and we got a new Maxda cx5. payment stayed the same, and its getting better gas mileage, so all is as good as it can be. we are nearly moved in now, and I've started disassembly of the Camaro and plotting my plan now.

 

[70formula]

So after a lot of talking with my wife and really sitting down and deciding the ultimate vision for this car. I want to honor my grandfathers body skills by doing my absolute best I can on the paint and body first and foremast. The other main things is having an awesome car I trust to take my wife anywhere, drive to work, drive it to events, and be reliable, fun, enough power for a grin, but not so much its a nightmare to street and drive and get stuck in traffic. So, I've decided to just do the smart option for these goals and follow the trend with an LS + t56.

Phase 1 - Disassembly. Pulling fluids, gas tank, front clip, motor and trans. Ill likely leave it a roller for now, but debating getting a full-on rotisserie. Will likely sell the muncie and core 454, as well as some other BBC parts. I also have been really debating, as I have the 79 and up OEM dash, but I really want the correct 70-78 dash, so since Im already going deep into making the car mine, I'm selling that dash as well, and getting a NPD one.

Phase 2 - Strip one panel at a time, hammer and Dolley work each panel one, then get into epoxy. Undercarriage its bugged me that I didn't do more then just cheap rustoleum so will be stripping it back down, epoxy, then lizard skin or raptor line.