3rd Gen Camaros

i'd say get an 89 and up model. better rear end with better brakes, started life as a fuel injected car so easier to work with with a newer motor. and a stiffer front end package (less urethane more fiberglass). I'd also get a hardtop car if i could find it. 20 year old t-top seals dont work all that well and the hardtop is a stiffer chassis.

i'd also get a manual car to start with. swapping pedals is a pain in the a$$ unless you are completely gutting the dashboard. the t5 isn't great, and i'd go with a t56 if you can cause its just better, but there are a lot of CMC race cars that HAVE to use the T5 and they work. granted there are HP limits, but unless you are going LS you probably wont get get to the T5's limit and still have a streetable TPI car anyway. (TPI setups like good vacuum). and you also want to be nice to the T5 if you go that route. dont dump the clutch at redline and that kind of nonsense and you should be ok.

I remember my friends firebird.. had to be an early one as it had the grills in the front bumper. By the time he got rid of it, there were small tears in the sheet metal at the right angle where the B pillar met the roof.. granted he was not easy on the car, but he also did not race it

mad_machine wrote: I remember my friends firebird.. had to be an early one as it had the grills in the front bumper. By the time he got rid of it, there were small tears in the sheet metal at the right angle where the B pillar met the roof.. granted he was not easy on the car, but he also did not race it

Of all the "unmolested" hardtop cars I have seen, they all have that problem. The t-top cars don't do it to the same extreme, if at all. I haven't seen a stripped of paint hardtop, but I think the roof/quarter panel meet at that spot. Plus it is the thinnest spot between the door and hatch.

That all being said, damn you all.

/me goes back to looking for a mullet mobile for that 5.3/4L60/Chinese turbo idea......

i hadnt noticed it in the AIX and CMC cars around here....and i look at them pretty closely for ideas but maybe they reinforced their corners... or the cage makes it a non issue.... i'll have to look at those next time i am at the track.

Ranger50 wrote:

mad_machine wrote: I remember my friends firebird.. had to be an early one as it had the grills in the front bumper. By the time he got rid of it, there were small tears in the sheet metal at the right angle where the B pillar met the roof.. granted he was not easy on the car, but he also did not race it

Of all the "unmolested" hardtop cars I have seen, they all have that problem. The t-top cars don't do it to the same extreme, if at all. I haven't seen a stripped of paint hardtop, but I think the roof/quarter panel meet at that spot. Plus it is the thinnest spot between the door and hatch. That all being said, damn you all. /me goes back to looking for a mullet mobile for that 5.3/4L60/Chinese turbo idea......

you don't notice that with t-top cars because the t-tops will just end up tight on one side and like an inch of gap on the other........they have more twist than a wet noodle.

When I was in high school, I helped a friend put a 366cid into his 87 305tpi/AT combo. It was really easy, and the 200r4 survived the 366 quite well.....the rest of the car did not however......

So, my advice, either a 89-92 Camaro z28 305/5sp or a 89-92 formula or T/A with 305/5sp.....both solid roof only cars.

Or, you could track down one of those mythical 92 Firehawk's that are rumored to have 383/6sp combos....

What about finding a 2.8 or similarly powered car for peanuts and build your own drivetrain, knowing the factory hardware didn't have enough strength to bend the car? Then you could add subframe connectors, maybe even a basic roll cage to try and tie the thing together better, etc.

pres589 wrote: What about finding a 2.8 or similarly powered car for peanuts and build your own drivetrain, knowing the factory hardware didn't have enough strength to bend the car? Then you could add subframe connectors, maybe even a basic roll cage to try and tie the thing together better, etc.

its not a bad idea. if you are planning to swap a whole new drivetrain and suspension in anyway, that will work fine. but for the ability to get it on the road fast, having a T5 for a v8 car in there already will save you lots of time and hassle. the v6 manual trans isnt compatible from what i have read and finding a good v8 t5 isnt all that easy in junkyards etc. i'm not sure if the fuel lines are a different size for the smaller cars either. probably one size fits all from the factory... but i'd check anyway fro flow potential.

In reply to itsarebuild:

Probably easier to get an LT1 Camaro as a donor and go from there, I think the packaging is much closer to the V8's used in the 3rd gen vs. the LS stuff, and it should be pretty cheap by now. And you'd have a T56 option out of the gate.

probably true. they are very similar packaging. and early 4th gens are pretty cheap as donor cars since later ones had LS's

yamaha wrote: you don't notice that with t-top cars because the t-tops will just end up tight on one side and like an inch of gap on the other........they have more twist than a wet noodle. When I was in high school, I helped a friend put a 366cid into his 87 305tpi/AT combo. It was really easy, and the 200r4 survived the 366 quite well.....the rest of the car did not however...... So, my advice, either a 89-92 Camaro z28 305/5sp or a 89-92 formula or T/A with 305/5sp.....both solid roof only cars. Or, you could track down one of those mythical 92 Firehawk's that are rumored to have 383/6sp combos....

your buddy's car had a 700r4 trans- it was the only automatic that was available in 3rd gen F bodies, with the lone exception being the 89 Turbo Trans Am with the GN motor/trans..

my 86 Camaro was a stock V6 car- the body isn't all twisted up (yet), and it has 3/8" fuel line in it just like the V8 cars. one of my friends has an 85 Camaro that he swapped a Caprice LT1 into, and the stock V6 fuel system keeps up with it just fine. i'm more or less duplicating what he did, except i'm getting rid of anything that the car doesn't need to run, i'll be making some 2X3 frame rails for it to tie it together and allow me to jack the car up NASCAR style, and i'm making a true dual exhaust setup with an X pipe that exits in front of the rear wheels and may have some throttle activated exhaust cutouts to make it go into "loud" mode at WOT..

The 305 reminds me of "what did the elephant say to the naked man?" answer......"How the hell do you breath thru that thing?"..........LOL

Drewsifer wrote: So GRM help me out here. I've recently become interested in 3rd gen Camaros again. I go through phases like this, but I wanted to get some input. How difficult is it to put get rid of the 305 and put a 350? Or is it worth putting some go fast bits on the 305? I have a slight plan in my head of how I'd like to build it, but I wanted to see what you guys think of this.

Just run the 305 until it dies and then replace it with a 350 with a 383 stroker in it.

I had one (well, two for a bit) for a long time and here's my advice.

If manual transmission is important to you, get a factory five speed/V8 car. They're hard to find and it's only a 305, but swapping in a 350 is easier than swapping in a manual transmission.

They're fun cars to mix-n-match the best factory parts from all years.

I hate t-tops, but they came on a lot of cars so mine had them.

Here would be my combo I'd put together if I were doing another one (with unlimited time and on a reasonable budget).

NON-Z28 camaro (I like the clean, slim, no-aero look)
NO T-tops
V8 of choice (carbed, old-school, LT1, LSvariant)
T56 or T5 (or T10 if you want...that's what came in the '82s)
Factory fiberglass hood from an '82 or '83 Z28.
Factory posi 10 bolt with a good ratio (or an aftermarket 9" housing)
Yada, yada, yada...

Clem

novaderrik wrote: your buddy's car had a 700r4 trans- it was the only automatic that was available in 3rd gen F bodies, with the lone exception being the 89 Turbo Trans Am with the GN motor/trans..

Not entirely true, since the '82s did not have overdrive. But...I imagine you are right that among Overdrive transmissions, they were all 700R4s. (basically, I'm not arguing with you but it is a fun tidbit that '82s were different).

Clem

Had one. Need to have another. Next time I'll just freshen up the 305, stiffen up the chassis and call it a day. 300hp is enough fun without a rollcage and a trackday.

ClemSparks wrote:

novaderrik wrote: your buddy's car had a 700r4 trans- it was the only automatic that was available in 3rd gen F bodies, with the lone exception being the 89 Turbo Trans Am with the GN motor/trans..

Not entirely true, since the '82s did not have overdrive. But...I imagine you are right that among Overdrive transmissions, they were all 700R4s. (basically, I'm not arguing with you but it is a fun tidbit that '82s were different). Clem

i always forget about the weird stuff in the 82's- they even had an old school mechanical clutch linkage with a z bar instead of the hydraulic setup the later cars got..

83 F-bodies also had mechanical clutch linkage, 84 was when they switched to hydraulic.

In reply to 81cpcamaro:

Yep, I did that update on my '83.