The Camaro Club (UK)

Hi guys, I'm toying with the idea of buying myself a sort of project '68 Camaro.
By project I mean a daily runner that'll gradually be upgraded to "pro touring" style - Disc brakes, LS3 engine, some form of upgraded gearbox etc
It'll hopefully be a good runner with clean paint, maybe not perfect but still

I've been crunching numbers and I can't quite seem to find definitive answers for some things

Anyone got an idea for the following? I mean ballpark like to the nearest couple of hundred perhaps?

Importing the car
Disc brake conversions, both front and rear
Reputable shops that'll carry out work for me, I'm not very mechanical, I can do basic services with the old man like change oil, brake pads n discs etc
Potential engine/gearbox etc swaps , I hear of a company doing LS swaps into RX7's and BMW's but can't recall the name!

And generally can someone give me some pointers for first time buyers?
What are they like to live with? I hear drums are sketchy so I wanna get that sorted asap!
How do you guys cope with the LHD? I'm a bit of a loner so having a passenger to get the parking tickets for me is an issue :S

Thanks for reading my small rant!!

Looking forward to seeing your opinions and feedback

Any pointers on anything I haven't listed is also appreciated

Mike

I can't help locally but if you are thinking of importing start with Hemmings, Americas Exchange and Mart for cars.
http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/car ... let/camaro
And you will be lucky to find anything under $20,000, that's about 13,000 quid. Then add shipping, insurance and all the other associated taxes and fees, well, you get the idea.
One other thing. You are best buying a car from Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Southern Texas or California(not the coast) to get a rust free example.

Reputable shops would depend on where you are? And for info about import costs, services and duties pop over it the rods n sods forums where there are a few guys who offer the service and would point you. In the right direction

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1997 30th Anniversary SS SLP
1993 GMC Typhoon

I'm in the south, Bournemouth/Southampton area, sorry was a very vague post before.
I found what seems to be a decent one for what I would call cheap, not sure why they're so cheap on this site but I'm sure it'd be reflected somewhere, maybe no history/don't run well or something
www.carsforsale.com

I think you need to set your budget first and see what you can get for that, including base car and modifications.. and also decide on what kind of use it's gonna see... You might not need massive 6 pot brakes if you're not gonna take it on track for example... Same goes with an engine and gearbox upgrade, if it's just cruiser then you'll likely be fine with the standard carb motor and auto box.

If your planning loads of mods, then a car needing work could be cheaper, but it's a can of worms you could be opening as .. any half decent 68' Camaros seem to go for £20k ish, to start with....

With all the mods you want, and if you're not doing the spannering/welding/fabricating etc yourself a good portion of your budget will be labour to fit those parts, so factor that in too.. (ie, you might find an LS engine and 6 speed manual box from a crashed Monaro for 5 grand say, but it'll probably cost the same to pay someone to get it fitted and working)

A decent brake conversion, proper suspension upgrade and chassis stiffening required to make these work will be about 10 grand fitted ..... Now the car stops and goes round corners you'll be sliding off those flat standard 1968 vinyl seats every time you touch the pedals so an interior refurb will be next..

Hope you've got deep pockets..

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“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

If you are quick there is a 1968 Camaro with a 383 and auto listed on the NSRA ( UK ) website
He is asking £ 9500 , at that money it will not be around for long ...
No pix but sounds like it could be good from the description .

That is utterly amazing,however I'm only £7k short hahaha
thank you for keeping the eyes out for me, I'd jump at it if I could get a loan but I'm only 3 weeks into a new job and can't afford to risk it. Unfortunately it sounds too good to be true at the moment, but there is a 68 camaro on carsforsale for $7000, has front disc conversion and a few other upgrades, but being in the US I'd need someone to inspect it for me before I went ahead, and the fact there are only 4 pictures worries me. This also sounds too good to be true to me.

For that money there is a very good reason he hasn't put up pictures, I bet it makes a woofing noise whenever anyone goes near it

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1997 30th Anniversary SS SLP
1993 GMC Typhoon

You could be right but just thought it worth a mention .
The guy said no major rust and worst rust on roof corners . Normal for 1st gen .
The only advice I ever give is Buyer Beware
If possible take a friend along as it sometimes helps curb enthusiasm ...

That's a very buyer beware car, I recon the 383 stroker and tranny would be worth about50% of the asking price, I would absolutely love a proper pro touring 1st gen but the price they want for that I doubt if I would even waste petrol money on going to see it, if it was in the back page of a local rag it could be a good find where the owner was unaware of its worth but on the NSRA site they know exactly what they have and what it's worth, if it was any good somebody who knows the owner would have grabbed it by now as a project with a view to flipping it for double that

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1997 30th Anniversary SS SLP
1993 GMC Typhoon