The Camaro Club (UK)

Getting stuck into these now. Been a bit mental with things going on at work and it's been a bit of a distraction.

I've removed the rear end of the blue car now - doesn't look to have ever been removed before so there was the typical rust issues lurking waiting to be found...

All of the bolts on the front spring perch spun in the j-nuts, par for the course. So I had to cut all of those out. The floor has been fibreglassed as well where the frame rail mounts, so I'm going to cut that out and repair it.

Someone had made a hack job/bodge of one of the rear shackles and the bolts were firmly rusted into the bushings. Only one thing was going to happen, so I got the plasma cutter out....

After a bit of swearing, a lot of sweat and a bit of blood, the rear end is out. Next thing is fix the rusty bits and strip down the pink car.

All of these pics are of the good blue car. If anyone goes to buy a 2nd gen have a damn good look around this area. If it looks crusty, leave it, unless you are ready for some welding

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My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.

Two "nice" Camaros in very capable hands, I´m really looking forward to these twin builds.

Judging from the pix I would guess a pair of frame rails and a trunk floor ( when the rails are that bad the trunk floor is normally beyond help )
Isn't the British climate great for classics ...

I'm only making one good one from the 2.

The rear frame rails and trunk floor are a good indicator of the general condition of a 2nd gen. I will say the blue one is in relatively good condition for a long standing UK car. Nothing a couple of days welding won't fix.

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My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.

Bluey not as bad as it could be that's for sure, hence the idea of buying it to start with.. . ..pink car is relatively well looked after, and has been welded and patched before but still has a floor like a seive. .

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

OK...

The rear axle is out of the blue car and now in it's new home in the pink one. There really wasn't much holding the one in the pink car...

I've started fitting the new fuel lines in the blue car as well as it's much easier with the running gear out of the way. All in 10mm kunifer hardline with stainless p-clips and M6 nutserts in the frame.

New brake lines will be going in after the welding repairs are done around the rear perches.

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My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.

Jolly good stuff.. getting a bit excited to get it back now..

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

_________________
My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.

The front end was always falling off that car...

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

There was some filler and fibreglass around the rear frame rails, right where some structural integrity is a good idea.... It didn't look too bad before I started and I thought it might just need a couple of small patches.

Turns out it needed quite a lot more. The floor was also rotted around the gas tank mounts. It's now all fixed with good solid sheet metal. If this was a concours type resto then I would have suggested that a new trunk floor was in order. However when covered with a trunk mat or carpet you wouldn't see any of this anyway. The main thing is that it's now totally solid and should last a long time again.

I've also fixed the spring perch mounts too - the rear axle should be in tomorrow then the prep to lift the engine out of the pink donor car. If time allows then it will be lifted out too.

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My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.