Luckily for me, someody already did my homework

[CamaroPat]

I've owned my 1981 Camaro for nearly seven years now. A very close friend of mine owned it for two years prior. We left high school and the installation of the new engine lost some steam when my buddy Brendan's mom bought him a fourth-gen Z28 six speed for graduation. The 81 languished in Brendan's mother's garage for a spell, but she wanted the space for storage so Brendan sold it to me for $1,000. Tragically, he passed away only a few months later. Brendan and I were best friends through high school and we spent many an evening out in that car, cruising around and doing the stupid things young men do when armed with testosterone and a small block. That's the car's background and the justification for its high sentimental value. In its current state, the car has a fresh 350 (about three miles or so on it), equipped with long tube headers, a Holley street dominator intake, a cam with roughly .450" lift, 1.94"/1.50" valve, 76cc chamber heads, Edelbrock 750 carb, Accel distributor, coil and 8.8mm wires, 4 speed and pitiful 2.73:1 rear gearing. I've been into pro-touring since before the term was coined and well before I could drive (legally). PHR magazine did my homework for me with project g/28, so I'm going to follow the blueprint for the first incarnation of the "g", with the conventional suspension components. This week the car's getting stripped for new paint, a new tail panel, new rear frame rails, subframe connectors and a quick general restoration. Within the next year or so, the car will get four wheel discs, 17x9 American Racing Razor wheels and all the basic suspension stuff (tubular control arms, lowering springs, etc.). I've read quite a bit on this site and look forward to interacting with what seems to be one of the most knowledgeable online communities. I'll keep you all posted on the build. If any of you guys know any good tips or tricks for second generation Camaros, let me know.

[CamaroPat]

Can anybody tell me how to manually resize a jpeg on windows vista so I can put up a pic of my car?

[Cread01]

sounds like a cool build. good to see more second gen's around.

I was thinking about the razor wheels too but you may have to run spacers to get them to sit correctly. they have deep backspacing. just a heads up.

[ProdigyCustoms]

Sounds very cool. Post some pics and keep us updated.

[WSSix]

Welcome to the site Pat. For posting pictures you could just get a photobucket.com account. It will resize the pics for you. Picasa is another site like photobucket as well.

[CamaroPat]

Thanks for the recommendation of photobucket. I'll head over there soon and get set up. As far as the backspacing on the Razors, they only offer the 17x9's with 5.94" backspacing, which will require a 1/2" spacer in the front. Just for looks, I'll use a 1" in the rear to get the wheel out to the fender. In response to the totaled Trans Am, sorry to hear about your loss. I'll be headed out to my car's location on Monday. I brought it to Dennis Southworth, owner of Hidden Valley Performance Center out here in upstate NY. I worked for him on and off for a while and he's a GM muscle guru and all around nice guy. He has such a wealth of knowledge and parts for older GMs. He also has the facilities and tools my car needs right now. The car is currently a 10 footer. It looks great until you stick you head under it. It probably won't be a show stopper when he and I get done painting it and putting on the parts I can afford right now, but it'll be a solid platform upon which to build. I'm a little anxious to start actually cutting into my own car, but it couldn't be in better hands for the price I'm paying (just $3,000 for a proper paint job, frame rails and tail panel), especially considering all of the little stuff he's throwing in (torsion rods for the trunk lid, brake booster, hinges, blower motor, subframe connectors, etc.). I'll try to document the work and keep everyone informed.

[CamaroPat]

I was curious as to whether cutting my stock springs is a good idea or not. How will this affect my alignment? Would the additional camber inherent in the suspension design be too much to be livable if I were to drop the front 2"? My car has the stance of a truck right now. I'm going to completely re-do the suspension as soon as finances allow, but I may have to cheap out this summer. Also, do lowering blocks in the rear squirm around or cause unwanted movement in the rear end? Thanks.

[CamaroPat]

I think I managed to attach a pic of my car.

[CamaroPat]

My fiancee took this pic about five minutes before the car got loaded on a tow dolly and hauled away. My mug's in the shot, the resolution's not great and my lawn mower is peeking in for an appearance, but you can get an idea of what I'm working with. Look at the gap between the fender and the wheel! I need to do something about that pronto! It looks alright in person, but in pictures it looks like it'd be more at home on a logging trail than a road course! It still left a 75 foot patch on my driveway when I mashed it before loading it up though. :D Work's been delayed a bit, my buddy who's shop and knowledge I'm using went to visit his son who just finished basic training in the Marines. Cutting, welding and painting to commence shortly!

[Vegas69]

That car looks like a millioin bucks compared to your ugly mug. :cheers:

[Zedzag]

The more second gens the better! I own an 81Z28 myself.

[waynieZ]

Welcome to the site . Your car looks like a descent place to start . Are you keeping the same color? Keep us posted.

[CamaroPat]

Thanks, Wayne. It does look nice from outside. I'm going to keep a similar color. I stripped all of the lights, trim and interior today. I found a few more problems than I had expected. :( My floor pans have some sizeable holes in them. I thought they were fairly solid, but now I'll have to tap into my budget for more metal. I'm not going for a show quality build, I just wanted to get rid of the rust this time around, since I'll probably build the car again in 10 years or so. I can lay down some decent beads with a MIG welder and a few of my buddies are excellent fabricators, so I can eradicate the rust and stay within my budget, it just won't look original. Well, strength and function are the name of the game, but the extra work will probably mean an incomplete interior this summer. Bright side though, the shop owner decided the best course of action is to remove the front subframe and replace the body mounts, etc. so it's more in depth than I planned on, but it'll get new bushings and a partially smoothed firewall and other stuff I thought would have to wait. Progress continues tomorrow.:)