A local title pawn place has a '78-81 Camaro (still in the fenced in lot so haven't been able to get a look at it yet) up for sale. The price is in my range of "yeah, the wife won't divorce me" and I could have a little left over to do something to it. I've always had a soft spot for this body, and since I sold my '68 (bigger project than I was ready to tackle at the time), I've had my eyes out for something classic. It's cruddy looking from the road, so I'm thinking rat rod, screw the cosmetics, let's have some fun and do some burn-outs 
What do I need to look for before I buy that says "stay the heck away from this money pit!" What can I do that's fun and inexpensive? What would make an inexpensive/reliable/good power drivetrain? Don't think I'll be lucky enough that it's a 4 speed, so if it's not, how hard is it to drop in a manual transmission? If you had a $1500 budget, what would you do to the car? Help me do something stupid and fun!
Junkyard f41 suspension parts if the car isnt equipped with them, small block chevys are cheap and if you leave it auto the ten bolt may actually survive for a while. if not spend most of your budget on a rear end.
The funny thing about regret is, it's better to regret something you have done, than to regret something you haven't done.
Please note, that is occasionally terrible advice.
In reply to dculberson:
And by the way, if you see your mom this weekend, be sure and tell her .... SATAN SATAN SATAN
Oh buy it if its less than 2k and runs
Agent98
New Reader
7/26/16 6:57 a.m.
78-81 camaro:
1.rear subframe rust over the gas tank /rear axle
2.Trashed interior
Other than that- have at it! But for whatever you have in that sled you could get a third gen or a 93-97 = way better cars.
They may be better cars, but they're not cooler cars :) Going by today to see if I can weasel a closer look at it, will keep y'all posted!
Manual trans swaps are quite easy, pretty much every part of the clutch linkage is reproduced now, including the pedals. The ST-10 4-speeds used in those cars are available new and used, so options there. Going to a 5- or 6-speed will up the costs a good bit.
The 8.5" 10-bolt rear axle is quite strong, nothing wimpy like the 3rd & 4th gens had. Good axles and a limited slip differential will make it even better.
SEADave
HalfDork
7/26/16 11:06 a.m.
2nd gen F-bodies are great starting points for builds, and I think pretty soon all the cheap ones will be gone. Not exactly my cup of tea (aesthetically), but look at what the Hot Rod guys did with the "Bonemaro"
Do it! ...and do something unusual and DON'T put an LS in it
In reply to marks93cobra:
I vote 4.2L Atlas I6 with a giant turbo.
When you say Hurst shifter, is the car automatic or manual? Because Hurst made shifters for both types.
With regard to the light switch, it is a ghetto kill switch. Just remove it and solder/shrink wrap the two ends of the wire back together. Congrats, hope you get it.
I didn't see a 3rd pedal, and it had the 2 finger pull-up like you would normally see for a reverse lockout, so I'm figuring it's an auto. I just dreaming about burning the tires off at this point Wondering when the next autocross is so I can do some sideways drifting and tire smoking recoveries
In reply to HoserRacing:
I was going to say, if that car has a 2nd gen F-Body Dual Gate auto shifter, you could sell it for a ton of money and recoup some of the cost. Since it has the pull thingy, it's definitely NOT a Dual Gate.
But whatever, IT'S CAMARO TIME!!!!
Ok, just got back from vacation, and started to play with the car a little. Biggest problem is getting into the car 
I thought that the doors were simply locked & I can see the key in the glove box door, so I worked on them for a while today. I got a good grip on the knobs, but they won't come up any further. They look pretty high up, so I think it's unlocked, but the handles won't open the door. The exterior handles are both broken, but I put a bar in through the top of the window and pulled open the interior handle, no results. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get into the car? Any way to use a slim jim to pop the handle mechanism up & open the door? I've ordered new outer handles, and interior lock assembly bushings, but I've got to get the door open to put them on 
In reply to HoserRacing:
windows are somewhat cheap....
But it still doesn't get the door to open Lock knob is up, and neither the interior or exterior handles will open the doors 
dukes of hazard style.
likely going to have to disassemble the door to get it to open. at least places like classic industries carry literally everything to rebuild american muscle
I had a door on my Caprice like that - the latch pushrod fell out of the mechanism somehow when the handle broke, resulting in a door that wouldn't open from the inside or outside. It took me 3 years to get around to fixing it, and this is on my daily driver....
Sounds like PO sabotaged the doors by removing linkage, probably to discourage someone from buying out the title loan.
Camaro door linkage parts
