Impulse bought an 81 Camaro. Now what do I do with it?

Joe Gearin wrote: These are not bad handling cars when set up correctly.

For some reason this phrase gave me pangs of missing my first car, a '75 Nova.

I recall it being fun to drive, and it must have been fairly benign. I may or may not have been an idiot in the way that nineteen-year-olds are or are not idiots...

Just to mess with people swap in a Solstice GXP turbo Ecotec drivetrain.

A caddy 425, 472, or 500 engine would really wake that car up and not be any heavier than a SBC. And those engines are essentially free right now, if you can find them installed in some otherwise-worthless 70's caddy, bought for scrap value. Not sure what manny trannies would bolt up, but there's got to be options out there. Edit: here's an example: http://asheville.craigslist.org/pts/3064831983.html

This. I think I'd avoid the 425 though. Why even bother when much larger brethern are available

if you're feeling really ballsy you could try a DuraMax. That'd rock!

5.3.. T56.. 3.73 gears.. decent 17" wheels with 275 section width tires.. stiffer springs.. good shocks.. tighter steering box.. biggest factory sway bars you can find...solid body mounts with weld in subframe connectors.. Flowmaster crossflow exhaust system with an X pipe..

then just drive it like you stole it.

Type Q wrote: What to do with it? Do donuts on the neighbors lawn. Isn't that what everyone does with a "Bitchin' Camaro."

i just got home from putting 3923 miles and burning up 163 gallons of gas over the last week in my bitchin' 86 Camaro.. 48 hours ago i had my feet in the Gulf of Mexico on Mustang Island, TX and now i'm in my room in west central MN..

brake upgrades:
front 1le rotors on full size GM spindles
rear S10 blazer disc brake setup

internetautomart wrote: brake upgrades: front 1le rotors on full size GM spindles rear S10 blazer disc brake setup

the only problem with the 1LE rotors is the metric studs.. i'd just swap in some spindles from a Caprice wagon or cop car- the rear axles might work, too- and use the Caprice 12" front discs and 11" rear drums with the bigger 5X5 bolt pattern and keep all the wheel studs the same size front and rear... this opens up the option of something like a 94-96 Impala SS wheel..

Rear leaf springs are toast. They sag so badly that someone shoved a coil spring between the rear end and the unibody. I think that's why the car drives like crap.

I saw that Hot Rod article. Looks like nice stuff, but I bet it's awfully pricey.

I don't want wheels any larger than 16". Anybody have any good used 15" Cragar S/S mags that will fit?

Put the 16 in. mesh wheels from a 3rd gen. trans am with the widest tire you can fit (235 or 245/50?) OR wide minilites style wheels with flares like the cars of the trans am series from that era.

I totally understand the desire to avoid 17's, but these days when everyone is stuffing 19's and 20's under builds like this, 17" will look small.

But in reality, it depends on what you're building the car for.

novaderrik wrote:

internetautomart wrote: brake upgrades: front 1le rotors on full size GM spindles rear S10 blazer disc brake setup

the only problem with the 1LE rotors is the metric studs.. i'd just swap in some spindles from a Caprice wagon or cop car- the rear axles might work, too- and use the Caprice 12" front discs and 11" rear drums with the bigger 5X5 bolt pattern and keep all the wheel studs the same size front and rear... this opens up the option of something like a 94-96 Impala SS wheel..

swap the studs.
the 11" drums will work as the will bolt to the stock axle, there was a car that had 11" drums with the smaller bolt pattern as well, I forget what car it was because it is a better and easier upgrade IMO to do the S10 discs.

In terms of wheel choice, I think driver109x wins with the minilite idea. Making the car look like a period trans-am series racer really appeals to me.

I'd rock it just the way it is - V6 and all.

Maybe score a super cheap set of wheels off CL but that's it.

5.3 and huge turbo, 6 speed, bust out the checkbook and call global west or one of the other suspension places.

or be cheap and pick up the speedway motors catalog.

pimpm3 wrote: It is already a inline 6. Go with a trailblazer 4200 Vortec then add a turbo or two I think the inline six in those is like 290 hp stock.

while a great idea too, his car has a v6. should be a 229" chevy 3.8(305 with 2 less cyls).

235/60r15 on aluminum Z28/Monte SS wheels will look perfect. Leaf springs in these cars came with sag from the factory. Proper springs, shocks, and bars will wake up the handling in a hurry. ( and be cheap)

M030 wrote: In terms of wheel choice, I think driver109x wins with the minilite idea. Making the car look like a period trans-am series racer really appeals to me.

Pure semantics, but it wouldn't have really been in Trans Am by then. They had already switched to silhouette tube-frame cars and Porsche was mopping everything up. Doesn't mean you can't go period road race style though! I'd personally look at the IROC look:

internetautomart wrote:

novaderrik wrote:

internetautomart wrote: brake upgrades: front 1le rotors on full size GM spindles rear S10 blazer disc brake setup

the only problem with the 1LE rotors is the metric studs.. i'd just swap in some spindles from a Caprice wagon or cop car- the rear axles might work, too- and use the Caprice 12" front discs and 11" rear drums with the bigger 5X5 bolt pattern and keep all the wheel studs the same size front and rear... this opens up the option of something like a 94-96 Impala SS wheel..

swap the studs. the 11" drums will work as the will bolt to the stock axle, there was a car that had 11" drums with the smaller bolt pattern as well, I forget what car it was because it is a better and easier upgrade IMO to do the S10 discs.

swapping studs is only a good idea until you need to put on a new rotor on the side of the road on a sunday afternoon for some unexpected reason... and i don't think there is an SAE stud with the same knurl diameter as the later GM studs.

the car with the big drums and smaller bolt pattern was the 75-77 A body.. so Chevelle, Monte Carlo, Grand Prix- stuff like that.

the bigger77-96 B body HD stuff all bolts right on- in the front, the spindles are the same except for the caliper mounting provisions for the bigger rotor.. in the rear, the B body axle shafts are the same length and slide right into the Camaro housing- an you'd have to slide the stock axles out of the housing to put any other brakes on it, anyways..

if you want really heavy duty factory HD brakes, then use the B body spindles with a set of early 80's Chev/GMC 2wd HD brake rotors and calipers.. they are 12X1.25 and just look cool, even if they are a bit heavier..

besides, race cars run the 5X5 bolt pattern. throw some slightly used 15X10 stock car steelies with some 295/50's on all 4 corners and it will look meaner than anything else out there..

Gearheadotaku wrote: 235/60r15 on aluminum Z28/Monte SS wheels will look perfect. Leaf springs in these cars came with sag from the factory. Proper springs, shocks, and bars will wake up the handling in a hurry. ( and be cheap)

Have you tried finding sticky tires in that size lately?

novaderrik wrote:

Type Q wrote: What to do with it? Do donuts on the neighbors lawn. Isn't that what everyone does with a "Bitchin' Camaro."

i just got home from putting 3923 miles and burning up 163 gallons of gas over the last week in my bitchin' 86 Camaro.. 48 hours ago i had my feet in the Gulf of Mexico on Mustang Island, TX and now i'm in my room in west central MN..

You're my hero. Even the road trip aside, I have three 4cyl Subarus at home, the one that uses the least fuel averages .5mpg less in mixed driving than you did on that trek.

Well done!

Hoop wrote: Have you tried finding sticky tires in that size lately?

Yep, Some of the best tires out there arn't even available in 15" or only in 205 50 15! What the E36M3 gives anyway. How about an R888 in 255 55 15 or a Star Spec in 245 50 15? What are the Conquest guys doing? I'd also like a sticky but streetable 355 30 16, but that's just me...

Build a proper IROC Camaro. Not the gay ass IROC Z 3rd gen package, but a proper IROC race car--

M030 wrote: PS: I hate big wheels on old cars, so a Pro Touring vibe is out.

Thank you.

novaderrik wrote: 5.3.. T56.. 3.73 gears.. decent 17" wheels with 275 section width tires.. stiffer springs.. good shocks.. tighter steering box.. biggest factory sway bars you can find...solid body mounts with weld in subframe connectors.. Flowmaster crossflow exhaust system with an X pipe.. then just drive it like you stole it.

This but not the T56. Those 6-speeds probably cost more than the whole car. Get a TH350 or 400 or, if you really need to shift gears, a 4L60E with a full manual valve body.

And change out all the bushings.

Some 17" Torq thrust knock-offs would look pretty good on it but 15" and white letters work for a more period look.
I went with 15" and W.L. on my El Camino and I'm in the middle of a carb'd LQ4 swap right now.