You better count your blessings that the CrossFire Injection was replaced with a carb. Nice interior! Also, oh my god, look at the rust on the shock tower nuts/bolts!!!

My guess is that you're going to need a wiring harness and all new vacuum lines. Looks like it's had a rodent problem in the past. Since it's been modded, rip out the 305 and shove a 350 in there. No reason to rebuild a 305 unless it's numbers matching and all complete. Since you're missing the crossfire injection system, just go 350 with a TPI system, or if you're in for the swap parts, stick in an LT1. My money is on a 350 with Vortec heads, conversion manifold, and megasquirt. Never studied the Vortec head swap, so I'm not 100% sure on whether you need a conversion intake manifold or not.

I'm a member of thirdgen.org. I don't post over there since I got rid of our Camaro, but they seem to be really full of knowledge over there.

Posted by wannabeotaku I'm a member of thirdgen.org. I don't post over there since I got rid of our Camaro, but they seem to be really full of knowledge over there.

Do you happen to know who Kevin Lorentzen is? That huge douchebag and his father were part of the socal third gen club i belonged to in '99 or so.

Posted by wannabeotaku My guess is that you're going to need a wiring harness and all new vacuum lines. Looks like it's had a rodent problem in the past. Since it's been modded, rip out the 305 and shove a 350 in there. No reason to rebuild a 305 unless it's numbers matching and all complete. Since you're missing the crossfire injection system, just go 350 with a TPI system, or if you're in for the swap parts, stick in an LT1. My money is on a 350 with Vortec heads, conversion manifold, and megasquirt. Never studied the Vortec head swap, so I'm not 100% sure on whether you need a conversion intake manifold or not. I'm a member of thirdgen.org. I don't post over there since I got rid of our Camaro, but they seem to be really full of knowledge over there.

Well... The point of rebuilding the 305 is that I would already HAVE the 305... If I were going to straight up replace it, I was thinking it would be pretty cool to get the drivetrain out of one of the new 2010 Camaro's after someone wrecks one. Maybe I should wait for the 2012 model year so I can have a 30 year difference between the chassis and the drivetrain.

OR... go find a wrecked Chevy truck with either the 5.3L Vortec or 6.0L Vortec and pull the engine, transmission, computer, and wiring harness to put in this car. I know I really like the 5.3L Vortec in my 2002 truck...

The idea is that I will already have a 305 block and provided the pistons aren't rusted into place on the thing, it should be cheaper to rebuild it with a new intake manifold holding a pair of 4-barrel carbs and headers with straight pipes than it would be to go out and buy a different block/crate motor/pull-yer-own whatever to get a 5.3L (323 cid), 5.7L (350 cid), 6.0L (366 cid) or whatever.

Hell, if you just want to talk about extremes, a friend of mine was talking about putting a bored and blown big block in it the other day... something along the lines of 500+ cid. Until I asked him if he wanted to buy/build the engine and put it in. I'm not going to race the thing, I just want something that is wicked fun to drive on a reasonable budget... and provides me some learning experience rebuilding it. Some of my friends have a lot (I mean a LOT) of experience building engines and tinkering with them, but I don't. I've never completely disassembled an engine... so I'm also using this project as a learning experience.

All this said... I should probably be turning to you guys for suggestions as well. It was mentioned above to use some Vortec heads... why? What will I benefit by getting some Vortec heads instead of the stock ones that are already on the block?

I would like to put dual 4-barrel carbs on the engine, and I understand that I will definitely need an intake manifold that accomodates a pair of 4-barrel carbs. Will I be better off with a pair of 4-barrel carbs, or triple 2-barrels? I saw an intake manifold available for this engine that could use triple 2-barrels, too. I was assuming that it would be more cost effective to re-use the 4-barrel that is on the car and get another just like it to mount on a dual 4-barrel manifold. Yes/no/doesn't matter/all this is way too expensive/wtf are you thinking???

On a setup with twin 4-barrels, is it possible to set it up to drive "economically" on 2 barrels, but open all 8 if I really want to make it get up and go? Perhaps I need to engage a linkage or open a fuel valve to facilitate this?

First off, its just a 305. You dont need much of a carb for a 305 with stock displacement. If you really want to tap into the blocks capability, a set of AR heads is the best way to go, in my opinion.

But hey. How about you get the car out of the mud and check it out thoroughly before you start making any plans to put money into it.

Posted by MrMusik I just want something that is wicked fun to drive

I never thought an early third gen is something thats fun to drive. They just arent engineered for anything other than breaking and handling like boats.

The "I already have the 305" argument is moot when you can get a 350 for $50 at most junkyards. You'll only really need the shortblock anyway. If you need to pull heads, just junk the 305 and install a 350.

Great find! From the pictures it looks pretty solid.

I'll second the idea of signing up at thirdgen.org. There are a lot of knowledgeable people there and in-depth tech articles that are very helpful. They even have an RPO decoder that will help you determine what options your car came with.

If you want to make your car handle like an IROC, I have some pieces that could help you out...

I miss my third gen.

Posted by big dave First off, its just a 305. You dont need much of a carb for a 305 with stock displacement. If you really want to tap into the blocks capability, a set of AR heads is the best way to go, in my opinion.

Yes? I'm listening. Keep talking please. How, exactly, will this help? Remember, I know nothing about this stuff and I'm trying to learn. Who is "AR"? How much do these heads cost?

Posted by big dave But hey. How about you get the car out of the mud and check it out thoroughly before you start making any plans to put money into it.

Yeah, well... I went ahead and struck the deal yesterday. So, it is just a matter of finding a way to drag the thing home, getting it up on the jack stands, and going to work on it.

Posted by big dave I never thought an early third gen is something thats fun to drive. They just arent engineered for anything other than breaking and handling like boats.

I don't know about that... I have driven a few that always seemed to handle pretty well. I know the '89 Firebird that I had always seemed to handle very well on sharp flat corners. However, it did only have the V6 under the hood so it wasn't as heavy.

Thanks for your thoughts, Dave. I do appreciate them.

Posted by wannabeotaku The "I already have the 305" argument is moot when you can get a 350 for $50 at most junkyards. You'll only really need the shortblock anyway. If you need to pull heads, just junk the 305 and install a 350.

Really? I should be able to find a 350 for around $50? man... This may be the way to go! I'll have to go around to a few of the yards around here and look into that. Thanks for pointing this out! I figured it would cost a lot more than that!

Posted by That 1 Guy Great find! From the pictures it looks pretty solid. I'll second the idea of signing up at thirdgen.org. There are a lot of knowledgeable people there and in-depth tech articles that are very helpful. They even have an RPO decoder that will help you determine what options your car came with. If you want to make your car handle like an IROC, I have some pieces that could help you out... http://i263.photob...rench/IMG_0872.jpg

Thanks for the recommendation for thirdgen.org. I'm poking around a bit over there and there seems to be a lot of good information available.

Good to know that you have part of a car that could be used for parts. I'm not too bent on "restoring" this car back to original, I want something that looks good and is fun to drive. This would probably be blasphemous to a lot of the folks on thirdgen.org.

Anyhow... I'll keep your car in mind for parts, though it looks like the engine and transmission are both gone already. The suspension parts are all still there? What kind of condition is the driver's door and hinges in? I need to either fix the hinges or get new ones and the inside door handle is a little bent on mine.

Thanks again!

Well, that car is a parts car for this car:



So, a lot of parts wont be for sale as you can probably understand.

That said, the doors are in bad shape because of rust. The hinges are fine but, they're easy fix and you can get repair kits probably for what shipping would cost.

The suspension is all there and in good shape. I won't be needing any of it because the red one has all the same stuff. Shipping becomes a problem because the sway bars would be considered 'oversized' packages and it gets kinda pricey. I'm sure you'd have no problem finding those things locally. If you can't, I'll be happy to help you out.

I don't want to highjack your thread any further but, keep us up to date on your progress. It would be nice to see another third gen saved!

seats are super mint

If you want something cheap and wickedly fun to drive, look at an S50 swapped BMW E30. Faster than the Camaro, far better handling, better looking (IMO) likely more reliable, classier, just as easy to work on, etc...

But then I'm biased.

Posted by Strelok Faster than the Camaro

Anything is faster than a boat anchor 305. Engines built with an energy crisis in the forecast, generally dont perform any better than a fish tank air pump.

generally, people that look for or drive Camaros could give a shit about BMW's...
just saying.

I will never understand, but hey, to each his own.

Posted by Strelok I will never understand, but hey, to each his own.

Its because they live in the middle of the country and spit in spitoons all day long and eat 'coon soup for dinner.

EDIT: just a joke, not insulting anyone here.