Hey all--

I bought an 85 2.8 Camaro for my stepson. He's 14 now, so we have a couple of years to work on it. I paid $100 for it, and I think that was a fair price for what we got.

Pics here

Anyway, it wil be a daily driver for him, and he'll take defensive driving classes, then use it for HPDE and AX. Maybe OT someday.

The stock 2.8 V6 is STAYING! One day it will be replaced by a 3.4 with some mods, but not until he proves to deserve a car that's not slow as molasses. We do have a 5-sp for it.

I'm not concerned with fitting into an AX class. I'd just like to know what mods I should make to make it a nice car.

We'll be doing a complete mechanical rebuild, so where appropriate I'd like to use aftermarket performance chassis or durability-related parts instead of stock. But we will be on a tight budget.

My ideas include:

4thgen rear with SLP Torsen
4thgen wheels -- cheapest style that clears brakes -- salad shooters?
home-made C5 or LS1 front brakes like I've seen on some other F-car sites
LT1 rear brakes
SFCs, possibly home made
battery in rear
exhaust -- I like the way an Aerochamber sounds on the V6-60 -- we'll see what he likes
Getting shock ideas from JonA and djborden on cc.com.

That's the easy ones. Then there's the things I really don't know enough specifics about F-cars to choose:

What about bushings? Springs? Reinforced or upgraded f/r control arms or PHB?
Cooling? Steering? What else?

thanks!!
kevin

I have a 4th gen v6, so my thoughts may be a little off, but should be in the general neighborhood...


If it doesn't have limited slip now, it would definitely be a plus to add it.

Even with my 3.8, I think sfc's would be overkill. Plus they do put you in a higher class.

Salad shooters are good cheap light wheels.

Battery in rear, might help on a drag launch. But with the added weight of wiring, and the hassles I hear people have with them, probably not worth it.

I'm curious about that Aerochamber, I've never heard one.

At least stock replacement bushings would be good, because on the '85 they're probably shot.

I don't know about springs or sway bars for that car. Sam Strano would be a good person to ask.

I think upgraded control arms or PHB would be overkill. (unless you just want to do the control arms for the sake of getting good bushings in there..., but PHB is not really needed unless the diff is off center)

I would think cooling would be adequate for 60 seconds of autocross, but I don't know about HPDE.


Tires would be a good consideration....


$100 sounds like a really good deal on the car!

Here's a link to somebody selling some Koni shocks and Eibach springs for a 3rd gen v6 car.
I don't know anything about them, but thought I would post the link for you...

http://www.camarov6.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php...ic;f=8;t=004873

I don't think you can run 4th gen wheels on a 3rd gen without using spacers (~$200). They have different offsets.
here is a good source: thirdgen.org

With the 4th gen rear, you can (and must) use the 4th gen wheels. The front is going to need a spacer (1" or so, can't remember exactly). H&R (the spring guys) make a great set of spacers (I'm not a fan of spacers, but they make the only ones I would consider using). Hope this helps out.

The front spacer is going to need to be 2" or greater. The rears you can handle by just swapping in the 4th gen rear obviously.

Welcome, I see you made your way over from cc.com

A 4th Gen rear end is a good idea (and cheap). If you can find one out of a 99+ V8 car you'll get the Torsen posi stock. However you won't be able to bolt LT1 rear brakes on it without swapping in LT1 axles as well
(93-97 axles ar slightly longer than 98+ ones).

BTW if you need LT1 rear brakes I just so happen to have mine for sale Everything except the pads and rotors.

As for bushings it would probably be a good idea to replace as many as you can seeing as the car is almost 20yrs old. For the rear it might be easier (and cheaper) to look for some low mileage take-off parts. Especally for the control arms which are decent stock. The rear suspension was virtually identical 82-02 and people will damn near give away stock parts.

Thanks all!

I knew about the spacer issue for the 4th gen wheels in front.

Like I said, I do intend to replace ALL bushings and mechanical parts and I intend to use good quality tires.

And you all are saying I should use stock bushings? I'll look out for takeoffs.

Soma, I'll have to hold off on the brakes for a while, but if you still have them when I'm ready....

I had a 4thgen 3.4 parts car but the rear turned out to be messed up.

We're starting on the car this weekend. First step is to swap over all the parts from the 89 parts car (body, interior, engine, 5-speed). The goal is to get the 85 running and get the parts car stripped and scrapped. After that, we'll start rebuilding.

When I was a kid my dad liked cars but didn't know anything about working on them. I had a 72 MGB and struggled to keep it on the road and safe. I want my kid to start out with a car in good shape and keep it that way, so we're going to rebuild everything from front to rear and top to bottom before he starts driving. Hell, his car will be beter than anything I've ever owned!!

thanks again!
kevin

well for wheels, i would look for a set of 2000 SS 10 spoke 17's. they are very cheep. they also look very good on 3rd gens. SLP sells them for $399 as new take offs. they also sell them designed for the 3rd gen now too. not sure why your after the rear swap - rear disc brakes? cant 4th gen rear brakes be bolted up to 3rd gen rear axels?

The ones they're currently selling for thirdgens are only 17x8" tho

4th gen brakes can't be bolted up 3rd gen axles without custom caliper brackets which alot of guys have already done. If yer swapping from a drum rear to 4th gen brakes then it's even more of a hassle if you want to keep your drum parking brake setup linkage. Then I think it's only something like '97 LS1 brakes work or something...?

So I can use a $99 SLP Torsen. The 4thgen has more axle splines (I forget the count) which would be good if we ever have any power, but that's not anytime soon.

Oh, and the better/cheaper brakes.

Oh, and 'cuz 4thgen wheels are cheaper/easier to find than 3rdgen. So if I swap rears for all the other benefits, I also don't need rear spacers to use the cheaper wheels.

I like the SS wheels but we'll probably stick with 16" for a while. By the time the car is moving under its own power, we'll only just barely have $400 in the whole thing. It'll be tough to double our investment just by buying wheels....


cya
kevin

I'm not sure 275s are a good choice for a kid's first car anyway.

The odds are already fairly high that a new driver will have an accident in their first year or so of driving. Obviously you already know that, judging by your (probably wise) engine plans

Wide tires in the rain, like a big engine, require some finesse and restraint. It might be better to start him off with some 215/60-16 all season tires for daily driving, and use separate tires for autocross/hpde. The 215 tires will fit (barely) on 16x8 alloys, or I can make you a dirt cheap deal on some 16x7.5 steel wheels with wheel covers from a 96 V6.

If that's too narrow for ya, 225~235/55-16 or of course 245/50-16 are all reasonable candidates.

The 235/55's are pretty good actually... That's what came stock on my '98 v6 with the performance handling package. They should fit just fine on a stock 16" wheel.

Thanks guys!

If you click the link in my first post you'll see new pics form last weekend. Now it's time for some sandblasting and mig welding.

Can I get a new replacement for the battery tray area? It's all rusted/corroded away, and there aren't any good ones in the junkyard either.

see ya
kevin