Project JUNK$ the ultimate budget project!! 1979 Camaro

[kevs79]

This is a perfect example of a budget build done in a suburban house in a normal two car garage. This is the first project like this I have done and basically learned as I went.
I was never a big fan of Camaros especially late second gens but this one fell into my lap. My inlaws bought it new in 1979 and used it to haul five kids around....figure that out!! When my brother inlaw turned 16 he acquired it and drove it through high school and college and was his daily driver till 1997. He stopped driving it because the rear frame rails were rusted and one was almost gone.
Fast forward to 2008. He wanted to junk it so I agreed to take it and drove it a few blocks to my house and began assessing the issues and tearing it apart. It had typical midwest rust and a lot of it!! The drivers rear frame rail was basically non existent, the hood and trunk had rust holes, the dash had rust, holes in the floors, engine had a miss and ticked like a time bomb and paint was faded from all those years of exposure and wax jobs.
The only way my wife would agree to me taking on this project was if no "family" money was used and the work was in my spare time. I agreed, joined a website called NastyZ28.com and began my research and collecting parts and knowledge.
I had a 110 flux core welder, a 20 gallon air compressor and some tools. My original plan was to patch it up, keep it stock and spot paint the areas that needed attention. Of course that plan changed over the years. At different times i considered making it a Z28 clone, rolling on rustoleum paint or taking it to Maaco.
Since I was on a tight budget I had to get creative with obtaining and financing parts. Craigslist, eBay and the swap meet section of NastyZ28.com were most of the sources. I started collecting scrap metal and anything people were throwing away and would resell the good stuff on Craigslist or ebay and get scrap money for the rest. The patch panels for the quarters, fenders and floors were made out of scrap body parts I grabbed from local body shops. I rebuilt the rear frame rail with some square tubing wrapped in scrap sheet metal.
Once all the rust was fixed it was time to pull the 305 and tear it down. Once apart i discovered it fell victim to the notorious cam failure and had other lower end issues so I found a 350 short block on Craigslist for 50.00. I honed, re-ringed,installed a new stock crank and bearings, mild cam and used my old 305 heads that I put new valve seals and lapped the valves. Since the block did not have a mechanical fuel pump I had to utilize an electric one. I topped it off with an edlebrock intake and Holley 4bbl carb. Also installed some Craigslist headers and used dual exhaust from EBay.
I removed the subframe, cleaned it up, painted and rebuilt the suspension with stock components and got a great deal on some used 18 wheels and tires. It is lowered 2 inches in the front and 3 in the rear. I did some research and did the alignment myself with some string and a carpenter level.
I replaced the headliner, carpet and a seat cover myself. Also I installed rear shoulder belts out of a mid 90's Cougar and updated the fronts from a '00 Trans Am. The door panel chrome was peeling so I covered the chrome in aluminum tape to match the brush look on the outside.
After doing a ton of research I decided to tackle the bodywork and paint myself and go with the stock black color for my first attempt at paint and major bodywork! Many hours were spent blocking and sanding multiple times to prep for the black paint. All of the primer and paint was shot either in my garage or in my backyard with my 20 gallon compressor a cheap LVLP paint gun and a tarp to protect it while painting. The color is Eastwood Boulevard Black single stage with a satin black hood stripe in Plasi Dip. I used Scothchbrite pads to make all of the chrome have a brushed look to match the wheels. The Camaro emblems have been shaved and painted to match and the fenders modified to fit Z28 air extractors.
The stereo is the Pioneer Super Tuner that my brother inlaw installed over 25 years ago, same vintage 6x9's and a Craigslist score Infinity Basslink sub/amp combo.
I am going to give Autocross a try in April with my son(12) as the co-pilot. Hopefully we will be able to attend atleast one event a month over they Summer.
I am proud to say that all of the work has been done by me, in my garage, driveway or backyard and this whole project was funded by picking up other people's free stuff and either reselling or selling for scrap. It took almost 7 years to complete in my spare time but I have learned a TON and had a blast doing it.
It is reliable enough to drive anywhere and gets alot of thumbs up everywhere I go. This just prooves that if you do the research and take your time you can complete a project like this with minimal tools, space and experience. Oh and the total invested is the price of a low end used car.....funded by junk money of course!

The following is all the pics from the last 7 years. Some of the commentary might not make sense because it is copied my build thread from Nastyz28.com(hopefully that is ok).....here goes...