I have a chance to get a 68 Camaro... need opinions

[Vicinity]

Alright, I posted this on LS1Tech, looking for an answer, but I figured you guys know more on the subject. I've been reading around here for a while, and looking at projects, I must say, some of you guys have done some unbelievable things with old cars.

I'm 19 and I have a chance to get a 1968 Camaro, and it runs. I really REALLY want one, but theres a catch. It runs, it has some rust, but it WILL BE MY DAILY DRIVER.

I have a chance to pick it up with a mildly fresh engine, for $8000, and that's all I have saved up.

Would you guys advise it? I'd save a bit of money on insurance, so I could fix more as I go, and I'd be going PT with it. It comes with the replacement panels that the guy claims need to be replaced.



The bad part is I have to convince my parents and old car with a new engine is different than an old car with an old engine... lol.

[brans72]

Is this the car you Really want? If so go for it you can always find a beater and use that for a d/d why you put 1/4's or what not on the camaro. You might want check it head to toe for work needed,post pics,or heck ask someone on here if there near by you do they mind looking at it with you. Just remember there will always be another deal to come along. I jump the gun on mine alittle and I could be done by now but I now have another year to year and half because of that. I wish you best of luck and check on here to see if someone in the area you live in might help you take a peak or give insight. Brandon

[Vicinity]

This car, has been my dream car since I was at least 12 (7 years?), and it would be amazing to actually own one.

I was thinking about the beater thing, that's a good idea, I just need to find a spot to leave the Camaro to work on. My step dad is a ****, so I can't use the garage.

I'm going over it thoroughly for rust, if it's minimal, I'm getting it 100% (so long as conditions are met). I plan to keep the car for a LONG time, it's not one of those build and sell things.

[cees67]

read ,learn ,ask questions!........go to car shows and cruises. you are young enough to take a project on without the burden it seems of a mortgage , family , work etc. Get the car checked over good so you have an idea of what you are getting into, and also keep in mind even that isnt 100% accurate. enjoy and learn thats what its all about .............oh yeah def get a beater for when this car is sidelined . you can bank on that

[Camaroholic]

I would suggest you find someone that knows first gens to go with you to look at the car. Have them look for structural problems. Minor sheet metal rust is fine, but if it's got spring perches rotted out and the rear frame rails look like they're about to fall off, you'd better pass. I've come across cars with rear springs held in by rope (I kid you not). Make sure the foundation is solid, and you should do OK. If the suspension mounting points or frame rails are rusted out, I would turn around and walk away. I know that they're fixable with time, but you don't want that on a car that you plan to daily drive after you get it.

[Vicinity]

I would suggest you find someone that knows first gens to go with you to look at the car. Have them look for structural problems. Minor sheet metal rust is fine, but if it's got spring perches rotted out and the rear frame rails look like they're about to fall off, you'd better pass. I've come across cars with rear springs held in by rope (I kid you not). Make sure the foundation is solid, and you should do OK. If the suspension mounting points or frame rails are rusted out, I would turn around and walk away. I know that they're fixable with time, but you don't want that on a car that you plan to daily drive after you get it.

Well, the guy said it's been his weekend car for while, so I'm guessing (I'm not going off assumptions on buying, just saying) it's pretty good structurally. I know I shouldn't buy on impulse and I need to watch out even more since I'm excited, but I really want this car.

[SatisTraction]

where are you located? there may be a member that can help you look at it.

[Vicinity]

where are you located? there may be a member that can help you look at it.

Southern Maryland, around Callaway or Leonardtown.

[Damn True]

If you can find someone from here to go take a look with you and it REALLY looks good I'd scoop it up. Working on a running project isn't easy. But it beats not being able to drive your car for 9 years.

[yank]

After being in a similar situation, I think it essentialy comes down to your personal situation and how practical you want to be. These are the things I had to consider.

1. Reliability - How are you going to get to work or school if your car isn't running.

2. Gas Mileage - If gas prices spike again are you going to be able afford to drive the car every day?

3. Where do you live - If you live where its cold, do you want to drive a RWD car through snow. If its hot, do you want to be stuck in traffic without air conditioning?

4. Can you do the work yourself or have somebody that can do it for you - Don't forget about labor costs in addition to material costs

5. Insurance - I think you already checked on this

6. Are you willing to pay extra for the "Camaro" name - Generally you can pick up a Nova, Chevelle, Firebird, etc in similar condition for less money.

7. Will your girl like it?

FWIW - I ended up passing on the muscle car untill I had a reliable source of transportation and then ended up picking up my 68 camaro.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

how far from point A to point B is it daily?

close?.. id say aiight..

far?.. id get it anyways..


LOL!

[Vicinity]

After being in a similar situation, I think it essentialy comes down to your personal situation and how practical you want to be. These are the things I had to consider.

1. Reliability - How are you going to get to work or school if your car isn't running.

I have other peoples cars in my house I can use every once and a while.

2. Gas Mileage - If gas prices spike again are you going to be able afford to drive the car every day?

This isn't really a concern, I make enough for gas.

3. Where do you live - If you live where its cold, do you want to drive a RWD car through snow. If its hot, do you want to be stuck in traffic without air conditioning?

I had a 2001 Camaro directly before this car, I did fine. Had to use a 4x4 for like 2 days, though.

4. Can you do the work yourself or have somebody that can do it for you - Don't forget about labor costs in addition to material costs

Again, already had an F-Body, used to the maintenance thing. :D

5. Insurance - I think you already checked on this

It's supposedly lower.

6. Are you willing to pay extra for the "Camaro" name - Generally you can pick up a Nova, Chevelle, Firebird, etc in similar condition for less money.

Yes.

7. Will your girl like it?

Don't gotta worry about this one. :P

FWIW - I ended up passing on the muscle car untill I had a reliable source of transportation and then ended up picking up my 68 camaro.

I was thinking of that, but I really wanted this car for a long time, and it runs, no sitting in a garage for a few years.

[79-TA]

It really helps if you just cover some basic maintenance items right after you get the car. That is, replace all fluids, belts, and rubber hoses. This will save you a mountain of radiator and vacuum leak related headaches. Also, replace anything else you suspect of being past its prime like the water pump and heater core. Doing this will prevent most of the random problems that can occur with an old car (but not all!)

My Trans Am used to be my daily driver back in high school. I bought it, worked on it for 6 months (it needed a lot done) and then used it as my daily driver for another 6 months. By then, I'd saved enough to buy my Oldsmobile for college commuter duty. Best of luck.

[para67camaro]

Here is my quick story and maybe it will help you make your mind up. At the age of 17 I too found a first gen Camaro I fell in love with. I was about to graduate high school and my best friend’s mother knew I would die at a chance to buy one. A neighbor of hers that had an 67 RS/SS Camaro sitting in her garage for 17 years and she wanted to sell it for $6k, to clear up some space in her garage. I quickly told my dad and he suggested I make a pros and cons list. I did and it was a pretty 50/50 list. I ended up convincing him that it was a sane thing to do for a 17 year old that was about to attend college, and had a decent job, I was a multimedia artist. Fast forward 6 months and I was unemployed and not sure if college was for me. I got contacted by a recruiter and eventually joined the military. I left my car with my parents and shipped off to the ARMY. This was the winter of 2001, in June of 2003, after a year of training with the military, and my first deployment I had saved up enough and bought my 1st new car, a 2003 Chevy S10 pick up. I placed my 67 Camaro on the side and focused on myself, ie clothes and furniture. Fast forward to 2004 and I had saved up enough and redid the cars entire front suspension with hotchkis products. I then placed my car on hold again because I almost got married, we were living together and well long story short it did not work out and I ended up dodging that bullet. Fast forward again to 2008 I had gone through a huge financial crisis, life gave me a huge learning lesson on how to utilize credit cards properly. I ended up reenlisting in the military to get out of debt, I sold my S10 because I wanted to upgrade. I was leaving Japan and moving to Germany. I sat down with a note pad and made a pros/cons list on whether to buy a new car, actually semi used car (I will never buy a new car again in my life; it is a complete waste of money) or invest $30k into my Camaro. Keep in mind this little gem of a car was sitting at my parent’s house this whole time. I bought it with 77k original miles on it and by the time I took it to the shop it had 82k miles. My parents would get offers on a normal basis for the car, anywhere from 12k to an 18k check that the guy gave my dad when he was washing it right before I came home on leave. I thought it through and through and finally decided to restore my car. I went with a shop I knew for over 4 years, they were the ones that did my front suspension back in 2004. We talked it through and came up with a plan. It would be a LS1 power plant with a t56 tranny, DSE front suspension, heidts rear suspension, currie 9 inch rear and the works. Though it has been a long road coming I am glad I did and certainly cannot wait to leave Afghanistan for the Umptheenth time so that I can drive Chastity down PCH again. Oh and my car is still gaining value, so if you want to invest in something instead of buying a car that will depreciate but will be dependable, then go ahead. I am happy I met Chastity and would do it again if I could.

Sorry if I was a little long winded but I hope it helps out. LOL good luck!

[Vicinity]

Here is my quick story and maybe it will help you make your mind up. At the age of 17 I too found a first gen Camaro I fell in love with. I was about to graduate high school and my best friend’s mother knew I would die at a chance to buy one. A neighbor of hers that had an 67 RS/SS Camaro sitting in her garage for 17 years and she wanted to sell it for $6k, to clear up some space in her garage. I quickly told my dad and he suggested I make a pros and cons list. I did and it was a pretty 50/50 list. I ended up convincing him that it was a sane thing to do for a 17 year old that was about to attend college, and had a decent job, I was a multimedia artist. Fast forward 6 months and I was unemployed and not sure if college was for me. I got contacted by a recruiter and eventually joined the military. I left my car with my parents and shipped off to the ARMY. This was the winter of 2001, in June of 2003, after a year of training with the military, and my first deployment I had saved up enough and bought my 1st new car, a 2003 Chevy S10 pick up. I placed my 67 Camaro on the side and focused on myself, ie clothes and furniture. Fast forward to 2004 and I had saved up enough and redid the cars entire front suspension with hotchkis products. I then placed my car on hold again because I almost got married, we were living together and well long story short it did not work out and I ended up dodging that bullet. Fast forward again to 2008 I had gone through a huge financial crisis, life gave me a huge learning lesson on how to utilize credit cards properly. I ended up reenlisting in the military to get out of debt, I sold my S10 because I wanted to upgrade. I was leaving Japan and moving to Germany. I sat down with a note pad and made a pros/cons list on whether to buy a new car, actually semi used car (I will never buy a new car again in my life; it is a complete waste of money) or invest $30k into my Camaro. Keep in mind this little gem of a car was sitting at my parent’s house this whole time. I bought it with 77k original miles on it and by the time I took it to the shop it had 82k miles. My parents would get offers on a normal basis for the car, anywhere from 12k to an 18k check that the guy gave my dad when he was washing it right before I came home on leave. I thought it through and through and finally decided to restore my car. I went with a shop I knew for over 4 years, they were the ones that did my front suspension back in 2004. We talked it through and came up with a plan. It would be a LS1 power plant with a t56 tranny, DSE front suspension, heidts rear suspension, currie 9 inch rear and the works. Though it has been a long road coming I am glad I did and certainly cannot wait to leave Afghanistan for the Umptheenth time so that I can drive Chastity down PCH again. Oh and my car is still gaining value, so if you want to invest in something instead of buying a car that will depreciate but will be dependable, then go ahead. I am happy I met Chastity and would do it again if I could.

Sorry if I was a little long winded but I hope it helps out. LOL good luck!

Wow man, you went through a hell of a lot.

It's sort of funny, I was thinking about joining the Marines and using all the money from that for a garage/overhead apartment and parts to build a Camaro over time. Just not sure it's for me, I'm currently in College and it's going... ehh, ok. Just worried about the whole 4 years enlist thing.

[para67camaro]

It's not that bad. I am almost 8 years in now, and have loved it so far. I enlisted for selfish reasons but am really grateful to how far I have come. The way I see it there is a recession going on and so far I have not noticed it at all. I am dumping all this money into my car and really have no worries. Just make sure if you do join pick a job that will help you in the long run. Ie when it is your time to transfer back into a civilian life. Make sure you will be marketable, and pursue a TS clearance. A lot of companies will pay big bucks for that. Sorry for stealing your thread, but just some words of advice.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

shoot cuz, i dont know what all the talk is about..

its OBVIOUS that you want that thing.. real bad... go get it!

money comes, money goes.. but money comes back again.. so dont sweat it.. get it.

[BritishGreen68]

I bought my camaro when i was 20 or 21..? My advice is this. Buy it. Drive it and only fix up the things it needs to run and drive safely, dont worry about ripping it all apart and giving it a resto because its a waaayy bigger job then it looks/you think and when you have a small income it will quickly become overwhelming.. anyway drive it and do little things to it to make it look a little better like wheels or whatever. One day when your ready, and have your own garage and your own **** and a good daily driver, and about 20K set aside, restore it the way you want it. It is a great investment since your getting it pretty right and the value will go up, unlike my house i bought when i was 23, dont do that either, stay in school no matter how bad it sucks!! (Still have my camaro though!)

[justasquid]

I gotta say if its structurally sound, get the car. As someone already posted, if the frame rails and shock mounts are all ok, I'd get it. I can't count how many cars I passed on early in life only later on to regret not picking them up. This could be one those " I wish I would have gotten that car those 10 years ago. The thing to remember, even if you don't do anything to the car for 10 years, at least you have it... thats half the battle right there. It took me a long time to find something I could afford now with a mortgage, family... your young right now with little debt, the perfect time in my opinion to get a decent car. If your one of the younger generation spending your money and time in a car instead of drugs and getting into trouble, thats all the more incentive to stay that way.

Just be on the lookout though. 8 grand should get a decent car that really doesnt need much. A little rust repair and paint, maybe interior work... if it needs extensive repair work, keep looking for a better deal.

hopefully someone can go look at it with ya. Describing things over the internet is nothing like being there in person.

[Steve Chryssos]

Rent or buy a movie called "Better Off Dead" from 1985 starring John Cusack. Then decide. Seriously.