Introducing: Project "Evolution 2G"
 

Its been a while since I posted here on Lateral-G. I finally have a project worth undertaking. My last go round didn't work out. It was a '78 T/A but after going through the car it would have been better suited as a pasta strainer.

I've since come across an incredibly solid and mostly all original 1979 Z28. I've been a Camaro guy since I was a young teenager and have owned many over the years. My first was a 1967 Ragtop that I picked up for $2500.00. Back then you got a hell of a car for that price. Ahhh the good old days. Believe it or not, this is the first 2nd gen Camaro I've ever owned. I picked it up sight unseen and was very nervous about what would show up at my door. Well I finally hit paydirt and after years of buying rust buckets and being lied too, I finally have a car that went above and beyond my expectations and won't require the purchase of a steel mill :D . The car is awesome. It only has two small areas of rust no bigger than 3". The rest will disappear after media blast. The floors are like new under the factory insulation.

I chose to call this project "Evolution 2G" because its a 2nd gen Camaro and will evolve over time. It will be done in stages as time and budget permit. First off it will get a full tear-down and repaint followed by upgraded brakes, wheels, and tires. I still haven't decided on color or wheels and tires..... so they too will evolve as the build progresses. The interior is almost mint and will remain pretty much unchanged. That will of coarse limit my body color choices since the interior is tan. Wheels and tires will be 18's with as much meat as I can fit under the factory rear tubs since I want a full back seat.

Future plans will be the install of a completely modern FI driveline and suspension and maybe flush-mount glass. I'm sure more ideas will evolve over time so the name fits the build well.

I would appreciate as much input from other members as I can get especially anyone who has already modified a late 2nd gen F-body.

http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/t...Pictures/1.jpg

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Well I finally had some spare time too tear the old girl down a little more. My original plan was not to tear it down this far, but I just can't go without giving her the red carpet treatment. This car still continues too amaze me. Its so clean its stupid. Definitely the best $2500 buckaroos I ever spent. Still sticking with the original plan of this car evolving over time. For now I'll get her stripped, repair the 2 small spots of rust and repaint. Then I'll re-assemble the car so I can have some fun this summer. Later upgrades will be a more modern and higher HP drivetrain, some new wheels and tires (not sure what yet), and suspension improvements. I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head so it should be interesting what the finished product will "Evolve" into. Here's some pics from today. Sorry if some of the pics are fuzzy. I need to break-down and buy a new digital camera. The one I have is only a 5MP.

http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/100_3947.jpg

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I like the idea of vintage on the outside, high tech underneath. I guess its odd to refer to a 79 as "vintage" though...

It going to be a neat car keep us posted:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

What the hell man, where are the T-Tops?

Nice car, I will keep track of this since I am doing an F Body also.

High School memories just came
 

flooding back with Molly Hatchet "Flirt'n with Disaster" playing in the background....yes, on 8 track tape. Put some Jensen tri-axis in the rear deck and I will be ready for a ride.

Cool car

Oh yeah!! We all remember those days. I think everyone had a set of Jensens. Cheaper guys had Craigs in the rear deck. Maybe some Van Halen "Runnin with the Devil". My ears are still ringing from that one.:rockin:

Color Sample
 

I spent some time and put together a 1:24 scale model of my Z. I have been doing this for customers and it really helps with color decisions since it can be viewed in 3D. Lots of colors look good on a sample, but nothing beats seing it with the body lines. The color is called Medium Sage Green Metallic. The finished car will not have as much metallic as the model, but will be real close to the rear window filler panel I painted up. The interior color on the model is the exact color that the finished car will have.

Not sure if I will go with the decals or not. It looked awesome without and I'm on the fence now that I see them on the model. Feedback would be appreciated here. What do you guys think??

http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/t...m/100_3965.jpg

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Awesome project. My best friend in high school had a brand new 78 z(his parents car). IMHO i would go with the factory stripes just for the Retro
look. I will definitely folow this project. I like the color green as well(looks similar to the green I had on my 68 firebird back in the day). :thumbsup:

Nice Project one of my favorite years!! Keep us posted:thumbsup:

I say leave the stripes off it just looks too dated. Or change up the colors of the stripes if you must have them. Why not green and gray stripes?

I don't like the color on the model but the real photos look great. I also think the decals could look good with that color and the interior. That's a game time decision. Once she's painted lay them on, and then it's a yay or nay.

I loved the model without the stripes. I figured, hey they're decals and can easily be taken off so I stuck them on it. I think the car looks so much cleaner without them so I have decided that the finished product will not have them. It will most likely only have the front "Z28" decal on the bumper cover and just some nice gold pinstripes. I also will not have any shiny trim. These cars had satin black window trim and lower rockers. I will continue that scheme with black door handles, locks, drip rails, and window sweeps. Wheels and tires are a puzzle right now. I have a set in mind and saw them in person a few weeks back at a local swap meet I thought they looked great, but will keep my options open since I may modify the rear tubs to gain tire width.

Wow, what a find, that is a clean car. Very cool project, it will look amazing that color. I think a set of bronze/gold stripes would really set it off, but at the same time solid green would be killer too.

Not sure that any info from mine will be of much help to you, we kind of lost it in pretty much area of it, but you can check out my site for all the specs. I don't have many pics from throughout the process up right now, but you can see most of (the insanity..?) what we've done on the newest pics link.

http://www.acmeautopartsonline.com/camaro

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3663/...87a192ab02.jpg

WOW, nice work. That Camaro should kick some serious @$$.

I have thought about a lot of mods and just need to determine what the final product will be once the entire car is completed. There's a lot out there to decide on and with so many ideas in my head, the finished car should be nice. For now, I'd just like to get it in paint.

I agree that the stripes look a little dated and this is a car that has a lot of potential to be an old car but with a very modern, refined look. Then again, if you want it to look period, it obviously has the Year One Bandit potential to look classic but with just a little enhancing of what already exists. Anyway, the model is a cool idea. You should have taken pictures with stripes and without stripes from about 30 different angles and then compared them. But I think these cars have so many lines and details that stripes of some sort are really at home on them.

No Decals
 

I took the decals off today and took some new pics. I also painted the wheels body color. It was pretty sunny today so the metallic on the model is real apparent. The finished car will not have as much metallic. I had to spray very thin very light coats so not to melt the plastic. The reducer in the base color would melt the model if I sprayed it as I would the car. When you do light dusting sprays with metallic paints, you get a lot of metallic. Anyway, the car looks good without stripes too. I may throw a pair of '70 Z28 grille emblems on the fenders when shes all done. Let me know what you guys think now that you can see it without the stripes.

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Finished Body and Interior
 

Well I finally have the body and interior finished. At least for now. I changed my color choice at the last minute and I'm glad I did. The color looks great on the car. I now can enjoy driving the Z and decide the next course of action over the winter. Most likely I will upgrade the suspension and braking next. Then the drivetrain. But for now, I'm just going to cruise it around. :drive:

Here's some pics.

http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/t...r/100_0569.jpg

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That looks really good. Much better with no stripes.:thumbsup:

Thanks. I have to agree that the car is real clean looking now without the stripes. I think adding them would make the car appear dated and that's not the look I want. Maybe just a subtle pin stripe down the side would be nice.

I had it in a show this past Saturday and it got a ton of compliments. I was surprised how many people actually stopped and looked at it and didn't just walk bye. Just listening to some of the comments was funny too since so many people either said they had or knew someone who had one of these Z's back in high school. Ahhh the good old days.

I can't wait to get to the drivetrain and chassis mods. She sure drives like a 30 year old car right now.