91 Camaro - Third Generation Third Gen Project

[Gmachine1911]

Well, I’m starting this build thread to document a new addition to our household...a 91 Camaro RS that I got today for my 15 year old who’ll soon be driving. I chose the thread name because he’s the third consecutive generation in our family to own a Camaro and this car’s obviously a Third Gen Camaro. My Dad has a 79 Z28, I’ve got my 68 Camaro, Project “Cha Ching” on here, as well as my current project 67 Nova “Resurrection”. Although his dream car’s a 69 Camaro and he’s been wanting one in a bad way, I’ve been looking for a nice 86-92 Camaro for awhile as that was also on the short list and I knew it’d be more within reason. I really wanted an 87-89 Iroc Z that was in tact, relatively unmolested and didn’t require anything major in terms of rust repair or paint to avoid having another major project. I went and looked at a few different cars that seemed to fit the bill but they all turned out to be too much work for too much money. Finally, I found this one locally that’s in excellent condition and, although it’s not anything special, it certainly fits the bill for being clean and unmolested.

Despite having 99,000 miles on the 3.1L V6 automatic, the car is truly mechanically sound. The T-tops don’t leak a drop (test drove it in the rain the first time), the doors shut like it’s brand new, everything in it functions like it should and it’s impeccably clean inside and out and underneath. It’s nothing rare or special but it’s just a clean car that was part of a guy’s collection that had passed away and, aside from a few cars with sentimental value, the family wasn’t interested in keeping anything. The worst part about the car is that the red wheels have faded to a shade of pink from the heat, etc. so that’s gonna be at the top of the list to remedy. We’ll probably paint them in silver for now or maybe find a nice set of factory RS wheels. Other then that, there’s just a few odd items to be addressed such as polishing out the front turn signal lenses, upgrading the headlights to LED’s, changing out the front struts and I’d like to dress it up a little with some Z28 hood blisters, front grill with fog lights and stripes. Later on we’ll probably change the original radio and speakers out for more updated components and eventually I’d like to swap the wheels for something more modern looking. Hopefully, we can catch a couple of cruise-ins yet this year and he can show it off a little! Anyway, here’s some pics...Thanks for looking!

[ScotI]

That is a clean car. Very clean interior as well.

[WSSix]

Gorgeous car. It was obviously cared for all this time. Any plans to build it up at this time or just drive, enjoy, and teach him how to care for a car?

[garage_engineer]

Nice find! The fact that the car is in such great shape will be great for your son as he can focus on upgrades and driving.

I think third gen Camaros are a perfect choice for a young hpt rodder... they are still relatively affordable, easy to work on and have tons of aftermarket support.

I'll be keeping up with your progress..

[Gmachine1911]

Originally Posted by ScotI

That is a clean car. Very clean interior as well.

Originally Posted by WSSix

Gorgeous car. It was obviously cared for all this time. Any plans to build it up at this time or just drive, enjoy, and teach him how to care for a car?

Thank you guys! We’re really pleased with it and looking forward to putting some personal touches on it. I’d love to put some new wheels on it but I need to pace myself and let him save the money for upgrades. Since the current wheels have faded to a pink tone, we’re gonna scuff and repaint them silver...already have one done. It’s got a few of the black Metal trim pieces (around the rear glass and each side of the t-tops) that need the black trim repainted so we’ll get those touched up as well so for now we’ll just do some “elbow grease” items!

[Gmachine1911]

Originally Posted by garage_engineer

Nice find! The fact that the car is in such great shape will be great for your son as he can focus on upgrades and driving.

I think third gen Camaros are a perfect choice for a young hpt rodder... they are still relatively affordable, easy to work on and have tons of aftermarket support.

I'll be keeping up with your progress..

Thanks Garage Engineer, I don’t mind saying that watching your build was a huge part of what really got me wanting one of these. I searched for quite some time for a late 80’s Iroc but most were either way too expensive or a total heap that was still too expensive, lol! Seems these care are gaining popularity at a rapid pace! It’s no doubt probably best that this car has the V6 for a new driver...Thanks for tuning in!

[garage_engineer]

Originally Posted by Gmachine1911

Thanks Garage Engineer, I don’t mind saying that watching your build was a huge part of what really got me wanting one of these. I searched for quite some time for a late 80’s Iroc but most were either way too expensive or a total heap that was still too expensive, lol! Seems these care are gaining popularity at a rapid pace! It’s no doubt probably best that this car has the V6 for a new driver...Thanks for tuning in!

Glad to hear someone is following along and that I could help you with your decision! I agree they are getting harder to find but there are still plenty out there (as evidenced by the one you found.)

The v6 will certainly help for a newer driver... my advice would be to focus on suspension and brakes before upgrading the motor but that's just me

Feel free to reach out if I can help with anything

[ScotI]

Originally Posted by garage_engineer

Glad to hear someone is following along and that I could help you with your decision! I agree they are getting harder to find but there are still plenty out there (as evidenced by the one you found.)

The v6 will certainly help for a newer driver... my advice would be to focus on suspension and brakes before upgrading the motor but that's just me

Feel free to reach out if I can help with anything

X2. Especially if the current drivetrain is in good working order. Dialing the 'look' & suspension usually get done sooner or later. If the current drivetrain is healthy, might as well make it stop better & address the GM/factory suspension/handling compromises.

[Gmachine1911]

Yeah, I agree, we made a list of some items to address and plan to go thru the brakes, etc. to make sure everything is in good working order. We’re fortunate that the drivetrain seems to be in very good condition so hopefully it stays that way and we can focus on other areas for awhile. This won’t be the most exciting build thread by far but I thought it’d be really cool to have it Saved somewhere on the inter-web for posterity...I’d love to be able to go back and check out what I did and what I was thinking, etc. on my first car as an adult now...one of the great things about today’s technology!

[bkswede]

Cool car and great find for your son! Wish I had something like that as my first car when I was his age! Look forward to seeing the updates.

Brian


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