MY SECOND GEN OBSESSION, HOW IT ALL BEGAN:

My second gen obsession started when I was 16. My first car was a 1979 Camaro. It had a 305 with a 350 trans and was brown with tan interior. Like most at that age, I knew 0 about cars. The first thing I did was bolt on some chrome "slapper" traction bars (don't laugh, I had to harness the power of that screamin' 305) some chrome directional wheels and white lettered tires. Needless to say I don't think it would have made the pages of Lateral-g.net, but I was proud of it. My sophomore year in high school was 1989, muscle cars and gas were still half way affordable and the Honda in the parking lot belonged to the history teacher. I recall this specific year because there were 4 seniors that each had a car that embodied what I thought was "cool". First: 1967 Camaro, black with a white hockey stick stripe, 327 4 speed, solid centerlines. Second: 1968 Camaro, yellow with a black stripe and stock ralley wheels . Third: 1960's Mustang fastback, black with purple stripes, 4 speed. Fourth: 1960's Olds Cutlass 442 with polished solid centerlines. That may not be an accurate representation of what the cars actually looked like but that's how I remember them. On the last day of school that year, a couple of them gathered in the far corner of the High School parking lot and proceeded to give a demonstration on how to melt rubber to pavement!! To bad my 305 wouldn't turn the tires over or I might have joined them. Even though I don't remember anyone having a second gen Camaro, I had caught the muscle car bug forever.

Fast forward two years to my senior year. Still driving the brown beast, but by this time I had my first experience with restoring the plastic interior pieces, dash and console, installed my first stereo and air shocks. And then it happened. I went to the Post Office one day and noticed a silver Camaro setting out back in the parking lot. It was an all original 1970 Z28, four speed 350 that was silver with black stripes. It was love at first site. The guy that owned the car had bought it new and drove it daily. It was a little rough but it was all there. I would like to say I bought it and still have it today but that's not the case. He later sold it for $2500, might as well have been $250,000 because I didn't have either at the time. From that point on I never forgot that car and I knew that one day I would have one just like it.

After graduating, the 79' was traded for something that got better gas mileage. For the next 3 years the only thing that got me by were my magazine subscriptions, cruise nights and car shows where I admired other peoples cars. Around this time I had a friend that wanted to sell his 78 camaro. It had new red paint and a nice set of drag lites. I paid cash and drove it home. This car was my first attempt at a cam swap, headers, intake, msd ignition and carb. My friends dad setup a 4.10 eaton posi and I had the 350 trans rebuilt and put in a 3000 stall. This was a fun street car and was a great learning tool for me. After 2 years of testing/tuning and learning with this car I decided I wanted to build my first engine. I bought a book (how to rebuild a small block Chevy) and dove in. I got the entire short block together and ran out of cash. I got discouraged and sold everything.

Another 3 years had past and I was on the prowl again. Early model second gens were still out of my price range. I found a 78 Camaro with a fiberglass front-end and hood, 8 point cage with no motor or trans. The guy had been running a big block in the car so I started buying parts to put together a 427. Finally I had assembled my second engine (hopefully I would actually get to start this one). I had a 350 trans built and got everything in the car. I got to rewire this car almost from scratch. Everything went well. The 427 ran strong. I bought a 1050 dominator, a solid cam and experimented with nitrous. Over the next 3 years I got to rebuild the 427 once (to many 250 shots), tune the suspension and have a lot of fun. My first real engine build was a success and I was ready for a faster car.

I had been looking for a drag car for about 6 months when I found an all tube chassis 1973 Camaro on the east coast. I drove 14 hours, one way, and came home with my first early model second gen. The engine came out of the 78 and into the 73. The 78 sold to some guy in Texas and I had my first real drag car. I raced this car for one season and was ready to build another engine. This time it would be a 472 big block with my first set of aluminum heads, solid roller cam and pro shot fogger. I was determined to get this car deep into the 8's. I had just got the new engine in the car and a guy came along and wanted to buy it. I named my price and it was gone.

Now I had some cash and really wanted something that I could enjoy without having to drive an hour to the nearest drag strip. I knew what I wanted, I still remembered that car from the post office, a silver with black stripes 70-73 Camaro with a 4 speed. I wasn't going to compromise on anything. I figured I could buy a running/driving car and do a few things to it to make perfect. I found one up north. It seemed to be a nice car, big block-4 speed-73 Camaro. But it was orange with white stripes (I thought I wasn't going to compromise?). I drove 11 hours one way, only to find out that the car was not that great. Amazingly it drove like a 32 year old car, imagine that. I headed home empty handed but with a new creed....If you want it done right, do it yourself !!

About a week later I was driving by a car wash and saw an early second gen, on a trailer, in primer. I stopped and talked to the guy. He said he would never sell the car but he took my number anyway. Three months went by and I was still car-less. Every time I found what I thought would be a good builder it was sold before I could get there. Then the phone rang, it was the guy from the car wash. He had decided to sell the car. Turns out he only lived about 10 minutes from me. I went over and looked at the car. It was a rust free 73 Z28 with no motor/trans but he had everything else, basically the complete car. I brought it home that night.

THE BUILD:

Ok. First on the list, mini-tub. After much research on the Internet, I went to my local home improvement store and bought a nice mig welder and cut off tool. At the time no one offered mini-tubs for a second gen so I was on my own. I tore the rear suspension out and started cutting. A little sheet metal and some seam sealer later, and it was done. I figured I would buy the rear tires and wheels and then build the rear-end to fit. I borrowed a 295-40-20 from a friend and it fit perfectly, so I ordered a 20x10 with as little backspacing as American Racing would allow. Once the wheels/tires were setting under the car I got a measurement for the rear-end. I had my eye on the mini 4 link setup from Martz Chassis for second gen cars. I ordered the complete rear suspension and 9" with 31 spline moser axles from Martz. At the same time I called Baer and special ordered 13", 2 piece eradi speed rotors front and back that were cross-drilled, slotted and zinc washed. Also from Baer I ordered a set of 2" drop spindles. Baer shipped the rears to Martz and they assembled the entire rear-end, welded all the brackets on and shipped the rear suspension to me. I welded the rear suspension up in the car. Everything fit perfect.

It was now time for paint and body. The one thing I knew I couldn't do myself. As you know, the paint job can make or break a car. No matter how much time/money you spend on everything else, if the paint looks bad, the car looks bad. That's why I was very particular about who I had paint it. I was lucky enough to have met Travis Ball that works at Kenny Davis Hot Rods in Roger Arkansas. They did all the paint and body and it turned out great. They really took car of me and I couldn't be happier.

While the car was at paint, I started building the engine. Since this car would be a driver and no power adders were going to be used, I didn't go crazy with the bottom end. I traded a case of Bud for a 2 bolt block. I had Macon Motorsports machine it and notch it for a 400 crank and long rods. Bought a scat 383 10-1 rotating assembly and a set of Dart 200cc heads. Ordered the largest hydraulic EFI cam Lunati offers and a set of Lunati lifters and comp one piece push-rods. Crane rockers, comp swept back headers, a csr electric water pump, MSD computer controlled distributor, MSD coil and Holleys Stealth Ram fuel injection with their Commander 950 Pro software. I painted the efi top and valve covers to match. March's new serpentine kit, for electric water pumps, spins a new one wire 100 amp alternator and new saginaw power steering pump.

Once the car came back from paint it was time for the front suspension. I ordered 2" narrowed tubular upper and lower a-arms from Heidts rod shop. I also got QA1 coilovers from them as well. I removed the front subframe for a fresh coat of black. Installed new urathane body mounts, tubular a-arms and coil overs and new steering parts along with the original steering box. I purchased Wilwoods new master cylinder (mainly because the top was black and silver). If someone made a rack and pinion conversion for second gens, without having to replace the subframe, I would have gone that route. I borrowed an 18x8 for the front to get the correct offset, then ordered the new front wheels and tires as well. I went with a 245-40-18. I can go lock to lock with no rub.

Coolin it down is a Northern aluminum radiator with aluminum shroud and electric fan. The transmission is a Tremec TKO600 5 speed with a hydraulic clutch, hays flywheel, hays street/strip pressure plate and new driveshaft. It has electric speedo and working neutral safety switch. The car received a new fuel tank and a moroso efi return kit. 3" exhaust into magnaflows.

I rewired the entire car with a muscle car harness from Painless. Installed bear claw latches in the doors and keyless entry. The interior floor boards have been covered with Dynamat. The car has new bumpers, glass, window moldings, headlight trim, tail light lenses, front turn signal lenses and all new rubber. The seats are Procar's by Scat. New carpet, headliner and door panels. I narrowed the rear seat about 6" because of the mini tub and had it recovered by Turleys upholstery in Springdale Arkansas. I installed a new dash and re-dyed all the interior plastic pieces. The autometer gauges are all electronic ultra lite II's. The new ultra lite II's look killer at night. The steering wheel is a leather LeCarra.

I also did the stereo. Alpine head unit, four JL 6.5's, two JL tweets, three JL 10's, two JL amps on the mid/highs and one JL mono block sub amp on the 10's. The 10's hit hard and the mids/highs are crystal clear, even with the windows down at 75 on the highway.

CONCLUSION:

When I started building the car, my intent was to keep as much of the muscle car look as possible. I wanted to keep everything silver, black or red. No billet or polished aluminum. Even the alternator is black. I have always liked the gray torque thrust wheels from the 60's but also wanted to grab peoples attention with the 20's. I like road race seats but did'nt think they fit the overall look of the car, the procars worked great. They still retain that muscle car look but have modern day comfort and style. I didn't want another carb and air cleaner but I also didn't want a stock late model efi motor. Holleys Stealth Ram setup works great and is infinitely adjustable with their software and a laptop. The street/strip pressure plate along with the hydraulic clutch makes for an extremely firm pedal with very little travel. The stock power brake booster works good with the big brakes. It rides and corners great with no tire rub.

Oh ya... remember those guys I talked about earlier, back in High School, that had the "cool" cars? I saw a couple of them this year at Street Machine Nationals, this time I had the cool car!!