2nd Gen Camaros, tell me more

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

The 80-81 z28 is one of the most gorgeous and perfectly styled automobiles ever.  That's all you need to know.  

Uh, no...

A 401 CJ said:

I’m an outlayer but my favorite is the 1974 Z28.  Why?  Most every car was ruined that year with the battering ram bumpers.  Somehow the Camaro managed to pull it off though.  They really look decent.  Plus ‘74 is the last year for true non catalyst dual exhausts.  And also the last year to be exempt from smog testing in a lot of places.

The '74's were pretty light compared with later years also. I had a fiberglass hood & bumpers on a street/strip one I had. The painted fiberglass bumpers got rid of the aluminum bumper look which I never really liked. Wheels in the pics were rollers. I had nice Centerlines for it with 3.5's in front.

[URL=https://app.photobucket.com/u/NOTATA/a/893c0b98-bf94-4a55-a552-b9e62931ea0e/p/789b04e3-a166-4362-98c7-a3bc940aa007][/URL]

[URL=https://app.photobucket.com/u/NOTATA/a/893c0b98-bf94-4a55-a552-b9e62931ea0e/p/885b17de-c563-4779-9470-e3a0ac634c84][/URL]

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

The 80-81 z28 is one of the most gorgeous and perfectly styled automobiles ever.  That's all you need to know.  

I disagree 

I'm sorry you have horrible taste

It's the weird front sloping grill that gets me.

I'm more of a 240z fan really

Cool, thanks for all the info. I probably won't pickup one anytime soon but I like to file away the info for later if I come across a good deal.

The wife also wants a karmann ghia, and and mx3 so I'm not sure where this lands on which gets bought first lol

I continue to be amazed at just how tasteless some of the people (aside from spitfirebill) on this forum are. If you want a good looking 2nd gen Camaro you have to go for the early cars. Like so........

See any bulbous crash bumpers here? No fat ass aluminum or moulded plastic bumpers in sight. I'll bet it's the lightest version, too.

David S. Wallens said:

Also:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/WQe5qtR8aNE?rel=0

 

If anyone needs help on a second gen build, I have a fire pit for all your money out back. ;)

DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

I continue to be amazed at just how tasteless some of the people (aside from spitfirebill) on this forum are. If you want a good looking 2nd gen Camaro you have to go for the early cars. Like so........

 

See any bulbous crash bumpers here? No fat ass aluminum or moulded plastic bumpers in sight. I'll bet it's the lightest version, too.

Came here to say this.  Early split bumper RS/SS cars are one of the sexiest cars I've ever seen.

F-bodies in stock form are really wet noodles.  The unibody middle is floppy and it has subframes mounted on rubber donuts.  Subframe connectors are a must in my opinion, and even then they could use some more help.

Fix the flop and you have a competetive car.  A company I used to work for had a 2nd gen that he drag raced.  It would yank a front wheel... not because it had that much torque or traction, it was just twisting the car.  We went through windshields like water.  You'd get a good hook and the windshield would break.

Split bumpers were the best of the gen 2’s

A 401 CJ said:

I’m an outlayer but my favorite is the 1974 Z28.  Why?  Most every car was ruined that year with the battering ram bumpers.  Somehow the Camaro managed to pull it off though.  They really look decent.  Plus ‘74 is the last year for true non catalyst dual exhausts.  And also the last year to be exempt from smog testing in a lot of places.

Most of the 'battering ram bumpers' were downright fugly!  The 74 Camaro and Firebird bumper revamp wasn't nearly as horrendous as a lot of other cars that year.  I'm a 74 firebird fan because they fly under the radar price wise when compared to the 70 to 73 cars (that and I don't really like any 2nd gen with the wraparound rear window).

Herb Adams (the guy who designed the suspension) wrote a book on preparing these cars when he had his own tuner company VSE Engineering.

That plus some other tricks really does the job with these.

Some of the stuff I had done on my '81 Turbo T/A was:

Start with a WS6 car.

Take the subframe bushings out and machine new, shorter ones from aluminum.  

Subframe connectors, welded in. Box the space between the connector and the bottom of the rocker panel.

G-braces that tie the firewall to the upper A-arm bolts.

Cut the tops out of the front leaf spring perches and move the spring mounting bolt hole up 1/2" so the car hooks better.

9C1 Caprice spindles to give you a taller spindle for a better camber curve and bigger brakes. You'll need to use the 9C1 balljoints.

Dirt cheap circle-track tubular, heim jointed upper control arms.

Needle bearing LCA bushings.

Move the battery to the trunk.

Glue the windshield and backlight in with urethane rather than butyl.

Really stiffens the car up

In reply to ShawnG :

If I had not owned a GT6 with factory service manual 35 year ago, I'd havta ask what the backlight you speak of was. Brits have backlights, side lights and windscreens, F-bodys have windshields, side, and rear windows

In reply to 03Panther :

I work on everything. Backlight makes more sense than the term "rear windshield" that I've heard several times.

Rear windows seems like it should be the glass in the back doors.

What do I know though. Most people seem to have no problem saying "hot water heater"

I said the hot water heater my whole life, never thought about it! Someone pointed it out about 10 years ago, and ... yep dumb way to say something.  Got some friends in N. AL call a garden hose a "hose pipe." And a lot of folks on here still think they have a 350 "motor" in their engine bay! Language is a funny thing.

(You knew I was makin' a funny, right?)

In reply to 03Panther :

That's why I hit the thumbs up. 

DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

I continue to be amazed at just how tasteless some of the people (aside from spitfirebill) on this forum are. If you want a good looking 2nd gen Camaro you have to go for the early cars. Like so........

 

See any bulbous crash bumpers here? No fat ass aluminum or moulded plastic bumpers in sight. I'll bet it's the lightest version, too.

One of the ugliest grills in history. Looks like a whale shark. 

In reply to grover :

I assume your one of the younger crowd; most guys I know that were around at the time like it. But that's why they make more than one model.

ShawnG said:

In reply to 03Panther :

I work on everything. Backlight makes more sense than the term "rear windshield" that I've heard several times.

Rear windows seems like it should be the glass in the back doors.

What do I know though. Most people seem to have no problem saying "hot water heater"

I agree with backlight, but "hot water heater" stopped bothering me after someone on this forum pointed out that the majority of the time, the tank has hot water in it that is being heated, 'hot water heater" is technically correct.

Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:

Cool, thanks for all the info. I probably won't pickup one anytime soon but I like to file away the info for later if I come across a good deal.

 

The wife also wants a karmann ghia, and and mx3 so I'm not sure where this lands on which gets bought first lol

Yeah... my question is more along the lines of, "which styling does the wife like?" Our opinions on which one is best doesn't count for diddly. Second, what does SHE want out of the car?  All original cruiser? Fun toy to modify? Is a "Camaro" and "Firebird" one in the same to her? She might like a Firebird or T/A more. 

I went through a lot of these discussions with my ex-, so this is not unfamiliar territory. 

03Panther said:

In reply to grover :

I assume your one of the younger crowd; most guys I know that were around at the time like it. But that's why they make more than one model.

Just to confirm, we should ask his opinion of recent Toyota and Lexus suv's.

For the record: both the 1970-73 Camaros and Firebirds are absolutely beautiful cars. I love them both. Also, they make sweet looking race cars.





Then again, so do the later ones:





My favorite of all is that last one: the Appliance Wheels Silverbird. That's one of the big reasons why I ended up with a silver/charcoal 1979 Trans Am myself.

03Panther said:

In reply to grover :

I assume your one of the younger crowd; most guys I know that were around at the time like it. But that's why they make more than one model.

haha, 

It's true, I'm only 40. 

In reply to grover :

It scares me some that 40 is youngsters these days...

Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:

Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:

Cool, thanks for all the info. I probably won't pickup one anytime soon but I like to file away the info for later if I come across a good deal.

 

The wife also wants a karmann ghia, and and mx3 so I'm not sure where this lands on which gets bought first lol

Yeah... my question is more along the lines of, "which styling does the wife like?" Our opinions on which one is best doesn't count for diddly. Second, what does SHE want out of the car?  All original cruiser? Fun toy to modify? Is a "Camaro" and "Firebird" one in the same to her? She might like a Firebird or T/A more. 

I went through a lot of these discussions with my ex-, so this is not unfamiliar territory. 

The best answer I can give you on what she wants is.... yes. She wants something fun to drive, fast enough and muscle car looking. She's kinda all over the place on styling, but she definitely wants a Camaro and not a Firebird or trans am. She mentioned if it was cheap enough she would love to use it for the challenge.

Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:

The best answer I can give you on what she wants is.... yes. She wants something fun to drive, fast enough and muscle car looking. She's kinda all over the place on styling, but she definitely wants a Camaro and not a Firebird or trans am. She mentioned if it was cheap enough she would love to use it for the challenge.

That would be tough to do, but if you have a wife that would even ask... ya gotta try!!!

In reply to 03Panther :

True, I'm a lucky man