Alright picked up a 1982 Camaro in May 2014 and have been lurking around here for a while since. Figured it was time to start a build thread, or at least a project thread as that is what this car is fast becoming haha. It is going to be a daily driver for me since it is one of the few and far between it seems 2.5L Iron Duke Camaro's that exist today. It may get a V8 some day but for now she will be cleaned up and have the chassis, suspension, steering & brakes upgraded so that it will handle like new. All parts with be with the intent of a V8 some day so should be fun.

Anyway here are the specs on her as she sat when I brought her home.
1982 Sport Coupe
2.5L Iron Duke
4 speed standard transmission
10 bolt rear end with open 3.42 gears

No on to some pics and the start of the build

At the guys house that I bought her from.


Here she is when I got her home a week later

Interior: (needs some work)





Exterior: (needs a lot of work)




Engine compartment:
The elusive Iron Duke


Well I will get more posts with the progress to date and with the changes that are made.

 

Why put a V8 in it.These cars are really rare now and they will get up in value .Just restore it drive it till you break it then restore it again and so on...it will only go up in price not because it can beat veyrons but beacause its rare.

I'd love to see a 0 to 60 vid thou

 

Yeah you are right and that is what my wife is pushing for to keep it original. I am leaning that way as well the more I think about it. Make it handle well and keep it original. Especially since I have access to a '74, that I can have all the fun with.

Once it is up and going I will get a few vids of it. 0-60 will be one of them now.

 

Awesome I always wanted to see that, should be a fun 20 seconds. Personally as cheap as these cars are I would just find a blown 305 to swap. Keep something that rare original.

 

You can search on google ,youtube ...anywhere you want ...you wont find Iron Duke 0-60 .If you think about it he can sell the info

 

Alright time to put together the next set of changes/fixes.

Pulled the dash out and started the repairs on it
Cracks pulled back and new foam put in

Finished and back in the car. Not a great pic but it is what i have for now.


Seats getting repaired temporarily, until they can be replaced.
Drivers seat is the only one with damage, surprise surprise.

Foam filled in and new cloth glued and stitched in place

Now with seat covers put on


General pic after a light bath, rust spots have been taken care of and primed.



Finally dove into the engine problems, and look what was found.
Seized intake valve on cylinder #3, bent the push rod.



While taking the head off another problem was found


Head off, luckily no damage to the pistons

Head is currently rebuilt and I am in the process of putting everything back together.

 

Great progress, very interesting seeing more pics of the 4cy.

Maybe you can adapt this to help with the exhaust issue

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OBX-Exhaust-Header-Manifold-Fit-For-84-85-86-87-88-Pontiac-Fiero-2-5L-I4-LR8-/121276158622?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3AFiero&hash=item1c3c9f529e&vxp=mtr

 

Thanks, will have to look into that header when I upgrade my exhaust. Currently 1 3/4" from the header to the cat, then it steps up to two inch. Going to run 2" from header back eventually.

 

While the top half was apart I had a buddy port and polish the intake to help clean up the flow. Figured why not, might help.

 

Damn with all this work that beast should be putting out a solid 95hp, speed aside though I really love the rarity of a 4 speed 4cyl.

 

Haha, I know it is going to be a tire smoker..... well maybe chirper.

 

Helpful info

http://ironduke7.tripod.com/IronDuke.htm

 

Seeing those pics the engine is so small but they managed somehow to fill the hole there to make it look bigger. The fan cover is huge and I dont think V6 and v8 models had it.

still compared to european engines 4cyl 2.5litres is still big.Here in europe the norm is 4 cyl 1.2-1.3l ....thats even smaller than that.

 

Got it all put back together and took a vid of her running. Enjoy

 

Seems like it is running really well. What did you do with the manifold?

has it been on the road yet?

 

Ended up getting a replacement manifold from Rock Auto. I took it around the block in my neighborhood and down a back road behind my house. Moves pretty good for what it is. Will be a fun driver.

 

Nice car, I always found the iron duke f-bodies cool. It sounds pretty loud compared to most of the 4 cylinders I've heard.

 

Alright so after going through some trials and tribulation with this car and little engine I have a few updates. One is that it is now running great, aside from a small tick in the bottom end of the engine. With this it will be driven as it is until it is worn out. Once it reaches that point it will receive a V8 transplant as I am starting to slowly build one up.

 

I see you have the "fuel pump access door of death". You might want to seal that back up. Post a pic of the dash, I'm curious to see how it turned out.

 

Alright, time for an update. The 4 popper is gubbered and is past rebuild. So in it's place it will be getting a 350 SBC.
Here is a pic of the transplant engine. I am well into the build and I will get up to date pics posted soon.

 

Time for an update on this project. I have come quite a ways and neglected this thread.
Here is the block all cleaned up, painted and ready to go for assembly.


Used goodies picked up from my brother in law. Performer intake and Dart Iron Eagle 180 heads milled to 70 cc chambers.


New Speed pro +5cc flat top pistons.


High Flow oil pump


Short block completed


Long block almost together.


One with the engine in front of the car as she waits for the transplant.


Next is the fun part of pulling out the old tired duke and getting the wiring and plumbing taken care of.

 

Alright it has been a while so I need to update this.
I ended up having to pull the Saginaw 4 speed and swapped it for a TH350. Got it all crammed in the car and below is the result.


Got it fired up and running below is the vid of the first start up with headers down to the open y-pipe.


Then got the exhaust put on with a 3" cutout just after the y-pipe and 2.5" the rest of the way back through a 26" Thrush glass pack.


Next is the axle that will be going in it. Still a GM 10 bolt but built on an axle brace and rebuilt the axle. Will now have all disc brakes once I get it installed here soon.


Can't wait to get this thing really going. My build has changed somewhat from a full restore to now this car will be seeing the strip so I am also trying to cut some weight from it. Should be a fun car though.