UPDATE: 10/3/13
New motor in the works!
The following thread contains a budget build up, with mixed results... A ton of random dreaming, and finally a real build that I am going to be proud of.








On with the second stage of my build. Entire suspension and drive line has been done over. Read the thread for the details on the parts I have used with great results!

Pics of the car now 2/26/12:








Older videos:

Car Idle (old)

Original post:

Hey guys! Had this car a few months now, and loving it now that I have all the wiring fixed from the previous owner. She is an 83 Sport coupe, I got with 74k now on the clock (now 78k) and a brand new 350 .30 over. Also my first manual car... This is my third, third gen, and first with a nice crate motor.

Little things on the car currently bother me (such as inaccuracy of factory speedo and tach) and I am planning upgrades to the suspension brakes and major drivetrain re-work. I work in product development at a robotics company doing industrial design, and have access to a full machine shop and computer controlled cnc machine.

I don't like the carbed setup I currently have on the car and am looking to upgrade to an aftermarket stand alone system (I was going to swap the TPI from my 86 IROC but decided against it after seeing a beautiful 67 Camaro with a throttle body system in it)

I am swapping over the factory wheels to the gold IROC wheels from my 86 this weekend as well as installing my subframe connectors.

I will be updating this thread pretty often with pictures of my work on this car, and hopefully it will be helpful to others, as well as act as a way to preserve the memories I make with this car.

 

This month:

Gold IROC wheels (w/ new tires)
Subframe connectors
Short throw shifter
Custom brushed aluminum gauge bezel w/ new gauges (speedo, tach, and fuel)
Front springs

 

niiice, keep us posted...

 

I must honestly admit that I'm not much of a fan of that upgrade.

Especially in combination with the Sunoco hood that gives the impression of enlargingthe centre area of the hood into one large (huge?) clean surface, the stock sports coupe front looks clean and there for fit very well with the lines of the hood.

The additional transition from the stock front lip into the Z28 style additional GFX and the holes in it kind of mess with this play of lines and surfaces in a bad way. In some cases less is more

 

Thanks for the input on the gfx, I feel the iroc wheels won't look very good unless I beef up that line, but I see where you are coming from with the z28 style piece. I was tired when I wrote this so just to clarify my current wheels are old American racing ones.

 

I agree with solitare, why not change front bumpers? Maybe try to see if the 85-90 front GFX piece will work?

 

Decided to leave off the GFX... I mocked up the gold Irocs and they look really really good. Pics soon of the wheels and I also have a PDF shifter plate template I made in CAD if anyone else was looking to fab a custom plate themselves!

 

Car looks good man. Did you have any fitment issues with your Hawks spoiler?

 

I really like the looks of this sport coupe! The Hawks spoiler and Sunoco hood just make it look perfect. Drop this thing hard on some fat 18's, and it will be perfect!!!

When I had my 85 sport coupe I filled the three holes in the center of the nose, and that seemed to clean up the look of the front so much!

 

Im lovin the Dukes of Hazzard rims. Its the camaro version....

 

Looks real good, but I agree about the GFX. I was going to put the front valance off an 84 z on my sport coupe, but I think I have decided against it. I love the clean simple look of a sports coupe.

 

Thanks fellas... Here are some pics with the new IROC wheels... Not sure how sold I am on them, but the handling and extra grip won me over! I no longer have the DoH Camaro as previously pointed out haha.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53106660@N03/5744752350/

 

Now you gotta lower her a bit.

 

Can somebody recommend a good lowering kit?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53106660@N03/5757780126/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53106660@N03/5757219193/

 

The car looks mean and clean with that Sunoco hood. The wheels however would look significantly better in my opinion, if you painted the currently gold parts in black or dark grey (something like metallic slate grey).

Are those aftermarket foglights? If yes, what brand, and how do they connect?

 

Thanks for the input... I was actually thinking if not a gun metal gray perhaps a lighter gray almost white. The fogs are $20 pilot lights from autozone. I bought them to check out, and they are actually a nice quality hefty unit with metal brackets and glass lenses. They come with the wiring required as well as a dash mountable switch and fuse. I'll get a picture of them on if you are interested. they really boost forward visibility without blinding people and look pretty cool to boot imo.

 

I would recommend that what ever kit you go with that you should lower it at least 1.5". The Sport coupes and Berlinettas have to be lowered, because of the lack of the GFX need to come down a lot to really stand out.

I lowered my 85 sport coupe with a torch... Not the right way to do it at all, but I was 15 and just wanted it to look cool. Made a huge difference!!! I bet I lowered 2.5" in the front.

I run the eibach sportline kit on my car now which is rated for a 2" drop... Some people hate on this drop, but I like it...

 

Thnx for the info on the lights.
I do have a set of IROC foglights, with brackets, but a few people I know who were not as lucky to find a pair are looking for alternatives.

I think they look great, and if they are sturdy to boot they might very well be an alternative, and for a fair price (paid $50 for my IROC foglights).

For the rims, my suggestion really would go toward darker colours, that would make the spokes on the rims look a bit skinnier. A bright colour would make the rims look heavy, which would be ok with the 1986 and later GFX, but for my taste would look a bit out of place on the sport coupe.

Can't really help with lowering. I'm happy my car is now higher then it was before (just for consideration, too low can be impractical depending on where you live ) With the car as it sits however, I think 1,5" would definately not hurt.

 

Hey guys! Just an update... My rear end grenaded and it has given me the opportunity to rebuild my trans with better gears (sticking with the T5 for now) and beef up my rear end. Got the Eaton Detroit locker dif going in now!

She looked purdy going on the flatbed after I blew 'er up

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53106660@N03/5841086573/

 

I am normally not a fan of the sport coupe but Ive got to say that yours in the pics above I love! The wheels, the hood, the rear spoiler, the color...It all just works! Its got a very retro look that kind of reminds me of the 70-73 camaro's! Personally, I would get rid of the IROC wheels and go back to what you had...

 

Hey thanks for the comments! I to liked the look of the American Racing wheels on my car, but they were just to skinny to plant the power effectively, as I was breaking traction regularly in third gear. Perhaps I could find some similar wheels that are wider at some point.

 

I think those IROC wheels would look absolutely gorgeous on your car if you painted the gold portion a dark gray or black.

 

did you do this racing that prius? im kidding bud, no offense im just poking fun

 

Hahaha exactly man

UMI sub frame connectors (In red ) and Edelbrock rear lower control arms are going in this week as well as a set of Eibach Sportline springs.

 

you getting this rear end rebuilt or replacing it?

 

Being rebuilt with stronger axles, gears, and dif

 

Make sure to post pics after the drop. I'm thinking its gonna look killer!

 

Thanks! I am hoping the drop makes the IROCs look a little better, because the extra tire width really improved my performance. I also ordered an MSD distributor replace the old converted points distributor that is in the car now. Also I found I had a major vacuum leak through my brake booster (which lead to majorly decreased performance in the last week before I blew the rear end lol) so that is being fixed as well as new intake manifold (saw anti freeze at back of block) and valve cover gaskets.

 

Hey fellas update!

Got the rear end and T5 back, both rebuilt. Again I stuck with the 3.73 ratio and put tougher gears and a detroit locker rear differential in the stock ten bolt. T5 got similar treatment.

All suspension rubbers were replaced with poly. New edelbrock rear lower control arms. Sportline springs and UMI subframe connectors (in red installed)

Underside of car is being painted black (as well as the rear end)

I got a Pro 5.0 shifter to replace the stock shifter (ordered it from hawks) and now the top end of the engine is getting a freshening up with the MSD Pro Billet Distrubutor (I will be setting the REV limiter on that)

Also picked up a light 8" sub and amp to make my sound system a bit better, as well as a new tachometer with a shift light.

 

I also replaced the racing clutch in the car with something aggressive but a little more street friendly, and the front brakes got drilled and slotted rotors as well as new calipers.

 

I demand pics!!!!!!! Lol

 

New pics within the next week, but I am going to post a video compilation I made shortly with some old video clips and pictures. Much of the work is being done by a great friend of the family out in Western Mass and I have been ordering the parts and helping out on the weekends. About $3k into this build so far, but I hope to have a reliable, fast and fun third gen when I am done!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O722bpkUWNM
My little video of this car so far.

 

Got some drilled and slotted rotors and a set of red stainless steel insert calipers for the front end. Also replacing the front shocks... I hope to have some pics of it in the shop soon...


The suspension part of this project really got out of hand once it started being pulled apart. Everything that isn't new/performance is getting sandblasted and repainted, so hopefully once it is back together the UMI sub frame connectors can be installed before the end of the week. After the suspension it is onto wiring and motor...

 

Post more pics!

 

Which brand of brakes did you buy?
I picked up some EBC calipers, drilled & slotted rotors and red stuff pads.

There are only 2 minor "issues" with those. They make more noise when braking and they need a bit to get at operating temperature, so the first 2 or 3 times applying the brakes they´re not all that powerful.

As soon as they are at operating temperature however the brakes have far superior stopping power and are better controllable then stock brakes.

I had two situations where I had to slow down from Autobahn speeds (100+mph) to almost a full stop and I was positively surprised to find out there was little to no brake fading.

That really is the best moment to do that. I replaced the shocks and springs in a hurry, and now I can pull things apart yet again to clean and coat the A arms, rear, stabilizers etc.

 

Hey solitaire! This is the caliper kit I ordered... http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SSB-A181R/

Very pricey but I heard some good things about stainless steel brakes. I was wondering about the temperature variable as you pointed out. Good to know! thanks...

Yeah I figured since I have the money to do this now I should just go ahead and get everything done.

People might think I am stupid to do all of this to a sport coupe, but when I am done I should have a car that handles every bit as good as an IROC and would blow any stock third gen (let alone Mustang) off the road. This car is an exceptionally well kept example of an early third gen and I cannot wait to start driving her again!

Heading out to the shop where it is being worked on Saturday to snap some pics.

 

...And look good while doing so. You don't even need to worry about where best to place that third brake light.

Then what should these people think of me? I'm doing the same to an LO3 RS and am set at keeping most of the LO3 and all of the TBI. (working somewhat backwards atm. however)

Those SSBC brakes look a lot like the EBC kit. They look slightly bigger even. The EBC's fit in the stock 15" brakes (just) which is the main reason I went with those. In that regard, I suddenly understand your wheel upgrade

And as far as that perating temperature is concerned, for me the first one or two stops are somewhat critical. After about 15 minutes of city traffic the brakes are warmed up and give good stopping power and even better control, which might even be the biggest plus of the upgrade.

 

Is your third gen considered an extremely rare car in Germany?

Oh and not to worry about the wheels! I am getting the gold IROCs I installed on my car refinished and the gold part painted a gloss black! I took your advice and photo shopped it. Looked MUCH better. I'll post up that pic when I get home from work :P

By the way I appreciate the interest and posts here. I feel a bit self centered posting all of this... But when I am done I hope to have a nice car which others who are looking to build up theirs in a similar way, can pull ideas from here and grab advice!

 

It is kind of rare.

Town I live in has 200 000 citizens. 2 rd gen Camaros, one is mine, the other a V6 RS, also in black. In contrast, I've seen 5 or 6 3rd gen firebirds with KR licence plates. In Germany licence plates are built up by the first spot designating the city/township, which can consist of 1, 2 or 3 letters, followed by 1, 2 or 3 letters of your own choise (or a random running sequence), followed by 1, 2, 3 or 4 numbers of your own choice (or random sequence).

Bodycount on the biggest 3rd gen site not limited to Firebirds (birds were more popular here somehow. I guess it's the headight buckets) accounts for about 20 3rd gen Camaros in Germany in 2010, with active members in that forum.

Due to privacy rights it's not possible to get numbers on the amount of registered thirdgens in Germany from any government agency. If I would have to give an estmate I'd say possibly 200-250 road worthy 3rd gen Camaro's based on the amount of cars offered on platforms similar to craigslist (we have mobile.de and autoscout for instance) accounting for a grey number of cars not offered online, belonging or changing hands between people without the interest to be online.

With approx. 50 000 000 cars on the road in Germany in 2011 I'd say that's pretty rare

My Camaro currently is the only 3rd gen Camaro in our Northrhine Westfalia (state in Germany) F-body group.

I'm currently working on being 1 of 3 people with a thirdgen camaro with cowl hood in Germany. Probably the first with a working cowl induction setup including airbox. Importing a Sunoco would be a first I think. Due to the risks of damage during shipping and the high cost involved I'm not that tempted to try however :/

I think that might also explain my fascination with the early 3rd gen Sports Coupes. Nevers een one in person, never seen one for sale in these parts of the world. Looking forward to that picture. I find the looks of your car with the Sunoco hood and Hawks 5" ducktail just about perfect. It even made me think about shaving my car, removing GFX and the rear spoiler, but after some consideration I decided to accept mine is a 1989 model year and not an early 3rd gen.

 

Wow really interesting to hear about our cars overseas from the U.S! Thanks for the compliments... I really love the Sunoco hood, although I have heard some have fitment issues? I also removed the hood pistons because they were to strong and were causing stress cracks. I have to make a stylized hood prop haha.

 

Photoshopped black IROCs... Should look good with the drop I guess. What do ya think?

Maybe gunmetal C5 z06 wheels?

 

quick z06 mockup... Wheels aren't pointing exactly the right way I know.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53106660@N03/5923557505/

 

I really like the painted Iroc's but the Z06's look good also. It's cool that your not putting ground effects on your sport coupe, The sport coupes look so clean without all the effects. It seems like every third gen I see is an Iroc, Z28 or an RS, just don't see to many clean sport coupes anymore. Beautiful car!!

Mark.

 

Mark thank you! I was contemplating that front lip for a while, but I am grateful for the folks here who convinced me otherwise. The sport coupes are just so clean when done up right!

Here is a poor chop of some c6 wheels. I think I like these the best so far!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53106660@N03/5924265556/
And my fav shot of my car, with the gold IROCs

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53106660@N03/5923726331/

 

Took some time today to refinish my center console. I cleaned each panel thoroughly with soap and water and then alcohol (overkill) and sprayed light coats of plastic paint enough to cover everything (I removed console lid) Came out great!

I had some cracks in a few places and ABS plastic cement and a little sanding worked wonders.

I then ironed my leather shift boot and did it up with some shoe polish. Very happy with the results... Should go good with the white Hawk's shift **** I ordered.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53106660@N03/5924481676/

 

I just figured i would show you a different version of the Z06 wheel on a sport coupe. Very clean car by the way..

 

Wow! Great looking car... I would never be brave enough to rock the two tone paint, but that looks fantastic. Do you have a thread on your car?

 

i do not have a thread on it yet.... I was actually thinking about creating one since i found some of my old pics.... i never really fully documented the build on it... I can say this.. it was a ton of work with the final touch happening this week (ac is getting charged) and i had alot of help from a good friend and this site was extremely helpfull....

the basics of mine is this.. it was a 2.8 auto and now is a 377 and a t5 (and yes its holding up just fine)