Rick92RS

I am just trying to get some opinions on the car I just bought.

First off, it's a 1992 Camaro RS with the 305 TBI engine, and 700R4 trans. It is stock except for an after-market cat back (not sure the brand yet, sounds pretty good.)

I am basically trying to get some opinions on whether it's worth either fixing up, or should I drive it into the ground and save up to get a nicer one.

I bought it for $1000.00, has 170k miles (but I would redo the engine, trans, and drive train anyhow). The exterior is fairly straight, only major problem is there is a small rust hole on the rear panel before the rear wheel. I know what's involved with fixing that. I will list the good, and the bad

The good:

• It's a Camaro!
• It's stock except for an after market cat back performance exhaust
• Has the 1992 RS body which is my favorite Third Gen body style
• Starts right up
• Drive train working well (no strange noises and decent power)
• Glass is in good shape
• brakes are decent (could use a little work in the future maybe)
• Power windows still work
• gauges work
• Stock Radio works
• Trunk motor still pulls down the rear hatch
• Suspension is in decent shape

The bad:

• Needs power locks repaired (maybe it's just the fuse?) pressing the button on either side does nothing
• Needs rims and tires; the rims are 16" GTA that are missing the center caps and the tires are shot. The rims are in really bad shape, bent and malformed. A nice gouge in the front driver side tire as well.
• Needs body repair (hole in rear quarter panel from rust, only bad spot)
• Seats are tore up slightly (ripped in the usual place on both sides)
• engine runs good but idle goes up and down at first (only sometimes, and not when the car is driving) Sensor(s) maybe?
• No interior lights (fuse?)
• The paint was not done well. It was repainted recently, but you can still see parts of the old paint (looks good where you can't see the old paint though). Used to be a red car now it's painted gloss black.
• They put that fake tint stuff in the back window which is too dark and hard to see out of, plus it's peeling a bit (steamer will take care of that easily!)

Me: I am no mechanic, I can do basic repairs and tune ups, but can learn things fairly fast. My dad is really good at fixing cars, he has all the tools I would need, and he used to do auto body work as well. He can help me with any work I would want to do to the car.

What I am asking, is it worth fixing this car up? Or should I tune it up, get rims and tires, and drive it as it is. Please some opinions. Thank you.

Note: Most of the nice Third Gen Camaros by me that are in good shape are at least $4000-$5000 or more. I figured if I dropped a couple to few grand in this one, it would be really nice when I am done.

Darkshot

iTrader: (4)

I say go for it, but with only one concern. That rust. Make sure thats the only spot of rust and there isn't a bunch more hidden somewhere because they say for every obvious spot of rust there is a bunch more hidden rust. Check under the carpet where your feet go.

Assuming thats all good then I say go for it. I bought a 91 RS that needed everything except an engine and tranny and although I'm in it way more than it's worth I don't regret it and it's been a blast. I've learned so much.

hot92RS

I bought a 92 in similiar condition, no rust, Florida car, my tires were in better shape. see my sig. did a little work to it. Parts are fairly inexpensive and there is a lot of support on this site if you need help. I would say hang onto it, fix it up as your budget allows. It is a great car. It sounds like you have the ability and the family resources to make this happen. Have fun like a lot of us have had in fixing these cars up.

Rick92RS

Thank you both for your input. I was leaning towards going for it, and I agree with everything you said, part are all over and not too expensive. Update: I got the power locks and interior lights to work. Amazing what a $1.00 fuse will do!

Al Hasse

The ACC fuse (20A) is also for the cigarette lighter and the horn.

Rick92RS

I have not tested either but I am almost sure they work fine now, I know previously the car horn did not work. Thanks though good to know. I figured they ran off the same fuse, 20A is a lot of fuse actually.

slow_90firebird

The major problem you will want to watch out for is rust. If it is just a little hole in the quarter panel, either there was a nick there where it was bare paint, or it (probably) rotted through from behind. I would get the car up on jackstands, and check all underneath to make sure the unibody is solid. These cars tend to rust alot, especially in areas where the salt and snow get kicked up. Check behind the tires on the inside of the rear quarter panels too. Also, check behind all of your ground effects.

I have heard of people buying cars like yours that appear to be in pretty good shape, then they go to jack it up and the jack breaks right through the rust. Remember, these cars dont have a frame to keep them solid. All they have is the little sheetmetal subframes on the front and back, and the floorpans and pinchwelds in the middle.

86NiteRider

iTrader: (10)

It sounds to me like you should keep this car. If the rust is minimum and can be fixed, since your Dad does body work I say go for it. No need to drive another Camaro into the ground. You can make that car worth $4000 like the ones you see if you want to with a few trips to the J - Yard and putting a little time into it. It sounds like you have a real good handle on the situation. Remember original parts are dwindling so get on it right away.

BTW: You are in Chicago Heights and I am in Markham. If you pmail me I can tell you where to get all of the parts you need for real cheap in the area. Pmail me...

Rick92RS

Alright, I worked on my car all day long, and took basically the whole dash panel, under dash panel, trunk, and am absolutely amazed ANYTHING in the car that is electrical actually works! It was that bad....

I took out about 20 pounds worth of old amp wiring, stereo wiring, god only knows what wiring, and took out that stupid fan control switch! I am happy to report that I fixed the idle problem, and the fan works as it should now, no rigged up switch anymore. I am quite happy plus everything works as it should now, I spliced every wire and wired it up correctly, they used electric tape for everything, this included the stock stereo wiring!

Under my car looks much better than I thought, and I made a few discoveries. The muffler...well there IS no muffler! It is a straight pipe that leads from my cat to the back of the car. I am surprised it is not actually much louder than it is now, but it sounds good and not that loud so it's fine for now. I also found out that they modified the suspension, but the rear swap bar is broken on the passenger side (least the hangar for it is.) but the car is amazingly not that rusty underneath. The coolest part is the rear end, it is the 9 Bolt Borg Warner rear end! That made me quite happy, and it's good to know that it will be able to hold up a lot better than the 10 Bolt does.

I am tired, been out there all day in the cold, but otherwise happy as I fixed a lot of what was wrong with it. Next spring I start upgrading the car. Plans:

• New engine (350) with heads and cam
• New Sound system (Have the head unit already)
• New ignition system with new wires and Distributer
• Beef Up Transmission (Corvette servo, S-10 torque converter)
• New rear end gears (3.73 maybe slightly lower numerical)
• New suspension components
• New Brakes
• Full exhaust system (Headers, Y pipe, High flow Cat, Cat Back exhaust)
• Air condition delete (what windows are for!)
• Smog pump delete (When I am done, will have better emissions anyhow!)
• Repaint the car and fix the interior up

The engine swap will come last, I want to do this right and make this car run very well with what it has, might even hold off a year on the swap and work on everything that will work with both engines.

Thanks for all of the responses, and I really appreciate you all helping me with this car, feels good to have the back up. I love this car already and cannot wait to start upgrading it.

thecaminator

You got one like mine. 92, 305 TBI, 700R4, falling apart. I didn't that much for mine but it's mine. I think it's worth fixing up if the rust ain't too bad. Mine's getting a 383 with a T-5 manual in it. Sure, it's got dents and rust, but if I don't love on her then who will? That crusher at the junkyard? She deserves all the respect I give. She might not have ran when I bought her, but I did it, and I'm a lot more proud of it than any car I ever owned.

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

I got a decent condition high mileage 92 RS for the sole purpose of learning with it and having some fun putting a nice car together.

What I was concerned about when I was looking for a car was to make sure all the paint was original. With your rust hole AND your car being repainted, I'd be pretty paranoid that paint is hiding something bad.... I'd rather have old crap paint (and I do, but it still doenst look too terrible) than new paint hiding all kinds of bondo and rust.

So just be real careful with the new paint on it, you never know what it's hiding.

Rick92RS

I plan on stripping off the paint and I will look over everything very good, figured I can do a panel at a time, sand it down to bare metal, put primer on, and inspect for crappy body work while I am at it. I was thinking of getting it sand blaster, but I heard that causes pitting and I don't think it's worth it in that case.

Good point though InfernalVortex, I am hoping there is no "surprise" lurking under that paint. I must say though the body does look good except for certain spots here and there, it's more that they just sprayed the body on the outside, you can see red peeking through all over the place.

xjcamaro89

I have an 89 RS 305 TBI 5 spd, that i put a 350 in and did some chip work, cleaned and chromed up the engine and compartment, cleaned everything, inside and out, fresh paint, redid some interior, new tires, new little peices here and there, and now i just take it to car shows and there is one big local car show that you have to enter a class, and i always enter the 1967-92 camaro and firebirds class, and 2 out of the last 3 years i have walked away with a top 3 trophy, beating out alot of 1st and 2nd gen camaros and firebirds, and in most of the cases my car was the newest car in the class. So i think that fixing up my car was well worth it, you can get a real sharp eye catching car when you put some work into these cars.

ad356

i agree with that statement the right person will apraciate one of these cars in good condition. the shape of the body looks really good with a new paint job. the third gen camaro has some of the best lines i think i have ever seen. the way the back window slopes down and the way the spoiler fits perfectly on the back of the car. the long hood and front of the car, the way the hood gradually slopes up. even in 2007 is still is an awesome looking car. yes of course you get people that just arent happy with anything unless its new. a guy at work told me he thought my car was gay, i told him to shut the **** up. he drives one of those FWD sport compact mercury cougars. he thinks its a race car, it might be a 2001 but its still a piece of crap. someone like that doesnt even know what a cougar really is and he has no appreciation for really good cars. so what if my 89 is almost 20 years old, who cares, really. its built far better than his car ever was/is, its lasted 165K and 20 years of driving. it has plenty of life left and will probably still be around in another 20 years. the quality of car you drive isnt always based on how much your payments are or if you have payments at all. people forget that our third gens are generally much simpler than newer cars and are much more serviceable as a result. there is much less to go wrong with them. newer and more complicated cars generally can be more trouble prone.

Rick92RS

Impressive Camaros last as long as they do, considering how much people beat on them! I know a couple guys who have told me stories of how they bought a Third Gen Camaro and beat the car to death, and it angers me to hear that. They have always been my favorite cars, and deserve respect for what they are, not an early grave because people feel they are fun to abuse.

92WhiteZ28

iTrader: (1)

i love abusing my camaro, but only because i love fixing her so much.

Rick92RS

I mean by abusing people who buy a Third Gen Camaro, drive the death out of it by constantly gunning it and don't do any scheduled oil changes or anything, then either blow the engine, crash it in half, or treat it like it's garbage. Then the car ends up in a junk yard. That is true abuse and sad to do that to any car, especially a Camaro!

Now racing your car, redoing the engine, and taking care of the car while you do so, that's not abuse that is how it's supposed to be!

ssean92

iTrader: (10)

I bought my 92 5 years ago and have been moding it for the past 3 yrs. I drove it stock for a while till I but 20k on it. bought it with 68k on it started big mods at 86 or so. now it has 91k. so I would say good luck it gets addicting....about 10k later