1977 Camaro 49,000 original miles

[Harbone]

Well I couldn't pass this one up and have had a bunch of 2nd gens but no big bumpers. I just bought a 1977 Camaro 350 4-speed. Car was special ordered with the motor and trans and a posi, sport suspension, spoilers, rally wheels, sport mirrors, tinted glass, bumpers guards and 8 track. Basically a Z28 without the badging or the gauge package.
Documented 49,000 original miles
Has the original order sheet, build sheet, dealer paperwork, etc.
1 repaint by GM in 1980 or so for peeling paint
Still has the stock y-pipe and catalytic converter!
I am excited, looking to give her a little love and some sprucing up
Hopefully it will get here in about a week


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[Harbone]

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[Harbone]

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The body lines and door gaps are really nice, no door sagging and the shut with just barely a push. Bumper and guards are in really good shape and all the glass is super nice
I think headers, exhaust, front spoiler, seat covers, tighten up the dash, old school style Cragars, replace all the weather strips and install a U14 gauge package will be on the start list. Save up money to put her in paint jail sometime next year
Nice to have something to work on again! ;)

[Swiley383]

Nice. If you get board come to my place lots to work just no time. I miss playing with my car on the weekend. Still sitting with the motor half installed.

[Harbone]

Well I feel a little better after tearing into the interior last night besides the fact that even though someone installed a new dash, they did a horrible job of attaching it and the instrument cluster was basically just laying in the dash with all 4 tabs snapped off
Good news is I think I can have my upholstery buddy can save the front seats
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These are the only separations and the vinyl is still pretty soft so they will go over to the shop on Monday
I was kind of depressed not to find a build sheet under the passenger seat frame but the tracks are really clean
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No build sheet under or behind the back seat either but I think, not sure, this carpet might be the original, anybody know if this company was the original supplier supplier?
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[Harbone]

This looks like no replacement carpet I have ever seen, all 1 piece, all the jute is there, cutouts are cleanly done and their is extra white padding on the passenger side to block exhaust heat
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[Harbone]

So I spent Saturday night digging around more in the car, never found the build sheet :(
Looked everyehere there should be one except for under the gas tank, just no luck so I ordered the invoice and build record through GM Heritage a little bit ago
I pulled the 8 track out, its junk and a Audiovox unit with some kind of bass booster that was crammed in under the console. Probably going to install a modern unit with Bluetooth and Satellite radio
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Also got a good pic of the engine stamping, this is the motor she was born with!
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She needed new radiator hoses, the upper one was ready to explode and the lower I honestly think was the original since it had tower clamps still on it and pretty much just fell apart when I started to pull it off
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[Harbone]

I pressure washed the engine compartment the best I could just to get the heavy grease and gunk off the motor and surrounding areas, here is before
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Here is after, looks a little better and less dirty to work on
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Installed a new distributor cap and rotor along with a PCV valve. Cap and rotor looked original and the slight stutter went away after swapping them out
Motor is incredibly quiet, been a while since I have owned a peaceful car, gonna have to fix that soon!
Good news is the car was Ziebarted, bad news is the car was Ziebarted very fricking well and you can see in the pics the inner fenders and firewall was sprayed heavily with rustproof. This stuff just doesn't blast off with water so if I want to repaint the engine compartment I will probably have to take the front clip off and do some sandblasting on the parts involved. You can see the spray on the inner fenders in this pic, it looks really dirty but this was after I pressure washed it
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The front seats went to the upholstery shop to install new seat bottom covers, the rest all looks good
I ordered online yesterday touch up paint, front marker chrome, original owners manual, rear package tray kit, rubber bumper kit for all over the car, new coolant overflow jug and a 3 piece front spoiler kit. All that should keep me busy till the seats get back.

[Harbone]

I got my front seats back from the upholstery shop Friday afternoon, very satisfied with the results. He actually bought a yard of the original seat vinyl and stiched up both seat bottoms. A lot better than a seat cover in a box and they look great!
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How many cars still have the seat belt adjuster still in place? My drivers side one is gone but the passenger side is mint
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[Harbone]

I also received a new mesh style rear package tray from Camaro Central so I took out the original, very faded on top the the jute is in great shape underneath
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[Harbone]

Rear floor pans are spotless
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Rear seats cleaned up, everything vacuumed out and wiped down before reinstalled
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[Harbone]

Rest of car cleaned out and ready for front seat install
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[Harbone]

finished up, cracked a beer and relaxed the rest of the night after taking some sunset pictures
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[Harbone]

Got up Saturday and installed the new 3 piece front spoiler, too a little working around and a few new holes drilled but it looks good
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[Harbone]

Things were going well until I opened the box that had the used U41 cluster in it to get ready for install, glad I didnt start swapping wires just yet...
Can anybody see what the issue is here?

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The cluster that supposedly came out of a 77 is obviously out of a later year since the turn signals are located in the wrong position
So I tore the original cluster out anyways since its just flopping around and needed secured. Good news is the inside of the dash area is really clean
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[Harbone]

The bad news is, whatever kind of repop dash this is has no structural support where the instrument cluster mounts! its literally just loose, sloppy rubber with no reinforcement...WTF?!?!?!?
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Whomever had installed the dash pad had just installed to metal brackets to the existing cluster where the tabs were broke off on the top and screwed it into the rubber, well since the bottom had no attachments it just ripped right out!
So I took some spare scrap metal I had laying around, made some lower brackets for the cluster and some reinforcement for the cluster mounting points. I was cussing the whole time but managed to get it firmly reattached or at least as good as it gets for what I was working with
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I walked away after that and spent the afternoon playing with the dogs in the yard

One last thing I did play around with is the Ziebart rustproofing thats sprayed all over the engine compartment. I put some paint thinner on a rag and started scrubbing, its going to take some patience and elbow grease but I do believe it will all come off. Here is the spot I did on the passenger fender.
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Probably save that project for a rainy day or the dead of winter...

[Swiley383]

The seats look good. Nice solid floors are always nice. Are you going to do any motor upgrades?

[Harbone]

Swiley I might do headers, intake, carb and cam
Going to tighten up the suspension first, get some tunes in her and save the motor work and engine compartment detail for the winter time

[mytmouz]

Nice car...

[Harbone]

finally got her to work so I could align the front end ( was pulling to the right and the steering wheel was off to the left) and get a good look at the underside since my floor jack took a crap on me last weekend.
Front end aligned out OK which was great considering everything looks original. Nothing is super loose and now she goes down the road pretty straight. The front subframe is pretty "lubed up" from all the oil seepage and a decent power steering leak.
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[Harbone]

Good news is the floor pans, frame rails and everything underneath is solid. Just surface rust and corrosion
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[Harbone]

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This was funny, I thought the rear lower pan was painted black but as I looked closer its covered in undercoat, put some gas on a rag and wiped a spot off. Look at that pretty blue paint! Looks like some more elbow grease will be needed...
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[Swiley383]

Nice! Are you going to repaint the undercarriage ?

[Harbone]

Swiley I might. going to put it up in the air on cribs over the winter and maybe do a section at a time. Use a wire brush to clean up and then just hit it with some satin black

[Harbone]

Craigslist score today!
17" Torque Thrust II's with BFG G-Force tires in 245/45ZR17's all the way around.
500 miles on the whole package and I paid less than 1/2 price
Probably will put some 275/45's on the back
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I looked for some Cragar SS's or a set of Centerlines but these popped up and fit perfect. I think the aluminum color goes good with the bumpers


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[mytmouz]

I dig those...

[Swiley383]

Looks real nice

[Harbone]

got a pile of parts in on Friday
Custome Auto Sound USA 630-II digital receiver with a Bluetooth package
Rockford Fosgate 6x9's
Metro Softseal door and window weatherstips
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I did manage to salvage the original jute of the back package shelf and install it on the new one
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I had tp pull the spare out to get the 6x9's installed, It looks brand new. I am missing the lugnut wrench/jack handle aling with the bolt and wing nut that hold it all in place
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[Harbone]

I am getting to old to crawl around in trunks and backseats anymore but after some colorful language,the 6x9's are installed...

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The stereo install went OK, my only complaint is they dont come with a faceplate but I do like the correct looking knobs. The quality is nice and the digital RDS shows you station name and song if they transmit that info. The Bluetooth connects quick and I was impressed with the sound. Going to pickup a replacement dash speaker here soon and make use of the front channel
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[Harbone]

I do like the quality of the Metro door seals and weatherstrips, this is the 3rd set I have installed and the hardest part is taking off the door panels and old strips
My originals were still soft but starting to fall apart
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Kind of nice to still see the factory vapor guard in place
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I did find that at some time the passenger side glass had been broken, still shards in the inner door. It was replaced with a correct Soft Ray glass that matched the drivers side
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Got the door and window weatherstrips installed then rolled up the windows, shut the doors and let her sit in the sun awhile to let the new seals all settle in
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